The Blessing of Friendship

Gems of Reflection, #49

So, I guess my answer to this question would depend on one's definition of the word, friend. I count myself lucky to know so many thoughtful people who sacrifice for the needs of my family, and to know so many wonderful souls who are willing to serve me in numerous ways, and so I have many people in my circle of influence that I am lucky to call my friend.

To me, a friend is someone that loves you as the Savior does and is there for you, should you ever be in need of something - spiritual or material - someone you would do the same for, should the roles ever be reversed. In this aspect, I am fortunate in the fact that I have many amazing, caring women in my ward, who have come to my rescue on numerous occasions - simply because of the fact that they knew I was in need. Many of these women have been there to uplift me spiritually, when I was in desperate need of comfort, and they were willing to listen to the promptings of the spirit and meet that need as well, while others offered to take the kids for a playdate (because they knew I needed the silence to regain my sanity. lol), or have offered to give M a ride to school or to mutual.

I know that Heavenly Father puts us in a certain place for a reason, as he puts certain people into our lives for a reason too, and I know that he knew I needed this ward. I am eternally grateful for the blessing of these sisters who have been such dear friends to me, and I pray that I can only return the favor and be a good friend to them as well.

Now, there are also several family members that I have grown close to and consider my friends. My husband and my mom are probably my best friends in the world, but I also have sisters-in-law that I have come to know and love. I am thankful for each of these relationships, for the strength and comfort they provide in trying times, and for the way my life is blessed because of their love. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and puts these people into my life to bless me daily. For that, I am so truly grateful. :)

A Childhood Friendship

Gems of Reflection: #42

The childhood friend of which I am most reminiscent is Julie. Our families were connected through the marriage of my aunt to her uncle long before my parents moved us from Henderson into my grandparents' house (in Las Vegas, where I spent the rest of my adolescence) when I was 10, but we became bosom buddies soon thereafter, and remained friends all through high school.

She was tall and thin, beautiful, and had crazy, thick hair that made her absolutely awesome and unique. She also lived around the corner from us, thereby making it easy for us to get together and hang out. When we were young, we'd chill out in her backyard jumping on the trampoline, or in my backyard doing the same or swimming. We were innocent and didn't get into much trouble, although we did try to dissect her goldfish once after it died - and we had the heebie jeebies the entire time doing it. lol. 

We used to have sleepovers out on my trampoline, and we were always in the same class at church, so we spent even more time together once we were both in Young Womens. Speaking of Young Womens, I have some awesome memories of bunking with her at girls camp too. I remember one year we kidnapped a friend of ours that was in a different ward, and held her for ransom (I think the ransom was candy or something?), and somehow, there was cherry pie filling involved. I think we smeared it all over our friend's face? lol. Good times. 

She was a good friend, and though we've gone our separate ways, I often think of her and her family. I sometimes stalk them on Facebook even to see how they are doing. Haha. After all, what is Facebook for? ;)

Related link:

52 Gems of Reflection

Friends on a String

Week 12: Who were your freinds when you were growing up? How did they influence you?

 

When I was a kid, I remember hearing an analogy about how we are tied to our friends by an invisible string. Because of this string, we will either pull our friends in the direction we are going, or they will pull us in theirs. The basic principle that I always got from that analogy is that we should choose our friends wisely and associate with those that have similar morals and beliefs to our own. That way, whoever is pulling the string on any given day, will always be pulling it in a positive direction.

When I was growing up, I had many friends in school that influenced my life in a positive way. Since I was active in sports and band, the majority of the people I hung out with got good grades and were  pretty sensible in their decision-making (we all kind of had to "behave" in order to maintain the privilege of participation in our extra-curricular activities). Perhaps I was pretty lucky in my choice of friends, or perhaps it was because of the influence of the string metaphor in my life at that time, but I don't remember ever being affiliated with people that tried influencing me to smoke or to do drugs. I guess I just associated with a lot of good, down-to-earth people that influenced my life in a positive way.

In high school, I was fortunate enough to have several good friends that have left their mark on my life in their own way. For example, when I was a freshman in high school, my friend, Jessica, introduced me to The Original London Cast of Les Miserables, and I was instantly in love (with the CD, not the girl. haha). I begged my mom to buy the CD for me, and after she gave it to me for my birthday that year, I listened to it so many times that I eventually had to replace it. hehe. To this day, there is something magical about Les Mis that evokes so much passionate emotion that it seems to make my heart hurt. Love. Love. Love.

With the recent DVD release of Les Miserables (the cinematic version), I thought it would be oh so sweet of me to share this video of one of my favorite Les Mis songs, which happens to be sung by one of my favorite characters. You're welcome, America. Hehe. ::winks at my hubby::

Crash and Burn

Yesterday, I had quite the experience. I was taking the babies for a walk in their new double stroller and stepped right into an uncovered utility hole in the sidewalk a few blocks away from my house. The stroller rolled right over it without so much as a bump (the wheels must have been spaced just far enough apart). Not me though. I went crashing down into the hole with my left foot, my right knee crashing down onto the pavement. 

As I sat there in that position for a few seconds, trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened, some "not-so-nice person (trust, that is not what I wanted to call them)" went zooming by in their car, honking their horn at me. "Yes, everyone look at the dumb lady pushing the stroller that went tumbling to the ground." I swear, some people are so rude.

Anyway, when I initially pulled myself back up to my feet, my foot and ankle were throbbing pretty badly. All I could think was, "Great, now I am gonna have to have Z drive me to a quick care to get an x-ray." I was also pretty bummed that our walk would be cut short. I noticed pretty quickly; too, that there was a huge gash on the outside of my left ankle. I tried walking a little ways further, but every time I put pressure on that foot, it would throb. 

It took two bandaids to cover the gash on my ankle. :(

A friend of mine from church lives a few doors down from where I fell (thank goodness), so I thought I might have to stop there for some help. Z was home sleeping and I had his phone; of course (L wore the battery down on mine, so I left it at home charging), so I knew there was no getting ahold of him. After a few minutes; though, the throbbing started to subside a little, so I thought we might be able to finish our walk after all. Yeah - not so much. I barely made it past my friend's house when I started to feel nauseated. 

I knew I wouldn't make it home, so I doubled back and knocked on my friend's door. I tried explaining what happened, but I was barely able to finish the details when the darkness started closing in around me. I could feel myself beginning to lose consciousness, so when she invited me in, I sort of collapsed onto her entry way floor. Not my finest moment.

Anyway, she bandaged me up and let me recover on her couch. After a little while, I was feeling a little better, and was actually able to walk home. I am just grateful for good friends - and for the fact that no serious damage was done to my foot. Now, if only I could learn to control my lame nausea reflex. ;)

Source: twowritingteachers.wordpress.com via The Purple on Pinterest

A Grateful Heart

President Thomas S. Monson's The Divine Gift of Gratitude

Almost three weeks ago, Z was driving the car home from work when the engine seized. He had it towed into the mechanic, wherein it was determined that an engine rebuild would be necessary. The mechanic sent the engine into the machine shop and discovered that there was actually a large hole in the wall of the engine. 

Today is Thankful Thursday, and words cannot express the enormous amount of gratitude I feel for everyone who has helped me in any capacity with carting kids around (among other things) these last few weeks. I know that certain people would like to maintain their anonymity in a public venue such as this; and therefore, I won't name any specific names, but I hope that everyone I mention will recognize my gratitude for their willingness to help my family and me in this unfortunate time.

First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude for the wonderful members of my ward with whom we carpool to and from school. I usually drive the kids to school in the mornings, but I have been extremely fortunate in the fact that since my car has been out of commission, one sister offered to drive in the mornings (until our car is out of the shop) AND continue to alternate in the afternoons with our other friend from the ward as well. I am grateful for both of these sisters, and I hope that each of them realizes how much I appreciate their service to my family and me. I am also grateful for the sisters in our ward that have made sure that M was able to get to and from mutual these last three weeks. I am grateful to my visiting teaching companion, as well, for the rides she has given M to mutual and choir, as well as for her willingness to drive me around to visit with our sisters. I am grateful for the sister with whom I taught nursery (who I have come to know and love dearly). She has been so understanding and willing to help as well. She has driven M several times to and from Civil Air Patrol. I am also grateful for the fact that she has a son in the same program, and I hope that it made the process less of an inconvenience. Hehe. Seriously though, I have such an amazing, loving ward, and I am so grateful for its members' willingness to serve us and enrich our lives these past few weeks.

I am grateful for my sister, who has lent me her car on several occasions. It's amazing how inconvenient something as simple as a trip to the grocery store can be when you don't have a vehicle. She even offered to stay at my house with the kids one day while I drove her car to the store by myself. Only a mother who has or ever had small children can understand and appreciate the value of getting out of the house for an hour or two on your own every once in a while - even if it's just for a quick trip to the grocery store. She lent me her car again yesterday too so that I could run the kids to their doctor appointments, and I don't know what I would have done without her generosity. ;)

I am also grateful to my mom for lending me her car this past weekend, AND for watching my kids so that I could attend my book club meeting. It was a luxury that was desperately needed, one that could not have been afforded without her. Also, the opportunity to actually participate in some intellectual, thought-provoking conversation was invaluable. As a stay-at-home-mom, these last few weeks have been challenging in the fact that the babies and I were pretty much stuck at the house. I, personally, was getting a bit stir crazy, and the book club meeting was serious food for my soul. I left feeling thoroughly refreshed and edified. I was also able to FINALLY get a double stroller while I had her car, so now, I can take the babies for walks during the day to get out of the hosue and get some exercise. So, thank you, Mom. 

Thank you, as well, to my awesome husband who stayed up to watch the babies for me this morning (after working a graveyard shift) so that I could take the Tubabus to an appointment that I had scheduled before the car broke down. I would have had to leave exorbitantly early and walk in the cold - with them in the stroller (the bus doesn't have any seat belts for car seats) - had he not been willing to stay up for a few extra hours to help me out.

Last, but not least, I am grateful to the Lord for blessing me with such amazing people in my life that continue to uplift and inspire me when I am faced with adversity. I feel truly blessed, and I know that this recent experience could have been a LOT more painful - not to mention ridiculously hopeless - had so many people not been willing to sacrifice of themselves to provide for my family and me. So, thank you - from the bottom of my heart. I love you all and appreciate you sincerely. <3


Related link:

The Blessing of Scripture