Words of Love

On Valentine's Day I prepared a blank sheet of paper with each student's name written on top. I had them pass their papers once to the left and write a compliment or kindness to the person whose name was at the top. Then they passed the papers once again to the left and repeated the assignment. We would continue this process until everyone received their own paper back. Then they could read all the kind words that had been written about them. As we started, someone asked me, "Did you include one for you?" Since I hadn't included myself, one of the students quickly tore out a page from her notebook, put my name on the top, and wrote something down. My paper was circulated along with everyone else's. When I got it back and took time to read it, my heart soared. Those comments of kindness made me feel sooooo good! I was happy for days. What an impact a sincere word of kindness can have on your life!

Not long after that we studied D&C 95:1. "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten...." And in D&C 101:4-5 "Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried.... For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified." I don't know about you, but I really don't like to have to be chastened! In fact, I think I go to great lengths not to be a candidate for chastizement. But truly chastening from the Lord is also motivated by love. Words of chastening are words of love, even though they might not feel like it at the time. That's what I will have to remember next time I need to be chastized for something. Both those types of "words of love" are necessary.

sudoku!

Just to let you know, I quite enjoy solving sudoku puzzles. So far I have figured out that it's all about intersection of sets. And since I have heard that its good for your brain (helps delay Alzheimer's), it is not a waste of time for me to work on these! :) It took me a few times until I successfully completed a puzzle, but now I am getting faster and faster at completing them. I have successfully solved a 1-star, 2-star, 3-star and a 4-star puzzle (level of difficulty), although I don't really know how I got the 4-star to work out. I got it to a point to where my initial logic didn't apply any more. I think I got lucky at guessing the right combination for one row, and then the rest just fell into place. I just saw online that there is a web site that will give you sudoku-solving tips. Should I study up, or see if I can figure it out by myself? I think I'll go it alone for awhile and see if the old brain still works! Wish me luck!

Daffodils

Last spring in our neighbor's yard, beautiful daffodils appeared. I enjoyed them so much all spring. They were beautiful! I told our neighbor, "Next fall I am going to plant daffodils around my yard too!" I was highly motivated to carry through with my plan to plant beautiful daffodils around our yard.

Fall came. The weather was colder. I had so many things to do. I thought, "I just don't want to plant daffodil bulbs right now." All my motivation to plant the bulbs was gone. "I'll do it another year," I thought.

Then one fall day Sandy, my master-gardener friend gave me a gift. It was a sack of 40 daffodil bulbs of many varieties. I appreciated her kindness, and I remembered how much I enjoyed our neighbors daffodils. "Hmmmmmmm, I thought. Maybe I will plant these bulbs this fall........sometime."

Then it started to rain. I am pretty much a fair weather gardener. What little blub-planting motivation I had was escaping fast. Mud, cold, rain. Plant the daffodil bulbs? I don't think so!

Then one day the rain stopped. The weather was mild and the sun shone. It was now or never. I decided to go for it! I would plant my bulbs that day. And I did! In fact, as I determined where I would plant the daffodils, I decided that I needed more. A quick visit to the local nursery rewarded me with 80 more daffodil bulbs - on sale for half price! What a deal!

I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I finally had done what I had wanted to do for many years but never did. I looked at the spots of disturbed earth where I had planted each grouping of daffodils and hoped the whole thing would work - that beautiful daffodils would one day bloom in the spring.

That was the end of that. I had to wait. And wait. And wait. I pretty much forgot about my daffodils because I had to wait for so long. Those bulbs that I planted didn't look like much. My expectations for beautiful daffodils was put on the shelf. Spring was soooooo far away!

Just the other day I saw some little green shoots. Oh the joy! It's only February and my daffodils are actually coming up! It did work! And in a few more weeks I just might have beautiful yellow blossoms to enjoy all around the yard. I have such hope!

It occured to me that planting daffodil bulbs is like obeying the commandments. We want to do it, but sometimes it takes us awhile to get our motivation to turn into action. And we feel accomplishment when we obey. But then we have to wait. And wait. And wait. Things seem pretty much the same after we've done the obeying. Sometimes we forget the promises of the Lord and put our expectations on the shelf. But then, when we're not expecting it, we see that it does work. A wonderful blessing is given to us, and we can hardly believe it! Our breath is taken away by the beauty of the blessing we've been given. It is always way above our expectations, and it always involves much joy.

So take it from me. Planting daffodil bulbs DOES work. And so does obeying the commandments. They both require action, a little time, and faith in the Savior. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I'm blogging! I'm an excellent blogger!

I never thought this would happen! I have entered the 21st century and become an official blogger! This is a milestone in my life.

Writing has not exactly been my forte. I majored in mathematics, in part because I wouldn't have to write any papers...... I have several years of journals in one binder. Writing thank you notes is a major effort for me. So how in the world did I take this big step??? I have my excellent-writer-daughters and excellent-writer-son to thank for this. I LOVE to read their blogs. I can keep up on their lives almost every day, even though we live miles and miles apart. We can share thoughts, let off a little steam when needed. I have come to realize the value of writing, even though it isn't what I want to do every day. So I guess time will tell how often I post a blog.

Wish me luck!