Beneath the Wraps

            Roland has to take his vacation days or lose them.  He keeps on asking when and where we shall go.  He has a desire to go to North Carolina to see his mom who was supposed to come see us in May of last year – but because of the pandemic wasn ’ t sent.           There ’ s still a pandemic.   We are not in the clear.   It was announced this morning that while some counties have advanced from extreme to high risk, other counties have been set back – ours for example.   We were at extreme and went to high risk but have been told that we are entering extreme again.           I remember when we were told that the state would reopen in phases.   There would be four phases.   I don ’ t know of any county in the state who has gone beyond phase two.   I don ’ t wish for it to sound like I ’ m living in fear.   I thin...

Yesterday I was watching a movie on Hallmark.    The movie title is one I have seen before – but with a different description.    I enjoyed the 2019 version of “Christmas Town” starring Candace Cameron Bure ( here ).              The movie starts out with the focus on a man and his little girl.    He is struggling with some health issues.    The tree has been put up and decorated and he somehow loses his balance causing the angel to fall and breaks off a wing.    He promises that he will send it off to have it fixed.    If he had just used a form of Elmer’s or Gorilla glue, we might not have the story that takes place roughly twenty years later. Lauren has recently accepted a teaching position in Springfield, Mass. and is anxious to leave behind her life in Boston. We learn that she has a boyfriend and a promised relationship, but her wants and his wants are not the same.   ...

Warning folks - this post is a long one.  I have been trying to find the right words to convey my thoughts and hope that I have.  I somehow seem to have a big following in Italy - though I can't imagine why.  I know I don't have the greatest sentence structure and my thoughts somehow get clouded. May you have success in comprehending how this is written:                     I am so sick of marketing ploys that prey on people’s weaknesses or vanity that should you use said product you will not only look years younger but feel amazing.   There are products for getting rid of wrinkles, bags under the eyes, weight, etc.   One product claims tighter skin just by rolling their magic stone around your face.   It’s like society has conditioned us that if we should have turkey necks, wrinkles, scars, pimples or whatever – we are unworthy to be associating with second class...

            Many of us may have a destination in mind.   Some are fortunate enough to choose a path that they wish to follow.   For others, it may seem that life threw them a curve ball and the path they are on is not one of their choosing.   For example, you may be in a car accident on your way to work.   You may experience back injuries that will stay with you for the rest of your life.                 You may have a son who is a victim of a knife wound that damaged his brain.   He can still carry on a conversation, even an intelligent one, but his social skills will always be like that of a nine-year-old and it will be frustrating for you to watch a forty-year-old man resort back to his immature childish reactions.   He might not be embarrassed when others snicker at him but perhaps you are.      ...

        A garden, by definition, is either a cultivated plot of ground or a gathering place such as a park which is generally adorned with plants and trees.   I guess I have never considered the definition until quite recently.   We had our Stake Conference this weekend, and one of the speakers mentioned two specific gardens found in the scriptures and discussed the symbolic differences between them.           The Garden of Eden, as mentioned in Geneses,          is outlined as a paradise.   We see paintings of fruit and vegetation, peace and waterfalls, a beautiful place where everything is tranquil.   I guess it represents a kind of perfection.           The Garden of Gethsemane, as portrayed by each of the gospels, does not have the same appeal.   Paintings often depict a drab setting wi...

            I think my favorite talk for this past conference was this one given by Elder Ronald A. Rasband.     He talked about a subject that I have touched on my blog before.   I was reminded of a post I created just over a year and a half ago.   I had briefly discussed Wendy Ulrich's book "Habits of Happiness".   The particular subject was "Don't try to get   Help from your Problems" - in other words, ask God to help you make your weaknesses become strengths - rely upon Him as the path you thought you may have chosen isn't necessarily the right one for you.                 It is interesting that so many of us can listen to or read the same exact talk and walk away from it with a different interpretation than another might - just as with the parables the Savior would deliver to those who would listen and those who...

         I don’t know if I had met Kelly prior to the being called to serve on the activities committee.  The first activity I remember being involved with was a “food storage/budgeting made-fun activity” Kelly played Betty Barker and I became the emcee who drew the names of contestants and invited them to “come on down”.          Even then she was struggling with the Church and her family life – desiring to connect the two but feeling torn with her beliefs.  Her husband showed no sign of ever wanting to be involved with the Church or even anybody who belonged to it.  Perhaps Kelly wasn’t even active when they met but gradually came around with a desire for having God and direction in her life – perhaps not necessarily the “Mormon Church”          That was five years ago.  And she continues to battle with herself and her maintaini...

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.   I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble; . . .” Ether 12:27 How many of us wish we had a time machine that we might have opportunity for do over.   If only I had made a different choice.   If only I had spent more time (and probably money) perhaps we could have found our runaway dog.   I wish I had been a more positive influence when Roland’s girls came to visit.   I wish I hadn’t left Jenna in all day kindergarten after we moved. Regrets are demons if we allow ourselves to dwell on what could have been instead of just moving on.   Perhaps we may learn from or see growth from what it is we think we’d like to change.   Allow me to use Jenna’s kindergarten experience as an example. The school by our first house offered two all-day kindergarten classes.   There were few parents who desired just half day.   The instructors were able to devote m...