An Extended Family

Today was family picture day...not always the best memories at the time (of getting squeezed together and having lights flash at you,) but the picture always turn out great and the memories of where everyone was in their life at that moment in time is so great to be captured on camera. I've been thinking a lot about families; probably because the Speigle fam is all together for a few short days... Josh is home from the Navy on leave, Melissa flew in from BYU, we live just minutes from my parents, and the not so "little girls" are still at home with Mom and Dad. It is great to be all together.

It seems that I've just been hearing so much about the importance of families lately- how a family is the fundamental unit of society, how families can be forever, how families shape the morals and values of posterity, and how our family relations are one of the things that we will take with us in the here after. I guess, with all of this, I've usually just been applying it to my immediate little family of me, Drew, Abigail and Lauren and kind of disregarding the larger extended families that we are all a part of. With this new perspective, every topic of family life or the importance of families that I felt pretty confident with with my little family is in need of work with my extended family.

If families are the most important and fundamental unit of society- then shouldn't those units be linked together into larger connected families and all be striving for the same goals together? Maybe this has seemed obvious to everyone else, but for me it's just really hit home recently that strengthening families is something that I do not just as a mom and a wife, but as a daughter and a sister and a cousin and a niece and granddaughter and a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law and an aunt and on and on. So just when I think I'm getting this 'family relations' thing down, I have many more roles and relationships that I can be strengthening and many more parts to a greater family that I also want to be forever.

Families are tricky. We love one another and yet we can't stand each other. We pray for one another and yet we judge each other. We'd give our lives for one another and yet we fight with one another. Families can be forever... but I sometimes find myself wondering if our relationships are such that we'd even want to be together forever. Now, I know we do, but today as I found myself getting upset with a sibling or frustrated with an aunt, it is hard to be so sure.

Families are so important to the eternal plan, and I think the advesary knows that as well. So many times I think that the fastest way to drag us down to misery is through breaking up the family unit- because what can bring so much joy can also bring so much heartache- and so he works extra hard to try the patience of all and attack the family.

I've been rambling... but I guess my point is that I feel the Lord's kindness in allowing my family to be together today, and for giving us the opportunity to keep our family together for eternity. I am grateful for the realization that my work to have my family be forever is not just for my immediate family, but for my extended family as well, of whom I love and want to spend eternity with. I am grateful for the truths and blessings of eternal families, and look forward to sharing the here after with the people I love most.

The Hinckley Challenge

I just heard about this today and thought I would share it with anyone and everyone. President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which I am a member, recently passed away and in honor of his life a challenge has been extended to read The Book of Mormon in 97 days (his age when he passed away). President Hinckley loved The Book of Mormon, and bore his witness that, "The truth about the origins of the Book of Mormon will be determined today and tomorrow, as it has been throughout the yesterdays, by reading the book in a spirit of reverence and respect and prayer." What better way to reaffirm your testimony or gain one anew than to read it in celebration of President Hinckley's life?

A website has been created by those who had this idea, and already more than 31,000 people have joined in. I've decided to accept the challenge and read The Book of Mormon again with 'reverence, respect, and prayer' as President Hinckley counseled, though I need to get going if I'm going to stay with the group because now there's only 78 days left!

If you are interested in finding out more about the challenge or The Book of Mormon itself, here are some helpful links...

Hinckley Challenge website
The Book of Mormon for easy internet reading : ).

I'm not sure how many people read this, but I do know that not everyone is of the same faith as me. The idea of this blessing blog is not to boast about my church or my specific beliefs, but to open my eyes (and others' too) to the miracles and the blessings and the happiness that are all around us. The Lord is kind, and sometimes we just have to look to see His presence in our lives amidst the chaos that also abounds. I hope this blog in some small way can help us all do that.

A Bad Attitude Turned Good : )

Today I am humbled. (Why does it seem that I am in need of being humbled so often?) My day started out a little crazy and I had a bad attitude about a certain situation and negative thoughts kept entering my mind about a friend. Sometimes I think we like to feed those thoughts and get caught up in how right we are and how wrong everyone else is and how miserable we are until we are only more miserable and taking that misery out on everyone else. Yuck! I remember my best friend telling me that if you have to be bitter, be bitter for five minutes and then get over it. Why do our natural tendencies just not want to get over it and let it go? Probably because the "natural man is an enemy to God," and bitterness is not next to godliness.

Anyways, this morning I was feeling kind of grouchy, and wasn't looking forward to my one scheduled event of the day- visit teaching. And then I did it. I humbled myself, met my partner, said a prayer for the sisters who we visit, and my bad attitude simply melted away. By the end of the visits I was so concerned for the well being of the women I visit that I had forgotten all about petty little me. I realized how stupid my bad attitude had been, how wrong my negative judgments and thoughts were, and how much happiness can be found by forgetting myself and serving the Lord through others.

The girls and I had a really fun time and I am grateful for the Lord's kindness (and patience) in blessing me with this opportunity for service and for always forgiving my weaknesses.

A Balance in my Life

There are so many things I am specifically grateful for today that it's hard to narrow it down, but I think I'll focus on the blessing of my children and the gratitude I have for a balance in my life. Today Abigail spent the day at grandma's house and had so much fun. She couldn't wait to go this morning and it was a nice break for me and Lauren to spend some time together one on one and then for me to have some alone time while Lauren was napping.

The thing that suprised me though, was how much I missed my little rascals during naptime. I love naptime, which equals 'me-time' and the chance for me to catch my breath in a busy day. Even if I'm doing boring things like paying bills or showering because I didn't get to earlier, it's a nice break and brings balance to my life. During Lauren's long nap today, though, things started to feel out of balance and I finally had to go wake her up so I'd have someone to play with because I was getting bored all by myself : ).

I am so grateful for my sweet girls, and for the reminder that they are so sweet and such an important part of my daily routine- what would I do without them? I am grateful for their naptimes as well- as long as they're not too long- because I really believe that I'm a better mom when I have time to recharge my batteries and keep a balance in my life. I am grateful for my mom to be so fun and want to have Abbie over to play and give me an extra break. Mostly I am grateful for the Lord's kindness in blessing my life every day with these sweet girls.

A Return of Motivation

Today I am grateful for motivation, or at least for me to be once again motivated. Earlier in life I was so motivated, so competitive, and so ambitious. I don't know if these are necessarily all strengths, as I think there needs to be a balance, but I've recently been struggling with a lack of motivation to get myself up and going in the morning and the ambition to set and achieve the goals that I want to accomplish, and it is a blessing to be motivated again.

I think the change happened after I became a mom. Suddenly, winning games and being super competitive seemed so insignificant compared to the greater work of raising a child. I was looking over some of my high school journal entries and it was clear how ambitious and competitive I was then- every entry had to do with my upcoming game or meet, my goals, and how my training was going and how I was improving or not. I realize that this is a different season in my life and I still think that being a mom is probably my most important role at this time, but I think being motivated and ambitious in life is something that I want to model for my children and not just lazily let life pass me by. I guess I want to recapture some of the fire and drive that I use to have and apply to different goals that I have for myself and my family.

This may seem really nerdy, but I was honestly inspired by the 'soccer mom' who won American Gladiators. I think she was a great example to her girls of setting goals and working hard to meet them. Now, I'm not saying I want to be a gladiator, but I do want to be motivated to accomplish some of the things that I want, and I want my children to do the same. Sometimes I feel like I've had the perspective that my girls are holding me back, but now I realize that they can be my motivation and wanting to be the best mom and all around person for them can become the reason to do the things I want to do.

I am grateful for the Lord's kindness and patience in my realization of this and for the extra nudge this morning to get up and get going. I am reminded of the phrase "Mind over Mattress," and that's something that I had mastered when I was training for my marathon, but has been long gone ever since. I hope to recapture the motivation and drive of my younger years and apply them to my ambitions of today and tomorrow.

A New Outlook

Today a speaker in church mentioned how sometimes it is our perspective that really changes the way we interpret the blessings in our lives. He suggested that we sometimes have to put on different 'lenses' to see the blessings and miracles that are all around us already. I think this is so true, and I am grateful for the Lord's kindness in reaffirming this to me today. That is one of my hopes for this Blessing Blog idea...that I and others will begin to see the world and the Lord's hand in it differently, and that we will gain a greater realization of how much we really are blessed. After a few weeks of writing different posts, I can already witness this change in my life. Each day I am pondering which of the many blessings I experience or noticed to mention, and it has started to change my natural tendency to look inward at only myself to looking outward at others. I am grateful for this change and hope to make it even greater.