Gifts

In her book God's Guest List, Author Debbie Macomber tells a story she heard many years ago. A Woman died and went to Heaven. She met with many friends and then was taken on a tour of Heaven. She wanted to see every corner. She came to one building ,which had a gold padlock on the door. “I want to see what is in this building,”  she said.

 “Oh that’s not open to the public. There’s nothing in there you want or need.” Her guide replied.

“But I want to see every inch of Heaven.” She complained. So the doors were unlocked and she went inside. There were piles of beautifully wrapped presents from floor to ceiling. “Are these for somebody? Will they be taken to them?”

“No they aren’t for anyone.” He said.

Spying her name on one pile of gifts, she demanded to know why she wasn’t given them.

“We did take them to you,” said her guide, “but you wouldn’t accept them”.

 How many God given gifts may we have lost because we didn’t look for them or accept them when they were offered?

The Book, God’s Guest List tells the reader that God can send people into our lives for a reason. And if we are looking for them as a gift they can enrich our lives in ways we can’t imagine.

Have you ever met someone with whom you have an instant report? It feels like you have known them forever!

 Have you had a stranger come up to you and give you a message that changes your life? Or stops you from something that would hurt you?

Have you had a feeling of wanting to learn something but didn’t try? Maybe it was an opportunity you shouldn’t have turned down—a gift you haven’t unwrapped.

Have you ever been that gift to someone else?

You who are reading this, I consider to be  on my guest list from God and I thank you.

In Alma 26;3 we read …."And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God" …

Appreciate those who love you, Help those who need you, forgive those who hurt you, Forget those who leave you.

  Unknown quote

The Zinnia

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The Zinnia

The zinnia stretched her root

Deep under the cement block

Wedged her leaves between bricks,

And turned to look for God,

Her creator.

With fertile ground inches away

She had landed in the cracks.

Asked to bloom in adversity.

Why? She pleaded, why?

Because I love you so.

I will make you strong.

Joy in Serving

It’s July, and as hot as well, hot as a day in July. I wonder if we could fry eggs on the sidewalk. I heard that expression many times when I was a child and always wanted to try it. My mom wouldn’t let us. Besides wasting an egg it would make an awful mess to clean up.

I think my mom was one of the most influential women in my life. I say one of because I remember things that my Grandmother told me, see the way my sister lives; remember things different teachers have taught and even now hear things my daughter tells me that are having a great effect on my life. What a unique opportunity we women have to influence those around us. Two of the women I met here in Virginia that have had a profound influence on my life have left this week to start new lives on the other side of the world.  I miss them, but I know they will meet and love and be loved by the new sisters they get to know and teach. 

I belong to a woman’s organization, which has had great meaning in my life. Wherever I move, whatever crises erupt in my life, I know I can call for help and empathy  from another woman, a sister, to guide me, to teach me, to comfort me.

This is the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They have become my friends, my family away from home.

Boyd K. Packer wrote about Relief society,” This great circle of sisters will be a protection for each of you and for your families. The Relief society might be likened to a refuge—the place of safety and protection—the sanctuary of ancient times you will be safe within it. It encircles each sister like a protecting wall.”

In the book, Daughters In My Kingdom, I read about a young woman, Bobbie who moved with her family from the United States to Taiwan for six months. Even in this short time, her Taiwanese sisters encircled her in the protective influence of Relief Society. A terrible earthquake shook the country with its epicenter near her home. Within hours the Relief Society president arrived on her bike to make sure Bobbie’s family was all right, and then went to visit each of the other sisters in her ward.

I have felt this security and refuge. I have appreciated it. It has made my life a little easier. I am grateful to the Relief Society president who took my two year old son every day for two hours so I could take care of my ill husband; the one who came and got my ironing when I was in bed with a difficult pregnancy; the one who took me to her quilting group when I was in mourning; the ones who encouraged me in my writing; and the one who helped me to go to the temple by taking me. We have a new president now. I hope you have a chance to get to know her. She’s terrific and just in case—she rides a bike.

What opportunities do you have to serve and nurture those around you?

What women have had an influence in your life.

Hope you are having a lovely summer and that the heat isn’t getting to you.

I'm So Proud!

I got a package today in the mail that made me laugh. It’s nice to have something to laugh about on a hot and steamy day. The first laugh was because the sender’s name was the same one as someone I used to know. The package was from a different Sandy, but it brought back memories of sitting on the porch in the summertime watching the world go by, children playing noisily in the front yard, dogs barking, bees humming. Neighbors walking by, waved and shouted hello. Life was uncomplicated. We were younger then.

The second laugh came when I opened the package and looked at the assortment of quilt blocks. I was excited when I won them on e-bay. I think it’s fun to take things  someone else  had made, and then discarded and change them into a beautiful work of art.. But it can some days be a challenge! I looked at several of the blocks and thought, “What were they thinking? Why would they choose those combination of colors and fabrics?” Other blocks said, “What pattern is that? I don’t know that one.I bet they made it up!"

My third laugh came upon examining the workmanship. No wonder they sold these. The seams don’t match. The edges are crooked. No two blocks are the same size. And selvedges weren’t trimmed. In fact, the blocks looked a lot like the ones I made. How easy it is to be more critical of other’s work than we are of our own. I had to laugh at myself this time.

 What a great tool this would be for teaching a quilting class. “Things Not To Do And Why;” or “Some Color Choices Have More Impact Than Others.” Many times, when I take a quilt class, the teacher shows all her beautiful and perfect quilts. I could never compete with them.

I remember going to the Cocaran Gallery in Washington DC one summer when one of my favorite fabric designers had a show of some of her quilts. Being the only one in the room at the time I examined each quilt closely and read all of the displays and literature about the exhibit. A guard came into the room and proceeded to talk to me about the quilts. He told me things, which were different from what I had just read about the exhibit. I argued and explained that he was wrong, and why. Later, I was out on the bench behind a potted plant, waiting for a ride to come when there was a changing of the guard. The new guy asked, “how’s it going?” The old guy said, “It’s been quiet. But”, he whispered, “watch out for her, she’s a quilter.”

HEAT INDEX 105

Hot hot hot hot

That’s what summer’s for!

Wouldn’t just go for a swim

In the ocean on a whim

If the snow was falling in.

Hot hot hot hot

That’s what summer’s for!

Time for playing on the beach

Catching Frisbees out of reach

Eat a juicy cooling peach.

Hot hot hot hot

That’s what summer’s for

Have some ice cream, lemonade,

Find a park bench in the shade

Find a cool stream, have a wade.

Hot Hot hot hot

Yea! Air conditioner’s working!

In My Garden

I was born to be a gardener.

My mother made sure of that. First she married my father who’s last name was Gardner. Then she planned our home so that wherever we lived our yard was filled with flowers. Some always made their way into the house one way or the other. She used to tell us that, “You’re closer to God in a garden than any place else on earth.”

I remember sitting with my sister on the front porch at my first home, waiting for the mailman. Big hydrangeas, and red Hollyhocks peeked over our shoulders, waiting too.

In my second home we had scrub oak and juniper bushes in the back yard by our swing. We would try to swing high enough to touch our toes to the oak leaves and rustle the purple berries. The front yard was filled with daisies and sweet peas under the porch roof. The small grass covered hill was our playground as we rolled down in the green summer grass and sled in the winter snow. A stand of Aspens gave us a golden carpet to rake and play in as autumn turned to winter with chilly nights and crystal stars watching over us.

Our third home had the most beautiful garden. Dad went down into the canyon behind our house and brought large stones into the back yard making a second terrace lower on the hill beneath the one already there. He made cement stepping-stones so we could walk through the second terrace filled with petunias, pansies and lilacs. At the bottom of the yard were raspberries and roses. Scarlet runner beans ran along the fence adding a touch of bright color and a stern warning not to touch. We never did.  Silver lace vines climbed up the back porch to the second story roof. My sister and I used to climb out the bathroom window and sit hidden behind the vines, spying on whoever dared to enter our yard and the boys next door.

As we grew to be teenagers and the older boys left home we moved to a smaller yard filled with petunias and roses. Giant dinner plate dahlias and gladiolas grew under the bedroom window. A nursery in the state sold my mom a redwood tree to try to grow in the mountains of New Mexico. He didn’t think it would grow, but he didn’t know my mom. A few years ago the towering tree was hit by lightening and had to be cut down. It was a sad day for my dad, a reminder of mom, now both gone.

My mom always told us that plants produce oxygen and cool the atmosphere. It’s our responsibility to  provide for our neighbors.  I’ve taken that challenge and have planted seventy planters on my roof top garden. Breathe well neighbor.

In my garden grow many flowers.

It Isn't Easy Being Green

 

 One of my favorite scriptures is John 13: 34-35

 “A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

This scripture always reminds me of my youngest son. When he was about five years old he came storming into my room crying, “I hate my brother!” I put my arms around him and said, “No, you love your brother. You just hate the things he’s doing to you.”

A short while later I heard the beginning of a lifelong change in attitude that my young son made. From their room I could hear him yelling angrily, “I love you but I hate what you’re doing to me!”

Throughout his life he tried to love people; to be kind; to befriend the friendless and serve those around him. His teachers commented many times on his loving service towards his fellow students and their teachers. When he left on his mission this scripture was the theme for his farewell.

One day he found a tiny jewel box key and asked his grandmother what it was the key to.

She told him it was the key to her heart and told him he could keep it. Anytime he wanted a hug, he would go to his grandmother and say “Tic a lock” and collect his hug. He even shared it with Joey, a little neighbor boy who had just lost his mother. Joey would come over to play and “tic a lock” a hug from her. As my son was leaving for the mission home I gave him a huge hotel room key I had found to remind him to have a big heart and love the people he served in Montana.

I knew a woman, when I was much younger, who would lie in bed every morning until she thought of a way she could show her love to someone that day. She started every day with a commitment to be a disciple of Christ.

For our book club ,one month while I lived in New Mexico  we chose

The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary D. Chapman

The author says that there are five ways people accept love and if we can tell which way they prefer we can show our love more successfully .

Dr. Chapman guides couples in identifying, understanding, and speaking their spouse’s primary love language—quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. I think mine is having my feet rubbed.

What is your primary love language?

What ways do you show your love to those around you?

I wish the people of the world would wake up every morning and think “How can I show my love to someone today” Imagine how our world would change.

Have a beautiful summer.

Just don’t call me Sweetie!