A Special Occasion

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook. I thought it was a good message to share. Here is what she posted:

I read this this morning and after I did I decided to wear my favorite perfume today even though there is nothing special on my agenda but going to work....but, after reading this it made me think and maybe it will make you think too! enjoy...

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

'This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package.

'He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

'She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago.

She has never put it on, she was saving it for a special occasion.

Well, I guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said:

'Never save something for a special occasion.

Every day in your life is a special occasion'.

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less.

I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.

I use crystal glasses every day...

I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.

I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words 'Someday...' and ' One Day...' are fading away from my dictionary.

If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now...

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.

I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.

She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.

I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food.

It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one.

If you got this, it's because someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.

Every Husband's Question

(My friend, Karla had this posted on Facebook today. It was a good one that I thought I'd share.)

What do you do all day??

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and 20 wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, and so the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled onthe counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles ofclothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or thatsomething serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door.

As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toysstrewn over the floor.

Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in thebed in her pajamas, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'

She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?

'Yes,' was his incredulous reply.

She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'

Send this page to a woman.

This is Priceless.

RaNDoM, YeT tRuE StORieS

Here are some RaNDoM tHiNgS that happened on our trip to New York:

- I am a fool! While at Newtown Battlefield, I began jogging and yelled, "Race ya!" to my brother, Mike. (Of course, I was already ahead of Mike when I asked him to race). Running at full speed, I looked back to see how close Mike was to me, and I totally tripped on the uneven ground, fell hard on my side, and bounced. Laughing and crying at the same time, Mike came over and tickled me. I learned 3 things from this:

1) Do NOT challenge your bigger (yet younger) brother to a race.

2) Even with a head start, you WiLL LoSE.

3) Crashing into the grassy ground will earn you well deserved grass stains on your favorite jeans (not to mention total public humiliation).

P.S. My shoulder still hurts from this foolishness.

- Pit Stop?! On our drive up to Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah Pageant, we stopped to get gas. Brian really needed to tinkle, so I took him inside the convenient store to find the potty. Can you believe that there wasn't a public potty at a place called, PiT SToP!!! They totally need to change their name 'cuz it's very misleading!

- HoLY Special Effects! So we were sitting back enjoying the Hill Cumorah Pageant (Sam and my boys' first time to the show). My boys were loving the experience; staying up past bedtime, being outside at night, seeing all the actors dressed up, etc. Suddenly, Samuel the Lamantite declared, "There will be thunder and lightning..." whereupon we immediately received thunder, lightning, and huge droplets of precipitation. All I can say 'bout that is HoLY SPeCiAL eFFeCTS! And one more thing: Our ride home was an uncomfortably wet one.

Your Kids ARE Watching YOU!

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

More than two decades ago, a young woman soon to graduate from college and get married reflected on her life and was filled with gratitude for the goodness and example of her mother. After praying for divine assistance to express in words her love and appreciation, Mary Rita Schilke Korzan wrote a poem titled “When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking” and dedicated it to her mother. Years later she was surprised to find the poem in a book with the words “author unknown.” Mary eventually unraveled the mystery of lost authorship, driven by a desire that those who read the poem would know the person who inspired it—her mother.


When you thought I wasn’t looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt—
But that it's alright to cry

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You smiled
And it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.


When you thought I wasn’t looking—
I looked . . .
And wanted to say thanks
For all those things you did
When you thought I wasn’t looking.¹

Program #4055¹
© 1980 Mary Rita Schilke Korzan. Used by permission.

Your Kids ARE Watching YOU!

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

More than two decades ago, a young woman soon to graduate from college and get married reflected on her life and was filled with gratitude for the goodness and example of her mother. After praying for divine assistance to express in words her love and appreciation, Mary Rita Schilke Korzan wrote a poem titled “When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking” and dedicated it to her mother. Years later she was surprised to find the poem in a book with the words “author unknown.” Mary eventually unraveled the mystery of lost authorship, driven by a desire that those who read the poem would know the person who inspired it—her mother.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt—
But that it's alright to cry. When you thought I wasn’t looking
You smiled
And it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking—
I looked . . .
And wanted to say thanks
For all those things you did
When you thought I wasn’t looking.¹

Program #4055
¹ © 1980 Mary Rita Schilke Korzan. Used by permission.

STUPiD BiRD

RANDoM SToRY for ya: Sam and I were driving down the interstate when we swore we heard a bird chirping. Who can hear a bird chirping when driving 75 MPH?! That could only mean one thing... that STUPiD BiRD was in oUR CAR!!! He jumped up on the DASHBoARD and started pacing back and forth. Talk about distracting! I kinda started freaking out... telling Sam to pull over A.S.A.P. I had visions of the STUPiD BiRD obstructing Sam's view causing our death from a terrible car accident. Obviously, you know the end to this story since Sam and I are both still here. I hope you all don't get the wrong idea and think that I'm an animal hater. I'm just not a big fan of birds.

Venting

*** Pictured below is an article I read on my friend, Renee's blog. (Sorry, I don't have the proper link to her blog.) Anyway, I thought the article gave a great summary of what a typical day of a stay-at-home mom is like with young kids.


CLICK TO ENLARGE (so you can read the article)

After reading this article, it made me think of what my friends without kids think I do all day as a stay-at-home mom. I most certainly am not turning into this, I promise:

I am a super hard worker. I strive to stay fit and take good care of myself. If I don't take good care of myself, I would have a harder time being a good wife, mother, sister, and friend.

Hopefully none of my friends think that I don't have time for them. I try my best to keep up with my friends and what's going on in their lives. Thank goodness for blogging and Facebook for making keeping in touch a whole lot easier. It's hard for moms of young kids to talk on the phone for hours on end and it's nice to be able to send friends a quick email or note to let them know that we are thinking about them. Don't get me wrong, I love phone calls from friends, I just don't usually have the energy or patience to listen to somebody yaking on the phone while my kids are screaming and pulling on my pantlegs for my attention.

F.Y.I. The best time to call me is about 7:30pm, when my wonderful husband, Sam is putting the boys to bed.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I feel much better now.

Trust your Gut & The Spirit

I'm sure all of us have been told on occasion to trust your gut. You know, when you've studied hard for a test and aren't sure of an answer... trust your gut. While driving and you feel like you should change lanes at a random time... trust your gut. When someone tries to convince you not to do something and you really feel like you should... trust your gut.

There have been several times in my life when I've trusted my gut. I got a difficult test question right, I avoided getting into a huge car accident, and I accomplished things that others told me I couldn't do. Now I don't attribute all of these good things to trusting my gut, some I attribute to following the whisperings of the Spirit and some things that happen in life, I attribute to both.



A few months ago, Sam and I started thinking about buying our first home. To me, it sounded pretty crazy. Our apartment was in the best location and I finally was making some friends at church. I felt comfortable at the stage my life was in. So, I blew off the idea of buying a home.

For those of you that know me, I like to analyze all options. I thought about spending another long winter in a small apartment with my energetic boys. I thought about the limited living and storage space that we have. I then thought about how nice it would be to have a house of my own with more living space, a garage, and my own backyard. And of course, I had to think if we could even afford to buy a house, one that we could grow into.



So, Sam and I decided that we should see what kinds of homes we could find in our price range. Sam met with our bank to get a price range of homes we could afford. Then I began the crazy search for a home. I looked up several real estate sites and stumbled across one very user-friendly site. I would stay up to the wee hours of the morning searching for the best deals. We went out a couple times with our realtor and saw about 10 homes. One of the homes seemed really cute and I liked the neighborhood.

The more I thought about the "cute house," the more I realized how perfect it would be for our family. The house was big enough, in a nice family neighborhood, close to Sam's work, Brian could stay in his preschool, etc. I felt that my gut was telling me "this is THE HOUSE." I went with a friend to the temple and felt the Spirit tell me the same thing that my gut told me.

Of course I still had to check out more options. Over the weekend, we drove all over the valley looking at other home listings in our price range. Nothing impressed us. The homes where either too small, in a bad neighborhood, or would require way too much upgrading.

So, Sam and I decided to put in an offer on the "cute house." The sellers came back with a counter offer and we came up with what we would offer in return. When we went back to our realtor, he told us that there were two other very interested buyers, one of which was going to put in an offer too. I didn't believe our realtor at first. But then he said, "I swear on the life of my kids, that what I just told you is true." We put in the best offer that we could and crossed our fingers. The offer was accepted and we were ecstatic!



Our excitement continued as we walked in to meet with our loan officer. This man's office was decked out in Harley Davidson stuff and the man had a very persuasive and abrasive personality. He was a very intense man to say the least. The loan officer tried to convince us not to buy the "cute house." He made it sound like we were dumb to want to spend so much of our savings to get into the house. He went on to say that we wouldn't be able to afford the house and that we would hate it. He said that there's always another house, a less expensive house that would work for your family. Sam and I were practically in tears. We went home feeling horrible and that the loan officer must be right.

Even though I originally felt great about the "cute house," I started to doubt the good feelings I had felt. That night, we decided to cancel our contract on the house as soon as possible. Sam called to set up an appointment to cancel the deal. I started having serious doubts that cancelling the deal would be the wrong thing to do. If we cancelled the deal, I would be denying all the good feelings and promptings I had received. I felt so confused and didn't know what to do. When it was time to sign the papers, I had not decided what I wanted to do. Sam knew that he had to sign the papers. I tried my best to convince Sam that I didn't want to lose the house. Sam was on his lunch break and had to get back to work. So with tears in my eyes, I reluctantly signed the cancellation papers. I left very sad and defeated.



Over that weekend, we drove around looking at more home listings. Like before, we weren't finding anything we felt would be worth looking in to. I was very sad about it for a few days. I had lost hope in getting the house.

Early into the next week, our realtor informed us that the other offer on the home didn't work out and now the sellers are willing to work with us again. He told us the seller's new offer. I said I don't know if that changes anything, but I will let Sam know. I felt that we were getting a second chance on getting the house. There's no way I wanted to lose the house this time around. Somehow, Sam became convinced that it would be a good idea to pursue the house again. (I bet it was knowing that we'd found such a great home at a great price. The house had been up for sale for a year and we new that the sellers were motivated to move.) Later that week, we decided to make another offer in on the home. Our offer was accepted!!!

Of course, we went out and found a better loan officer. This guy praised us for our discipline with our finances and said that we are in the prime position to buy a home. This man explained everything to us very simply and helped us make the best decisions for our situation. And I must mention that he locked us in with a great interest rate... 5%!!! Isn't that awesome?! Anyway, if you live in the area and are looking for a home, I have a great realtor and loan officer to recommend.

For me, buying our first house has been an emotional rollercoaster. We found the house we wanted to buy, get our offer accepted, we back out, we are so sad thinking the other people's offer will be accepted, we can't find another home that measured up, miraculously the other people's offer didn't work out, the sellers give us a way better offer that is more in our price range, and we finally decide to make another offer on the house that worked out! Whew... persistence I tell ya! We sure fought for what we wanted. And the let down the first time around was a good thing because we ended up with a way better deal.



I promise that if you trust your gut and the Spirit and everything will work out for your good.

Paul Allen, speaks out on Mormons...

***I found this article on a random blog. It was really interesting to me and I hope you enjoy reading it too. It is a little lengthy but very good.

NFL Owner, Paul Allen, speaks out on Mormons...
MICROSOFT FOUNDER, NFL OWNER, PAUL ALLEN, SPEAKS OUT ON MORMONS

Paul Allen is the owner of the Seattle Seahawks, the ones who played the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Super Bowl. He is also the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA basketball team and is co-partner with Bill Gates in Microsoft. He wrote this editorial in the Santa Clarita, California newspaper, 2006:

I have heard and seen enough! I have lived in the West all my life. I have worked around them. They have worked for me and I for them. When I was young, I dated their daughters. When I got married they came to my wedding. Now that I have daughters of my own, some of their boys have dated my daughters. I would be privileged if one of them were to be my son-in-law. I'm talking about the Mormons.

They are some of the most honest, hardworking people I have ever known. They are spiritual, probably more than most other so-called religious people I have encountered. They study the Bible and teach from it as much as any Christian church ever has. They serve their religion without pay in every conceivable capacity. Not one of their leaders, teachers, counselors, Bishops or music directors receive one dime for the hours of labor they put in.

The Mormons have a non-paid ministry - a fact that is not generally known. I have heard many times from the pulpits of others how evil and non-Christian they are and that they will not go to heaven. I decided recently to attend one of their services near my home to see for myself.

What a surprise! What I heard and saw was just the opposite from what the religious ministers of the day were telling me. I found a very simple service with no fanfare. I found a people with a great sense of humor and a well-balanced spiritual side. There was no loud music. Just a simple service, with the members themselves giving the several short sermons.

They urge their youth to be morally clean and live a good life. They teach the gospel of Christ, as they understand it. The name of their church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. Does that sound like a non-Christian church to you? I asked them many questions about what they teach and why. I got answers that in most cases were from the New Testament. Their ideas and doctrines did not seem too far fetched for my understanding. When I read their "Book of Mormon" I was also very surprised to find just the opposite from what I had been told I would find.

Then I went to another church's pastor to ask him some of the same questions about doctrine. To my surprise, when he found out that I was in some way investigating the Mormons, he became hostile. He referred to them as a non-Christian cult. I received what sounded to me like evil propaganda against those people. He stated bluntly that they were not Christian and that they did not fit into the Christian mold. He also told me that they don't really believe the Bible. He gave me a pile of anti-Mormon literature. He began to rant that the Mormons were not telling me the truth about what they stand for. He didn't want to hear anything good about them. At first I was surprised and then again, I wasn't. I began to wonder.

I have never known of a cult that supports the Boy Scouts of America. According to the Boy Scouts, over a third of all the Boy Scout troops in the United States are Mormon. What cult do you know of that has a welfare system second to none in this country? They have farms, canneries and cattle ranches to help take care of the unfortunate ones who might be down and out and in need of a little help. The Mormon Church has donated millions to welfare causes around the world without a word of credit. They have donated thousands to help rebuild Baptist churches that were burned a few years ago. They have donated tons of medical supplies to countries
ravaged by earthquakes.

You never see them on TV begging for money. What cult do you know that instills in its members to obey the law, pay their taxes, serve in the military if asked and be a good Christian by living high moral standards? Did you know that hundreds of thousands of Mormon youth get up before high school starts in the morning to attend a
religious training class? They have basketball and softball leagues and supervised youth dances every month.

They are recruited by the FBI, the State Department and every police department in the country, because they are Trustworthy. They are taught not to drink nor take drugs. They are in the Secret Service - those who protect the President. They serve in high leadership positions from both parties in Congress and in the US Senate, and have been governors of several states other than Utah. They serve with distinction and honor.

If you have Mormons living near, you will probably find them to be your best friends and neighbors. They are Christians who try to live what they preach. They are not perfect and they are the first to admit this. I have known some of them who could not live their religion, just like many of us. The rhetoric which is spread around
against them is nothing more than evil propaganda founded in untruths. (Others) had successfully demonized them to the point that the general public has no idea what they actually believe and teach. If you really want to know the truth, go see for yourself. You also will be surprised.

When I first moved here some 25 years ago there were five Mormon wards in Santa Clarita, Calif. Now there are 15. They must be doing something right.

The Invisible Mother

The Power of the Invisible Mother......

It all began to make sense. The blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.



Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not.

No one can see that I'm on the phone, or cooking, or vacuuming the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.



I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?'

I'm a car to order, 'Can you pick me up at 5:30?'

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic when Janice turned to me with a beautifully
wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'


In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, 4 life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

1. No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

2. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

3. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything
.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam.

He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no
one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile about.
You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people are willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.

I just want her to want to come home. And then, for her to say to her friend, 'You're gonna love it here.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...I just did.

Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.



God Bless You.

Would you LIE for GEORGE CLOONEY?

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, 'My dear child, why are you crying?' The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.

The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires. ‘Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked The seamstress replied, 'No.' The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies. 'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied,'No.' The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble. 'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, 'Yes.' The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, 'Why are you crying?' 'Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!' The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney. 'Is this your husband?' the Lord asked. 'Yes,' cried the seamstress. The Lord was furious. 'You lied! That is an untruth!'

The seamstress replied, 'Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney. And so the Lord let her keep him.

*** The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking to it.