Brrrr . . . its really cold this morning. I don't think it is much colder than its been all winter, but this morning I can feel it in my bones and can't seem to get warm. It will be Spring in just a few days now, and I suppose before too long we will be complaining about how hot it is!
I got a package in the post yesterday from the UK. In it was a whole lot of photographs and my scriptures from the UK. Tina and Tony had sent it to me. Because I had such limited space in my cases I had left my scriptures with Tina because I knew she would use them. It pained me a bit to leave them because they had been a gift to me from a friend who passed away a few years back, way back when I first joined the church. But I thought, I can always buy new ones and I knew Tina would give them a good home.
The photos were some that my landlord had found in a plastic bag, who knows where. I thought I had put all of my photos into my 9 boxes. Apparently not because he ended up with this bag of photos. There are some really old ones in the bag. I had forgotten I even had them. I suppose they were out of sight out of mind. I will scan some of them to show you another day, but I sure enjoyed going through them last night. It was so kind of Tina and Tony to go to the expense of sending them to me along with my scriptures.
Actually Tina and I had facetimed yesterday morning as well, before I got the box, so that was also nice. Face to face is a wonderful thing. I need to do it more.
“Patience
~the ability to put our desires on hold for a time~
is a precious and rare virtue.
It is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears.
Patience means active waiting and enduring.
It means staying with something and doing all that we can.
working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude,
even when the desires of our hearts are delayed.
Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!”
–Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I spent a bit of time reading this talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf a few days ago. Entitled "Continue in Patience" it was a talk he had given at one of our church conferences back in April of 2010. I remember him giving the talk at the time. I love all of Elder Uchtdorf's talks, but when I was reading it again the other day it ended up being exactly what I needed to be reading and touched my heart. It was such a help to me, I ended up journaling a whole page on it in my journal.
Sometimes it is in the waiting
rather than in the receiving
that we grow the most.
A part of what was getting me down was feeling like I was very much in a holding pattern. Not able to or wanting to look backwards, and yet at the same time not really being able to move forward like I really want to be. Instead I am sitting here treading water . . . waiting, waiting, waiting . . .
I have discovered I am not a very patient person sometimes. I suppose all of us can be a bit impatient and wanting to get on with our lives from time to time. This pandemic is trying all of us patience-wise I know. We long for things to get back to what we see as being normal. I think who we are can get lost in the longing, and we can spend so much time longing for things . . . that we forget to be happy now. We end up ignoring what can be really beautiful and meaningful opportunities and experiences in our impatience to get where we think/want/desire to be.
As I was just writing the above I was reminded of another talk that Dieter F Uchtdorf gave a number of years back when he was on the church presidency entitled "Forget Me Not." After that talk I had been prompted to do this piece of art that you see here. After it was done, Todd told me I should send a copy of it to President Uchtdorf and after a bit of poo-poohing I did. I went into town and got a frame for it, bundled it up and mailed it off. I got a beautiful letter from him in return a few months later. (It is packed in one of my journals down in the boxes I have downstairs here. At least I hope that it is.)
And as I read through this again this morning, I know once more that everything will be okay. I just need to be patient. With myself, with the world, with the situation. Forget not to be happy now.
The tender mercies of the Lord are real and not random. I love when He reminds me He is still there, on the case and mindful of little old me.
Speaking of happy, I want to wish Elaine a very Happy Birthday for today. I hope you have a lovely day today filled with lots of the things you love and enjoy!!!
Also Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all who are Irish and who want to be! I have a bit of Irish in me as noted in my DNA. I was looking forward to a corned beef dinner this year (which I have missed for 20 years) but we could not find any, so I am not sure what we will be having, but it will be something. tasty I am sure.
A thought to carry with you . . .
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*Don 't wait to live,
this isn't a rehearsal,
this isn't a dry run,
this isn't a pre-performance routine.
This is it. This is real life.
Don't wait. Savor every minute.
~Jeffrey R Holland•。★★ 。* 。
In The English Kitchen today . . . Baked Potato Soup, with a crispy potato skin crouton. Delicious!
Have a great day, whatever you get up to. Don't forget!
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