Sunsets are Free!

I was reading today in a book by Mary Ellen Edmunds called, You Can Never Get Enough of What You Don’t Need. I read something that really got me thinking. She used a quote from Elder F. Burton Howard where he said, “We sometimes discover too late that God’s greatest gifts cannot be purchased with money.” I loved that statement! MEE went on to say, “When was the last time you got a bill from the sun? The moon? The stars? The rain? I saw a poster once that had this message: ‘Good news! Sunsets are free!’”

This made me think about what gifts I have in my life that were not purchased by money…what are the great gifts God has given freely to me. Of course the ones that MEE mentioned, the sun, moon, stars, and beautiful sunsets. I think I would have to add the first snowfall of the winter season, when big fluffy snowflakes fall in silence and blanket the world in white. The ocean waves; I love to sit on the beach and listen to the waves crash against the shore…to me there are few things as peaceful as that. I love going to the park in the summer and sitting on the nice cool grass, under a shade tree, looking at the flowers and reading my scriptures. It helps me to feel the spirit of what I’m reading when I’m surrounded by the peaceful beauty of that scene. The mountains are a huge gift to me. I love living here in North Ogden at the base of the mountain. I love being able to walk outside each day and look up at Ben Lomond Peak in all its majesty whether bathed in sun or snowcapped; it is a beautiful sight. These are all things of nature, yet not all of God’s gifts are from the Earth. God has given me a kooky but great family. He has given me great friends. He’s given me the gospel. There are so many people in this world who do not have the fullness of the gospel in their lives. I am extremely blessed to be a member of this church and have the testimony that I have.

I am so grateful for all of these gifts, and a loving Heavenly Father who gives them so freely!

Boondoggle

I was browsing through the dictionary today (I was looking up a word not just perusing the dictionary for fun) and came across the word boondoggle. It caught my attention because I was surprised that the word would be in a dictionary. Boondoggle is something I used to do when I was 12 or 13. You take different colored plastic strips and weave them together to create cute little key chains, zipper pulls, and things like that. I know it is still a popular hobby among young girls today because I know a 13-year-old and an 8-year-old who have proudly shown me some of their finished boondoggles. So, as I glanced at this word in the dictionary I got a good laugh at its definition...Boondoggle: a useless activity; a waste of time. Ha ha! It still makes me laugh. I'm sure if I were to call up my 13-year-old friend she would whole heartedly disagree with that definition. I know at her age I would have argued against it as well. To me boondoggling was a fun craft and not a waste of time. I actually still have a boondoggle I made when I was young. It is a pink and blue zipper pull. I'll admit I glance at it every now and then and wonder why in the world I still have it, but then I always tell myself that it's for posterities sake. One day when my kids ask me what I did for fun as a youngster I can pull out my zipper pull and show them. However, now that I know the official definition of a boondoggle I'm not so sure they will think me and my little zipper pull are all that cool. So, thank you Mr. Webster you have just dashed my reasonings for hanging onto a boondoggled zipper pull for the past 16 years!!

Wait and See

Alright for the three of you that responded saying you actually read this blog, I'll try and update it every now and then. I can't be sure what I will write all the time. My life is either boring or full of too much negative drama, stuff I don't want to blog about. However, I just made me the cutest little journal jar to give me ideas to help liven up my personal journal. I filled it with hundreds journal and writing prompts so I may post some of those on here as well. We'll just have to wait and see..LOL

Anyone?

I am just wondering if anyone reads this? I haven't posted for a while because I don't see the point in taking the time to post my thoughts if no one reads them...I can just keep them in my journal.

So, if by chance there is someone out there who reads this blog and wants me to keep writing here then post a comment so I know.

Otherwise...goodbye blogging world.