Monday Message of Hope

We thank thee O God for a prophet
to guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
to lighten our minds with it's rays!
We thank thee for every blessing
bestowed by thy bounteous hand.
We feel it a pleasure to serve thee,
and love to obey thy command.

I woke up this morning with this hymn running through my head, a wonderful way to start off the week. We celebrated our Autumn General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and were blessed to be spiritually fed by men and women of courage and fortitude, faith and love. So I share in part, the message of hope, that He lives and is real and loves us. May we all have a song in our hearts today!

Families can be forever.....

 As I watched my son and grandson playing on our recent visit to Arizona, I kept thinking about how quickly time goes by and how fast this time was going to pass. My heart ached for the shortness of our visit and the way we were cheated out of half of our time with Emmett, but we did have some time with him and I will always cherish the moments. To be able to watch them running, exploring, reading and laughing together was the best gift I could ever hope for. For me, I've already had my Christmas wish granted in part. This was a birthday present for my son, and I'm so glad for the time we all had together. I love my grandson so much that I was willing to work to help pay for us to go see him. Emmett needs his daddy. He needs to know his daddy loves him and unfortunately they have been kept apart. Not having ever known my real father, I want to make sure Emmett knows his daddy and how much his daddy loves him.

It occurred to me while watching them that we won't have to worry about time the same way in the hereafter. We won't have to hurry to get through a task in order to have the time with those we care about, we won't have to worry about distances separating us, or money to get to where they are. For me, flying won't be an issue anymore. ;-) How nice will that be?! How wonderful to be able to talk to, walk with, play with, work with and be with those whom are near and dear to us when ever we want. What a precious gift!
Do you believe there's life after death? I hope so. I hope you know how much you are loved, and that there is hope in Christ. I hope you know that he has something so wonderful, so precious, so great that he was willing to die for us to have it. Families ARE forever you know......

Saying Goodbye - a fresh look.....

       I've never really thought much about the word goodbye, except that it can be painful to say sometimes. I was reading the last page of the Church News today and found some information that made goodbye a more meaningful word and one I will think on with a different perspective.
       Did you know that the word goodbye comes from an expression used in the 16th century, a contraction of the phrase "God be with ye." Other languages have done a similar change in their parting words. For instance the French, adieu, means "to God", which is a shortened form of a dieu (vous) commant, meaning "I commend you to God". In Spanish it's adios, in Portuguese adeus, in Italian it's addio. A more formal form in Spanish is vaya con Dios, meaning "go with God", English is Godspeed. 
     Gives a whole new meaning to saying goodbye doesn't it? You are sending someone out with God's blessing which is a sweeter, more loving and reassuring way to say goodbye don't you think?

We will miss you little boy....

It was such a hard week last week! Bryan left for Portland so we helped Emmett and his mommy get ready for their move to Arizona. Emmett has been such a huge part of our lives for 2 and a half years. He's brought laughter, joy, amazement, wonder and love by the bucketfuls. If I've been remiss in keeping up with my blog posting it's been because we haven't quite known how to deal with the breakup of his parents and the moves. I see pieces of Emmett all over the place, from his alphabet magnets on the fridge to the beach ball in our bedroom. He left his binky, so I had to throw it away. Oh Emmett, we are praying for a miracle for you! Don't forget the prayer you and grandpa said on the corner the other night. Don't forget to pray. We love you so much!

Greyson's Gift

I originally wanted to share a recipe and some reflections with you today, but decided this was far more important. Earlier this year a dear friend's daughter lost a baby. The mommy, Meryntha, has turned her heartache into a positive though by starting a volunteer project to make preemie blankets for hospitals. Please visit Meryntha's site and see how you can help. If you can sew you can do this! Thank you! http://greysonsgift.blogspot.com