Hey! What the heck?

The other day my nephew and niece Jayden and Kaylie walked outside with their mother. Jayden looked up and exclaimed, "Hey clouds! Stop raining!" Then Kaylie added, "Yeah clouds! Stop it!"

How many times have you said Hey ____! Stop____! ?

"Hey dating! Stop breaking my heart!"
"Hey ward people! Stop gossiping!"
"Hey family members! Stop discouraging me!"

It happens all too often I'm afraid. Reality is, as much as I hate to admit it---

Rain happens.

Dating sometimes hurts, people sometimes gossip, family members discourage you. It just happens.

The rain also brings nourishment to plants, life to animals, and puddles to jump in.

So next time you see a storm cloud, think about Jayden.

"Hey clouds! Thanks for the good that you bring to me."

You're stressed about it, but so am I.

Andrew really didn't know what to do.

He had grown up his entire life with a good family, friends of good influence, he did well in school although he enjoyed the occasional clowning around here and there.

He served a mission for his church to the Philippines and came back home with a resolve to be the best he could be.

He met a beautiful young woman at the University he chose to attend, he worked hard at work, volunteered at church functions or meetings, and took time to babysit.

Then something happened.

Andrew's job laid him off, his good family and friends weren't around him anymore, his girlfriend's family were critical of him because he didn't have what they felt he needed to have to be with a girl like her.

His life was stressful.

Walking home from school one day he saw an older woman trying to carry her groceries up her small porch steps. By the way she gently approached each step of her walk you could see that her knees weren't the best of shape.

"It's only 6 steps," he muttered to himself. "She doesn't need my help."

The thought came to him, "You're burdened about you, just like she's burdened about her. Focus on her burden and your burden won't feel so heavy."

Sometimes we feel like we have too much to bear,
Like we can't do it,
It's too heavy, I'm scared.
Then we look up from our own selves and see,
That others may have it, a bit worse than me.

So Andrew, don't worry about what other people think or do. You do what you feel is right and good.

And He'll make up the rest.

The boys of 309--308--210.

An anonymous author once said, "Friends are those who laugh with you, cry with you, but mostly just laugh at you."

Who have you laughed at today?

The boys of 309. I learned a lot from those guys for the almost 2 years we lived together. It's interesting how much you can learn from people when you look for something to learn from them.

TJ: From him I learned how to take time for the one. He always thought about someone else (which was usually a girl--name withheld), and I knew I could trust him to bring me up when I was down.

Dustin: He taught me how to genuinely care about people. He was one of the most stressed out people when it came to school but when the time presented itself to help someone feel uplifted, he did it. He showed you he loved you and didn't just say it.

Nate-dawg: One of the first things he taught me when I first met him was "not to take life so seriously." If anyone ever watches Nate cross the street you'll know what I'm talking about. He understands he is not perfect but he knows that through service he can get a little closer to achieving that. He taught me the importance of doing your duty, and always striving to do that with an attitude of Christ.

Watch the people around you with an attitude of learning.

You'll be amazed what you can learn.

Wow! A deer! A female deer!

Drives to the canyon are always fun. Especially in the fall.

I love to slow down and see the changes.

Changes in the leaves, changes in the weather, changes in people.

It's interesting to watch people. They react to the changes as negative (Fall means winter, I don't like winter) or positive (Fall means beautiful colors and college football!).

I learned recently how not only should we enjoy the changes, but slow down and soak them in.

Driving through the canyon, KacyAnn and I were coming back down a steep, curving road. I was trying not to ride the break so we weren't going very fast. I loved the time to reflect, and take in the changes.

Then I shot a deer.

How could I not? There were 50....maybe 60 deer up on this hillside! I had to shoot one. At least one.

Okay, so there were 5 or 6.

And...I shot them with my camera.

But it was a nice Kodak one. It was almost like looking through a scope!

As I was shooting these deer, a car came flying from behind me and passed me. They didn't even see the deer. They were going too fast to enjoy what was happening around them.

Maybe we should slow down a little more in life. You never know the deer you may be missing.

Take off the mask

A man walked into a crowded room filled with friends, family, and people he'd known for years.

Not one person talked to him for the entire hour he was there.

"This is preposterous! I deserve better than that!" He exclaimed, stomping his way out to the car.

His wife, with a bit of a chuckle said, "Dear, you were wearing that silly mask the entire time. What did you expect? They didn't even know you."

I wonder how many times we've said that to ourselves?

"I deserve a raise, I've been here more than a year."
"I deserve more love than that."
"I deserve better than I have right now."

We deserve nothing.

Think about it.

We deserve nothing.

We serve God and serve others.

He deserves the credit. We deserve nothing.

If we could only take off our masks long enough to understand that.

Why? Because you chose to.

We went to feed the ducks. I swear there were thousands...okay maybe 50 ducks.

It was a lot of ducks.

Jayden and Kaylie came with KacyAnn and I and we were throwing bread to all these ducks and I saw the happiness it brought to them to watch ducks fly across the pond, snatch a piece of the goodness and then fly away.

It made them happy.

Why did it make them happy? It was feeding ducks. It wasn't like they were riding the ducks, shooting the ducks, or even cracking jokes with the ducks. They were just feeding them some bread-some kind of moldy bread.

Why were they happy? Was it because the ducks tickled them? I didn't see any tickling ducks...

They were happy because they chose to be.

You chose to love, to be happy, to hold grudges, to foster hatred.

"Agency can either open a new door to greater growth, or put you into a closed corner." -Elder Hales.

Where do you chose to be?

And whether you're happy, sad, or angry remember the reason why?

Because you chose to.

The doors

Have you ever closed a door? What did it feel like?
Did it hurt? Were you happy?

Have you ever opened a door? And what about that? What did that feel like?

Now, what about the "doors" in your life?

I heard it said once, "sometimes you have to open the wrong door, so when you open the right one, you can appreciate that great gift you've been given."

I was thinking last night how so many different doors have been opened in my life because I was willing to close another. I think the problem we all run into at times though is staring so long at the door behind us.

When are you going to accept that maybe-just maybe, He can run your life better than you can?

I got home from my mission and got a job with my cousin. I'm grateful that door opened. 2 months later that door closed. Then I started EFY as a counselor. That summer shaped me in ways I couldn't imagine. Then that door closed. Then I worked at a grocery store, because of that door, I was able to see a family friend Lane quite a bit who was the manager of the Men's Wearhouse, my next job.

Because of a door in high school being opened to becoming best friends with TJ-I met Dustin. Through Dustin, I met Nate--through Nate, I have the best job I've had yet to this point in my life.

Maybe He can run my life better than I can.

As long as I don't stare at the past door too long.