j . a . m . k . m . b: Mid September catch up

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."

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mid September catch up

Man, you take a month off from writing in your blog and you barely recognize it when you come back. That's actually literally true ... Google upgraded the interface to blogger and I likey.

Wow, so much going on. I'll try to fill in most of the big holes, although I'm certainly going to miss some cool stuff. Since I wrote last, these are the highlights:

Micah started cheering at Timpview football games. I love to go watch her, and catch a bit of football at the same time. She does great and is actually quite good at the cheerleader thing. I definitely have my eye on all the mongrel boys who sit and scope out the cheerleaders...

School started. Micah likes her classes and friends, and is balancing cheer with some other outside activities. Kennan is a big 6th grader and I think is thriving in that environment. Morgan is her usual happy-go-lucky self and does well at whatever. Brig started kindergarten and has been loving it - no separation anxiety or tears whatsoever, just happy to go to school. He had a traumatic episode this week though as he threw up in class. He hadn't been acting sick, but we knew he had been playing with some neighbor boys who also threw up suddenly. He called me after Ang picked him up and I think the trauma of it caught up to him as he only got out "hi Dad..." and he broke down in sobs. I felt so bad for him.

We've continued to build some great friendships in our ward and neighborhood. It's so nice to have great people around us. I also went off sweets for a couple of weeks and that helped me feel good about my will power. I'm not trying to lose weight necessarily, just wanted to make some small changes.

Ang and I found out a couple weeks ago that we have been granted admission to the St George marathon in a few weeks. Some good friends here in Provo have contacts at the race, and they got us in. I think I'm happy about that, although I haven't been training and even though I think I can finish a marathon at this point, it's gonna be slow and painful. Ang of course is going to rock the house...

I finally finished my third furniture project - our master bed. I have to say it looks pretty darn good, and happy to say it's very solid. Now that that's done, I feel like I can get to some more house-related projects, like cleaning and organizing the basement and the garage. We're still trying hard to coax little minutes of work out of our landscaper. The "few weeks" job has turned into the "few months" job, and we're just anxious to get it done and stop having to worry about when it'll get finished. I guess you really do get what you pay for.

I've had a lot of work things going on that are a little outside of the usual day to day schedule. My favorite was playing in a golf tournament with some cool guys from work up at Red Ledges in Heber, a Jack Nicklaus course. We've also had meetings and events at Sundance and Park City recently, so it's been nice to break up the work days that way.

Memorial Day weekend was really fun. We went up to the cabin just with our little family on Friday night and Saturday, and it was spectacularly beautiful up there. I got out on the river for some fly fishing - didn't catch a ton but LOVED it. I also took the kids up to the reservoir for some early morning fishing... actually, Morgan and I went early in the cold, and the rest came later. Again, not a lot of fish action, but fun to be there with everyone. We also played tennis at the cabin. Monday was a fun hike to Stewart Falls above Sundance with our friends the Weights.

Finally, I went to Austin last weekend with Dave, Nate, Dan, and MattMax for the BYU-Texas football game. I kept saying to everyone all along that I was more anxious to eat at Chuy's and Rudy's than I was even to go to the game. Believe me, my favorite restaurants didn't disappoint - it was awesome! The game was great in the first half, frustrating in the second half, and we lost by 1 point. Oh well. But we also got to stay with a very generous old friend from MBA school, Jeremy Allen, and it was really cool to catch up with him and his family.

j . a . m . k . m . b

Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mid September catch up

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