A Lullaby Fit For Eternity

The other day I was listening to the song 'Lullaby' by the Dixie Chicks. Here's a video if you want to listen.

I have talked about this song before and how much I love it. I don't think there is a better lullaby in all the world. It speaks as if from my own heart. When I was listening to it the other day it struck me in a way it never had before. Specifically the chorus lyrics:

"How long do you wanna be loved? Is forever enough? Is forever enough?
How long do you wanna be loved? Is forever enough? 'Cause I'm never, never giving you up."

Not surprisingly, I always think of my children when I listen to this song. As I thought about them this time I thought about the eternal perspective that I have as I listen to those words. Forever means something different to me than it does to many others because of my beliefs about eternal families. I believe that because I was sealed to my family by proper authority in the Temple of God, my family will be mine long after death. Forever, to me, does not mean until this life is over. It is eternity; Time without limits.

What an amazing blessing it is to look into those precious little faces and know that they are mine forever. They will always be mine. I never have to give them up, not even to death! It gives this song a different perspective, and makes me grateful for the amazing blessings that I have been given.

If you are not familiar with my views on eternal families and/or would like to learn more, you can read a short article here or you can click on the 'I'm A Mormon' button at the top of my blog.

Good...Great...And Beyond.....

Last week was my birthday.

It was stupendous!

I got to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants (The Olive Garden, MMMMM.....) with my entire family! (Which hasn't happened in a very long time.)

And

My sweet sister gave me.....

THIS.......

I have no words.....

Emergency Essentials Food Storage Giveaway

 Here is the add from the website:

Traditional 2000^TM Year Supply Giveaway

This supply includes baking and cooking essentials, providing the versatility for cooking your own meals. It also includes fruits and vegetables, milk, garden seeds and more.

• Approximately 2000 calories per day for 375 days
• 126 - #10 cans total
• 120 dehydrated and 6 freeze-dried
• 64 different varieties

How to Enter:

1. "Like" us on facebook. Send an email to social@beprepared.com with "Traditional 2000 Giveaway" in the subject line and let us know that you are one of our fans on facebook. If you already "Like" us, send us an email and let us know. Click here to go to our facebook page.

Bonus Entries:

1. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and receive an automatic bonus entry. If you already subscribe to our YouTube channel, you will receive an automatic bonus entry. Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
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3. Sign up to receive our email newsletters on the top center of this page. After signing up, send an email to social@beprepared.com with "Newsletter Bonus Entry" in the subject line and let us know that you signed up. If you already receive our email newsletters, send an email to social@beprepared.com with "Newsletter Bonus Entry" in the subject line and let us know that you already receive the newsletters.
4. Share this giveaway with your friends (on facebook, on your blog or website, send them an email, etc.) and receive an additional 5 bonus entries. After sharing, send an email to social@beprepared.com with "Share Bonus Entries" in the subject line and let us know how you shared.

Winner:
In conjunction with National Preparedness Month, the winner will be posted on our blog, Preparedness Pantry, during the month of September 2011. The winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries.
All entries will be verified. We welcome emails and entries from everyone; however, free shipping of the Traditional 2000 Year Supply is included for the winner to the 48 contiguous United States only. For any locations outside this area, the winner is responsible for arranging and paying their own shipping costs. If you purchase a Traditional 2000 Year Supply during the giveaway and win, we will send you an additional supply or issue you a refund for the supply you purchased - whichever you prefer.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
Your entries are going to Emergency Essentials and not to Facebook.
Facebook is in no way responsible for any part of this giveaway.

The Old Violin

"Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But held it up with a smile:

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”

“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two?

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three—” But no,

From the room, far back, a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

 

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”

And he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?

Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,

And going, and gone!” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

“We do not quite understand

What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:

“The touch of a master’s hand.”

 

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,

Much like the old violin.

A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,

A game—and he travels on.

He’s “going” once, and “going” twice,

He’s “going” and almost “gone.”

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.^"

^{This poem was shared at a session of our Stake Conference this weekend. It spoke volumes to me. I have seen with my own eyes the difference that can be made in a person with the touch of The Master's hand. I know how much those souls are worth.....how precious they are to me.....and how grateful I am that the world gets to hear the pure and sweet melody that they have to share.}

^{If you would like to read an article by President Boyd K. Packer that this poem is shared in, you can click here.}

Party In The House!

Yesterday I helped throw a party for my 2 adorable little nieces, who turned nine years old this week. My totally awesome sister planned a 'Candyland' themed party. The kids had to defeat a number of challenges to defeat the evil Jalapeno Pepper and get back to the castle! I got to be Queen Candy and, of course, anything that allows me to be Queen I'm all in for! My sister is very creative and came up with some really fun games and it was completed with a hotdog barbeque and a Candyland cake, topped with all sorts of candy, of course. The kids had a fantastic time! I would say the party was a success!

I'm thinking it would be fun to have a themed party like that for my birthday. How come the kids always get to have all of the fun? Any theme would do...Chocolate...Harry Potter...Twilight...The color yellow...Crazy hair...Crazy clothes...whatever! I think we adults sometimes need an excuse to just let it go and remember what it's like to be a kid....you know, when the worst thing that ever happened to you was that your best friend wanted to play barbies when you wanted to play house, and you were mad at each other for 5 whole minutes! Wasn't that the worst? Or your mom wouldn't let you have that 4th scoop of ice cream! She was soooo mean!... And the simplest things in the world brought numerous moments of joy...like playing with boxes, or running in circles, or giggling because someone said a gross word (poop...sshhh), or going down a slide and really conquering it by climbing back up.....

Ahhh...those were the days...

Dream A Little Dream.....

One night last week Emma came into my room upset about a bad dream she'd had. We talked about it for a bit and she decided to watch a movie instead of going back to sleep and she later fell asleep on the couch. The next night as we were getting everyone into bed Emma started crying. She didn't want to go to sleep. She was scared that she would have a bad dream. We ended up having a very interesting discussion.

Every night during our family prayers my girls make a point to pray for good dreams. We discussed bad dreams when they were very small and how they could ask Heavenly Father to help them sleep good without having any bad dreams. A lot of times this helped them. Emma said she had prayed for good dreams and help sleeping and it didn't work. She was confused about why her prayers weren't working. I explained to her that almost everything that happens to us in life gives us the opportunity to learn something. Sometimes Heavenly Father allows them to happen so that we can have that learning experience. I asked her what she thought she could learn from the bad dream she'd had the previous night. Together we came up with a few ideas. We decided our dreams could teach us what's real and what's not real, what is important and what is not important, what is good and what is bad, and how we can react in a situation that might be scary. I'm sure there are other things our dreams might teach us, but that was our list.

This seemed to make sense to her and she seemed a bit calmer, but she still did not want to go to bed. She was still scared of her dreams. Then and idea popped into my head. I told her to think of her dreams like they were a movie or a book...an interesting story that she could watch in her sleep. Doesn't that sound fun? Sure, some movies are scary. She thinks Harry Potter is scary, but she still likes to watch it because it's a good story and it's interesting. I told her that her dreams could be like Harry Potter. She could pay attention to the story, and maybe she'd be scared for a minute...but she would know it's not real and that it's part of an interesting story.

This brought us to the idea of making a dream journal. I told Emma that she could look forward to her dreams, good or bad, she could watch and enjoy the 'movie' in her sleep. Then when she woke up she could write her dreams down in a dream journal and turn them into stories that she could share with other people. We talked about Twilight (one of my favorites), and how the author came up with the story and characters in a dream, then she wrote it down and turned it into books. Emma  thought that was pretty cool, and the idea of keeping a dream journal became exciting to her. She went to bed after that without any problems. The next morning I asked her if she'd had any dreams, and she hadn't. She actually seemed disappointed. But over the next couple of days she started her day by writing her dreams down.

This morning I woke up from a very strange and vivid dream. I decided to write it down before I forgot it. It really seemed like something that could make a good book one day. Maybe one day I'll pretend I am talented enough and have a good enough imagination to fill in the blanks and I will try to make it into a real story. Who knows...Emma came into my room as I was writing. She had just finished writing down her dream and so we sat together on my bed and read our dream stories to each other. It was a really sweet moment, and I love hearing the things that go through her mind! She is a funny little girl! She is also very smart and very observant.

I think the dream journal was a good idea. I'm sure we will have many entertaining mornings going over the stories that serenade us in our sleep.

(*By the way, Emma's dream last night had to do with an old lady riding down the street in one of those motorized shopping carts looking for Coke and waffles! Hahahaha! It made me laugh!)

I See a Blockage In My Future....

You may or may not know that I have written a children's book. I sent it into a publisher some time ago, but have not heard back from them yet. These things take time, and I am in no hurry. I definitely don't expect to be some big-time author or anything. I just think it would be nice to have a book on our shelf that my children can read, knowing that it was written specifically for them by their mother. I want it to have bright, exciting pictures and make them laugh and bounce and have fun!

Anyway, I suffer from writer's block quite often. That book took me 2 years to complete. Before I finished it I started on an idea for a second book. I've been throwing around ideas for the second book for about a year, but have only managed to write down a few actual sentences. The other night I felt a sudden urge to really put some genuine effort into finishing that book. So, now comes the hard part....

Making my brain think about what I want it to think about, rather than the random nonsense that fills it on a regular basis.

Sometimes my imagination just stalls. I wish I could remember the types of things I used to think about as a child. Thankfully, I have my own children to observe and learn from.

Even though writer's block will likely be a struggle...I enjoy writing. That's why I do it. Eventually I'll finish the book, and published or not, I will be happy with it - and hopefully my kids will too!

On to the challenge!!!