j . a . m . k . m . b: Great to be home...Now looking forward

Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.

... Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in [The Music Man], voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”

f you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”³ We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”

Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”¹⁰ May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.

Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."

Monday, September 24, 2007

Great to be home...Now looking forward

Despite the travel day from "H" in which all of my flights were late, it was awesome to come home. The family is all doing well and it's hard for me to keep up with everyone now that I'm unaccustomed to everything going on at home. My body clock is a little off - I went to bed last night at 8:15... I think that's the first time in my life.

Before I forget...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERON! - another year older and, since he hasn't fallen off any 3-story buildings lately, it appears wiser too. We wish we could be there to celebrate with you guys.

St. George is 11 days, 20 hours away as I write. I really enjoy the whole weekend - driving to St. George, staying with the Coltons in Green Valley, picking up my number at the Expo, seeing family and friends (Uncle Mike, Matt & Sheri, etc.), and then there's always the race. We're currently trying to decide if Angela and any of the kids will join me or if I will drive by myself. Of course I strongly prefer them to come, but she isn't sure what is best...

As some of you know, of the 7 marathons I've run, I've had severe leg cramps in most of them. It's a big problem for me, and it's been weighing on my mind so heavily that I'm almost dreading the race next week. But I recently talked to a guy in the neighboring ward who's run a lot of marathons and has overcoming cramping problems (no Matt, not those kind of cramps) like I have. He gave me a rundown on what he does to allude the cramps, and I'm very excited to implement these things into my race day regimen. With this new information, I feel like I at least have something that has worked for someone else, and I'm really hopeful it will work for me too. So because of this, I'm excited again to run!

Angela has been plowing through a new book series. The first book, Twilight, we have both read and liked, and I guess Ang liked the second one as well because she's been up reading at all hours of the night and seems to have finished within a shockingly short period of time. So if you want a quick read and a pretty good story, you might think of picking these up.

And of course, the universe righted itself this past weekend with BYU winning big against a decent conference opponent, and Utah losing big to a hapless conference opponent. Glad things are back to normal and order is restored. Also, if any of you have been catching any of the Rugby World Cup games, the quarterfinals are almost set now and it's going to get really good pretty quick here. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa have all looked really good, and France is dominant again after laying an egg against Argentina. The winner should come from one of those top three.

As for the home front, our goal for this week is to make it as NORMAL as possible. That usually means church stuff at least half of the evenings and a lot of homework/activities for the kids. Sounds pretty good to me.

3 comments:

Unknown said...: glad you are back safe.
i'm glad angela liked twilight too!; September 24, 2007 at 11:40 AM
Matt said...: Welcome back. I am looking forward to running with you. I will use your football comments as motivation at mile 24.; September 24, 2007 at 9:13 PM
Dan and Hailey said...: Dude, just drink a pint of pickle juice and you'll be right as rain...; September 27, 2007 at 7:38 AM

j . a . m . k . m . b

Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008

Monday, September 24, 2007

Great to be home...Now looking forward

3 comments:

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