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.