Thankful Me

Photo: An Advent calendar hangs on a wall next to an interactive Hanukkah banner The final focus of the #LightTheWorld campaign is Light Your Faith. If it were possible, I would invite each of you to attend a special, one-hour Christmas service with me on December 23. Our ward's choir is preparing some really great music, and I would love for you to hear it. However, as you live all over the world, the next best thing would be to invite you to a service in your local area. If you go to the LightTheWorld website  and scroll down, on the right hand side you will find a link to locate a congregation near you. If you decide to go, I'd love to hear about it! For this Light Your Faith theme, as with the other themes, I didn't want to do all the talking, though. I invited my friend Sarah to share with us how her family celebrates during December. I was so pleased when she agreed to write a post for us. I love how she and her husband have been able to find common grou...

If you know Christine from A Fly on the Chicken Coop Wall , you might remember this post she wrote back in November of 2014. If so, it is worth another read, and if not, you are in for a treat. Christine truly shines when it comes to family! I asked her if I might reprint this post on my blog for #LightTheWorld, and she graciously agreed.  The Best Christmas Present I Ever Gave Back in October, when my nephews were staying with us, somehow the boys and I started talking about the scrapbook we put together 10 years ago.  My nephew jumped in and started quoting things that were written in it.  I was shocked. Me:  You remember that scrapbook? Nephew:  Yeah. Me:  When was the last time you even looked at it? Nephew:  About a month ago.  It's on the table next to my bed. Me: This child has moved many times in the last 10 years, including a couple of places during their 3 years in Hawaii.  Just in the last 2 years...

(Video of snow falling in my backyard, with a wind chime ringing in the background.) Christmas is coming, and two competing forces are at play: the hustle and bustle of the season, and the need to slow down, focus, and reflect on joy and love. As the Grinch learned, the details don't matter so much as the feelings. Taking time to think about what I am thankful for helps keep my life balanced, and this week, I am thankful for: 1. Getting my piano tuned. It had been too long. I learned something from the tuner. He said that years ago, pianos would be tuned to a different standard than is used today. I know that past tuners have told me that they would not raise the pitch on my piano, and would just tune it to itself. This tuner did take the time to raise the pitch. No strings broke. He will return in 6 months to tune it again, and hopefully then we can go to a once-a-year tuning.  2. Carollers appeared on our doorstep.  3. I went to my first book club meeting here. (Th...

Photo: Sign on posterboard, written in a child's handwriting, which says, "Hot Cocoa Cookies help us raise $$ to buy, teddy Bears for local Hospitals, clinics, and shelters" This week, the #LightTheWorld campaign theme is Light Your Community, and I've noticed many examples of ways to shine; here are several: 1. Young brothers organized and manned a cocoa and cookies stand, with proceeds going to purchase teddy bears for hospitals, clinics, and shelters. 2. The local grocery store had a "grab a bag" display, where shoppers could buy a bag of food to donate to a food pantry. 3. A class of 11-year-olds quickly responded, "But you are great at other things, like gymnastics," when a fellow classmate expressed frustration that she was not good at puzzles. 4. During a snowstorm, neighbors quickly shoveled sidewalks and driveways up and down the street, without stopping at their own property lines.  A little kindness goes a long way to lig...

This week the #LightTheWorld campaign's theme is Light Your Community, and I'm happy to welcome Mimi of messymimi's meanderings as a guest blogger today. I have enjoyed reading her posts about her involvement with rEcess, and asked her if she would share a bit about that program with us. She graciously agreed. I hope that her story will inspire us to look around and see how we might be able to serve in our own communities.  ************************************************* Several years ago, a little boy named Eliot was born, against the odds, with Trisomy 18.  (Most babies with that DNA defect don’t make it to birth.) He lived 99 days.  His parents were left with a lot of pain at his loss, and with a desire to help parents of special needs kids the way they had been helped and touched by so many.  They founded 99 Balloons, for the number of days their son had lived, and began sponsoring rEcess.  (The capital E is for Eliot.) Every parent knows how hard i...

Photo: A sky blue circle with a palm tree graphic and the words, "Mele Kalikimaka" I don't often dream, or if I do, I don't often remember my dreams. I do, however, very frequently wake up with a song running through my mind. Often the song is a new one that we are learning in church choir. Other times, it is one that is familiar but that I'm unsure of all the words. My brain just goes over and over the part I don't know, trying to figure out the words.  1. I'm thankful for how easily song lyrics can be found, even at 4 a.m. Mele kalikimaka is not a "wise" way (that doesn't make sense) nor is is "a Hawaiian's" way (there are too many syllables for the notes), but it is "Hawaii's" way to say "Merry Christmas!" 2. I'm thankful for the rabbit hole of knowledge one can learn while just trying to change the inner play list. Did you know that (according to Wikipedia) "A mondegreen is a mishea...

Photo: My friend, Krista, holds a baby girl in a Cadain orphanage Today's guest post is written by my friend, Krista. She's one of those people that just seems to have it all together. We met when we were both living in California. At that time, she had two adorable, well-behaved children, a giant, well-trained puppy, and had just moved into a beautiful house that her husband was renovating.  After some time, we both moved away from California and lost touch, except for the occasional Facebook post. Her photos left me wanting more information. That curiosity prompted me to ask her to write a guest post, because I knew her story would be interesting for all my readers.  I struggled to know in which week in the #LightTheWorld campaign to publish this post. The Light the World week certainly fit, but Light Your Family week also would be appropriate. Ultimately, my impatience to publish won out.  I think you will agree that Krista is an amazing person a...

Photo: Five women sit around a quilt, tying it with yarn Monday, Nancy of Wyoming Breezes wrote a guest post and shared with us about the Quilts of Valor Foundation . Yesterday, I focused on JustServe.org , and how that is one resource to finding organizations that need volunteer helpers. Today, I'd like to report on what I found when I used JustServe.org .  The #LightTheWorld campaign is encouraging everyone to Light the World, Light Your Community, Light Your Family, and Light Your Faith. I had ideas for the latter three, but I wanted to do something for Light the World that was more than just donating money to a cause (though that can be helpful, too, of course.) I turned to JustServe.org to see if I could find ways to participate. A couple of projects stood out to me: tying quilts for the Paradise, CA fire victims, and gathering supplies for Rohingya refugees who are living in Bangladesh. Stitching Hearts Worldwide was organizing quilting bees, and also was working w...

What better time than Christmas to emulate the example of Jesus Christ? He spent a lifetime in service to others, and we can serve others, too.  This year, the Light the World initiative is broken into four weekly themes: Light the World, Light Your Community, Light Your Family, and Light Your Faith.  There are countless ways we can serve. Yesterday, Nancy of Wyoming Breezes taught us about the Quilt of Valor Foundation . There are countless organizations that could use our help, but sometimes it is hard to know what charities are out there, and exactly what help is needed.  Enter justserve.org . With the click of a button, you can put in your zip code and find a list of organizations near you. You can also search by interest. Perhaps you want to help animals, or you want to provide disaster relief. You can search for projects that meet those interests.  Similarly, if you are involved with a charity that is in need of more volunteers, you can list your o...

Photo: A round clear acrylic circle Christmas ornament, with white stars, snowflakes, and the words, "Light the World" Welcome to the first installment of guest posts during this #LightTheWorld season. Each week of this month the focus will be just a little bit different. We'll start with "Light the World," then "Light Your Community," "Light Your Family," and finally, "Light Your Faith." I've invited several different individuals to share their ideas with us, and I'm excited to hear from them throughout this month. Nancy of Wyoming Breezes is a great example of serving others, and I was so delighted when she agreed to share with us a little bit about one of her favorite volunteer organizations, Quilt of Valor.  Photo: The Quilt of Valor Foundation logo: 3 red squares on top, and 3 blue squares on bottom, each with a Q, O, or V. Between the top and bottom squares is a white area, with the word "Foundation...