Scorching the World

Sometimes being married is hard. Sometimes getting along with the same person day in and day out is not an easy thing. Sure I love him more than life itself. Sure I chose to marry him for time and for all eternity, but some days feel like an eternity when Tom is so hard to get along with. Now I know all of you think Tom is easy to get along with, and a delight to be around. If only you knew the truth. Last week was a difficult one for us in the marriage realm. Everything Tom did was annoying. Every comment he made irritated me. When he was home, which wasn't very much, he needed my help. But of course he never had time to help me with anything. When he was away, he was gone 10-12 hours at work, and then came home and worked another 4-5 hours. When he wasn't at work, he was doing Church callings - usually out with the missionaries doing visits (like ALL DAY Sunday). We didn't get any quality time together. When he wasn't at work or doing Church service, he was working ...

We are so happy to announce the birth of our latest and greatest. She is so cute and precious. We just can't get enough of her. And neither can her siblings! Or her mother! Definitely God's Greatest Gift!

Throughout my life, or at least from teen years on, I've paid attention to other women of all ages and looked at how they did their hair and makeup. Some have beautiful makeup that enhances their natural beauty, and others just look like the makeup is sitting there, on their face. I've always, since my teen years worn makeup. I realized about that age that if I didn't wear it, I looked too much like my younger brother. There is nothing wrong with how he looks; he is a handsome man, but I just never wanted to look like a handsome man. So I try to do the best I can with what I've got. I've always read magazines on hair and makeup and looked closely at soap operas because that is where you can see makeup applied perfectly, and I've tried to do what I thought looked best on me. Now as I'm getting into my senior years, I've looked to women older than me to get clues as to how to adjust the makeup for the aging face. There was one sister we knew many years...

Recently I saw those five words posted in someone's house where they would look at it every day. It surprised me at first, and I have continued to ruminate on it ever since. I spoke to her briefly about it, and she explained that it came from a book on money management and building wealth. I do understand the intent of having that posted as a reminder and to keep one focused on the goal. I also believe it is a good thing to keep certain goals uppermost in our minds while we are working on them. So my intent in this post is not to criticize the intent anyone may have in their mind or posted in their home, but I want to consider some other things that I feel I might want to have as an intent for me. Again, it is not for us (meaning me) to criticize someone else's intent; we each chose our own and can know through the guidance of the Spirit what we need to focus on at any given time in our life. So my first thought was that if it were for me, the thing should say something lik...

In the New and Everlasting Covenant we are promised all that the Father has. I've been trying to imagine and understand the magnitude of what that means. I think It might be like having Bill Gates as a father and being entitled to an inheritance from him - billions of dollars; more than your wildest dreams! But there are two huge differences that I can see: 1. If you inherit from B. G., you get a portion of his money, divided up with his other children, charities, taxes, etc. But with God's inheritance, you get it all. The fact that everyone gets as much as you doesn't mean you receive any less. All of us can receive all that the Father hath! Sharing with everyone doesn't lessen yours. You still get 100% of all of it. 2. B.G. can only give cash; only money. It is only temporary, and only temporal. He can't give you any happiness with that money. You might feel some happiness at receiving a whole lot of money, but he can't help your family be together; he ca...

There has been some mention by general authorities lately about the importance of being able to receive our own inspired guidance in our lives. Too many times members feel it their only recourse is to go to their Bishop every time they have a problem. In our Ward, members line up before and after meetings to discuss an urgent and life altering event and to see guidance. This is a quote whose author I didn't write down: "We seem to be developing an epidemic of "counselitis" which drains spiritual strength from our Church. That is very serious! If all mankind would live in strict obedience to the gospel and in that love which is begotten by the Spirit of the Lord, all marriages would be eternal and contentions would cease. If we are not careful, we can lose the power of individual revelation." Boyd K Packer said, "We have become very anxious over the amount of counseling that we seem to need in the Church. Our members are become dependent." Spi...

The last time I took an airplane, I was reading the Sky Mall magazine. It's always fun to read the Sky Mall magazine; it always has fun new technology that I haven't seen before. So I spend a good amount of time reading the explanation and description of each fascinating item. But there was one that I just can't forget. I might have to find the money to cover the high price of this item - and it was expensive! It was a WATCH! Wow! New technology. The description said, "A watch so feature rich you won't need a phone!" And if that wasn't convincing enough, it added, "No more need to shuffle around in your pockets for your cell phone. It's right there on your wrist whenever you want it!" What more could anyone want!