Journal

So all you blog readers that read for entertainment....I invite you to skip my journal! :) You are more than welcome to read it. It is a little on the touchy/feely side. So with this family challenge has come many blessings. Who cares about the money (although I do plan on winning and getting it)! It has become a lot more than that. I have realized how caught up I was in the routines of my not so spiritual life. I was constantly feeling a little abandoned by the spirit. I did not want to think or believe that my mind and life was so full of nonsense and meaningless things. I was making no room for the Spirit or growth, and in actuality, I was the traitor, the "abandoner" of the Spirit- no longer a useful tool. But of course, I didn't see it as that. I LOVED this quote from the August issue of the Ensign from Spencer W. Kimball. It captures exactly what I am trying clumsily to say. It says, "I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns." I am So grateful that the Spirit is not as merciless as me. It doesn't give up on me. It doesn't say to me, when I finally come around, "You had your chance- too late!". I am so grateful that if i only immerse myself in the scriptures and forget myself for a small period of time a day, I can regain that relationship with the divine. And a divine ear will listen and a divine voice will speak. And it does. And life is so much better when I am immersing myself in the scriptures. Folks, I have found the key to happiness- the gospel. I momentarily forgot about its impact. When I am immersed in the gospel things fall into place, our Heavenly Father provides in every way, and there is peace and hope in the gospel. Sometimes it takes the strangest things or the most serendipitous events to help us remember to turn once again to gospel. In my case, this family challenge that initially motivated me because of money and competition has helped me grow and return to the foundation. It almost sounds as if I was inactive. No, I have just had a spiritual awakening that's all. I was in a bit of a fog before. I feel alert and I see clearly.
These pictures were taken after Ella returned from Sophia and Lillian's (her cousin) birthday party. Dagmar did the face painting- amazing I know! Ella was so excited about the party when she got home she was posing and smiling from ear to ear. I couldn't resist not posting ALL the pics!