The road to....

Today I learned the road to hell is not paved with good intentions.

Good intentions are a characteristic of the heart and only Jesus Christ and God can know your heart besides yourself.

Everyday of my life is a battle against negativity, the world's influence, and the adversary. In no particular order but each in equal and constant attack on my home, my marriage, my kids and my family.

Today I was wounded.

But most days I win.

So I'll lick my wounds...say my prayers...cry my tears and draft my battle plan for the coming week.

I will never stop serving or be weary in well doing. I will endure to the end and the end is not here.

Time Well Spent

Today is the last day with Granny. I love my granny and so does my family. She hasn't been out to see us in four years. It's been that long since we celebrated a holiday with her either.

In the seven days she's been with us we had Thanksgiving dinner, went to lunch for her birthday (its in Dec) and had Christmas morning with her. It's been kind of busy since she's been here doing all the shopping and stuff. Then yesterday she had a bad night and was tired and lethargic all day.

Because of that we didn't go to church. Our family is very active in our religion and though granny doesn't attend our church she is supportive. However, I felt like it was important to just simply be with her today. She feels better, Sundays are always laid back, and it is her last day as she leaves first thing in the morning. There is a small twinge of guilt that I didn't attend but I love my Savior and he loves my granny. I can tell she's really happy we stayed and are just hanging out for the day.

What about you? Have you ever felt slightly guilty but then decided not to regret it?

Signifigant Sunday: Hyperventilation and Keeping Covenants

So today was a lesson early on for me. I woke up to the realization that the Spirit was trying to tell me last night to plug in my lappy so I would realize that I forgot my laptop cord at the lovely VineArts Open Studio that I attend sometimes with my daughter. (To find out more about them click the name.)
Needless to say I didn't heed that prompting and so this morning when I got up and found that my precious lappy was not only dead but I had no cord to charge it with a small panic attack occurred.

Now most people would say just go buy one or just go get it from where ever you left it. Here's the problem. I made a covenant when I joined my church not to purchase things on Sunday unless absolutely necessary. Kind of like the ox in the mire saying. Meaning that back in the days of pioneers that if an ox got stuck in the mud on Sunday you didn't just leave it there to die cause it's Sunday but then if you could live without it until the next day hold off.

Then there is the respect I have for the friends that are the only ones that can get me into the center. They have worship in the morning then they are having a wonderful event afterwards at the same time my worship service is. Then they are pretty much off all week to celebrate the resurrection of Christ because Easter is next Sunday. So many factors to respect and keep. Like I said panic attack. I work from my laptop.

So anyway long story short I contacted my friends and one was able to help me out without being too put out (I think) then another gave me a laptop cord on a temp basis. Lesson Learned from all this I feel bad that I never took the time to ask in prayer what to do but inside me I was screaming for help and my prayers were answered and like so often they are in the form of friends.

Signifigant Sunday: Bri The Charity Case

I have two photographs in my office...the rest are paintings or prints. One is of my husband and I in 2007 and I'm like 30 lb's smaller. I believe it's the first time he outweighed me. Anyways the other is the one you see to the left. It's of me and 5 other women who went away for a conference one year ago this April.  It's also one of the most significant experiences of my life. Therefore as the one year anniversary looms it needed to go up on Significant Sunday.






Boy what a difference a year can make! In this picture everything I am wearing was either bought for me by someone or was a hand me down. We were so broke that I didn't even have money to buy clothes at the thrift store. My family and I had just moved into a small two bedroom apartment, our oldest son had just got sent away for personal problems, my husband didn't have a steady job and life was pretty bleak. Although I put on a brave face, well more like a joking facade, I spent a lot of time on my knees. So how did I afford to go on a trip to a conference in another state? This is where the charity case part comes up.

I'm approached by two of the women who say do you want to go to The BYU Women's Conference in Provo UT? ( yeah I know I thought BYU was in SLC too) I was elated. It was one of the things I had hoped I could one day do now that I lived closer in ID. Alas I told her I had no money to attend. Her response was there's been a scholarship awarded and your lodging, travel and ticket expenses have been paid.

So me and 5 dear women loaded up in a white Toyata Sienna and headed to Utah. Each of our situations were very different. Economic, financial, social and even familial were all very different. The binding fiber that grounded each of us was a desire to please God, a love for one another and an anthem learned within the doors of many a Relief Society meeting that "Charity Never Faileth."



Going to that conference was like a healing balm to a decaying soul. I'll forever be thankful to those women and that week that taught me to be a Lioness at the Gate. 

Bri

Signifigant Sunday...The Single Mother/Woman at church...Jezebel or Modern Day Widow?

I know .... I know you guys are thinking Not Jezebel!!! Hear me out. As I was deciding what to write this Sunday I was transported back to a time when I was the daughter of a single mother attending a small church. One instance among many was when we moved. When I say we I mean my mother, eight year old brother and I. The only help we received was from my aunt and some neighbors who took pity on us. My aunt Sis is stout as a bull and was great, but imagine two women a teen girl and an eight year old string bean (sorry little brother) are trying to move a couch with a bed in it. Would you stop and help or would you ignore them? If you knew they would need help in advance would you go help them?

In my new church I know that help would be called organized and put to action. The women would be there to help pack, clean, move, and unpack. The men would be there to do all the lifting and moving. Now don't get me wrong the women of that church did have a small house warming party after the move. I'm sure it was spawned from the guilt they felt telling their husband, "I don't want you helping that woman. She's single!" (I got it from a source that was what happened. I'm not speculating.)

Note to those wives in today's society most affairs are likely to happen with people in relationships and often times people you are both acquainted with.

Although Christ didn't say single women or mothers he did say "and the widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor." I think it's safe to assume that the single mother/woman is counted as a widow in the Lord's eyes and should be treated as such. Not a Jezebel or a lesser person. 

Are you a single mother who ever felt this way? Have you received kindness and charity when you needed it? Please share your experiences do it anonymously if you want.

Signifigant Sunday...Taking A Day Off...But Holy Cow I Have a Deadline

As I look out my big bay window at the piling snow and the beauty it's creating I consider the fact that if we still lived in TN where we had to drive 30 minutes to get to church. It would be canceled. Admittedly it's an inviting thought to stay home. It's warm, the house always needs something done and I'm at least 4 chapters behind on my editing goals. If church was canceled I would most likely be able to catch up everything! Alas we live a block from our church in Idaho where snow is a seasonal thing and therefore they are prepared. 


Taking all those things into perspective I pose the question I know you are thinking. "Why are you blogging about editing when you could be doing it now?" I have decided now that writing is apparently my career or job choice if you will that I will refrain from working on Sunday. You have no idea the amount of panic deciding to do that has created. I'm over it now. For years I have counseled my husband not to work on Sunday...to exercise the faith that God has promised to those who are obedient to this commandment. Wow... boy is it harder to do when you are the one who should be doing it. Now do not think that I am judging or even counseling anyone else to do this. It's easier to make this decision when you are self employed.  And in theory if you work outside the home you would get a couple days off a week right? So I will take at least one.


What I won't do on Sunday...

• No shopping

• Don't participate in commercial activities like sports etc. 

 (By not doing these I won't be making people work for me on Sundays)
OK those you who know me know that I already don't do these things. Still I think I deserve a little credit. 

• Not to post marketing posts on Facebook, Twitter or my Blog

• Not to write, edit or even plot! (OK so I'll plot but I won't write it down till Monday)

The things that I will do on Sunday....

• Attend all my church meetings (Yeah Yeah...I deserve credit anyway!)
• Read leisurely.
• Study my scriptures and delight in the words I read.
• Serve my family and others.
• Plan my week out such as meals, appointments etc so I can use my time wisely.
• Have a night where we as a family will stay in and do something just as a family.
• NAP!!!!
•  Write my Significant Sunday posts
• Try to make at least one made from scratch meal for my family. (This one is last for a reason.)

While I will most likely do laundry, dishes or clean a little and some might count that as work I'll just file that under serving my family. 

Do you have a day or time that is sacred to you and your family? If so when and why?

Signifigant Sunday...The First of Many More....

Waking up this morning surfing Facebook and Twitter (like I do every morning) I saw how great the weather was back home, how great Saturday night was and a few ,as it often happens, that pulled at my heart strings. Yesterday I saw one that shared the turmoil a mother was enduring over the loss of an unborn child.  But it was this one that spawned the beginning of SignificantSunday.
 
"Taking the kids to see my Mom today for the last time! This is hard, however they seem fine."

I offered the customary...thinking of you...praying for you comfort comment. Then I stopped and thought of how many times had I really prayed when I said I would. The outcome is shameful to say the least. My prayers usually consisted of rushed thoughts as I went through my day. Taking that into consideration I decided today would be different and hopefully would spur a change. 




From now on when I say "I'm going to pray" for someone the definition will be different. It will consist of not just thoughts but folded hands, hidden knees and genuine heartfelt concern for those that need my love.  Even if my prayer must come later it's value I feel is more significant than a rushed mumbling of words. Now don't get me wrong a prayer in your heart and rushed mumbled words are heard as clearly as any other prayer. Nevertheless, for me...for my friends...I feel a change is in order...a change is deserved.

Whether your prayers are upon an alter, in a mosque, include candles or elaborate rituals the outcome is still the same. If you have a desire to uplift or comfort the afflictions of another or celebrate and praise in joy the blessings that surround the outcome is still the same.

The positivity through love that you have poured out into the universe is not only important, but powerful.






What will you do that's significant today?

Embarrasing Behavoir

So I recently was asked by my Primary President that I stop giving treats to the children on VIP Sunday. VIP Sunday is a positive reinforcement tactic I use for good behavior. My response was defensive and dare I say confrontational. I was having a particularly bad day and after that a bad moment. Let this be a public warning to anyone in the coming years that I will serve under in the church. I am volatile. However I do try to walk away digest and reassess. Which I did and I support my president 100%. We came to a compromise that is obedient and even better perhaps. I see that the task before her is no easy burden to bear. I am actually excited thanks to Gretchen, my ever loyal and tactfully honest, friend who lets me rant and rave even thought I'm usually over dramatic, I see now what the Lord is trying to accomplish. How can we expect the children to listen to the Spirit when they can't even hear it over the sound of candy wrappers. As a convert I was surprised to find out there are no longer lessons for the missionaries to use. It's all done completely by the Spirit. This ultimately forces the missionaries to be better, the parents to work harder. And the great this is they are. They are doing astoundingly well. And as teachers this gives us the opportunity to to be obedient.