Helping Hands

So, once upon a time there was a girl.  This girl wanted to help people.  She loved people, loved to help them when she could in all the ways she knew how.  This girl felt like she wasn't doing the best of it lately, so she prayed that Heavenly Father would show her ways to serve, because she knew that not only does the Lord want us to serve each other, but that when you lose yourself in service, you receive blessings that the Lord wants to bestow on you.  You see, this girl had been in a lot of pain.  She wanted so badly to help out around the house, but she was just in too much pain to do it.  But she was so determined to serve!

She didn't have to wait very long.

As soon as she had decided this, and after receiving a blessing, her pain was lessened just enough.  The next day, her sister got in a motorcycle accident, and this was the day before the girls' parents were leaving town.  Now, typically, this girl is a little squeamish, but let me tell you what, she was able to clean those wounds without even batting an eye! No queasiness whatsoever.  If that isn't the Lord's hand, I don't know what is.  She saw this accident that her sister was in as a great opportunity to serve her sister, getting to take care of her while her parents were away, and immediately thanked her Heavenly Father.

And you know what? Looks like one of her prayers is beginning to be answered right now.

Here's to a loving Heavenly Father who blesses us.  And here's to losing yourself in service.

Time for Prayers

As I drove to work today, which by the way is a great story in and of itself, which I suddenly feel the need to tell, so forget this sentence, here is the work story.

Remember that awesome nanny job I had? Well, they called me again because guess who moved back into town?! That's right! The sweet boys and they're amazing parents! Daddy Shuldberg got a job in Utah, so they moved on back, and anyway, to make a long story short, they needed someone to watch their kids for several hours each day for about a week, so they called me up! It was so much fun to go back and play with those two little boys, and what made it even better was that they both remembered me :) I love my life.

Anyway, so... today I was driving to work.  My car, Antoine, works again.  Just needed a new battery.  I drive with the windows down, which makes it noisy, and since I have no radio and have to use my phone, which doesn't turn up very loud, I don't play music on the way to work most days.  Today I did not.  I simply rolled my windows halfway down, and started praying.  I figured since I had so much time, what better thing to do with my time that chat with my Heavenly Father?

Well, let's be real here for a minute.  I had a lot on my mind lately.  A whole lot.  And what's not making it better is that I have been having a hard time really opening up to my Heavenly Father and just talking to Him like I really should.  I am good about saying my prayers, but lately they haven't been as sincere as I know they need to be.  This makes me sad.  I don't want to fall into that habit! So today, I started praying and just poured out my little soul (it's amazing that I didn't start snifflin' and sputterin' but somehow my nasal passages and tear ducts managed to stay dry)... I am here to tell you that, holy moley, I felt so much lighter.  I didn't even realize that I had felt sooo... not light.  Not that I felt bad or heavy or anything, but there is just something about conversing with your Heavenly Father knowing that He hears your every word and has been waiting for me to talk to Him like I did that just makes you feel all fuzzy and good.

So here's to prayers and answers and comfort and having a Heavenly Father that knows us and loves us. :)

Lent, Lent, Lent

No.  I'm not Catholic.  Yes.  I observe Lent.  For as long as I can remember, my family has done our own little Lent thing.  For those of you who don't know what Lent is, I'll explain it to you.

Traditionally, Lent, in the Christian tradition at least, begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts until Holy Saturday (right before Easter) - forty days (the Sundays in this period don't count, because they represent "mini Easters").  The forty days represent the amount of time (in the bible) that Jesus spent in the desert before his ministry where He was tempted my Satan.  The purpose of Lent is to prepare yourself through prayer, and specifically sacrifice of something, for the commemoration of the death and resurrection of the Savior, or basically, Easter.

The practice of Lent was virtually universal in Christianity until the Protestant reformation in the 1500's.  Some Protestant churches don't observe Lent, but many still do, such as Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Anglicans.

Basically the way we observe Lent in my family isn't really for the reasons I described above.  As the LDS church doesn't observe Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday or Holy Saturday, it's really not for any of these reasons that my family does Lent.  The reason we do Lent is because it's a good opportunity to take something out of your life that you don't need or that is taking time and energy away from something better that you could be doing.  One year, my mom gave up soap operas, and since then, she's been soap opera free! Silly, I know, but that's just an example.

So this year, dear readers, for Lent, I am giving up two things: not running, and sugar.

That means I'm not eating sugar, and I'm going to run.  I know, worded strange, but... it works...

And for those of you thinking "why would you give up sugar, it's not like you eat it all the time anyway..." I tell you, this statement may be true, but it's more of a motivation to get me TO run.  I know the healthier I eat (even if it seems ridiculous to some of you) the more motivated I will be to run five days a week.  I know myself and how I think and how I work, trust me, it must be done.

And so, I shall blog about my Lent journey.  Frustrations, progress, but not my failures, because there will be NO failures.  Gosh dang it!

So gear up, I'ma be a cross country runner before long.  Shazam.

Peace.

Blog Challenge: Day 29

Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyper, mad:

Well... this is tough, but I'll do my best!

Happy

Enough - Tyrone Wells

Take It Home - The White Tie Affair

I Could Get Used To This - The Veronicas

Australia - The Shins

So Obvious - Runner Runner

Starlight - Muse

How Do You Sleep - Jesse McCartney

Sad

Never Alone - Lady Antebellum
Before We Say Goodbye - Shannon Noll

Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles

How - Maroon 5

Blame It On The Rain - He Is We

Dancing With Tears In My Eyes - Kesha

Not Your Enemy - Jesse McCartney

Bored

Girl Inform Me - The Shins

Trouble - NeverSoutNever!

Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson

I Can't Lie - Maroon 5

Walking The Dog - Fun

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Kids/Time To Pretend - MGMT

Hyper

Until You're Over Me - Maroon 5

Everything Is Alright - Motion City Soundtrack

Five Minutes To Midnight - Boys Like Girls

Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone) - Forever The Sickest Kids

Eenie Meenie - Justin Bieber

All I Ever Wanted - Bass Hunter

Lookin' For A Good Time - Lady Antebellum

Mad

If I Can't Have You - Kelly Clarkson

Acting Out - Ashley Tisdale

Not Afraid - Eminem

Cowboy Cassanova - Carrie Underwood

Hate On Me - Glee Cast

Whyyouwannabringmedown - Kelly Clarkson

If I Never See Your Face Again - Maroon 5

Rise Above!!

A good friend gave me some advice.  Actually, he gives me this advice almost every time we talk.  His words of wisdom, though its turned into our inside joke, are some that we could all take to heart!

"Rise above it!" is what he tells me. 

What is that one thing you need to rise above? Bad habit? Surroundings? It's easy to feel like you have no control sometimes, but don't you even begin to believe that you have no control over anything! Nothing could be further from the truth.

My mom is a very smart person.  She has always told me that you can't control what anyone else does, you can't control how they treat you, and sometimes you can't control what happens to you.  The one thing you can control, however, is yourself!! Your attitude is forever under your control.  Your attitude, your reactions, and your thoughts are things that you, and you alone can control.

I was blessed enough to have attended an institute class where one of my teachers actually gave a lesson on the exact thing my mom had been teaching me my whole life.  See, awesome lady, huh? :) but the lesson was incredible! The teacher went on to explain how because we have control over our thoughts, actions/reactions, and attitude, we have the power to stay happy and positive despite the bad things that happen!

I know its easy to let life get you down.  It's so easy to forget the real reason we're here.  It's easy to get jealous, be bitter, be angry, jealous, sad, unhappy, spiteful... we are human, and God knows that! But we aren't here to be content with being human, we are here to learn how to return to our Father in Heaven! So rise above those blues that Satan wants so badly to bring you down, and find happiness in the gospel! Remember Christ, remember the real reason you're here and forget the world.  Forget yourself, and focus on lifting others and bringing them closer to Christ. I promise, you'll find happiness and be able to rise above the blues!

I'm thinking... I'm thinking...

My thoughts are racing, and these are the contenders:

Last night, I had a dream about a friend of mine from a few years ago.  There's no reason I should dream about this friend, and yet I did.  It was cold and wintry outside and he lived in a basement.  Last night was weird.

The kitchen currently smells like Brick Oven Pizza... my mom made lasagna and it smells like heeeaaaaven!

I'm wearing a hat on my head.  It's a cute hat.  I don't wear hats very often because I never thought I had much of a hat face.  I sure showed myself!

It was 58 degrees today! Spring is coming! Life is GOOD!

I miss Provo.  I miss everyone in Provo.  I miss the Brownstone.  I do not miss having only one roommate that was never there, though... but I did like having my own room and having so much space!

My car needs a battery hose... do I know how to fix this? No, no I do not.

Twitter.  Why did I wait until after my mom got a twitter account to get one of my own? I'm still trying to figure this one out.

My legs hurt sooo goood right now.  Thank you P90X for making stairs a very scary thing!

I slept for 11 hours last night.  I slept for 11 hours last night.... I SLEPT FOR 11 HOURS LAST NIGHT!!!! :D :D :D :D

I painted my nails orange.  I don't really like orange... I like painting my nails orange.

My mom and I walked past the coffee section in Winco and I realized at that moment I probably needed to get some coffee scented candles, or coffee scented laundry detergent or something like that.  I. Love. That. Smell.

Who's disgustingly bright idea was it to invent Breast Milk Ice Cream? Seriously?!?! Whoever the brain child was didn't think about the potential health risks involved... not to mention, how did anyone find this appetizing?? Pretty sure we only breast feed for such a short amount of time for a reason, people.  Gaahhh.

It's so awesome not being sick anymore, but after so long, it's like people forgot I exist! I gots to figure out a way to fill my weekends again!

These are my thoughts.

Cheerio!