Share Goodness

Lately I have been inspired to do more, to share more of my life experiences with other people, to be open and authentic, to just share more!  I have to be honest, sharing my personal experiences with other people, people I know, people I don't know, people who may or may not judge me, people who have similar or different experiences...you get the point 😉 ...but it scares me to death!!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE sharing my experiences with people when it happens organically through conversation, but to just put a thought or experience out there is a little frightening to me!

I have been thinking alot lately about what my contribution to the world is.  What am I doing that could benefit someone else??  I feel like I live in a unique situation.  I am the wife of a widower and a stepmom to 3 adorable kids, a mom to 1 amazing daughter and a survivor of someone close to me who ended his life by suicide.  I know that none of these experiences are unique alone, but together they give me a perspective on life that few people have experienced.  I am feeling more and more that I need to share my experiences with others to lift and guide others to a positive place in their own lives.  To spread goodness to all that I can.  I know that life can get hard, but I also know that there is so much joy to feel too!!

I am kind of new to the podcast world, but I have been listening to some that have given me courage to do what I didn't do before...begin sharing...and know that its ok that it might be messy as I'm learning how to do that and I don't have to be perfect in doing it, and it's ok to fail and start over again.  It will be more real and authentic as I find my way through this and share my thoughts, feelings and experiences as I go along.  I want people to remember me for trying to do good, to share real feelings and experiences and to love and help people through my journey so they can also see the goodness inside themselves!!  There are soo many good people out there and it's been inspiring to me to hear some of them through these amazing podcasts that are out there!!  I'll start sharing them as I listen to something that has lifted me up!!

So for today, this will be enough!  I am starting on the journey that I hope will change my life and your life, if anyone is reading this, for good!!  I will post a little get to know me soon!  Go out and do something kind for someone else today!  A small good deed can change someone's life 😊

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Heather

Spreading Love

My sweet friend lost her dear mom over the weekend.  To brighten her day after the long, grueling day of the funeral, I had the young women and other leaders I work with in my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, write little notes of love and appreciation for my sweet friend and her daughter.

On the day of the funeral, I snuck over to her house with my little 8 yr old and we put them on her door!!

Just one small way to show her how much we love and appreciate her.  I hope it was a little moment of happy in her day.

"Never suppress a generous thought" -Camilla Eyring Kimball


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Heather

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!

I can't believe I've been married to my dream man for 3 yrs.  3yrs on the 3rd....Isn't there a special name for that...when your anniversary falls on the date you were married?  Well in my world its a celebration!!

This year it was on a Sunday!  So...we did the things we would normally do, like church and hung out with the kids....all except when our youngest threw up at the dinner table!  Not awesome!!  We made sure she was alright and then it was off to Anniversary Inn...(check it out if you haven't been, it was awesome).  We had treats and watched movies & just enjoyed our time together.  Since our anniversary falls over Labor Day, we had Monday to hang out together.  We checked out a reclaimed wood store we have wanted to visit, but it was CLOSED!  So being our fun selves...we headed home!!

I love that we can have fun just hanging out together, doing the normal every day things that a family does.  That is what a real relationship is to me.  Its not just the going out every night, spending money and impressing each other...its the real things of life...the good and the hard things, but we face them all together.  Thanks for sticking with me Goodman!  We make a great team!!

Happy Anniversary!


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Heather

4th First Date

It's that time again...the time when we get to celebrate our first date EVER!!  We are so thankful that we found each other.  With all the crazy of 4 kids and real lives, we think its important to take the time to celebrate us and our relationship.  So we went back to the place where it all started.  Dinner and taking in some us time at City Creek.  Simple, but fun to reminisce how WE came to be!

So thankful for this guy and all of the happiness he brings into my life!  Love you more every day Goodman 💜


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Heather

Family Pictures 2018

Each year we do this...each year there is finding a photographer, (we used Whitney Charles Photography...and she was FABULOUS!!!)....planning color schemes...coordinating outfits....searching till the last minute to find things to wear....less than excited husbands....kids crying....kids making faces or scowling....laughing...You all know what I'm talking about.  Family pictures are not what they look like in the final project...but we do them.

We do them for the memories....

We do them for the good times we remember when we aren't posing for the camera....

We do them to remember what otherwise we would forget...

We do it to remember the different stages of life our kids, nieces and nephews go through...my nephew is cuter than your nephew!!  😉.....

We do it to remember the photobombing teenagers....

Mostly we do it to remember the loves of our lives...the precious moments and memories we share with these beautiful people we share our lives with ❤

And somehow at the end of all of the chaos and the tantrums and the smiles, we are left with something beautiful...something we can cherish for a lifetime.

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Heather

It's Baptism Day!!

There have been so many special moments for our family over the last couple of weeks.  And today...we get to celebrate one more!!  Today is Cecelia's baptism day.  In our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, when we turn 8, we get to choose if we want to become a member.  If we do, we are able to be baptized and make a promise to Heavenly Father that we will follow His commandments and try to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Also on that special day, we receive a gift from Heavenly Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost...he gets to be with us all the time!  He helps us to know what is right in all the things we do.

Cecelia has decided to become the newest member of our ward and be baptized.  She is so excited to be baptized.  She was able to choose whether Dad or Cole was going to baptize her...and she chose Dad.  She also decided that she wanted to wear Kaylie's baptism dress since she wore Lucy's for her pictures.  She is so excited that her friends and family are going to be there to watch her....she is also hoping that her mom, Jeni will be there too.  I told her I thought she would be.

After her baptism, as she was coming out of the font, she looked at me and said, "Mom, its soo cool that my old mom got to see that!"  We're all so glad we got to be a part of this special day!!  Cecelia we love you and are so excited for you to continue to grow and learn more about our Savior Jesus Christ and His ministry.   Happy Baptism Day sweet girl!!

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Heather

Families are Forever

Today is one of my most favorite days!!  Ever since she was born, I hoped for a day when I would get to have my daughter sealed to me forever!!  As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that we can be with our families forever.  Through the sacred ordinance of sealing, we can have this blessing for our family....and today was that day!

It was such a special experience to have all of our children in the temple with us for the event.  We were all able to participate in Kaylie's sealing.  The temple workers were incredible and were so excited to have children in the temple, since most times the youth are only there to do baptisms for the dead, which is in a different part of the temple.  Our kids felt like royalty and were definitely treated that way!  They had their own special changing rooms and things to do while they waited for Rex and I to get ready.  Then we were able to meet together in the special sealing rooms.  We all dressed in white.  We all felt the Holy Ghost.  We all knew that this was God's will for us.  He loves us and wants us to be happy and return to Him someday to live as families with Him.

After the sealing, we of course took pictures outside of the temple.  Then we went home and had pizza with our family who came to witness this special time in our lives.  We laughed and ate and enjoyed the time we had to spend together.  Families are a gift from heaven.  They are there to celebrate the good times and help us through the bad times.  They are what brings meaning to our lives!  We are so thankful for all of the love and support we get from our families.

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Heather

If you want to learn more about our church...click on the link here.

Lucy's Graduation Day 2018

It's here!!  She is graduating.  So many emotions on this exciting day!!  She is celebrating her success, I mean 36 on the ACT isn't bad right 😉😉😉, and looking forward to continuing her education in the fall!  We are so proud of this beautiful young lady!  Although we will miss her at home, we are excited for all of the new adventures she is about to experience!!

Love this family of mine ❤❤ and all of the things we get to do together!!

Happy Graduation!

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Heather

DIY Paver Patio

Our project this year was to create a new flowerbed, a paver patio, a retaining wall and a fire pit.  Man was it alot of work!!  We started out by visiting our local nursery to find out what kind of stone we wanted.  My husband had a design in mind and we just need to get our heads around what we needed in terms of material and labor.

We ended up getting a kit for a paver circle and a fire pit and then measured how much more square feet of pavers would need.  We watched alot of you tube and asked alot of questions to the professionals.

We decided to use a couple different kinds of paver.  We used Belgard pavers in a couple of different variations....Cambridge Cobble, Holland Stone and the Stonegate retaining wall stones. We were able to get our pavers from Amcor, but if you are not a contractor, you must go to your local distributor to get them.

We took out the grass, compacted the dirt...leveled it and compacted it some more.  We brought in about 12 ton of 3/4 in road base and leveled that...compacted it again, added some sand and then finally laid the pavers and the retaining wall stone.  Once that was done we back filled the space behind the retaining wall, compacted the patio again, cleaned off all of the existing debris...added some polymeric sand.  Make sure you clean off the excess sand and then wet it down.  We let it dry for 24 hrs.  Once that was done we added our fire pit  and then we added a sealant to make the stone look wet and shiny rather than all dried out.  We added weed fabric and plants in the flower beds and put down bark and had curbing put in to tie it all together.

It took us about us about 6 weeks to finish it all!  There were a few missteps and things we didn't expect like a honey bees swarming on a tree we had to pass under while bring all of the road base and sand down, adding retaining wall pieces to help keep the patio level, and even flipping over the sod cutter machine!  But...in the end, it was definitely worth the time it took to build!

Watch the video to see the transformation!!

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Heather

God Loves Broken Things

I am constantly looking for other women who are going through or have been through the same things I am struggling with.  Blending families, divorce, remarriage, raising kids...whatever it is.  It seems like it is always easy to find the negative or discouraging things out there, and I know that is part of the journey, but its so special and uplifting to me when I find someone who can be in the midst of a trial, but still be trying to find happiness. And can show that happiness throughout their struggle.  Not every day maybe, but more than they are projecting negativity, and also that they can show they are making it through and so can I.   It's the way I want to live, the way I am trying to live, although I know I need to work on that a lot!

Yesterday I came across Calee Reed.  She is a motivational speaker and a songwriter, singer.  She spoke in Time Out for Women in 2017 and talked about a song she absolutely loves called "Broken" by Kenneth Cope.  She also talked about a form of Japanese art called Kintsugi.  It means to repair with gold; the art of repairing pottery with lacquer and gold or silver powder, understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.



She goes on to say that she hopes that as she comes closer to the Savior that He can make something beautiful of her broken pieces.  And I just LOVE THAT!  Don't we all feel like we have so many broken parts of us?  There are so many things that we find ugly within ourselves..things we want to just hide away, but with the love of our Savior and His refining power He is able to put those pieces back together in a way that is beautiful and powerful and we can see His light within ourselves.  I love this image and imaging His love woven through the cracks in our lives and the love that we feel knowing of His love for us.  And hopefully others will be able to see that too!

I love this message.  I love that others help us on our journeys.  I love that God loves us so much that He uses us to help each other.  I love that through our brokeness (Is that even a word??)  that we become better beings and closer to what He wants us to become.


Here are the words to "Broken" and also a link to her cover of the song:

BROKEN (Words by Kenneth Cope; Music by Kenneth & Eliza Cope) —inspired by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Broken clouds give rain
Broken soil grows grain
Broken bread feeds man for one more day

Broken storms yield light
The break of day heals night
Broken pride turns blindness into sight

Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
Could it be that God loves broken things

Broken chains set free
Broken swords bring peace
Broken walls make friends of you and me

To break the ranks of sin
To break the news of Him
To put on Christ till His name feels broken in

Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
I believe that God loves broken things

And yet, our broken faith, our broken promises
Sent love to the cross
And still, that broken flesh, that broken heart of His
Offers us such grace and mercy
Covers us with love undeserving

This broken soul that cries for mending
This broken heart for offering
I’m convinced that God loves broken me
Praise His name—my God loves broken things
So, broken cloud—Give rain
And broken soil—Grow grain
And broken bread—Feed man for one more day

Calee Reed cover of Broken



Happy Wednesday Everyone! ❤

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Heather

Rainbow Love Notes

Sometimes as a stepmom I wonder if I'm doing it right, if I do enough, if I am enough, if these littles (and not so littles) entrusted to me feel enough love and support.  Its a challenging situation when you are blending families.

This weekend my daughter and I were out of town at a dance competition.  And when we came home, this is what we found....

What a precious little gift.  My cute little 7yr old made this adorable card for us during sacrament meeting and had each of the family members sign it.  Such a sweet sentiment for this mom!  I love this family.  I love being a part of it and I love that as time moves forward we are able to share more love and kindness with each other...especially ones with handmade rainbow love notes!!

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Heather

Ding Dong Ditched

We are working on creating unity in our young women's group at church.  To follow up with our lesson on Sunday, the group I get to work with, 12yr-13yr old girls, did a fun little activity. 

I found these cute tags at Poppies at Play and we wrote little notes to each girl in our group and doorbell ditched them!  It was a fun way to let the other girls know we were thinking of them and for the girls doing the ditching it was a fun activity!  So much laughing and encouraging each other to run fast and not get caught!

I had ditched the 12 & 13yr olds earlier in the week to give them a hint at what we would be doing for our activity!

Check out the link above to get the free printable!!

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Heather

Festival of Trees

It's that time of year again!!  It's time for the Festival of Trees.  I love this event.  I love the meaning behind it!  I love the family time we spend there!

Here is a little history of the festival...
The Festival of Trees was inspired 46 years ago by a group of 15 women from along the Wasatch Front.  These women were challenged by Lewis M. Jones, Chairman of the hospital's Men's Endowment Board, to identify a way to raise funds for Primary Children's Hospital.  Organized as the Women's Endowment Committee and led by Betty Wells, the group sold tickets to the Ice Capades and dabbled in other projects in an attempt to raise funds.  They soon determined they had spent too much time and energy for too little return.  They searched for one project they could devote all their efforts on.
That project was inspired when Co-Chair Ruth Flint vacationed in Hawaii and attended a Christmas boutique featuring small, decorated Christmas trees, centerpieces, and Christmas decorations.  The Women's Endowment Committee expanded the concept to include full-sized decorated Christmas trees, a gift boutique, and sweet shop.  At that time, Primary Children's Hospital was owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and much of the support would come from church members.
That first year, there were approximately 60 trees for display and sale in the gymnasium of the old Armory off Sunnyside Avenue.  To everyone's surprise and delight, $47,000 was raised!


Today, the Festival of Trees is held at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah.  Over the years, this beautiful event has blossomed into a festival that spans over 220,000 square feet of display space.
Perhaps the greatest phenomenon of all is that everything is donated.  The trees are decorated and purchased by individuals, families, organizations, businesses, and church groups.  In addition, others generously donate items to fill the shops.  Businesses provide the paper and printing of posters and tickets.  Corporations offer their covered trucks and drivers to help deliver the trees, and so much more!  Thousands of people contribute countless hours and means to give "A Gift of Love" to children.  In 2016. the Festival raised $2,622,903.88 for children at Primary Children's Hospital.
Over the years, Festival of Trees has been copied many times throughout the United States and Canada.  However, the Salt Lake City Festival of Trees remains the "granddaddy" of them all.


My daughter Kaylie is a talented dancer and her studio would perform every year at the Festival.  We would then spend time walking through the aisles looking at all of the beautiful trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses, etc...and who can resist all of the YUMMY food and treats you can purchase!!  BUT....our favorite part is the Kids' Corner where you can talk to an Elf at the North Pole or make awesome crafts or ornaments or even stand in a booth and be surrounded in a big giant soap bubble!!  Such a magical, fun place to be.  The feeling of joy and good wishes to all abound there.


Now we have a new reason to visit the Festival!!  Lucy and Cole, our 2 oldest, with the help of a family friend donate a tree every year in honor of their sweet mother.  They come up with a theme, shop for ornaments and then decorate the tree.  They LOVE delivery day!  They always seem so excited and really enjoy setting up their tree and honoring their mom.  I am so thankful they have this event every year to honor her and I know they love that all of the proceeds go to help children who are in need of special care too.  They get to go before the rest of our family and they usually have a tree or two that they love and want to show us in addition to their own!!


The theme they chose this year was 'dancing all night'....here are Lucy's words explaining it!!  "One of my favorite memories of my mom is her dance parties.  even when she was sick and in pain from her cancer treatments, she would turn on some music and we'd all dance it out.  these dance parties were the inspiration for this year's tree-dancing all night."
Many people remember these dance parties and talk about them fondly.  It was a blessing to them all and a sweet reminder of the woman who meant so much to so many.

It turned out beautifully!  This event is such a great reminder to me that despite all of the bad things in the world, there are also so many good things.  We must seek out the good things and share them with others.  We must be kind, happy and share our goodness with those around us and help those in need.  "As we follow the example of the Savior and live as He lived and as He taught, that light will burn within us and will light the way for others," President Thomas S. Monson


Go check out the Festival if you are able!  You'll love it and want to go back every year!


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Heather

Daily InstaGrams

Hey everyone!!  I have started an instagram account called heatherbspage where I have been posting daily general conference talks to enlighten my days...and hopefully yours!  It all started when I was looking for some daily motivation, something to get me thinking, something to bring me closer to the Savior, something to learn from.  I have followed a few accounts on Instagram myself for these talks...@gen365conf and @trekthruconference.  They are great accounts.  I even found myself sharing the talks with my family & friends.  They wanted me to text them the links to those talks.  So, instead of texting them each individually, I thought I would add them to my instagram...that way, as many as want to read them can!  The links to the talks change daily, but I have included the link in each post so you can find it if you miss a day. 

Its been fun sharing these words of wisdom with my friends and family and I'm excited to share with anyone who needs a little pick me up for the day!  Hearing the words of the prophets daily makes me feel happy, peaceful and have hope that I can continue to grow spiritually and become a better person!  I know hearing these words daily will strengthen my testimony and help me to see the positive in my life every day!

I hope you follow along with me and leave comments on your thoughts and feelings too!

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Heather

An Attitude of Gratitude

I've been looking for something to help bring a positive feeling into our home and to get everyone in the spirit of Thanksgiving this year.  So of course I turned to Pinterest!  There are so many great ideas out there.  I decided that I would make it really simple in hopes that we would all follow through and it would be meaningful in some way to each of us!


I decided to make a Gratitude Jar and leave little note size papers next to the jar so we could write down what we are thankful for each day.  I kept it REALLY simple and just made a little tag and tied a piece of ribbon around the jar and put it on our counter where we will see it every day! I told the kids to write down something they are thankful for each day.  They were asking how many they could do a day...I think they might be writing some crazy things down, but I'm glad they are still getting involved and hopefully by the time Thanksgiving rolls around we can have enough to read and remember over the month that we are very blessed.  Love those kids!! 💛


Super easy right!!!??  I've included a free printable, but I kinda changed mine up...so it looks a little different than the picture of my jar! 
What are your traditions for bringing an attitude of gratitude into your homes??

"A grateful heart … comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives."   --President Thomas S. Monson

Free Printable Here

Family Picures 2017

I don't know about you, but there is something about Family pictures that I LOVE!!  I love to see the changes in our family from year to year.  I love the memories we make when we are taking them and the fun they seem to be...mostly!  What session wouldn't be complete without the shedding of a few tears right!  😉  I am really lucky to have one of the best cousins in the world, who just happens to take amazing pictures!  I mean...check them out!

When I'm thinking of what I want the theme to be for the year, I spend LOTS of time on Pinterest or other friends photos.  I'm looking at color schemes and poses and locations.  This year I wanted a more rustic feel.  So we chose more muted colors like navy, black and jeans.  My cousin picked the location with these cool rustic barns and an old silo.  And for fun, my mom wanted to do something with Santa hats and ugly sweaters...I added the lights and we barely had time to snap a few quick ones with the kids before it got dark! 


Whatever your family photos are, do them!  Make memories and capture the changes in your family for years to  come.  Family pictures are a MUST for me!  I don't want to miss a chance to watch our family grow up!! 

Love you to Pieces

I was recently called to serve as 2nd counselor in our young women's presidency in my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I had a really cool experience with this.  I knew that our current leaders were being released, because I was an advisor within the Beehive class.  I had only been in a few months so I wasn't surprised when I didn't get a message that I was also going to be released.  NEVER did I think I would be called to the presidency.  One of the other advisors was teasing me that I would be the new "Beehive President", which is the 2nd counsel of  the presidency...right I thought...but then I had  gentle reminder that Heavenly Father calls who he knows is the right fit at the right time.  I remember thinking...Ok Heavenly Father, if you want me to have this calling and work with these amazing young women, I will gladly do it.  There was this warm, peaceful, burning feeling and I knew it was the Holy Ghost.  I still brushed it off and went about my day.  Later that evening, I was visited by a member of our bishopric and was extended the calling.  I knew for a surety that Heavenly Father was preparing me earlier in the day for the call that would later come.

As preparation for changing leaders and in an effort to reach out to each girl, I found this cute little handout from Pumpkin and a Princess.  I laminated them and put the names of the advisors who now would be working with the girls.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to get to work with such great women and to hopefully influence the lives of the girls I'm working with!!

"If you desire to make a difference in the world, you must be different from the world"
          -Elaine S. Dalton

Today is their Anniversary

My husband is a widower.  I married him fully knowing this.  I put all of the feelings of him and his first wife aside when I decided to marry him.  I wasn't sure if I could handle them all, but I knew I loved him and I knew marrying him was right and what I wanted to do.  Sometimes her memory is hard for me.  I feel like I am the other woman.  I feel like I only got a second chance because she died.  I am afraid that I will be alone in the next life, because in my personal beliefs, this life is only part of our eternal existence.  Let me be clear, these are my feelings, not my husband's.  He NEVER compares me to Jeni.  He never makes me feel that he loves me any less than he loves her.  These are my own personal feelings that sometimes get the best of me...especially on days like today. 


Today is their wedding anniversary.  It would have been their 19th wedding anniversary.  In some ways it makes me sad and brings up all of my insecurities.  However, in some ways, it brings me joy.  She helped influence this man that I love so much.  She helped him become who he is in so many ways.  I'm sure he is more compassionate and loving because of his experiences with her.  He is so giving of himself and his time.  He understands what it means to truly love someone.  He never wants to fight or argue over things.  He is understanding and forgiving.  He is ALWAYS trying to make me happy.  He gives all he has to his family.  I know that because of her, he is this amazing person.  I also know that whatever comes in the next life, I will be happier than I ever imagined.  I know God loves me more than I know and He will make everything right so we can all be happy. 


So while I sometimes have these negative feelings eating at my heart, I am thankful for her and her influence...her goodness.  Happy Anniversary!!  I hope you are dancing with the angels in celebration and wishing you nothing but happiness and peace. ❤❤❤

Today Choose Happiness

We've all had those days when we struggle.  Your life isn't how you imagined...You aren't the perfect mom or spouse, you are yelling at your kids or loosing your patience...your house is a mess and your laundry isn't folded...you don't know what to make for dinner or you just plain don't want to make it.  There are always those thoughts in the back of our minds about how we aren't measuring up to all of the "together" mom's out there.  BUT...when you stop and think about all of the good things you DO have, doesn't that just put things back into perspective a little bit?  We don't have to be perfect to be happy!  We can be grateful for what we do have and what we can do and sometimes that is enough...YOU ARE ENOUGH. 

If you are feeling like I was today, take the time to think about all of your blessings and you will find all of the beautiful reasons you have to be happy!  For today, lets choose happiness!!

Light

Every morning on the way to work I listen to a talk given by speakers from my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the Mormons as most know us by.  It's a way for me to hear inspired words to uplift me and give me something positive to focus on for the day.  I feel like it brings me closer to God and helps me to remember things that are important for me to grow as a person.


Today I listened to a talk by John H. Groberg from the October 1976 General Conference.  (Here is the link in case you'd like to listen or read it, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/10/there-is-the-light?lang=eng)  He recalls an experience he had while in the South Pacific and the prompting he got from God to get a young man, a missionary for our church, to the main island because he was sick and need medical attention.  However, there was a storm raging and in order to get him to the hospital they would have to go by boat.  There was only a small opening in the reef, which they needed to pass through and a small light that lit the narrow passage to get them to the island where the hospital was.  They were afraid they might not be able to see it.  The storm was gaining power and the conditions were worsening, but he knew he needed to get the young man to the hospital, so they went.  He talks about the brave captain who despite all of the adversity he was being challenged with, stayed calm and focused on the reef to find the light and get them safely through the reef.


It reminded me of our daily lives.  There are challenges we never expected to encounter, but if we stay fixed on Jesus Christ.  If we are kind, charitable, and loving, if we ask for help and try our best to do what is right, we too will be able to see the small, yet beautiful light.  May we all strive to share our love with others and come ever so close to being a light in places of darkness.