Smith Family Ice Cream Scoop: How Blessed I Am

Sunday, May 10, 2009

How Blessed I Am

What a wonderful Mothers Day I have had! My house was cleaned, breakfast made, dinner made, multiple handmade cards from each kid, a walk with Cooper, chocolate truffles, happy kids, happy Brandon, a wonderful present (a rustic tray)... and this is what I woke up to:

a beautiful handmade banner!

And for my picture of the day... one of the joys of being a mother... little boy feet and bums.

7 comments:

Annalee Kelly said...: glad you had a great day!; 7:30 PM
Candace said...: I just LOVE both of those pictures!! They're great!

And Tony and Noah went down on the beach this morning and wrote me a message and do you know that in the hectic times of packing bags, the car, and cleaning the beach house that I FORGOT to take a picture of my beach mother's day message???? I was so mad at myself! I still cannot believe I did that!; 7:50 PM
Rachel Holloway said...: ABSOLUTELY SWEET....I am SOOO happy you had a great mother's day! yOu totally deserved it!! May it happen many times over...even if it's not the official day! :); 10:35 PM
Amy said...: LOVE that picture! There is NOTHING like little kids feet! Happy Mothers Day yesterday!!!; 9:01 AM
Brenda said...: Glad you had a nice mothers day!; 10:45 AM
Netti said...: May you have many more. Love your photos.; 10:30 PM
Shannon said...: You know, I have to tell you how refreshing it is to read how much you enjoy Mother's Day. It seems like there are so many mothers these days who dread the day and are actually quite bitter about it. I love celebrating mothers - and you are definitely one of the greatest I've been blessed to observe. You're awesome Mindy!; 8:58 AM

To Do Today

* Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks. The covenant with God to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by him, and nothing is impossible for you.
* When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them, in gratitude and love, toward God.
* In your life there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.
* First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness.
* You cannot communicate with God unless you have first sacrificed your self-oriented natural man and have brought yourself into the lower levels of meekness, to become acceptable for the Light of Christ.
* Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul.
* Pause to ponder the suffering Christ felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the awareness of the depth of gratitude for him, you appreciate every opportunity to show your love for him by diligently serving in his Church.
* God knows that you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, he will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve.
* God knows better than you what you need. He always attempts to speak to you. Listen, and follow the uncomfortable suggestions that he makes to us--everything will fall into its place.
* Avoid any fear like your worst enemy, but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin.
* When you cannot love someone, look into that person's eyes long enough to find the hidden rudiments of the child of God in him.
* Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. In the case of your own children or subordinates, where you have the responsibility to judge, help them to become their own judges.
* If someone hurts you so much that your feelings seem to choke you, forgive and you will be free again.
* Avoid at all cost any pessimistic, negative, or criticizing thoughts. If you cannot cut them out, they will do you harm. On the road toward salvation, let questions arise but never doubts. If something is wrong, God will give you clarity but never doubts.
* Avoid rush and haste and uncontrolled words. Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet. Be aware of that as you enter places of worship.
* Be not so much concerned about what you do, but do what you do with all your heart, might, and strength. In thoroughness is satisfaction.
* You want to be good and to do good. That is commendable. But the greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do.
* The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it.
* Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve.
* And finally, when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.

from "Unleashing the Dormant Spirit by F. Enzio Busche