My son slept in until 10.
DUDE.:)
Yesterday I did something that when I was done I felt SO GOOD. Like the kind of good you feel when you know you are on the right path.:) It hasn't gone through completely yet, but I will let you know when it does.
FOR SURE!:)
Yesterday I had this crazy thing happen. A gal walked up to me after church and said how much she enjoyed my comment in Relief Society and then proceeded to
This week is going to be crazy. I have a midwife appointment(getting into the SERIOUSLY last weeks of this pregnancy), the 4th of July is this week, and my nesting party is this weekend(must make preparations to the max!).
The 4th of July here in Provo is reputedly AMAZING!! Activities galore! It has got me thinking about a few things.
In Vegas we never once WENT to see the fireworks. Any fireworks. It was TOO HOTTTT and I was usually too pregnant.:) BJ did do a private fireworks show for us in the street once or twice.
Here in Provo it is also SO HOTTT and there is smoke in the air to the max from the fires going on in Utah. I am also pregnant to the literal max, and uncomfortable as all get out. I don't know how much we are going to participate in the awesomeness of Provo Freedom Days. We are for sure going to have a bbq, but I don't know what else we will be up to. Part of me feels a bit lame about this, and part of me(the greater part alas, feels TOTALLY FINE about it.:) There will be another oppurtunity, for which I am grateful.:)
Oppurtunities, and MISSED oppurtunities are something I think about a lot. Sometimes the most amazing oppurtunites come into our path and because they are in our path we feel OBLIGATED to take them, use them, whatever. EVEN if we can't afford them, money wise, physically, emotionally, etc.
I don't think that oppurtunities always come into our path as a sign that we MUST take advantage of them. I think sometimes wonderful things that aren't for us are put in our path and given as an oppurtunity to re-evaluate what's going on in our lives and regain some perspective.
I think we should take advantage of as many good oppurtunities as possible. Teaching oppurtunities with my children for example. GOOD THINGS!!! We have been taking the kids up to Salt Lake City lately on Friday nights to go see some of the church history spots. It has been such a neat experience for all of us as we have been growing our testimonies together.:)
BUT I think it is really easy to start getting paranoid and obsessive about NOT missing ANY oppurtunity that comes our way that is good. Balance friends, important!
Something else on my mind ALL WEEKEND has been several women that really show what I was talking about in my last post about being powerful and happy midst hard times.
Mariama Kallon is one of those women. Ohmygator, I have had the privelage to hear her speak TWICE and she is AMAZING. I heard her speak at Time Out For Women, which is a women's weekend conference that is held all over the country many times a year. If you would like to go(I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it!), HERE is the schedule for this year. It is super worth it, and you will be surprised at how much you grow and learn about YOU. It is super especially fun to go with girlfriends or sisters, but I have gone alone and been super inspired as well.:) I am planning on going to the one in Salt Lake City(I hope!) this year if you want to come along!:) You DO NOT have to be mormon to go, but they do touch on some spiritual subjects. One of my favorite speakers at Time Out is NOT mormon, her name is Amanda...I can't remember her last name, but she is amazing. She is a radio broadcaster in Utah and super enthusiastic and fun to listen to.
Anyways, Mariama is amazing. She grew up in war torn Sierra Leonne, in Africa and it is just horrifying what she went through there. As a small child she left her family so she could attend school. Later she had to flee for her life with a group of other women, and then was captured by the rebels, raped, and then they all had to get in a line as the rebels chopped off their arms and legs with machetes. She had to watch them do this to her sister, but she was saved by an army before it was her turn. Can you imagine going through that?! Later she came to America and served a mission in Salt Lake City. When I heard her speak her talk was entitled, "WHY THEN SHOULD I WEEP?" After ALL she had gone through in her life she still REJOICED in her life and in her testimony of Heavenly Father and his plan for us and for his LOVE for us. She knew her scriptures backwards and front and constantly referenced examples of what she was talking about. Mariama always wears beautiful African garb when she speaks. She would tear up occasionally as she was speaking and then she would start laughing as she pulled out a tissue from out of her bosom, and then explain how in Africa they don't have pockets in their dresses, so they use their bosoms. Apprently they keep all sorts of things in there!!:)
One more favorite story about Mariama. When she was serving in Salt Lake City her mission president found her running accross temple square and he asked as she kept running, "Sister Kallon! Where are you going?!" And she replied she had an appointment with a black man at the other end of temple square. He didn't think much abut it until later when he saw her again. He asked how her meeting went, and she told him how she had met a black family from Africa, just like her, and had given them a gospel message. He asked how she had met them, and she got kind of quiet. He prodded, and she replied that she had felt so lonely being the only black person she knew in Salt Lake and how she really wanted to teach someone from back home. So she had gone to a corner and said a prayer that Heavenly Father would send her someone from Africa to teach that day over at the South Gate in temple square. And then she got up and RAN there. Her faith touches me SO MUCH. How could it not touch anyone!
I LOVE Mariama. Her faith is scripture powerful. If she can go through all that she went through and still have a strong testimony in the goodness of God and still be happy, then I know I can too.
Hilary Weeks wrote a beautiful song called BEAUTIFUL HEARTBREAK that she made into a music video with Mariama and Stephanie Nielson(who I also am inpsired by:). Get some tissue before you watch;).
QUESTION: Who inspires you? Who do you look to for inspiration of strength and bravery and fearless faith? Do you know that YOU have the power in you to be one of those people? It is true.:) You are more powerful and strong than you know. And with the extra strength from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, dude, there is NOTHING you can't do or BE. Happy Monday!!
One last quote:
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