There are many special events that occur "once in a lifetime." The obvious ones are ones we try to remember and treasure. But there are smaller ones happening almost every day. We need to remember to be grateful for both.
On the larger event front, we are celebrating the Division 1A Championship for the Moapa Valley High School Pirates 9 (see this links for article recapping the game or this video recap. We made the drive to watch each of the play off games because we knew we would not have a chance like this again. Definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. For us, it is great that Moapa won and our grandson had a chance to participate and make a positive contribution.
Our lives are full of once in a lifetime opportunities, though, and we missed one because we had to choose. During the semi-final game, our stake at church participated in the Phoenix Temple dedication cultural celebration. Youth we know danced with all their might while we were driving home from a football game. We chose our immediate family over our church family, because, after all, family is the most important. There are often choices like that to be made.
We have missed attending important family events in the past, such as a granddaughter's baptism, a graduation and baby blessing, because of work obligations. We are happy that we are now in a situation where family can have the priority over work. Along with the aches and pains of getting older, there are some blessings such as family. (Also, senior discounts).
Other once in a lifetime events are baby blessings, a first step, recitals, graduations, ordinations, baptisms, weddings, etc. With the wonders of technology, we can stay in touch and develop relationships with family members who do not live nearby. That was much harder when I was raising my daughter. I am grateful Facebook lets us share and record these events.
Our lives are filled with blessings that are truly once in a lifetime. Other blessings occur each day, but these too can be appreciated for the wonders and miracles they are. That paper for school, the talk in church, successfully learning to ride a bike, mastering a gymnastics or cheer move, all of these are miracles to celebrate. Every holiday is a once in a lifetime event. Let us never forget to celebrate the daily miracles in our lives by noting them and giving thanks.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Life gets so busy
Life always seems to be so busy. When I was a child, there was always something more to do. I never managed to accomplish everything I wanted to do. One summer, after I got the reading bug, I read all the chapter books in the local library children's section. Some I liked and reread. Most were not particularly memorable and I ignored them. (This worried my parents so much that we went to summer camp every summer after this one.) This was not quite all I did that summer as I rode my bike to the library every day. At least I got some exercise, although my eyes were quite blurry by the end of each day with so much reading. This actually helped the term I took three history courses in college. That was a lot of reading every day.
As I grew older, other things were added to my days. Piano lessons, dance lessons, practicing, and eventually school sports all took a fair amount of time on top of the homework assignments.
Some people think things will ease off after they get out of school, but that really never happens. If you are truly living your life, there are always activities. Some of these are social. Some are family. Some relate to work. Some are for recreation. It is easy to over-schedule ourselves and our families. If we make informed choices, the busyness is manageable.
I read a number of blogs that help me keep my focus on simplifying the busyness in my life. I have cut back on some recreational choices so as to free up time for family choices. Right now, we are in a stage in life where we want to participate as grandparents. When we were both working, that was difficult. We often had to sacrifice grandparent responsibilities to work requirements. Now, we have fewer conflicts of that sort. I am grateful that I have more choice about which family activities I can join than I had when I was working full time. I look forward to this new season in our lives.
If you find too many sacrifices required, perhaps you need to assess what you are committing to that creates these conflicts. At times, we have few choices. At others, we have many more options. We can always choose, we just cannot always choose the consequences of those choices. I am grateful for the current options I have around me that allow me to choose the family more often.
As I grew older, other things were added to my days. Piano lessons, dance lessons, practicing, and eventually school sports all took a fair amount of time on top of the homework assignments.
Some people think things will ease off after they get out of school, but that really never happens. If you are truly living your life, there are always activities. Some of these are social. Some are family. Some relate to work. Some are for recreation. It is easy to over-schedule ourselves and our families. If we make informed choices, the busyness is manageable.
I read a number of blogs that help me keep my focus on simplifying the busyness in my life. I have cut back on some recreational choices so as to free up time for family choices. Right now, we are in a stage in life where we want to participate as grandparents. When we were both working, that was difficult. We often had to sacrifice grandparent responsibilities to work requirements. Now, we have fewer conflicts of that sort. I am grateful that I have more choice about which family activities I can join than I had when I was working full time. I look forward to this new season in our lives.
If you find too many sacrifices required, perhaps you need to assess what you are committing to that creates these conflicts. At times, we have few choices. At others, we have many more options. We can always choose, we just cannot always choose the consequences of those choices. I am grateful for the current options I have around me that allow me to choose the family more often.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Gratitude for a multiplicy of blessings
November is a time of year when we are reminded of all the wonderful blessings in our lives as we prepare for Thanksgiving. It seems a particularly appropriate time to say thank you.
I have a wonderful extended family. I am grateful for the opportunity to be Facebook friends with many of them. This allows me to have more awareness of their lives than I otherwise would have since we no longer near one another. I have relatives that have been there for me when I needed a kind word. They are caring, loving people.
My daughter is married to a helpful man who is actively engaged in the raising of their children. It is always fun (and chaotic) to visit them or have them visit us. The family is full of sweet, loving children.
When I married the Pro, I inherited step-children and step-grandchildren. They have now added step-great-grandchildren. They are all wonderful people. Trish, the Pro's first wife, was obviously a caring, loving Mom. Since she is no longer around, having passed on many years ago, I feel I am proxy for her to ensure that her family gets a loving grandma/mom figure from that side of the family. While there are other grandparents/great-grandparents as well, these wonderful people deserve as much love as I can give. They have welcomed me as a family member and given me a great deal of love which I want to return.
With us retiring this year, we have more opportunity to visit the little ones in our family. Grandparenting is fun since you get the littles only in small doses. However, it is a true blessing to see how loving all of our little families are. The parents all love each other and it shows. They all love their kids, and that shows too. We are grateful for their love.
We live in a beautiful part of the world. The views are spectacular, the weather pretty nice 10 months of the year, and the small-town atmosphere fun. We are blessed with a fairly comfortable life style, fairly good health, and (for the most part), fairly sound minds. We have many opportunities to serve and contribute to the community. We have many friends and acquaintances.
Although there are many things to dislike in the world, there are many more for which to be grateful. At this season of thanks, I choose to focus on those, and to turn my back on the others. Thank you for being a part of my world.
I have a wonderful extended family. I am grateful for the opportunity to be Facebook friends with many of them. This allows me to have more awareness of their lives than I otherwise would have since we no longer near one another. I have relatives that have been there for me when I needed a kind word. They are caring, loving people.
My daughter is married to a helpful man who is actively engaged in the raising of their children. It is always fun (and chaotic) to visit them or have them visit us. The family is full of sweet, loving children.
When I married the Pro, I inherited step-children and step-grandchildren. They have now added step-great-grandchildren. They are all wonderful people. Trish, the Pro's first wife, was obviously a caring, loving Mom. Since she is no longer around, having passed on many years ago, I feel I am proxy for her to ensure that her family gets a loving grandma/mom figure from that side of the family. While there are other grandparents/great-grandparents as well, these wonderful people deserve as much love as I can give. They have welcomed me as a family member and given me a great deal of love which I want to return.
With us retiring this year, we have more opportunity to visit the little ones in our family. Grandparenting is fun since you get the littles only in small doses. However, it is a true blessing to see how loving all of our little families are. The parents all love each other and it shows. They all love their kids, and that shows too. We are grateful for their love.
We live in a beautiful part of the world. The views are spectacular, the weather pretty nice 10 months of the year, and the small-town atmosphere fun. We are blessed with a fairly comfortable life style, fairly good health, and (for the most part), fairly sound minds. We have many opportunities to serve and contribute to the community. We have many friends and acquaintances.
Although there are many things to dislike in the world, there are many more for which to be grateful. At this season of thanks, I choose to focus on those, and to turn my back on the others. Thank you for being a part of my world.
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