Everyone Is Different

The reality of life is that everyone is different.  Sometimes that can be a difficult thing and most times that is a great part of life. 
I recently learned a valuable lesson.  It doesn't matter whether it is at work, church or anything else.  When people are involved,(that would be every part of our lives)there are disagreements about the way things are done.  Our personalities are just so different. 
The part of this that I love the most is that our differences also play an important role in the happiest moments of our existence. 
I want to learn all that I can learn.  That happens with the many associations I have with different people.  I am trying to be tolerant of all people no matter if I agree with the way they do things or not.  I want to be someone who can get along with everyone.  That is hard to do. 
I am grateful for those people who I love the very most. 
I realize more than ever the great sense of humor that God must have.  I look at who I am and realize that He really must be a funny person.
I want to be accepting of all people.  It doesn't mean that I will always agree with everything that everyone does.  But I understand that others don't agree with the way I do things.  Our individual personalities make the world go around.
This is a great life and I'm glad to be a part!

The Joy of Time Spent

I have told you before how grateful I am for my dad.  When I was a young boy, my dad taught me to ride a bike.  It was a memorable occasion, I am told.  I don't remember much about the day but one thing that is clear in my mind is the apprehension that I felt with learning something new.
Think about when you first learned to ride a bike.
My dad held on to the back of the bike seat and followed along probably letting go, momentarily, to watch me unknowingly ride under my own power without my knowledge of what was really happening behind me.  The panic would set in when I somehow suspected what he was doing.  Then everything went wrong and I would lose my balance and end up on the ground.  He would encourage me to just keep riding without looking back.  That sounded good but there isn't a kid on the planet that understands that sound advice and believes what is being told to him, at the time, and that was the same way with me.
I am grateful to parents who always spent meaningful time with me and my siblings.  I rode a bike just a few days ago.  I even did it without running into something on the side of the road.  Our boys are impressed, at times, that their dad can ride a bike.  Quite frankly, I'm impressed too.
Those days of the past are neat to remember.  My parents could probably tell you a lot better version of the story but suffice it to say...I learned how to ride and I have never forgotten its skill.
Keep on riding and keep making the memories that last for a lifetime.

Going Forward With Faith

I sat in church today, feeling especially grateful for the blessings that are showered upon me in my life.  My Heavenly Father, and His Son, care about me a great deal--and I can feel it.
I need to mention a couple of personal things that I feel in my heart.
This Wednesday, my oldest niece enters the Missionary Training Center, in Provo, Utah.  She is about to embark on one of the greatest adventures she will ever have.  It will be her privilege to serve as a full-time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called to labor in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.  I love her and I am extremely grateful that she has decided to go and serve.
Because of her upcoming opportunity, I have thought about some of my own experiences as a missionary.
I attended a missionary conference where Elder Robert Dellanbach, who was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.  When he spoke, he reminded me of my own dad.  He was loving and sincere in the delivery of his message.  He challenged us to go home, that evening, and express our gratitude for all that we had in our lives, in our personal prayers. 
I accepted his challenge.  I knelt down on my knees and began to thank my Heavenly Father for everything that He had blessed me with.  When I closed my prayer and opened my eyes, the night had passed completely and the sun was beginning to rise.  I had spent the night on my knees in prayer.  I still had energy to go throughout the day.  I felt grateful to have had that experience.  It taught me that I was extremely blessed.
No matter what the circumstances are in life and no matter how difficult things seem to be, Elder Dellenbach's challenge is still very real.  Take the opportunity to thank heaven for all of the good that you have in your life.  You might be very surprised.
I am committed to move forward, in faith.

I Watch With Great Hope

Tonight, I felt like it was a good idea to write about an observance I had today.
Our oldest daughter, Natalie, attended her first formal school dance, Sweethearts.  I have listened with anticipation of the plans for this date.  She went with a nice young man.  She has been on a date with Nathan before and we think that he is a soft spoken gentle person.  I'm grateful for people like him.
I was particularly satisfied as I walked into the house this evening to find Nat and Nathan and two of their friends sitting around a fantastically decorated table eating a yummy meal together.  I couldn't help but look at our daughter and marvel at her beauty.  She is a wonderful daughter, full of delight.  I looked and saw her and I crawling around on the floor, together, when she was a little girl.  I have felt grateful for her current station in life and all of the goodness that this time offers.
We have an obligation to love and enjoy the various stages of life that our kids will experience.  These times only happen once and now is the time to enjoy.
I am a grateful dad who thanks heaven for the choices that our children are currently making.  It doesn't mean that they are perfect but I know that they are giving their all to being the best that they can be.
There is hope for good 'todays' and better 'tomorrows'.  I have hope that the feelings I have will be duplicated over and over again. 
A grateful heart is unmatched.  I feel grateful tonight!

Put Into Focus

I read this story and felt like it was a great one to end the week.  We need constant reminders to help keep our perspective clear.

Stories like this, always have a way of putting the right perspective on life. 

Jean Thompson stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the very first day of school in the fall and told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her pupils and said that she loved them all the same, that she would treat them all alike. And that was impossible because there in front of her, slumped in his seat on the third row, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were unkept and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy was unpleasant.
It got to the point during the first few months that she would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then marking the F at the top of the paper biggest of all. Because Teddy was a sullen little boy, no one else seemed to enjoy him, either.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's records and put Teddy's off until last. When she opened his file, she was in for a surprise. His first-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright, inquisitive child with a ready laugh." "He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."
His second-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."
His third-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy continues to work hard but his mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."
Teddy's fourth-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class. He is tardy and could become a problem."
By now Mrs. Thompson realized the problem, but Christmas was coming fast. It was all she could do, with the school play and all, until the day before the holidays began and she was suddenly forced to focus on Teddy Stoddard.
Her children brought her presents, all in beautiful ribbon and bright paper, except for Teddy's, which was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper of a scissored grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents.
Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of cologne. She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume behind the other wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed behind just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to."
After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing, and speaking. Instead, she began to teach children. Jean Thompson paid particular attention to one they all called "Teddy."
As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. On days where there would be an important test, Mrs. Thompson would remember that cologne. By the end of the year he had become one of the smartest children in the class and...well, he had also become the "pet" of the teacher who had once vowed to love all of her children exactly the same.
A year later she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that of all the teachers he'd had in elementary school, she was his favorite. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy.
He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still his favorite teacher of all time.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson she was still his favorite teacher.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still his favorite teacher, but that now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D.
The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that Spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering...well, if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the pew usually reserved for the mother of the groom. And guess what, she wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And I bet on that special day, Jean Thompson smelled just like...well, just like the way Teddy remembered his mother smelling on their last Christmas together.

We can make a difference! 

I Am Trying To Be A Good Person

I attended a funeral of a woman who I have come to know over the past eight months.  During the funeral, I began thinking about who I am and how I feel about myself.
Each one of us has our own distinct personality and a whole bunch of God-given characteristics that make us who we are.  It is up to us to use those to help others and also to become better.  In spite of our faults, who we are can bless the lives of those around us.
All four children of this woman took the opportunity to speak to those in attendance.  They are all very different.  What they had to share was good and each one is trying to do the best that they know how to do.
I took a few minutes to review, in my mind, my own life.  I asked myself the question, "Am I trying to be a good person?"  I believe that I am giving it a good shot.  I understand, better than anyone, my own weaknesses.  I also know my own strengths and the strategy I am using to utilize those strengths to lift the heads of those whose hang low.  I am trying to forget about myself and focus on somebody else.
I would ask the same question to you. 
Life is an opportunity to grow and get better.  The happenings of life require us to stretch and see what we are made of. 
When my days are through, I want those who I love to reflect on the good things that I tried to do every single day.  I want to be someone who fought through all of life's challenges, without speaking negatively.  I want to have said of me that I was a good person.

I Found A Friend

This is an experience sent from my older sister.  Friends touch each of us differently and in ways that help us the very most.


"When I was 15 years old, my dad took a job with a firm located in another state.  I was just finishing my sophomore year, and EVERYTHING was important:  my classes, my position in the school, my friends, my boyfriend, my music.  We were moving from a small (and I mean SMALL!) ranching community to what I was sure was going to be worst place on earth!  My dad moved to our new home before the rest of us did.  He found a house to rent, he set up the furniture, he attended church meetings, he met the neighbors.  By the time we arrived, I already had stacks of information from the church’s youth leaders.  I kinda rolled my eyes—who needed another adult looking over my shoulder?  What I needed was girls!  Six days after we moved, I went to help out at a fund raiser.  It was a car wash, and it was a lot of fun.  Water, soap, dozens of girls—what’s not to love?  But the best part of the entire day was when Jana asked if I wanted to go to a dance with them that night and a movie with her in a couple of days.  After the movie, we became fast friends.  It turned out the pining for my former life lasted less than a week, and my time in that (not so) HUGE city was not only formative, but happy!  Jana was one of my very best friends during my adolescent and young adult years.  I’m so glad she invited me along!"

Friends are miracles in our lives.  They touch us and help us.  I am grateful for friends that bless my life. 
Thanks, Aundrea.  I love you!