Don't Lose Hope!

Hallelujah!  Wonderful day!  Finally, after about 5 years I think I can honestly say that my body has finished "changing".  I was hesitant to say anything for fear that everything might come flooding back but it's been a few months now and I think I'm finally done.  Gone are the volcanic eruptions, (translation - hot flashes)  the sleepless nights, the massive mood swings and the deep depression.  I am now sleeping like a baby, don't wake up feeling anything but happy to greet the day (well, not every day) and don't have to worry about breaking into a sweat any time of the day or night.  It was going on for so long that I thought it would never end but it finally did.  So, ladies of a certain age out there, don't lose hope!  This too shall pass:)  I promise!!

Wonderful Little Gem

While reading The Ensign (a church magazine) last night I came across a fantastic list of things to do to succeed in life.  I am trying to do all of these things but they were worded so well and made to look so simple and plain that I thought I would share them with you.  It's from an article by Elder Richard G. Scott. 


TO SUCCEED IN LIFE


1.  Establish principles to guide your life.


2.  Don't make exceptions to your standards.


3.  Be loyal.


4.  Live so that the Lord can guide you.


5.  Serve others.


6.  Smile.


7.  Don't complain.


8.  Always have a Church assignment.


9.  Worship in the temple.


10.  Follow the Savior's example.


I really believe that if we can do all of these things we will be truly happy.

Angel

This little miracle girl is 9 months old today.  It feels like a hundred years ago and yesterday that she came into this world 3 1/2 months too early.  She is perfect in every way and is truly a modern-day miracle.  I love her with all of my heart and thank the Lord every day that she was able to remain on this earth with us:)

 

Info

I am the first to admit that I don't know very much about technology and how it works so I naively thought that only people I know and who I have told about this blog would ever find it and read it.  I had no idea that anyone can find and read anyone's blogs because I don't personally know how to do that.  That being said, I have noticed that there are some people who are not of my faith who have read my blog and I think that there are probably some questions and some confusion about my church's temple.  My son and his fiance are going to be married in our temple in just a few weeks and because this is what we strive for in my religion we are very happy about this.  The fiance's family, however, never saw this possibility in their future so they are, understandably, very confused and sad about this decision.  In our temple, we are not just married to our sweetheart but are sealed for all eternity.  This is something that we believe can only happen in a temple by someone who has the priesthood power to do it.  Since what we do in our temples is sacred to us we don't talk about it outside of the temple so I won't go into detail about it but there is a misunderstanding that only Mormons can see the sealing and no one else.  That is not completely true.  My two youngest children are Mormons and they did not see any of their older brothers get sealed.  My daughter will not witness her brother getting sealed in a few weeks.  To enter the marriage or sealing part of the temple a person not only has to be a member of our church but has to have gone through a process that they can only do when they are an adult and are either going on a mission or getting sealed themselves.  There are a few other options but not relevant to this post. So the brides' family will not be the only ones that will not actually witness the ceremony that is very short, very simple but very special to members of my faith.  The big difference here is that the members of my family have grown up with this knowledge and are ready for it as opposed to the bride's family who are essentially being blindsided.  I can only guess at how they are feeling.  We are not the first people to go through this and we will certainly not be the last.  That doesn't make it any easier, I know.  Lots of people have opted to have a separate "ring ceremony" for the family members to witness outside of the temple.  Our group will not be doing that but we will have a lovely celebration later that will include all family and friends.  I know, for a fact, that both of our families want to honor the wishes of our children and just see them be happy.  The tricky part is trying to keep our own emotions under control and make sure that this is a wonderful event for our children because just as the bride's family are sad at some of the turns this path has taken, I'm sure they want to put on a happy face for this couple. In the same vein, my family is very happy but want to also be respectful of the rest of the group's feelings so, as you can see, we will all need the Lord's help and I'm sure, as always, He will give it:)

My Whole World:)

I'm Sorry

Well, yesterday was terrible.  I want to publicly apologize to anyone who was offended by my choice of words because I apparently gave a very wrong impression of my true feelings.  I will be much more careful about what I put on this blog and will certainly think twice about saying anything about anyone again.  Thank you all for your comments.  They were read and pondered.  Now, I hope we can put this matter to rest and all get on with our lives.  I truly am sorry if I hurt anyone. 

Yikes!

Well, so much for thinking I'm writing a harmless little blog about nothing important!  I apparently hit on the hottest hot button I could have and certainly didn't mean to.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that some of the comments I'm getting are from my son's future family-in-law.  I want to go on the record as saying that I am absolutely not ignorant to what they are feeling about this marriage.  I can't possibly know how much this hurts them but I can guess.  THIS is exactly what I was trying to avoid when I tried, all those years ago, to divert these two lovebirds from one another.  I knew something like this could happen if they stayed together so I repeatedly warned them and tried to talk them out of it before it was too late.  It didn't work.  I'm not sure how this is me or my church's fault.  Both of us have been around way longer than my son or his sweetheart.  Before their daughter joined my church her family didn't seem to have a problem with either one of us.  All religious people believe what they believe and it isn't the same thing.  Everyone has the freedom to choose what they will believe.  If someone expresses an interest in what you believe you don't ignore their questions and try to dissuade them from knowing what you know.  I am very sad for the pain that this union is causing some but I can't be sad for my son and his future wife.  I'm not sure how that will benefit anyone.  It's been said that we aren't losing anything but I disagree.  We are losing the chance to have a relationship with a very nice family and I'm not sure why.  I am curious to know what they would do in our place?  I would like some advice on that.