Making a Little Christmas Magic

While decking the halls and making the yule tide gay may not have similar meanings as originally intended there are some traditions that have survived, many that have changed, and many that have improved. As far back as I can remember there has been a tree that much I am certain. The tree has always been a pine tree; including several species of pine (Douglas Fir, Blue Spruce, Grand, Noble, etc) as well as appearance of said tree; short, tall, thin, fat, real, or live was a matter of preference. For my family when I was younger it was always a tall noble not too thin, and not too thick (gaps were acceptable). Today not much has changed for my own family; not too tall of a noble, not too thin, and not too thick (gaps are still acceptable). The change is in how the tree is harvested for years it was a tree lot; today in Oregon there are many U-cut lots and so we have started a new tradition in cutting our own tree. Next we move on to the lights; another grand tradition that has been around for as long as I can remember. A Christmas Tree was always covered in as many colored jeweled lights as possible in my earlier years. Lighting the tree always presented a challenge as hours were spent plugging in and trying to find the one bulb that caused the whole strand not to work; this of course was my job that I found exciting, challenging, and rewarding. Today our tree poses with a single color of white lights, and if a strand does not work it is thrown out and a new strand is bought; simplicity. After the lights the younger years showed strands and strands of tinsel in colors of red, green, silver, and gold. Today our tree is bare of such propaganda and poses no such garland. The decorations of years past were bulbs of glass or silk with larger bulbs adorning the bottom; as they ascended up the tree the size of the bulbs shrunk. Today there are but few bulbs on the tree and each ornament is a representation of our family and Christmases past. Finally the star on Christmas past was a spherical pointer that in no way resembled a star. Today our tree gracefully displays a simple five point star on top that is not lit. While the Christmas of years past have not changed much in the way of decorations; it was something I had to learn to accept. I think the hardest thing I had to come to accept was the loss of the tinsel and many colored lights. This was one my dads and therefore one of my favorite things. Our tree was so heavy laden with tinsel our tree could have shown without the lights. When I was first married to my beloved wife I was soon made aware that colored lights were out and tinsel was so 70's that it will never fly in this home. This was hard for me because tinsel and lights had become so much of Christmas that I did not realize what Christmas really was. Christmas is what you make of it for those you love; and this I mistook for tinsel and lights. Christmas to my dad was the happiest time of the year and he shared it with his family with bright lights and brighter tinsel. In many ways I am sure it was a small reflection of his childhood days. Christmas is about giving and taking, sharing and loving. Together with my wife we have created a Christmas that is a reflection of both of our childhoods as well as a reflection of us together. We have created some new traditions and have enjoyed many old traditions as well; we hope one day these will pass on through our children a reflection of us and what Christmas was in our home. I have come to know Christmas is so much more than tinsel and lights; as the true meaning rests in the birth of a humble child. This my father knew well and passed on to his children of which is now my responsibility to pass on to my children. Making Christmas fun helps to bring out the wonderful and true spirit of Christmas of giving and receiving love; taking a page from the one whose life we celebrate every December 25. I look with happiness at my green tree with white lights and no garland because I know that it is not the lights and the tinsel that makes the Christmas; but in the light of the eyes of your children that shines the true meaning.

We Choose Everyday whether or not to Live...

The word "live" reminds me of a conversation I had with my now beautiful wife Tiffany. We stayed up talking for hours on the responsibility of the partnership between a man and a woman. At one point in the conversation it turned to the ultimate show of love between two people; it was suggested that dying for someone has been the pinnacle of love for ages. After much thought on the matter we decided living for someone took more courage and showed more love than even dying. While it takes a lot of courage to die for someone and it does prove an ultimate sacrifice; living can be more difficult and harder to face at times. This became our theme and it was no surprise the "I will live for you" slogan surfaced on her wedding ring. To live is a choice we make every morning when we arise and every evening when we turn in. I now look at dying as not just the end of our physical life, but of our mental as well as our emotional life. Quiting or letting life control you is a means of dying and letting go. How we face life's challenges, whether to pursue or hold back on dreams, and the decisions that influence our lives brings us to the position of where we stand today. Every choice we have made in our life has put us exactly where we are currently. Continuing to make the same choices over and over will put us in an eternal circle which will spiral until we are no longer in control of our character. Shake things up a bit by choosing to live life to its fullest; look for the good life has to offer and reach for it. Take the challenges head on and let them teach and inspire you to improve daily; this will lead you to dream bigger, experience more, and overcome anything. Life is not about being led around and drifting aimlessly like a raft at sea. Life is about creating waves, changing your sails when the wind changes, and causing a little turbulence in your life. Life was meant to be experienced; it was not meant to be endured. Make a choice, decide where you want to go and find a way to do it. When given a choice between living and dying I choose to live every time...

If I could eat lunch with one

As I reflect on this subject I wonder how I could possibly fit just one person into my life that has more and means more to me than any other that I would consider them over another. The worldly side of me chooses the usual people I think most would want to invite; famous people and people with power such as Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, Brad Paisley, Bill Gates, the President, etc. Then of course there is the religious side of me that chooses people such as the savior, prophets past and present, etc. While all of these are great ideas and would make for some great (and interesting) conversation I don't think I would follow this generalized pattern (even if Jessica Alba would have lunch with me). Some of the greatest people I know I am related to and some have even passed on; it is within this group I would make my choice. My dad passed away 10 years ago this December; I have missed him and his guidance tremendously and lunch with him would be both wonderful and welcomed. My mother lives over 800 miles away and lunch with her would be pleasant and delightful. My brothers are always fun to be around and make for a great time. My sisters are sweet and the company couldn't be better. With all of these choices however I must choose one and every time I am given a choice I choose my wonderful, beautiful wife. I know I get to go out with her all the time and I am with her everyday. We even have a special day (Thursday) we go out on a date once a week. She is my eternal companion who I love and who I want to be with forever. She completes me and my life and I put her above all others. Given a choice I will choose her always; this doesn't mean I would not love an opportunity to have lunch with the aforementioned people it just means if I have but one choice I choose her in my life every time.

Moderately Heavy to Comfortably Full

I guess you could take the word full and run with it in several areas such as full of @!#$#, or full tank of gas, no longer hungry, the house is full, and on and on and on... I would like to change the direction of full and compare it to our lives. When we come to this earth we have nothing and we are empty and ready to take on and experience everything life has to offer. As we grow we learn to walk, talk, read, etc. and this adds to our experience or our fullness. When we become teenagers we feel we are full and know all we need and send us out to the world; by the time we get into the world we realize we haven't even scratched the surface. In fact the older we get we realize the more we have been running on empty and how much we must catch up to try to fill our experiences. We work more, read more, play more, learn more, and still we can't fill up our fullness. This is life; we can not fill up our fullness nor can we expect to run out of things to learn and experience, otherwise we would shrivel up and become raisins. Most people that retire I believe leave this life early because they stopped trying to fill their fullness meter and gave up on life and its experiences. We must understand and know that we will never fill our fullness meter as its capacity rises as we learn; if we choose not to learn it drops along with our knowledge. We must be engaged in continuous learning and growing; we must press forward with a desire to gain all life has to offer. Did you know people can not take experiences and knowledge from you? Grab life by the horns, take control of your destiny, find the happiness along the way that will continually push your fullness meter up. In life you may get tired, you may get tied up, you can even get fed up, but you will never truly be full...

These are a few of my favorite... uh... Sounds?

When I was a child one of my favorite sounds was putting a sea shell to my ear and listening to the ocean; I guess not much has changed I still love the sound of the ocean however I prefer the live version versus the prerecorded Sunny (Sony) Seashell method. As I have grown I discovered many wonderful noises; the outdoors, a coyote howling in the distance (not as cute when it's right outside your trailer), the sound of a river even if it's a babbling brook, crunching snow underneath your feet, the wonderful sound of a fishing reel as a fish is pulling line out.... Okay put anything outdoors and I am in listening heaven. Sounds I enjoy on a daily basis are closer to home and bring more meaning to my heart; when I come home from work and my kids come screaming "daddy" and grab my leg, and even better still when my children tell me they love me. The sound of my beautiful wife's voice makes me calm and always brings a smile to my face; brings truth to the lyrics "there is beauty all around when there's love at home". There is no happier sound then peace at home and in the heart; you can not beat the calmness of the heart and the quiet solitude of love. Whether we hear sounds, or whether we live in a world of silence; peace is an amazing sound that stirs the soul. Two people that brought peace in my life will always be an influence to me; I still love to hear my mother say "Chaddy how are you doing pal"? and I will miss how my dad would call me "Chaddy Buck". I do know that sounds are connected to feelings and when a sound has true meaning we feel it deep within us and we are not just hearing we are experiencing.... this crazy, wonderful, emotional, absolutely amazing life.

Nicholas Handle AKA Nicknames

There sure are a lot of names out there that do not belong to people or that did not originally start out with the person they are now attached. Have you also noticed a nickname that is okay for one person to call you may not be appropriate for others. For example my dad called me chaddy buck and sometimes just buck; now my friends called me buck and that was acceptable, however when a cute girl called me chaddy buck I didn't think that was cool because I figured she was treating me as a little kid. My mother called me several names and I am sure more that I never heard. Chaddy is one of her most used; and then of course there is dear and precious all those manly names you grow up with. I have been called chaddy waddy doodle all the day, cheddar, the chad, little foot (long story), hewy, pumpkin bum (my sweet wife), and several other just as embarrassing names my wife can come up with. Her current favorite is idiot. I like a dog will answer to pretty much any of them, it pretty much just depends on the tone of the voice calling me. Of course if there weren't any nicknames I don't think most of us would be called anything at all.

Delighted, Delectable, and Delicious

You say the word delight and I think of the song "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama, or the new delight sauce by Papa Murphy's (Delicious). Of course delight is to be happy or surprisingly pleased. It almost sounds as if delighted is a word that was created by a wealthy land owner that did not want to commune with the commoner and created his own vocabulary to prove he was better. However it came about it has stuck through the years and I am sure we will see a lot more of it. When I think of delighted I think not of a person who is happy, but of someone who was expecting to be disappointed and by some stroke of luck was "delighted" by the outcome. I don't know if I have ever been delighted by that definition except perhaps by a movie I didn't want to watch and by some force of hand watched it and was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it. I think to be delighted is to always find yourself surprised to experience happiness; perhaps instead of being delighted we can find ourselves deliriously happy and always expecting to find happiness. Then again perhaps being delighted is always finding everything to be pleasing and I am just delighted to have finished this post.

Where I live there are rainbows...

So now I am writing according to two sources. One the word of the week and two the challenge of the week put forth by my beautiful wife. "If I know what is good for me I will participate" actually my wife did not threaten me, but I know when I am highly encouraged. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of where I live is a song I learned when I lived in Hawaii called the Hawaiian Lullaby. "Where I live there are rainbows with life in the laughter of morning and starry nights. Where I live there are rainbows and flowers full of color and birds filled with song. I can smile when it's raining and touch the warmth of the sun I hear children laughing in this place that I love. Where I live there are rainbows with life in the laughter of morning and starry nights". I learned this in kindergarten and never have forgotten it. I guess where you live and how you view it depends on your attitude and perspective of it. Of course I lived in Hawaii where there were rainbows, children laughing, birds filled with song, beautiful flowers, and starry nights. I was a child then, but I believe children understand this no matter where they live. Is this why our childhood holds such fond memories because of how we perceived our lives then as to now? We must not forget that marvelous spirit of youth that teaches us no matter what, there are flowers that bloom, rainbows after every storm, crystal starry nights, and yes children laughing. "There is beauty all around when there's love at home"; this is the staple to happiness and finding joy in your surroundings. Where I live now does not matter as much as what I do now to make where I live now as happy and full of life as when I was in my youth. Take in the little things that make each moment special. Do not overlook the beauty God has created in any and every form. Just as each person has a special unique quality about them; so does each place of residence and every corner of earth. Enjoy the wonders that make your home special; a smiling face, a beautiful rose, a quiet brook, a field of grain, rugged mountains, the ocean, a forest, a desert, and I could go on and on. As children we see these things and explore them to try to learn and understand them. Once adults we either think we know enough or we no longer care to learn. Take advice from a child and feel a rose for the first time, pick up a rock to study its beauty, collect a leaf and place it in a book, play in the dirt or get muddy, take chances, and don't be afraid to dream. There are endless possibilities to what you can find in your own backyard; use a little imagination. I hear "life in the laughter of morning" and I know this is where I live...

Believe

What do I believe? I believe the 13 Articles of Faith the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints puts out. I believe there are angels among us (and not just an Alabama song). I believe we create our lives and we decide how we are going to live. I believe Topher can climb anything he wants and Bekah can get anything she wants. I believe Zach can accomplish what ever he sets his mind too and Ryeleigh (as sweet as she is) isn't as sweet as she is. I believe my wife Tiffany is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I believe I have the greatest brothers and sisters in the world. I believe my parents to be perfect and anyone who tells me otherwise will get an earful. I believe simplicity is key to happiness and knowledge is key to understanding and salvation. I believe I can be a whole lot better than I am but I know I am pretty good. I believe I have a lot to learn, but I also know I have learned a lot. I guess I could go on forever on this subject; perhaps write a book about what I believe. Belief is something you do, and it is something you feel. To have a belief is not just to have faith in something it is to know for yourself that it is real; it is that inner connection into your spirit that attaches you to the world around you. I believe alcohol is bad; have I had it? No, but I have seen the results of it in the lives of people around me. I don't have to try, use, or even participate in something to know if it is something I will put my beliefs in; that is the beauty of believing. I believe in God because I know this world did not just explode into existence. These are my beliefs and no one can take them from me; they are mine, I may share them but they always stay with me. Sometimes believing in something is all you have in your life and it is that belief that will carry you through until you are able to gather more legs to stand upon. Hold on to your beliefs; share them with whom you will, do not let them fall by the way side. No one else has your exact beliefs; yes there are similar beliefs out there, but none quite to your specifications. You are unique, you are special, and you created these beliefs. Take control of your life and start believing more, find people, places, and ideas to believe in. Use these beliefs to create more and soon we will become a believing people. People can change all we need to do is believe....

Gone

It is kind of funny, but when I hear the word gone I think of the song by Willie Nelson "To all the girls I've loved before...". Better yet perhaps I think of the things I use to have when I was younger and no longer possess (Jeep, truck, youth, energy, time, carefree, no bills). Maybe I miss my vast knowledge and wisdom I knew I had when I was younger and now I can't seem to find. Perhaps greatest of all things gone is the man I wanted to be when I grew up, my Dad. There was the man I idolized as a child, the man I thought walked on water, and the man who always had time to sit me down and ask how my day was. He always had the right thing to say even if it was wrong it was what I needed to hear and I knew he was always telling me the truth. He could get me out of a jam and was always there to catch me when I started to fall. He never tired as he slept maybe four hours a day due to his work around the world. No matter what his mood his phrase which became mine was "I am fine" when asked how he was even if he was sick in bed. This was the man I knew would never die and would always be around to get me out of a tight spot. We were living on a tropical island as a family and my dad was a man who started out successful in everything he set out to do; we were living the dream and a prophet of God told him to take his family home to Utah. My dad without hesitation picked up and moved back; from there on my dad struggeled to keep his family fed, the bills paid, and his work successful. We never went without food, we had all a family could hope for; we just never flourished as we did on that island. My dad never regretted that decision and never showed a doubt in his heart. I have seen and been part of miracles because of my dad and his priesthood blessings; I have heard stories of many people who knew him of his kindness and giving nature. Let me tell you of a story of a 16 year old boy who thought the world revolved around his dad and how he came to appreciate how his dad didn't revolve around the world. Remember the truck I mentioned earlier? Oh how I longed to drive that truck; it was a 79' Ford F250 extended cab long bed with Automatic transmission, four wheel drive, air conditioning and a 400. Oh I loved that truck and there was one problem, my dad kept a camper on that truck; he did this for two reasons, one to keep his kids from driving it and two so it wouldn't get ruined and he could use it to go camping or hunting with his boys. I begged and pleaded for weeks and weeks to get him to take the camper off so I could drive it and he did; for some reason he thought I was more responsible than his other boys? (I doubt it) The camper was off for maybe a week and it happened; June 08, 1989 (I remember this day because it was my sisters birthday and the day of my brothers wedding) I wrecked my fathers truck; totaled it. I couldn't believe it I was uninjured, but thought I was doomed to be killed as I destroyed the one worldly possession I knew my father cared about. Little did I know how great my father truly was and how wrong I was; my father grabbed me and held me tight and held up my hand and said that little pinky right there is more important to me than that whole truck. I couldn't believe it that was all that was said to me about the matter and the subject was closed. I love my dad and this year on December 02, marks the tenth year since his passing. I know I can never live up to his greatness and I have so much to learn to even compare to his knowledge of religious as well as business matters, but I know that his being gone has changed my life. I have learned I do not know everything, but I can find the answers, take care of your worldly possessions, but do not let them take care of you, let go of the pain of the past and embrace the newness that is today, let go of the anger that can build and remember that everything is fine. Do not ever quit no matter how hard your trial, love your enemies, keep pressing on when others are pulling you back. Visit or call your mother often and let her know you love her, show your children you love them with your time, kiss your spouse often, always uplift her, and talk highly of her to your peers. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons learned is pray often, pray sincerely, and have faith the Lord hears and answers your prayers. Of all the things that are gone from my world; the most important are the ones that created happiness in my life. While I did have happiness driving that old Ford and that old Jeep, my life is not fulfilled because of it. I have loved more, and argued less because of the physical person that is no longer with me; yet because I carry within me his spirit he is no longer gone....

To be Perfect

In today's society there isn't a strong push to stand up for what is right; instead the direction is moving towards accepting your weaknesses and giving in to your temptations. Morality has become a thing of the past and the sacred union of marriage is being threatened. To the world perfection has thus become the image of a muscular man or slender woman; perhaps the movie star with the glamorous life or the wealthy land owner with riches worth coveting. Not long ago a man giving a sermon on the mount gave us the true definition of what perfection truly is; "be ye therefore perfect as your father which is in heaven is perfect". And again on the American continent he stated to the Nephites "be ye therefore perfect as I or your father which is in heaven is perfect". Even though we believe this man to be perfect from birth Christ considered himself imperfect until he accomplished all his father asked; when speaking to the Nephites he had accomplished all and knew his perfection therefore stating it in his latter sermon. How do we know when we have achieved perfection? Is this something that we can attain in this life? Perfection is as it implies, flawlessness in every aspect of every fibre of our being. Achievable, of course through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Suppose you lived a flawless life, a perfect, giving, teaching, and unspotted life; you still have an imperfect body: one that gets sick, injured, and can pass on to the next life. Perfection is the entire existence of you soul, your heart, might, mind, and strength; in essence your body. Perfection isn't something we are to look at as unattainable in this life however; we can and must be perfect in that which we can perfect in ourselves. For example we can be perfect in our tithes and offerings, we can be perfect in our home and visiting teaching, we can be perfect in our church callings and attendance, and we can be perfect in study and prayer. There are things we can control; after all we were sent here to learn to control a worldly body with a spiritual soul. Complete opposites trying to push and pull one another in the right direction. Perfection does not happen overnight, and it does not happen when you are converted; perfection is something that happens everyday, every hour, every minute, and every second. When we choose to follow our spirit instead of our mind, when we choose to listen to the still small voice instead of the TV, when we choose to read our scriptures instead of play video games, when we decide to pray before giving in to temptation that is when we are truly growing toward perfection. That is when our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are closest; that is when perfection becomes attainable and the world behind us gets quieter. Stand up for what you believe in and "be ye therefore perfect as your father (and his son) which is in heaven is perfect". "Be Believing", and "Be of Good Cheer" perfection is but a saviors grasp away. Grab hold and never let go.

Becoming Pure

The word of the day is "pure" and I thought this was fitting as I have been wanting to write something about my children the last few days. When I think of them I think innocence or in other words purity. In my opinion children are the root cause of feeling every emotion in an instance. There is no other person you want to laugh at and hold more then the little one you are disciplining right at this time. There is also no other person that will give you a hug and a kiss immediately after you scold them. I have noticed in my life that it takes one word (Whether intended or not) to upset someone; whereas it takes many words (usually intended) and sometimes many days to make up for that one word. Why is it we are so quick to anger and yet so slow to forgive? If we are the ones that get angry after one word we should be the ones to forgive after one word; this is something children have naturally until we teach them otherwise. Jesus taught we must become as a little child; yet we tend to get children to become more like us. When we become as a little child this means we are to inherit or ingrain their wonderful qualities into us; such as humility, teach ability, forgiveness. Children are the essence of purity because they are slow to anger and quick to forgive, they accept what ever we tell them without question, and they love unconditionally. My children have taught me to love more, to forgive often, and to look for the good in everybody. If we as a grown up nation quit acting childish and start acting as a child we will have more unity, more love, and more peace. We will be more pure and in essence have become as a little child.

Inspiration or Perspiration

So yesterday was my inaugural journey to health or achievement or perhaps stupidity; whatever it may be, it has started and I created it. I set a goal for myself that I wanted to accomplish; however it came with a catch... I wanted to accomplish something I never thought possible growing up or I never envisioned myself ever doing. This all started after listening to "The Secret" and other self help motivational tapes; I thought I will push my body to do something I never dreamed to see how much control I have over myself. My first idea was to become Mr. Olympia... after my wife laughed at me for what seemed an hour (personally I think she is still laughing at that), I decided that maybe that is something I didn't want to do (besides what would I do with all those rippling pectorals). I decided to do something I disliked; not only disliked but haven't done in sixteen years. My goal is to run a mile in four minutes; while my wife did not laugh at this one I have had plenty of people tell me it will be tough, but good luck. I don't think I ever ran the mile in less than eight minutes and that was in high school when I was in better shape and had age on my side; but yesterday I found myself running my first mile on this crazy journey. My wife loves to run and the people that run for fun I have never understood what they see in it; I was always a sprinter and good for short distances but never enjoyed anything more than 200 yards. As I was running yesterday I waited for inspiration to come and the funny thing was it never did just my breathing getting heavier and heavier. I ran my first lap in 1:44 which I though was pretty good considering 16 years of silence; I completed my mile in 9:42 which averages out to 2:35 a lap. Of course if I ran the third lap it would have been quicker, but I would not be writing this now as I would still be on the track. Overall my first run was satisfactory as I was hoping to get in under ten minutes; at least now I have something to work for. I don't know how I am going to accomplish this, but I do know as I put out the perspiration the inspiration will follow and I will find myself closer and closer to the finish line.

Balance in All Things

While this may come as a shock to some of you (especially me) I have started this blog not just to make my wife happy, but I thought it would be a good idea to jot some thoughts down on occasion. My dilema however was what to write on, and then it came to me; every couple of weeks Tiff does a scrapbook page based on one little word. I thought I could use that word to write and eventually I may give my own thoughts on the day or lifes events. Todays word is balance... Balance is a push equal to a pull, a give equal to a take, a good day equal to a bad day, a bad habit equal to a good habit, a sinner opposed to a saint, and a death equal to a life. Balance is all around us and it is necessary for us to find this balance in our lives; else why are we here. No one has come to this earth pre destined for the position they now find themselves in. We are all born equal; meaning we all come to this earth with nothing except the ability to learn and grow. So many have the attitude that life hands them lemons, or they were dealt a bad hand, or life isn't fair. Is this something they are taught to believe or is this life actually partial to some and not others. Life is fair and abundant for everyone the problem is people have a bad experience and it avalanches from there; suddenly people are "victims of life". When we are little we are unable to walk; yet with determination and desire we learn and accomplish this goal. I think if this victim attitude infected us as infants we would never walk; and possibly never grow. Of course life is going to be challenging if it wasn't what would we learn? I can guarantee if you hold out through the storm of challenges there is going to be an even bigger rainbow of blessings to follow. This is the balance of life; a challenge for a blessing, hard work for a good wage, sweating in the garden to produce fruits and vegatables. We reap what we sow, if I plant corn then that is what I am going to harvest. If I am saying garbage and complaining all the time then that is what is going to infect my life; more garbage. If I am helping, serving, and working towards a goal always positive and focusing on the sowing all of this will come back to me; balance in all things. T. Harv Ecker said "a complainer is nothing more than a living breathing crap magnet" and I believe this to be true. We create the balance in our lives; the world around us just gives us what we want and desire the most. If we desire success we will have it; granted the balance to that is hard work. If we desire to complain that our life is not perfect; the balance to that is more and more people complaining with you. Notice one changes or creates their life and the other lets it happen to them. Find your balance in life by creating it and not letting it slip through your fingers.