Hello!
I feel a Gratitude Post coming on.
It is sunny today, and it's the last day of April. I think I can be pretty sure in announcing, even here, that winter if officially over!
I love the sunshine.
I love to be warm.
MY FAMILY.
I am thankful for kids who remind me that you can be excited over small things.
I am grateful for my amazing husband, who keeps up at work so we can have a house and car and food and vacations and toys.
I am thankful for time away, WITH my whole family.
I am grateful that my kids have a sense of humor.
I'm thankful for good neighbors.
Close gas stations.
Hair color.
Pizza.
Temples.
Scriptures.
Phone conversations with Grandma.
Email.
A comfortable bed.
Heat in the winter.
The end of winter.
Flowers.
Fresh fruit.
Mother's Day coming up.
Family reunions.
Laptop computers.
Snail Mail.
Online shopping.
Cameras & photography
90-day return policies.
Have a thankful day! Kari
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Temples
Tomorrow night I will meet with the "Achievement Days" girls--they are ages 8-11, and my own daughter Kara is included in the group. She's ten.
We'll be talking about temples this time. Usually we do activities that center around some gospel principle, living our lives more like Jesus Christ, developing talents, or learning new skills. We usually have some activity or craft at the end. The girls love to create things and give gifts to their parents or other family members!
Temples. I love the temple. I love being able to go and shut out the noise of the world for just a short time, to experience and enjoy the peace there. It is the house of the Lord.
In the temple I can remember better why I am here in mortality. I am here to learn, and to try to ease the burdens, just a little, of others around me. I have family members and friends close by. Even those I come in contact with that I do not know, carry unseen burdens. Everyone has a story.
Heavenly Father can give us strength to carry our own burdens, and we can find joy through losing ourselves in the service of others.
That was a tangent. I get to talk to the girls tomorrow about temples. We make covenants with our Heavenly Father in the temple, promising that we will try to live like him. We commit our time and our talents to further the work of the Lord here on earth.
Temples are about families. Families can be sealed together, not just for the time during this life, but for eternity. We believe that families are eternal.
My dad is no longer with us. He died of cancer 2 years ago. But with the knowledge that death is not "the end," I have the hope and assurance that I will see him again after I die. That has been very comforting to me during down times, when I miss him so much and wish he were still here.
We'll be talking about temples this time. Usually we do activities that center around some gospel principle, living our lives more like Jesus Christ, developing talents, or learning new skills. We usually have some activity or craft at the end. The girls love to create things and give gifts to their parents or other family members!
Temples. I love the temple. I love being able to go and shut out the noise of the world for just a short time, to experience and enjoy the peace there. It is the house of the Lord.
In the temple I can remember better why I am here in mortality. I am here to learn, and to try to ease the burdens, just a little, of others around me. I have family members and friends close by. Even those I come in contact with that I do not know, carry unseen burdens. Everyone has a story.
Heavenly Father can give us strength to carry our own burdens, and we can find joy through losing ourselves in the service of others.
That was a tangent. I get to talk to the girls tomorrow about temples. We make covenants with our Heavenly Father in the temple, promising that we will try to live like him. We commit our time and our talents to further the work of the Lord here on earth.
Temples are about families. Families can be sealed together, not just for the time during this life, but for eternity. We believe that families are eternal.
My dad is no longer with us. He died of cancer 2 years ago. But with the knowledge that death is not "the end," I have the hope and assurance that I will see him again after I die. That has been very comforting to me during down times, when I miss him so much and wish he were still here.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Atonement of Jesus Christ
Hello! Time flies when you have a lot to do...or maybe it goes slower?
I gave that talk on Sunday--our Easter program was 1 week later than Easter because of our fabulous General Conference the weekend before.
I'm sure it was more for me than for anyone else in the congregation. For the entire week before, I researched the life, sacrifices, crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. What a nice relief from thinking about water problems all the time!
It made me think about my own testimony of our Savior. It solidified in my mind and heart the fact that the Lord knows me personally and knows my trials and struggles. The Atonement is not just for when I make a mistake or break a commandment. Christ bore our pains and our sicknesses. He knows our grief. He will carry our burdens if we let him.
I may just put the talk into this blog. It was good for me to give.
I gave that talk on Sunday--our Easter program was 1 week later than Easter because of our fabulous General Conference the weekend before.
I'm sure it was more for me than for anyone else in the congregation. For the entire week before, I researched the life, sacrifices, crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. What a nice relief from thinking about water problems all the time!
It made me think about my own testimony of our Savior. It solidified in my mind and heart the fact that the Lord knows me personally and knows my trials and struggles. The Atonement is not just for when I make a mistake or break a commandment. Christ bore our pains and our sicknesses. He knows our grief. He will carry our burdens if we let him.
I may just put the talk into this blog. It was good for me to give.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Preparing for Easter
It has been a little while since I have been contemplative--! We have just finished a month of dealing with torrential rains that brought flood waters to our basement. Talk about feeling frustrated, hopeless and helpless.
I have been asked to speak this Sunday for our Easter program in Sacrament Meeting. I was actually grateful for the chance to focus on something besides water in my house! Of course it is all too much to fit into one talk. I narrowed it down to a couple of the miracles he did in the New Testament, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Resurrection. Which is still WAY too much. But I can't leave out any of it, so it will have to do.
I love Easter. I love researching in the New Testament about Jesus' life and his miracles and works. He so understood people.
I have read more about the Atonement, and I hope that with study, I can eventually come to understand it better. Such an amazing and overwhelming sacrifice, so we can return to our Father in Heaven someday.
I have been asked to speak this Sunday for our Easter program in Sacrament Meeting. I was actually grateful for the chance to focus on something besides water in my house! Of course it is all too much to fit into one talk. I narrowed it down to a couple of the miracles he did in the New Testament, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Resurrection. Which is still WAY too much. But I can't leave out any of it, so it will have to do.
I love Easter. I love researching in the New Testament about Jesus' life and his miracles and works. He so understood people.
I have read more about the Atonement, and I hope that with study, I can eventually come to understand it better. Such an amazing and overwhelming sacrifice, so we can return to our Father in Heaven someday.
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