Christmas

Christmas........To all of my family and friends (old/new), I am so thankful for all of you. Have a Merry Christmas. Be safe and enjoy your families. Let's remember what this season is about.....The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ......May we remember truly what we are celebrating. The birth of our Savior, the Son of God, who came to earth to gain his mortal body, to live and breath and walk among us. To show us how to return to our loving Heavenly Father.
“Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, He came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God,” President Monson said. “His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He lived for us, and He died for us. What can we, in return, give to Him?”
"The celebration of Christmas should be a reflection of the love and selflessness taught by the Savior." President Monson from the Christmas Devotional.
May we reflect this love and selflessness as exampled by our Savior.

Thanksgiving

I sit here in my warm home thinking of my blessings. I am grateful for phones that allow me to talk to my husband who is not going to home for this holiday. I am grateful for being able to spend time with my family today. So in thinking of my blessings, I looked for talks about Thanksgiving. I found pieces of a talk from President Monson that I would like to share today.

"Do material possessions make us happy and grateful? Perhaps momentarily. However, those things which provide deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are the things which money cannot buy: our families, the gospel, good friends, our health, our abilities, the love we receive from those around us. Unfortunately, these are some of the things we allow ourselves to take for granted."

And "My beloved friend President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.”   

President Monson: The Divine Gift of Gratitude October 2010.

So as we go out into this day, may we remember our blessings.
Kathy

Loving God More Than We Love The World

Our wonderful lesson today was about keeping our covenants with the Lord. It is so easy to be swept up in the world with all it's glitter and gold. It is so easy to lose focus, to lose touch with the Eternal perspective. It is so subtle that we may not even realize we are slipping away. It starts out quietly, slowly and before we know it, we have moved farther and farther away from our covenants, our promises. President Snow saw it happening in Kirkland after the Kirkland Temple was built. He saw an apostasy fueled by speculation, unusual business risks in hopes of getting rich quickly. Do we not have this still happening today? People still wanting more, to have the biggest, the brightest. How can we not succumb to the world's glitter and gold? How do we keep strong and be a light to those around us? The words from the song "The Iron Rod" shows us...."Hold to the iron rod, the iron rod; Tis strong, and bright, and true. The iron rod is the word of God; Twill safely guide us through." We pray, individual prayers, family prayers; we read and study the scriptures; we have Family Home Evening; we attend our meetings; we partake of the sacrament; and we go to the Temple. We keep our covenants and keep our blessings flowing to us to stand in Holy Places to resist the temptations the world offers. We love God more than we love the world.

Marriage

Hello Sisters! Our Relief Sociey lesson by Sister Munn this past Sunday - Sept 22, 2913 - was about the sacredness of marriage. In these last days, this sacred relationship is being challenged and changed by what Man thinks. The covenant of marriage as created by Heavenly Father is rarely found. We must strive to keep this most sacred relationship strong, to stand up to the blasts by society. We must as Sisters in Relief Society work together to keep our covenants strong by finding strength in each other in our moments of weakness. The friendships we have formed through Relief Society will prove to be an important link to keep our marriages strong. We must be kind, thoughtful, generous, forgiving, patient and humble. We must kneel in prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help us be the best person we can be; to help us strenghten this most sacred relationship. We must pray for our husbands, to seek inspiration to help us be the helpmeet we need to be. We will find that forgiveness and repentance will be part of this endeavor to seek counsel and inspiration from Heavenly Father.
I hope you have a wonderful week.

Stubborn Pride

Today in sacrament meeting Sister Marilyn Woodruff gave a great talk that she entitled "stubborn pride". I think it is a wonderful reminder that we are not alone, we have support from sisters in the ward, and there is a difference between being independent and accepting charity and just being plain stubborn and trying to do it all ourselves. Here is the talk in her typed words and also from the notes I took while she was speaking.


"When we moved into the ward, we were bone weary, financially drained, and felt we had nothing to offer. We were defeated in many ways. That first Sunday that we came to church we looked around and it seemed that everyone else had it together. They were better dressed, or at least their outfits seemed more put together, and they just seemed to be in a better place spiritually and even scripturally as we went through the day. The last thing we wanted to do was to tip the scales and become a burden. After all, there must have been many in the ward with greater needs than us.

And so we made a pact with each other called the "we're fine" pact. If anyone asked how we were doing, we were fine. No matter how much we might be struggling physically, emotionally, or spiritually, we were fine. We would not be a burden or drag others down with our problems. Let me tell you, if someone tells you they are fine, you really have to question them. You have to look into their eyes and then ask them again how they are doing and if you look hard you may see the truth behind "we are fine".

Many tried to break down the barriers I had put up, but my stubborn pride prevailed. Because I wouldn't talk about any of my problems, I had very little to talk about at all. I must have appeared very aloof and uninterested. The truth was that I avoided conversation about how I was doing because I was afraid I would just cry. Instead I withdrew and relied only on ourselves to solve our problems.

And so, as my health declined I became even more distant. In fact, I didn't leave my home for 5 months! David became my caretaker. And then came the fall, literally. You've heard the phrase, "Pride goeth before the fall." Well, it literally did for me. I slipped and fell in the bathroom. I lay there on the cold tile floor, like a giant beached whale. I couldn't get up and I was absolutely adamant that no one should come and help. Not people I didn't know and certainly not people I did know. I told David to throw a sheet over me and leave me there. After the better part of an hour I finally limped to the bed.

The next morning I determined that I needed to find a doctor and I found a great doctor and got on the road to rebuild my health. I am so grateful for good doctors, family, friends, and ward members for their love and support. These are the things I have had to re-learn. I always knew them, but stubborn pride stopped me from taking them to heart. If your current life makes Job look like a lottery winner, contemplate that patches of awfulness may be purposeful and in the end benevolent. Trials you can view as punishment and torture, or you can decide you are being steered by your Heavenly Father. Trials are like road bumps, they slow you down a bit but you can always look forward to enjoying the smooth road afterward. Don't stay on the bumps too long --- Move on!

What if we forget the destiny we have at birth and create a map of life bound for the life route we want. If we had it our way we would pass through life with good health, perfect romance, professional success, and eventually to a painless death (maybe being struck by a meteorite while bicycling at the age of 100). God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain. But He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. We often want to be happy without paying the price. We want to have peace in our homes and the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts while clinging to our pride.

Humility is being strong enough to ask for help and support when we have done all we can. One of the greatest evidences of pride is relying on your own strength to solve problems, no matter the cost. Many of us have heard slogans about praying as though everything depends on God, and act as though everything depends on us. But when you are stubborn or prideful, you only seem to remember the second part. This leaves us anxious, because we see how imperfect we are and conclude that we don't deserve God's help. But the Lord is willing to aid our feeblest efforts if we just ask for help. He wants an honest effort, not a perfect one.

In Hebrews 5:8 we read, "Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." President Benson has said that choosing to be humble is the antidote for pride. Each of us brings our own weather to the picnic of life. Life is what you make it. We can bring rain and be sad with our trials or bring sunshine and be happy. The great part is, it is up to you! We have an opportunity to be on the front line. We can bring someone kindness though a touch, a phone call, a listening shoulder (without judgement), a smile, an anonymous deed (I just love it when someone drops a quarter in my parking meter).

We need to realize that miracles often come through someone's kindness and that big miracles are really made up of lots of little miracles that have often been accomplished completely through earthly hands and willing hearts. When I was in the hospital many of our 9 children descended like locust, they were on top of everything. I had no choice but to accept their help with 'that would be great' and 'thank you'. As a parent we often feel their sacrifice is too costly to them, but forget that done with love it is a priceless gift.

When you can't sustain normal activities it's time to stop trying and surrender. Like Peter, when invited to walk on water with Jesus, we have to first take a step forward in faith. So, what are some of the solutions the scriptures offer for our stubborn pride? In 1 Peter 4:8,9,10 we read 'And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.'

We have many to look to as examples of being humble and prayerful in the ward. Someone said fake it until you make it. By this I mean act in such a way as being humble and the more one does it the more one learns how to do it. Being humble takes great effort and prayer. It is my hope that each one of us can be more humble and less prideful."
Well said sister Woodruff, we love you!

Sisters In White

 

On June 8th, the Brownsville Relief Society held it's first Temple trip. What a beautiful experience it was to see 32 of our sisters attend the temple together. We never could have imagined the miracles that would take place in the sisters lives that inspired them to renew and obtain a current temple recommend. It was so wonderful to be able to see some sisters attend the temple for the first time and to see others who were able to return after years of being absent.  It was equally wonderful to be able to sit in the Celestial room, with all of the sisters, and get a glimpse of what it will be like someday when we all return to live with our Heavenly Father.

 

 

 

 

After going through the temple, we met in the cafeteria where boxed lunches were provided for all to enjoy.  Our lunch contained a ham or turkey croissant sandwich, chips, grapes and a temple cookie. Although we did not get any pictures of the food to show you, it was as lovely as it was delicious. 

 

 

 

 

 A handout with earrings was attached to each boxed lunch reminding us of the great blessings of peace that can come from attending the Temple.

 

 

 

The Relief Society Presidency is so grateful to all those who participated in this meaningful day. We could not have asked for a better, more memorable experience.

 

 

More Beautiful Than You Think

While this video clearly focuses on a person’s outward appearance we know from personal experience that we can also be very judgmental when it comes to our inner beauty.

Why is it that we are so critical about ourselves? 

Elder Richard G. Scott stated, “Satan has unleashed a seductive campaign to undermine the sanctity of womanhood, to deceive the daughters of God and divert them from their divine destiny. He well knows women are the compassionate, self-sacrificing, loving power that binds together the human family. He would focus their interests solely on their physical attributes and rob them of their exalting roles as wives and mothers. He has convinced many of the lie that they are third-class citizens in the kingdom of God. That falsehood has led some to trade their divinely given femininity for male coarseness.”

We know we are children of God.  The scriptures teach that we are of great worth in his sight (D&C 18:10). The YW motto states: I am of infinite worth with my own divine mission, which I will strive to fulfill.  But, even knowing that, sometimes it can be hard to feel good about ourselves. 

So what can we do to help increase our feelings of self worth?  The following suggestions have come from the General Authorities.

1) Set Goals

Life is more exciting when you’re working toward goals. Remember these principles when you’re setting goals:

 - Keep your goals realistic

 - Write each of your goals down. Remember, a goal not written is only a wish.

 - Share your goals with a friend, and encourage that person to set some, too.

 - Be committed to your goals.

 - Don’t compete with others.

 - Share your goals with Heavenly Father. Talk to him in prayer. Ask for help in reaching your goals—or in understanding why you didn’t. He’ll help you feel good about the positive things you achieve.

2) Vary Your Routine

Boredom, monotony, routine—they can make our lives seem dull and discouraging. So why not break out of the old habits and experience something new?

3) Look Beyond Yourself

Do your little flaws bother you? If your hair doesn’t look quite right, is your whole day ruined? The small things you dislike about yourself probably go unnoticed by those around you. Forget about them by trying to—

- Shift the focus to others. Instead of dwelling on your weaknesses, look for the good in those around you. Point out those good things to them.

- Listen to others. Listen to understand, not just so you can prepare a response.

4) Find Your Strengths

Everyone has strengths, something that they excel in. It could be a personality trait, a skill, or a way of thinking... something that can be used to help them in the every day areas of life. Finding what your strengths are can empower you when you are feeling down. You can discover ways to use your strengths to help you improve your current situation. After finding your strengths, write them down and display them in a place where you can always be reminded of them.

5) Have Fun With Others

Did you ever notice how much faster time flies when you are having fun with family or friends? You do not have to go through rough times alone. Allow others to be there with you. If you feel comfortable, talk to others about what is causing you stress and let them work with you during this time.

6) Laugh

Find something to laugh at every day. Even when you are having a horrible day, find something to make you smile.  A professor once had a whole class of 250 students stand up. He had them stand with an annoyed, angry look on their faces for one minute. They began to feel annoyed and angry by the end of that minute. Their facial expression triggered something in their mind to feel the same way as their expression showed. The professor then had them smile for one minute and they started to feel happy. Smile every day. Smiling even when you are not happy does improve your mood.

7) Celebrate

There may be a lot of things still going wrong, but do not let that take away from the other areas of your life that are going well. At times, the little things that are going poorly in our lives appear magnified. All we see is what is going wrong and we do not see the many things that are going right. Do not forget to celebrate the little things in life.

8) Change Bad Behavior 

We need to change our bad behavior. We need to repent. As Alma said to his son Corianton, “Wickedness never was happiness.” It’s hard to like ourselves if we are doing things that we know to be wrong.

9) Forgive Ourselves and Others.

Forgiveness is an important part of putting bad behavior behind us. As we make the necessary changes, we need to forgive ourselves. But we may also need to forgive others who have been traveling with us on the wrong path. Forgiveness will help us to let go of the bad behavior we are forsaking. 

10) Give Service

If we really want to feel better about ourselves, we should serve others. Kindness shapes our character and makes us more like our Father in Heaven. The Savior taught us, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” A prominent psychiatrist once wrote: “We feel pleasure when we are involved with other people, and they are involved with us, but we feel pain when we are uninvolved and lonely.”  Look around you; there are all kinds of opportunities.

11) Choose Happiness.

We each choose our own happiness. As President Harold B. Lee once said: “Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you. It is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life.” It will often be necessary for all of us to choose between having a good time and leading a good life.

Somebody loves you, I want you to know,

Longs to be near you, wherever you go.

 

President Gordon B. Hinckley interpreted those words differently from the meaning given by the author. He says, “I wish you—each of you, wherever you are—to know that you are loved. You are loved by your Father in Heaven, of whose divine nature you have partaken. And He desires that His Holy Spirit will be near you wherever you go if you will invite it and cultivate it.”

“Some of you may feel that you are not as attractive and beautiful and glamorous as you would like to be. Rise above any such feelings, cultivate the light you have within you, and it will shine through as a radiant expression that will be seen by others.”

“You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self, appreciated by others.“

Remember, you are more beautiful than you think.

In the Limelight

Last night we had a wonderful evening eating, visiting and learning new things about one another.
 

We began with dinner.

Dinner is served

A delicious Cafe Rio inspired salad was served along with Sprite and the tastiest Key Lime Cheesecake.

Cafe Rio Pulled Pork Salad
Recipe Below

Key Lime Cheesecake
Recipe Below

We asked each sister to bring 3 things that represented themselves.  The items were numbered and set out in preparation for a game.  After dinner we had the sisters try and match up the items with the sister who brought them.  We then went down the table and had each sister come and tell us what they brought and how those items were a reflection them. 

In the Limelight Game

We found out that there are so many sisters who love to read!  We love our families, the gospel, music, crafting, chocolate, shopping, cooking and running (gasp!) -- just to name a few things the sisters in attendance had in common.

We found that we have differences too.  I'm pretty sure I've only met one sister whose favorite color is orange.  Chapstick is a must for one sisters lips.  We come from different states, or in a couple of cases countries.  And one sisters daily diet requires shredded mini wheats.

Even though our likes, interests, and talents may be different we all belong to Relief Society.


Sister Tania Ostrander and Sister Heather Farley both shared their thoughts on how belonging to Relief Society blesses them even though they serve in other organizations and are unable to attend Sunday Relief Society meetings.  (Thank you for participating!)


Sister Byron then shared the following from a talk given by Sister Bonnie Parkin titled, "Belonging is our Sacred Birthright".  Sister Parkin says:

"In these perilous times, I find comfort in the promise that "if [we] are prepared [we] shall not fear.” Relief Society helps us be prepared—not just temporally, but spiritually. But Relief Society cannot help in our preparation without our participation! I worry that some of you feel you don’t fit in Relief Society, that you don’t belong! Whether you feel too young or too old, too rich or too poor, too intelligent or too undereducated, none of us is too different to belong! If I could have my heart’s desire, it would be that every one of you feel like you fit, like you belong. I testify that you do fit, that you do belong to Relief Society—the Good Shepherd’s fold for women.

I empathize with President Joseph F. Smith when he said back in 1907, “Today it is too much the case that our young, vigorous, intelligent women feel that only the aged should be connected with the Relief Society.” Then he declared, “This is a mistake.”

 

I recently visited Ethiopia, where I met Jennifer Smith. If ever a woman could say she didn’t fit, it was Sister Smith. She said: “I was so unlike any other [sister] in our branch. Language, clothing, culture, all seemed to be [a] gap [between us. But] when we spoke of the Savior … the gap narrowed. When we spoke of a loving Heavenly Father … , there was no gap.” She continued, “We cannot change nor take away the burdens of others, but we can include and belong to each other in love.”

Whether we serve in Primary or Young Women, whether we’re active or less so, whether we’re married or single, whether we’re spring chickens or fall hens, we all belong to Relief Society. I’m a fall hen, but I feel like a spring chicken! We need your voices, your feelings, your hearts. Relief Society needs you. And you know what? You need Relief Society. When you don’t participate, you’re depriving yourself and you’re depriving Relief Society.

Sisters, we can have no divisions in Relief Society; all “members should have the same care one for another.” “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” For “the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect.”

Sisters we love you and hope that as you participate in the Brownsville Ward Relief Society you will feel as if you belong!

Recipes:

Tomatillo Dressing: blend and chill the following:

1pkg. dry ranch dressing mix

3 tomatillos

1 cup mayo

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped cilantro

2 gloves garlic

Sweet Pork

6 lb boneless pork roast

1 16 oz bottle taco sauce (I use La mild red or green enchilada sauce)

1 12 oz can cola

2 cup brown sugar (I put in ½ cup brown sugar, the 2 cups was way too sweet for me)

Cook in crock-pot or roaster oven all day: 2 hr before serving, drain juices, remove fat, and shred. Add taco sauce, cola, and brown sugar. Cook 2 hours longer.

Salad also includes cheese, rice, black beans, lettuce and tortilla strips.  To assemble, place a tortilla in a bowl.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Add 3/4 cups pork, 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup drained black beans.  Top with shredded lettuce, more cheese for color and some fried tortilla chips.  Serve dressing, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream and lemon wedge on the side.

Key lime cheesecakes

Crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup butter melted

1/4 cup coconut

1 ½ Tablespoons sugar

Mix and press in bottom of 12 jumbo cupcake wrappers.

Cheesecake
2 packages cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

¼ cup key lime juice

Green food coloring

Mix all in bowl until smooth and spoon over crusts. Let refrigerate.

When set add a spoonful of Cool Whip and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.

Great Ways to be Unhappy

From today's Relief Society lesson:

 

1) Believe that you must have it all now.

This mentality is running rampant through our society, creating discontent everywhere.

“Yes, we are free to choose the mortal perks with their short shelf life. However, ahead lies that great moment when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ! (see Mosiah 27:31; D&C 88:104). Then the galleries and the mortal thrones will be empty. Even the great and spacious building will fall—and resoundingly! (see 1 Ne. 8:26–28). Then, too, those who have lived without God in the world will confess that God is God! (see Mosiah 27:31). Meanwhile, His character and attributes should evoke adoration and emulation from us.” (The Tugs and Neal A. Maxwell, Pulls of the World, Ensign, October 2000)

Don’t give up what you want most, for what you want now.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

2) Allow “them” to dictate your priorities

Every time we walk into a store, open a magazine or turn on the TV we are bombarded with images that shape our perspective on what’s important.

“Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people.  It is distraction.   He would have good people fill life with "good things" so there is no room for the essential ones.  Have you unconsciously been caught in that trap?....   

"Are there so many fascinating, exciting things to do or so many challenges pressing down upon you that it is hard to keep focused on that which is essential?   When things of the world crowd in, all too often the wrong things take highest priority.   Then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life." (Richard G. Scott, “First Things First,” Ensign, May 2001)

 "If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most..."

"As we turn to our Heavenly Father and seek His wisdom regarding the things that matter most, we learn over and over again the importance of four key relationships: with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Of Things That Matter Most”, Ensign, October 2010)

3) Believe that you’ll be happier when ___________

“I’ll be happier when my kids are out of diapers.” “I’ll be happier when we make more money.” “I’ll be happier when my husband comes home from work.” “I’ll be happier when we move out of Bremerton, or have a bigger house, or when my kitchen has been remodeled.” Really? Will you? How can you be sure? We have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Waiting on happiness only serves to rob you of the only happiness that truly exists – that which is available at this moment.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

“The happiest people I know are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Forget Me Not”, Ensign)

“We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made …,’ the Psalmist wrote. ‘Rejoice and be glad in it.’ [Psalm 118:24].” Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Ensign, November 2012)

4) Compare yourself to others

Comparing ourselves to others will leave us senselessly unsatisfied and have us seeking contentment where it can never be found.

“I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; … He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Other Prodigal”, Ensign, May 2002)

5) Focus on the Negative

In an article titled “Learning Happiness”, Susan B. Healy writes: “Unfortunately, the more we focus on the negative, the more likely that’s all we’ll see. Changing this means we have to consciously bring more attention to the positive things that happen to us.”

This quote brought to mind an experiment that Hilary Weeks did. From her blog:

“I heard someone say we think over 300 negative thoughts a day.  I was compelled to find out if that was true.  So I bought a clicker - and started counting.  Each day for one week, I clicked and counted my negative thoughts.  After seven days of clicking each discouraging, gloomy, depressing thought - I felt discouraged, gloomy and depressed!

With that realization, the experiment changed.  What would happen if I clicked all of my positive, uplifting, optimistic thoughts?  Would I feel positive, uplifted and optimistic?

That is exactly what happened.  Clicking heightened feelings of motivation, strength and confidence I had never felt before.”

 

Go to billionclicks.org to watch Hilary’s video and give clicking a try. 

Count your blessings, focus on the positive and be happy.  (IF YOU WERE NOT IN ATTENDANCE TODAY AND WOULD LIKE A CLICKER PLEASE LET ANDREA LEWIS KNOW)

In D&C 121:45 we are taught, “let virtue garnish they thoughts unceasingly.” And in Proverbs 23: 7 - "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”

“Count your blessings.  Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage and confidence.” ~ Og Mandino

We came to earth to be tested and we’ll have challenges and we’ll be hurt but Heavenly Father didn’t create a plan of despair. He created a Plan of Happiness.

Remember, men are that they might have joy.

You can be happy if you stop judging yourself and recognize your worth,

You can be happy if you give up what you want now for what you want most,

You can be happy if you let go of distractions and remember the purpose of life

You can be happy if you focus on positive uplifting thoughts

You can be happy if you let yourself be!

I pray that this year you will find the joy, beauty and blessings in each day.