Repentance to put wedding dress back together

Repentance

            Ok, It’s football season!!! I love football season. I love going to the home high school football games.  I love watching the plays as they happen. I love to watch the cheerleaders! I love the nachos! I love listening to the band! Because I love singing Rigby Trojans The best! I also love the Nfl. We have a great time watching their games too! I think the Packers got robbed a week ago but I guess I will get over it! A couple weeks ago I was watching a game and a player jumped up to catch the ball for what would hopefully be a touchdown. But it was ruled incomplete because one of the players feet didn’t land in bounds and in the nfl you have to have both feet land in bounds with possession of the ball for it to be a touchdown.  As the announcers were talking about the play they showed an instant replay of what happened.  That’s one thing I wish the high school had was instant replay. Any way the instant replay showed that the player actually did get both feet down in bounds. So the play was over turned and they were awarded a touchdown. Now imagine with me for a minute. Wonder if there weren’t any solid lines on the field. Or any out of bounds lines for that matter. We would still know approximately where they were. Do you think that play would have been changed to a touchdown? Maybe if the refs liked their team yes. But if the refs didn’t like them then no. Can you see how that would cause chaos so quickly? So are the lines on the field a good thing? (you can answer that) Are the lines there to actually help the players? (Yes they are) Heavenly Father has his own set of lines doesn’t he? (Yes) Are Heavenly Fathers lines actually there to help you? Just like the lines on a football field? (Yes!!!) Heavenly Father doesn’t have lines to make you miserable. He has lines to set you free and give you the peace and joy everyone of us desires. This video clip is geared to the young men but it applies to all of us.

Play Within the lines.

So what happens when you don’t stay within the lines? I read a really great talk the other day by Spencer V. Jones. Have you heard of him? Ya neither had I. But, he told a funny story about one time when he was a kid. Elder Jones and some of his friends decided they would play a harmless pran on a neighbor. His conscience told him it was wrong but he said he didn’t have the courage to tell everyone it was wrong. So they performed their mischievous act and sprinted down a dark country road. They made their escape laughing and congratulating themselves as they ran. Then someone cried out “Oh no, I kicked a cat!” Almost instantly they felt a fine mist settle over them. It carried a horrible odor. What Elder Jones’ friend thought was a cat was actually a skunk!! So now they weren’t just running home to escape the neighbor they were now running home for some help!!!Might I add they weren’t laughing and congratulating each other any more either. Of course they ran right into the kitchen only to get shooed right back out because stunk so bad. They were cast out of their own homes.  They started the cleansing process right away. They burned clothes, they took baths in tomato juice, and every other homemade concoction the community could think of. Nothing worked to get rid of the smell.  So for days they had to sleep outdoors in a tent and ride in the back of the pickup truck. After a while the boys decided they smelt better and tried to approach some “normal smelling” girls. Well lets just say the girls would not let them within yards and shattered a few teenage egos! E. Jones said, quote “Now, I must admit that being sprayed with a skunk in not a common consequence of sin. Most consequences are not as immediate or dramatic. But sooner or later, for all sin, a consequence will be paid.” End quote. 

            Sometimes when you sin it can even seem like you totally got away with it! Your parents didn’t find out. No siblings were there to rat you out…. Well did you get away with it?

            E. Jones goes on to say quote “At times consequences of sin may appear to be very subtle to the sinner. We may even convince ourselves, as we did before approaching the girls, That no one will be able to detect our sins and that they are well concealed. But always to our Heavenly Father and often to spiritually sensitive leaders, parents and friends, our sins are glaringly apparent.” End quote. If you were to take me to the high school, you could tell me that so and so is doing this wrong and so and so is doing that wrong. Am I right? So… Does sin stink? Yes it does!!! Just think to yourself… are you getting away with that one favorite sin? No you’re not!! Oh but wait sister Waters I’m not doing anything that wrong anyway!! Well let’s see what Heavenly Father has to say about that. In Romans 3:23 it says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and it stinks! Oh yes I added the and it stinks part. We are all in the same boat here. But this scripture in Isaiah talks about that…. Isaiah 3:9 says, their countenance doth witness against them and doth declare their sin to be even as Sodom and they cannot hide it.” Ok, that means we aren’t hiding our sins from anyone and they definitely stink!! E. Jones said, quote “Each one of us has the Light of Christ, or a conscience. It constantly prompts us to choose good. Good choices yield good consequences. On the other hand, delaying repentance and continuing to commit sin is like continuing to kick the skunk. The stench will become stronger with each sin, alienating us further and further from God and those we love. Soon we will become like Laman and Lemuel, who after continually making bad choices, become “post feeling” and could no longer feel the still small voice” end quote. If E. Jones would have listened to the spirit he could have avoided the whole stinking ordeal in the first place.

            So we now know everyone in this room as sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So that means we are all in this together! And guess what? There is a way out!! Heavenly Father knew everyone of us would sin! He expected it! So he provided us a way that actually does work. Unlike E. Jones’ remedies of tomato juice and lye soap. The way that works is called repentance. Have you heard of it? I have too!! Have you used it? So Heavenly Father, knowing we would sin, was more than willing to send his son to die for each and every one of us so that all of us have an equal chance to return to him. You know we always want things in life to be fair and this is one thing that is fair!! It is available to all of us free of charge! I love free! We just have to be willing to do our part. You can feel better about yourself than you have ever felt in your life! That is by simply going through the repentance process. Now I promise we are getting to this dress! So lets talk about what happened to this dress at girls camp. We cut it up! No really while we were at girls camp the girls arrived there and found a wedding dress displayed in the lodge with a picture of the temple. The dress was nicer at the beginning of girls camp because we hadn’t cut it up yet. During the week you could see the girls taking an interest in the dress and admiring it. Some even took their picture with it. On Wednesday we moved the dress and picture to the amphitheater in the trees to prepare for a devotional.  During the devotional I told a story of a girl named Sheena. She was raised in the church and started to make a few wrong choices at the age of about 13 or 14. One thing about Sheena is she had always dreamed of marrying her tall dark and handsome in the temple. Even when her choices with Mr. Gorgeous weren’t good she still desired that temple marriage. As Sheena made a choice that wasn’t consistent with the FSOY we would cut off a piece of the wedding dress. Now I have to say that the girls were horrified as we made cuts to the dress they had been admiring all week. They were yelling no! Don’t! Don’t cut the train etc! They were very sad every time we made a cut on the dress. I would hope that as your friends are going through hard times and are tempted to “kick the skunk” you would treat them as you wanted to treat the wedding dress. You were willing to yell out and say no! Don’t do that! Please help each other by sticking together and telling one another No! lets not do that! And say “I don’t want me or you to kick the skunk or cut any pieces off of my wedding dress.” (oh or tux for you boys) Remember we are all in this together. So at the end of Sheena’s story she eventually ended up having sex with Mr. Gorgeous. And that is where I left off with her story. We had other things to talk about and so Sheena’s story was left unfinished. Our youth committee ask me to finish her story for you tonight.

            Well Sheena never intended on having sex before she was married! She is a good kid! How did this happen? Well she felt terrible! She felt like there was this big black hole sucking her in and that there was no way out.

Play You will be freed

            This very thing happened to Sheena. She had been ensnared by Satan and now she didn’t even know how to get out of the mess she was in. She didn’t want to feel this way. So she did the only thing she could think to do. And that was to pray. So Sheena prayed for the first time in a long time. XXXX

She prayed and cried for quite a while that night. Sheena never wanted to feel this way again. She was ready to move on and not repeat what had happened. XXXXX She decided she would read about repentance in the FSOY.XXXX She learned that “Repentance is more than simply acknowledging wrongdoings, It is a change of mind and heart. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments.” XXXXX As she continued reading there was a paragraph there to tell her what to do. It says, “To repent, you need to confess your sins to the Lord. Then seek forgiveness from those you have wronged, and restore as far as possible what has been damaged by your actions. As you strive to repent, seek help and counsel from your parents. Serous sins, such as sexual transgression or use of pornography, need to be confessed to your bishop. Be completely honest with him. He will help you repent. If you have a question about what should be discussed with the bishop, talk with your parents or with him.” So now Sheena knew she couldn’t take care of this on her own. She needed the bishops help. Sheena was so scared to call her bishop but she did and set an interview with him. XXXXX Sheena knew he would help her out and she was right. First he told her he was glad she called. So Sheena was able to meet with the bishop and talk.XXXXX  After she was done talking with the bishop she felt so good and peaceful. She hadn’t felt that peaceful in a long time. She knew she was on the right track. XXXXXXX That black hole that was trying to suck her in was gone and she felt like she was full of light. XXXXX Sheena also promised the bishop that she wouldn’t have a boyfriend just like it says in the FSOY. So Sheena called Mr. Gorgeous and told him she didn’t want to see him anymore. XXXXXX Sheena still had a lot to accomplish but she felt so much better already. She met with her bishop once a week to help stay on track. XXXXX In one of their meetings he reminded her of something else the FSOY says about repentance. Quote “ Some people knowingly break God’s commandments, planning to repent later, such as before they go to the temple or serve a mission. Such deliberate sin mocks the Savior’s Atonement.” End quote. The bishop thanked Sheena for not procrastinating her repentance. He also told her of the importance of keeping the Savior in the process.  Without Him repentance isn’t possible. XXXXX So Sheena made it through the rest of her teen years and ended up marrying her “tall dark and handsome” in the temple all because she was willing to do all that she was ask to do to be totally forgiven. It wasn’t easy but it was so worth it!!!

            So is Sheena’s dress the same? No its not! But is Sheena still eligible for everything Heavenly Father has because she is repenting? Yes she is! We are going to have scrapes and bruises along the way and yes every one of us is going to “kick the skunk” from time to time! But don’t let Satan make you think there is no hope for you because there is!! In the FSOY is says “Satan wants you to think that you cannot repent, but that is absolutely not true. The Savior has promised you forgiveness if you will humble yourself and make the effort that repentance requires.” So don’t lose hope! You just have to go through the steps that Sheena took.

            1^st She felt super bad for what she did. She had sorrow!

            2^nd She knew she didn’t want to repeat the sin again so she made a resolve to not repeat this again. This is called abandonment of sin- or she simply gave it up. (so far so good)

            3^rd Sheena knew she had to confess her sin to the bishop. Now if your sins aren’t the type you have to confess to the bishop you do need to confess to the Lord. Be very careful to not leave the Lord out of your repentance. Because if you do your repentance can’t be complete without the Saviors Atonement.

            The 4^th step is restitution for sin. That means if you stole something you should give it back and apologize. If you damaged something you should restore it to its proper state. If you are willing to do this it shows the Lord you are truly repenting and not just getting caught and going through the motions. There is a difference. If you get caught doing something and your repentance is forced. (meaning you wouldn’t have repented if you didn’t get caught) You may feel angry at the situation. Is anger part of repentance? No! So when you voluntarily go through repentance even though you didn’t get caught or if you did get caught but want to repent your feelings are pure and you are more willing to have your heart in the right place. And with your heart in the right place you will desire to be obedient to all Heavenly Father asks. (that doesn’t mean we are perfect at it!) It just means we are striving. That’s all he asks.

            Obedience is step 5! That my friends is the repentance process! We all need it! Our souls all want it! It is free to all who are willing. Are you willing? Because if you are a great peace and joy can fill your life. So, is there something in your life that is bugging you? What is your favorite sin? Now is the time to get rid of it! You can be free! That’s what Heavenly Father’s lines provide is freedom and peace and joy. Who doesn’t want some of that? So when you go to school help one another as much as possible to not “kick the skunk!” And sometimes we even have to stand alone…

Play Stand Alone

I lovingly plead, as E. Jones said “Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance” Start the process now. Remove the stench of sin with the remedy of repentance. The, through the Atonement, the Savior can wash you clean.”   

Dare to be a Mormon

Dare to stand alone

Dare to have a purpose firm

Dare to make it known!

I would also like to add Dare to repent! I say these things in the name…….

 

Decide Now Wedding Dress Story

Wedding Dress Story

This is a devotional we did at girls camp. The girls were so affected by this program I would recommend it to any group!! This is what we did and the story we used. You can change or adapt it to your needs. Every time you see a group of x's on the program we cut a piece of the wedding dress off!! Yes! You heard me right we took a pair of scissors and cut off a piece of the dress. We saved the dress pieces and we are doing a repentance standards night where we will be putting the dress back together. I called the devotional "Decide Now".

I am so glad you are here today! I just want to congratulate each of you for taking a full week out of your schedules to be in the “best” place possible. Thanks for deciding now what is most important.

(something funny)

               I recently had the chance to see a leadership training that Sister Elaine Dalton did. And she said some things there that I would love for all of you to know about! She spoke on the value virtue and what they actually mean by virtue. When I need to know the meaning of a word I like to go to the scriptures and find what Heavenly Father means. So I found a scripture in D&C 121:45 that talks about virtue. (Read Scripture) It just so happens that there is a little more explanation for the word virtue in that scripture. There is a little b there. So I check the bottom of the page where the little b is and it says chastity. Oh… that explains it all! But wait what does chastity mean? In the FSOY they call chastity sexual purity. Ah when I say sexual purity or virtue I think that there are a lot of choices involved in remaining virtuous. With that in mind I would like you to listen to a song called virtue. (SONG VIRTUE) (I also showed the clip about little kids not eating a chocolate chip or something so they could get a cupcake if they waited. It is by Jenny Phillips and is called Worth Waiting For)

I would like to talk about choices for a minute. I have a bunch of sticks here that all look very similar don’t they? So at one end of each stick is a choice for you to make. (And there are hundreds each day) The choice at the end of this stick leads you to only one place…The other end of the stick. Let’s say the choice I make at the end of this stick is to not shower while I’m at girls camp. Lol. What is my only choice at the end of this stick? Yes! You got it! You are going to be very stinky by the time camp is done. Let’s try this stick. I am going to choose to brush my teeth. So at the end of this stick is clean teeth. Hmm… I like this stick, it is a choice to be nice to one person that I wouldn’t usually be nice to today. What would be at the end of this one? (have the girls choose some sticks for everyday choices we make) Let’s talk about the agency stick or sticks Heavenly Father gives us. There are only 2 choices or sticks. Let’s see what they are lets read from the scriptures ( 2 Nephi 2:27) What are the 2 sticks? (Eternal life or Captivity and Death) So let’s picture these sticks as very very long sticks lasting our whole life through! Of course there are the hundreds of choices we make each day that lead us onto one or the other stick. So if I don’t want to go to church on Sunday and I don’t ever go again, which of these 2 sticks would I be on? Ok perfect that is the long term consequence but what is at the end of this very short stick of not going to church? (loss of spirit) That is the short term consequence. So whose obligation is it to “Decide Now” to be on this good stick that leads to eternal life? (mine, yours) Good. So when your sticks are all spread out as choices running to one of these sticks called Eternal Life or Captivity and death does it affect just you? No! If I had the power to hand you the eternal life stick or the Captivity and death stick which would you want me to hand to you? Heavenly Father and Jesus have done all the work to make it possible for everyone to have Eternal Life so all you have to do is “Decide Now” to pick up that stick and keep it with you throughout your life. Can your Mom or Dad keep the eternal life stick in your hand? Only you can “Decide Now” to pick up and keep the eternal life stick throughout your life. By making the correct everyday decisions you will have the Eternal life stick in your hand all the time.

               So let’s talk about that virtue or sexual purity stick. It is a long stick in your life. I would like to tell you a story about a girl who did not “decide now” to pick up her Eternal Life stick.

               Sheena was 12 years old and very excited about going into Young Women’s. She had great plans of a temple marriage with her tall, dark and handsome. She also had great parents but she chose the wrong friends that very year. ######## Even though her parents always told her that if her friends didn’t lead her to choose the right they were her enemies. She also knew that the FSOY said that “Friends will influence how you think and act, and even help determine the person you will become.” Sheena couldn’t see how it really mattered because she wasn’t doing anything wrong. Yet…###### Before long her friends had talked her into sneaking out one night to meet up with some boys. ###### She seen nothing wrong with this even though she was only now 14. She even got caught by her parents to a few times and she was no longer allowed her cell phone. Then sheena met a guy that was awesome! Oh was he cute! They started to like each other a lot and by age 15 Sheena was “going out” with Mr. Gorgeous of the school! ######### Even though Shenna knew what the churches standards for this were her friends and the world told her otherwise. So one night that Sheena snuck out of the house she met up with Mr. Gorgeous. He only had one thing on his mind…and that was to make out!....##### Ugh. Sheena’s family just had a FHE on this very thing on Monday night! The one sentence her mom read to the family that stood out to her she was now being faced with!!! It says “Before marriage, do not participate in passionate kissing, lie on top of another person, or touch the private, sacred parts of another person’s body, with or without clothing and do not do anything else that arouses sexual feelings. “ Sheena wanted to be popular. So she decided it was ok to only do a few of those things with Mr. Gorgeous that night. ####### Sheena did feel very guilty the first few times this happened but then after a while it was no big deal to go make out with Mr. Gorgeous.###### The only thing Mr. Gorgeous wanted to do for dates was watch movies so they could make out all the time ###### Sheena would have rathered the kind  of dates the FSOY talked about like “activities that are safe, positive, and inexpensive, and that will help you get to know each other.” But… Sheena was enjoying her new found popularity by being with Mr. Gorgeous. So she continued the relationship###### Before long things progressively went further with Mr. Gorgeous and before Sheena knew it she had had sex with Mr. Gorgeous.######## She had never meant for things to go that far! Oh she felt terrible! Like a big black hole was sucking her in and she had no clue how to get rid of the blackness that had taken over her life. But she allowed it to happen again.####### Sheena felt like she had the worst life possible! So she decided she would pray. She felt like she had nowhere else to turn. So she said a small prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help her through this and just as she prayed a song came to her mind called Godly Sorrow. (PLAY GODLY SORROW SONG) How had she gotten so far away from that temple marriage that she wanted so badly? Sheena now knew about Godly Sorrow and started the steps she needed to take to receive true repentance… and get back her dream of temple marriage!

               Sisters, please “decide now” and every day to pick up the virtue stick! Because if you do it will lead you to that temple marriage we all want and desire! So is it worth it to “Decide Now” to wait until marriage? Yes it is! (PLAY SONG WORTH WAITING FOR) I know someone that would like to tell you her story and how she got frustrated along the way but found out it was definitely worth waiting for… This is my daughter Joslyn and her husband Izac Hillam. (PLAY SONG HAPPILIY EVER AFTER) Joslyn truly let the Savior lead her to her happily ever after. Did it only affect Joslyn to wait for a temple marriage? No! I want to compare Sheena’s choices with Joslyn’s for a minute. As Sheena made her choices her freedoms narrowed. She had her phone taken away,  and her parents couldn’t trust her to drive anywhere. Like an upside down funnel. But the choices Joslyn made had the opposite effect. Her funnel is right side up and she now enjoys more freedoms because of it! And isn’t her wedding dress just lovely? Especially compared to this other dress that got chopped up with each bad choice. Which dress do you want? The key to this is to “Decide Now”! You have to make a commitment to yourself to do the things it says in the FSOY under sexual purity now! The last 2 sentences in the FSOY under sexual purity is this…”Make a personal commitment to be sexually pure. By your words and actions, encourage others to do the same. So turn to your friend and make that commitment now!!!!(give them 30 seconds or so) Now check up on each other from time to time! But most importantly make a commitment to Heavenly Father and yourself to remain sexually pure. There is so much information in the FSOY under sexual purity. Please study it together as ward Young women and individually! “Decide Now” to be virtuous! Like it says in Proverbs 31:10 Your price will be far above rubies!! “Decide Now”!!!! Stephanie Munns will now sing live it. I would like you to pay special attention to the lyrics. To all of the sentences that say I will. After the song we will hear from President Follett. We are so glad he is here to speak to us. Then we will sing the live it song all together. and then       will say the closing prayer. (PLAY SONG FOR STEPH TO SING TOO!) (President Follett) (Then sing song one more time)



A sink full of hot sudsy water

Today I wanted to write about fixing dinner and a few things to help ease the process. If you are starting with a messy kitchen take 10 minutes and put everything in the dishwasher. Then wipe your counters. This will give you the space you need to fix your meal, clear your mind, and no one will care if dinner is 10 minutes later than expected. Once you have a clean space run a nice hot sink full of sudsy water. The key here is to clean as you go. During the cooking process it seems there are always a few minutes (SSS)  you can snatch to wash a pot here and wipe a mess there. This is always easier if you have a sink full of hot sudsy water. Then the cleanup process is so much easier and mostly done by the time you put dinner on the table.
     I hope your new small and simple routines are still going ok. Don't add anymore things until you have established a habit. You know it is a habit when you don't have to think about it you just do it! Give yourself 3-4 weeks for this to happen. Happy cleaning!!!!

Small and Simple Seconds Schedule Day 2

Well were you able to keep that sink shiny yesterday? I have to admit I almost went to bed with dishes in the sink. One quick check and I discovered I had to put a few dishes in the dishwasher then rinse and dry my sink. It is always so refreshing to wake up in the morning to a clean kitchen. It only took me 2 minutes to tidy it up before I went to bed too. So yep those were 2 minutes well spent! Today let's add a simple morning routine and a simple after dinner routine. These routines are meant for maintenance only. We will get to the declutter phase in a few days time. Be patient with me and establish a few easy routines first. We didn't get in this mess in a few days so don't try to do it all in a few days either. It's not fun to crash and burn because we bit off more than we could chew.
     Here is your small and simple morning routine. Get up and make your bed as soon as you get out of it. My husband and I have a little competition with this. Whoever gets out of the bed last has to make it. If you leave the house and don't make it, you owe the other person 5 bed makings. (I have been as far as 20 in debt to Dave) If you are not leaving the house that day don't worry we have a rule in place for that one too. If you don't make the bed by noon you owe the same 5 bed makings. If noon is not early enough for you bump it up to a time that is reasonable for both of you.
     Next for the small and simple morning routine is go straight to the bathroom get dressed all the way to a lace up pair of shoes and fix your hair and face. (I'm a rebel here and fit the exercise in before I shower and do my hair and face) As you leave the bedroom in the morning take a load of laundry with you and start a load. Now you can head to the kitchen for the morning rush! If you did your after dinner routine your kitchen should be clean with a nice shiny sink. Take a few minutes to hit your "hot spots". This is anywhere that collects papers and junk faster than you know what to do with it. I have 3 in my kitchen, 1 in my front room and 2 in my bedroom that I like to hit every morning. Now don't be tempted to overhaul every spot. Just take 2 minutes every morning and before you know it those spots will get smaller and smaller until you have a happy space! I fit my scripture time in right around here too. When my kids were small I read scriptures at nap time.
     Your after dinner routine starts as soon as you are finished eating. While everyone is in the kitchen do all the dishes and shine the sink together as a family. Kitchen will stay clean for the rest of the night. I do one last check when I go to bed because someone has always had a snack and left something out. While you are still in the kitchen pack any lunches you will need the next day. This also helps you stick on the healthy eating goal you have. (or in my case want to have) Next just set out everything you will need in the morning. Clothes, backpacks, keys, purse etc. Kids also love the security of a routine. Involve them in this also! Now just take some time for yourself to have some down time or play with the kids. However you unwind. Get a full nights sleep! In Proverbs 16:32 it says He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. I am much slower to anger when I have a full nights sleep!

Small and Simple Seconds My First Task

On January 5, 2012 I will be demonstrating a class on cleaning organization. My main objective for this is to start little! Line upon line. In Alma 37:6 it says, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. So we are going to confound the wise!!! We will start by just doing some small tasks that take from 5 to 15 min. We all have 5 to 15 minutes scattered throughout our day! We just need to snatch those Small and Simple Seconds and off we go! The first Small and Simple Seconds (SSS) task I have for you is to shine your kitchen sink! Now this first time is going to take longer but once you get that done we will learn a 10 second task that will keep it clean! First things first get to your kitchen sink and lets empty all the dishes from the sink. I didn't say do all the dishes just set them to the side for now. Fill the sink to the very top with hot bleach water. A cup in each side will do. (I only do one side at a time so I still have a sink available) Let this set for one hour. Rinse well. Get some ajax or comet etc and scrub the sink. Rinse well. You might need to get an old toothbrush or a razor blade for the next step of getting off the hard water and scum that just attaches itself. Go to town gals! Be careful with a razor to not scratch your surface but it works well on hard water build up. If you want to shine the sink even more clean it with some window cleaner and you should have a shiny new sink! Yea! Are you still wondering how this can only take 10 seconds? Each time you use the sink just wipe it down with a dishtowel. Dry everything off and wala. It is just as beautiful! I keep my dishcloth right by my sink so it is always there when I need it. Now we have our first SSS task completed we will begin a journey of adding SSST(task) until we have built a SSSSchedule! (no I didn't stutter! Lol.) I like the information the flylady has. Her website is flylady.net. She has inspired me! Keeping a clean house is definitely a spiritual matter. In D&C 29:34 it says Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal. So have we been given a law by the Lord to keep our house clean? Because this scripture says if we have a law from the Lord then it is a spiritual matter. Well in D&C 88:119 it says Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; That is why I always feel good when I have a clean home. Because Heavenly Father wants me to have a clean home! Now I am not real great at this and will learn as we go too! If I try to do the whole house all at once I will crash and burn! So to prevent that lets start small! Tomorrow I will post a SSSS. Yes you got it Small and Simple Seconds Schedule. As for the rest of today? I know you want to do more but just keep that sink shiny. If you do want to do more. Have the family stay in the kitchen after dinner and clean all the dishes. It can be done in 10 minutes with the family helping. If you have to do it in the morning it could take upwards of an hour!

Best Birthday Ever

It is not fun to turn 40. 40 sounds old. 40 is over the hill. 40 is sagging eyes and gut. I have been dreading this birthday for a long time. But on May 4th I turned 40 like it or not. It turned out to be one of the funest birthday's ever. It started first thing in the morning with the darling husband whispering happy birthday in my ear. (It is something great when your husband remembers that early in the a.m.) At 8:40 my first friend showed up with a gift. She told me that on the 40 of every hour I would receive another friend with another gift. So 9:40 rolls around and sure enough. Another great friend with another great gift. After this the kids and I are all watching out the window at 35 past the hour for the next friend. Hehe this is so fun... Well after the 12:40 friend I was figuring we were about out of friends. Oh boy was I wrong. I had friends show up every hour until 6:40. What fun! It didn't matter what was brought as a gift, the part I enjoyed was the friend on the doorstep. I chatted the day away. My 1:40 was just leaving when my 2:40 arrived.....

My kids were also doing alot of whispering. They did kick me out of the house for an hour and a half. When I got back the extended family had all arrived and there were 40 black balloons on the floor. I had alot of fun kicking around all the balloons like soccer balls. Come to find out they had money in every balloon. I never had so much fun popping balloons. I guess it was more like the darling husband stomping balloons while I chased around for all the money.

I just want to thank my wonderful family and friends for the best birthday ever. I didn't stop smiling the whole day thanks to all of you!!!!! :)