Daily Rules from God

1. Wake Up!! Decide to have a good day. "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24
2. Dress Up!! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7
3. Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3
4. Stand Up!!... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up!!... To the Lord. "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me..." Phillippians 4:13
6. Reach Up!!... For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your w ays, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6
7. Lift Up!!... Your Prayers. "Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING." Philippians 4:6
God answers Knee-Mail.

Blessed Temple

This week has been full of temple blessings. I so appreciate that the temple is less than an hour's drive from home. I had an initiatory assignment on Tuesday and our ward endowment session was on Wednesday. How great to do those two assignments in succession like that. Oh the promised blessings. I just need to do my part and live worthy and keep my covenants. I will strive to do better at all of that. I am so thankful for our ward temple night car pool. The 3 other sisters that I ride with are all so very different and yet the love I feel for them is overwhelming at times. We are all going through our different struggles, health, divorce, wayward children, never being married, etc. So even though our trials are so very different, it is a comfort to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ helps each of us. The atonement is applied to each of us. We can support and sustain each other in friendship and sisterhood. We were talking with some of the other sisters at the temple and a story was related. As a different carpool was heading out to come to the temple, a sister called her visiting teacher in the carpool. She felt like she needed to go directly to urgent care. As the sister volunteered the driver of the carpool to this task without even thinking about it. Of course the decision was made to take her. She called back shortly and said the moment had passed and she wouldn't need to go after all. She was so thankful that the sisters would drop everthing, even a temple trip, to help her. We all decided this is exactly what Relief Society is all about.

FATHER'S DAY

Let me just start by saying how special my sweetheart is. I absolutely adore this man and love him to pieces!!!!

So for father's day, he got a cholesterol special from the breakfast in bed menu. Scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese, toast with plenty of margarine, sausage links, cheesy hashbrowns, and orange juice.

Before I left for church I filled up his football drink mug with his favorite soda. He was all set for his day of sports....

Upon my return home, I made him dinner. Well he defrosted it and helped me put it all together. Porky's pulled pork sandwiches with Corky's BBQ sauce and chips. Well he did not have chips because that was his lunch snack with his favorite french onion dip.

Then for dessert. I asked him what kind of chips he wanted in his cookies. Peanut butter of course. So I made him a batch of chocolate chip and peanut butter chip cookies. Delightful if I do say so myself.

Then I rubbed his back for him. All in all I think I spoiled him rotten. He deserves it. He is always spoiling me and this was a great opportunity to return the favor!

I LOVE YOU MY SWEETHEART!!!!

Weekend Bliss

What a wonderful weekend! I was actually able to work in my yarden. I enjoyed every blessed moment. I mowed the lawn. My lawn is probably in shock for all of the attention it is receiving of late :-) Weedwacked the edges. Pulled some weeds. Trimmed some plants. Watered. I still have much to do out there. For family home evening I intend to start where I left off.

Tired and Sick

So a flu/cold bug has flown in and settled into our home. We are not feeling our best. I took a day off of work, left early a few times. I did make it to book club and now rue the decision. I hope it did not cause illness for any of the other participants. I stayed home from church on Sunday do to the urgings of mother in law, husband, and friend. I journeyed to Middle Earth and enjoyed the journey once again while crocheting edgings on baby bibs and burp cloths. I did read my Sunday school and Relief Society lessons. Right now the engergies are focused on showering, eating, working, and resting. I will not go to the Relief Society Meeting this Wednesday. I am learning that I need to recover before I have left over to give. I am trying to learn that this is not selfish but the opposite is true. If I selfishly go in the desire to serve I may actually do more harm than good by giving my illness to others. I do not think they want me to share that with them.

So in the meantime, my sweetheart and I are going to heal and get better and rest and relax. Do what is necessary and let the rest wait until our strength is renewed. This too shall pass. I must remember that I usually only get these really bad things when I have allowed myself to do too much too fast. It is a good reminder to slow down and take things slow and steady. The scriptures admonish as much and I need to follow this prophetic council regardless of the church peer pressure to do otherwise.

The thought I prepared for the Relief Society June newsletter

JUNE 2010 –THE YEAR OF CHANGE
VISTA 5th WARD RELIEF SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

“We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction…” Relief Society theme. “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him…” Young Women value theme. As we move into summer and celebrate father’s day I hope we can all take a moment and remember our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much. “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Moses 1:39. Our Heavenly Father wants us to have joy here during our mortal journey. “And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy….” Mosiah 3:13 Our Heavenly Father wants us to return to live with Him again. He listens to our prayers. He answers our prayers. He has not left us alone during our journey. “But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name…” John 14:26 Our Heavenly Father knows each of us individually. He knows you personally. Never forget that He loves you and that you are NEVER alone.
Love to you all, Renee Stuckrad, 1st Counselor

Points from my lesson in Relief Society

The following quotes are from Spencer W Kimball.....

1) Seek excellence in all your righteous endeavors, and in all aspects of your lives.

2) Remember, too, as we focus on the glories and importance of family life here, that all of us belong to the eternal family of our Father in Heaven.

3) Sometimes to be tested and proved requires that we be temporarily deprived-but righteous women and men will one day receive all-think of it, sisters—all that our Father has! It is not only worth waiting for; it is worth living for!

4) Meanwhile, one does not need to be married or a mother in order to keep the first and second great commandments—those of loving God and our fellowmen—on which Jesus said hang all the law and the prophets.

5) Again, you must be wise in the choices that you make, but we do not desire the women of the Church to be uninformed or ineffective. You will be better mothers and wives, both in this life and in eternity, if you sharpen the skills you have been given and use the talents with which God has blessed you.

Garlic Harvest

I harvested the garlic this evening. I got 14 bulbs of various sizes. They smell very fragrant. Hopefully they will taste very yummy too!

They are on a towel right now drying. I will then get the cloves and put them in a jar and put the jar in the fridge so that we can use them for a few months. It is just so interesting growing them.

SNAILS and SLUGS

Okay so some of the snails are making it across my copper tape. This is not very nice. So now I am collecting each evening, all of the snails I can find and putting them in the yard waste bin with the lid on tight so that they cannot escape. I am finding a plethora of slugs this year too! YUCK!! What is going on? I don't like these critters. At least the snails each have different patterns on their shells and there is a weird beauty to them and their feathery looking undersides. I just don't like that they eat my stuff! Cilantro, almost all gone. At least the beanlings are still around and the new ones in the six packs are starting to sprout.

Any ideas.....I may need to resort to buying the cannibal snails at the garden center. These creeping snails actually eat other snails but not veggies. Too weird and that would be my last resort. Because, where are they during the day. That is just icky!