grateful in any circumstances

someone i follow on instagram shared this quote and i love it so much. it really made me think about what i can do. how i can get out of a hole and how i can be better. ♥

have a read... and for the full talk, go here.

"Sooner or later, I believe that all of us experience times when the very fabric of our world tears at the seams, leaving us feeling alone, frustrated, and adrift.

It can happen to anyone. No one is immune.

Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.

We can be grateful!

It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

love... every day

it's valentines day today... something that doug and i have never really celebrated, because we both think it's a bit silly to be honest. hey if he came home with a bunch of flowers or a gift for me, i'd be chuffed of course, but i don't expect it to suddenly happen, because i'd rather he do it for no reason, than because the calendar said he should.

i saw this quote on instagram this morning from dieter f. uchtdorf and thought it was perfect. "love should be our walk and our talk" meaning to me, that it should just be what we do. no reasons, just love! it's what i hope i can achieve one day... i know it's going to take a lot of work before i get there, but little by little we reach our goals ♥

you don't have to

i saw this quote online this week and i was so impressed by it. a simple sentence, that really meant so much more. it's no secret that i find it hard to let go of things and lately i have been really trying to focus on what's important in my life and by so doing, stay out of the dramas in others. i have been choosing not to attend arguments that i have been invited to in the past, that have continued on and choosing to not begin new ones... and the harder i am trying, the easier it is becoming. 

sometimes, we all just need a little reminder.

home can be a heaven on earth

amen. ♥

just saying...

i saw this on gorgeous little picture on facebook today after church and was blown away by how true it is. there has been a lot of nastiness around me lately that i can't do anything about, other than trying to repay it with love. i hope more than anything that i'll always be able to do that and try to remember two things - one i learnt from my pre-primary teacher "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" and the other i learned in primary at church - "kindness begins with me!"

i know that being kind to people who aren't, is always the hardest thing to do, so i am trying to remember this everyday. wish me luck!

wise words

i saw this quote on instagram a few weeks ago and was struck by the power in these two short sentences. if only more people could take them into account and make their lives a little better... i am sure it would make the world a better place ♥

service

 

i have grown up in a home watching my mother and father always giving their time, talents and love to those around me. i am so grateful for their beautiful example and am striving to do the same for those in my life. i only hope one day that i can love those around me the way they do.

being a member of the church has also shown me the beauty and blessings that come from service - when we have been blessed with so much, it's only fair we should share what we have with others.

 

if at first you don't succeed...

try, try again

cousins

cousins are usually the first friends we have as children no one will ever understand your crazy family like your cousins do - even if it's been some time between catch ups

(-adapted from a post on pinterest.com)

madeline's cousins have been down in perth the past two weeks or so and she's had a few chances to see them. it's been lovely - although my brother that has children (five i might add - he's very brave - or crazy - one of the two...) is almost 11 years older than me - so maddie's closest cousin in age is miss emma who is three years older. not that it will matter soon enough - as donna said the other day - it won't be long until they are teenagers and off to dances, parties, school balls. yikes! it's kind of funny how it's worked out though - donna (my oldest brothers wif)e is 15 years older than me, i am 15 years older than laura and sh'es just a bit less with maddie, i only hope maddie has as much fun with laura as we've all had so far!

grace came to have a sleepover with us this week and we went out for the day - hitting up the local save the children in joondanna and heading up to hillarys boat harbour for a look around and some general fun, although poor madeline slept through most of it haha.

grace with the sculpture at hillarys

grace with uncle doug and madeline

we had a great time - i love spending time with my nieces and nephews, they are so much fun...

thank goodness for cousins!

it explains it all!

sometimes i sit back and wonder how on earth i ever got married... i think this just about sums it up. cause think about it... in all honesty - we're all a little wierd.

♥

canvases

there is nothing more beautiful than a clean white canvas, with paint thrown all over it. we had a blast tonight with the young women, fingerpainting (in crystal and emma's case) and artisically made portraits (aggie and lina) on these beautiful clean canvases.

it made me think of life in general, starting out with our nice clean canvas and being able to decide exactly what we want to place out there on it for the rest of the world to see. we can make choices and know how they'll affect us... because we know the plan and what is in store in this life - and the life to come

it's like that quote that i love to torture the girls with
"the lord has given you the gift of agency and instructed you sufficiently to know good from evil. you are free to choose and are permitted to act, but are not free to choose the consequences. with absolute certainty, choices of good and right lead to happiness and peace. while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to unhappiness, sorrow and misery."
i don't know about you - but i think i am going to be pretty careful what goes on my personal canvas. i want to be seen in a good light, with bright and confident brush strokes
- that i am proud to hang for others to see.

song of the heart

sometimes i wish i could say things as well as others can...

i have a new app on my iphone - love quotes -

and this one is by far my favourite:

to love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart, and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.

- author unknown

trouble...

i was just on the phone to mum - and she requested that i

document this extremely sarcastic comment

'how much trouble can one baby be?"

jade kendall 21.01.2011

there you go nanna babs - it's in writing

and yes i was being sarcastic - i know i haven't seen anything yet!

agency

some sundays are really good... this one was. class went well and for once - everyone listened.

our lesson was about agency - a reminder that we have already made the most important choice we'll ever have to make. and that's why we are here.

we finished up with my favourite church quote:

a few years ago, we knew our elder brother and our father in heaven well. we rejoiced at the upcoming opportunity for earth life that could make it possible for us to have a fullness of joy like they had. we could hardly wait to demonstrate to our father and our brother, the lord, how much we loved them and how we would be obedient to them in spite of the earthly opposition of the evil one.

...and now we’re here—our memories are veiled—and we’re showing god and ourselves what we can do. and nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our father and how familiar his face is to us. and then, as president brigham young said, we’re going to wonder why we were so stupid in the flesh.

god loves us. he’s watching us, he wants us to succeed, and we’ll know someday that he has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. if we only knew it, there are heavenly hosts pulling for us—friends in heaven that we can’t remember now, who yearn for our victory. this is our day to show what we can do—what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly bring to god. if we give our all, we will get his all from the greatest of all.

president ezra taft benson of the council of the twelve.
brigham young university devotional address, december 10, 1974

alegria

some days are just... well... poo
and today = one of those

on these days i try to remember the wonderful phrase i found on the programme from when mum, dad and i went to see the
cirque du soleil alegria a few years back

if you have no voice... sing
if you have no legs... dance
if you have no hope... invent

i hope to be singing, dancing and inventing for a long time yet!
x

if one day...

i remember reading this little poem as an email that someone sent me a few years ago...

and thinking how lovely it was

if one day you feel like crying… call me.

i cannot promise to make you laugh... but i can cry with you
if one day you want to run away... don’t be afraid to call me.

i don’t promise to ask you to stop... but i can run with you.

if one day you don’t want to listen to anybody...

call me and i promise to be very quiet.

that's all

just wanted to share it...

that's the kind of friends i want in my life;

and the kind of friend i want to be

:)

some things never get old...

some movies never get old, regardless of how many thousands of times you've seen them.

enter mean girls for example...


no matter how many times i hear lines such as:

*i want my pink shirt back!!
*yeah but he's my first cousin
*get in loser, we're going shopping
*i can't go out *cough* i'm sick
*boo you whore!
*you go glen coco!
*none for gretchen wieners. bye!
*there's a 30% chance that it's already raining!
*would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?

i'll still find them funny!!
and usually begin to laugh in anticipation...
i know it's sad...

but i'm okay with that
:)

it's raining... it's pouring!

it's raining again!

hopefully - it won't end up as bad as the last storm we had - but i just heard a "severe weather warning" for the perth area, and i must confess, i did visualise my computer being soaked again and my carpet in my house going back to it's wet dog smell. what an overreactor! I'm sure it'll be fine... eep. fingers crossed.

the rain always reminds me of a quote by

elaine cannon (the yw's general president at the time,) from a talk “agency and accountability,” in the ensign, nov. 1983, p.88 -

"we are like children walking a path in the rain. we can walk straight down the path... or play in the mud as we desire, but with our choices come the consequences, with time the stains become harder to remove, and we are rapidly becoming what we are choosing to be for all eternity.
maturity is understanding that we cannot blame anybody else for our actions. being accountable for how we use our agency means being answerable for our own behaviour..."

something to think about - isn't it...?