This song "Blessings" by Laura Story is a song that has truly connected with my life. As I look back over the last few years of my life and think of the greatest lessons I have learned have come from the hardest times (unemployment, Brayden's head injury - Primary Children's Hospital, my dad's cardiac arrest, my health - surgery, etc). I am so grateful that through those hard times I have the power of prayer, scriptures, priesthood blessings, fasting, partaking of the sacrament each week, attending the temple, General Conference and family and friends. It's through these things that I find answers to my prayers to help me get to the next step and know that the Lord is very aware of me and my family. He wants the best for all of us and I know that through each of these challenges greater things have come and I am stronger for going through them. I love the gospel and know that there is great peace and happiness to be found in this life.
Every day we have choices to make and with each of those choices comes a certain level of motivation. We have to decide when and how motivated we are to get out of bed when the alarm goes off or if we hit the snooze button for a little more rest. Our children can go to school with a high level of motivation to learn and enjoy the day or leave dragging their feet not happy that they have to go to school. Depending on the level of motivation we have with each decision = the level of success we will have. Dragging feet to school = probably not learning all we can Going to work excited for a new day = more work accomplished at a higher level and turns into a promotion, pay raise or even just security in a job Getting out of bed looking forward to the day = seeing the good as the day goes on and probably more accomplished These are just a few quick examples, but the biggest trick is figuring out what our motivation is. . .why do we do what we do? Do we enjoy what we are doing? Are we doing what we are doing for gain only? Are we doing it because we want to make a difference? Win or lose, are we motivated to be better and learn? Our youngest, 9 years old, is intense. He is very passionate about everything he chooses to do. He loves math so he sits and makes up math problems and had times tables memorized by first grade. He LOVES reading and makes time each day to read. As he reads you can tell the emotion of the book by his sounds, actions and excitement in his face. He loves learning to play the piano so he practices a lot. He likes to go back to piano progressing further than what the teacher has asked of him. One of his GREATEST passions is SPORTS. Whatever sport he is playing at the time, he goes outside and works at being better every single day. He expects himself to put forward his very best. He surrounds himself with people that have the same passion. Therefore, he finds himself winning a lot. A loss is extremely devastating to him. It is very unacceptable to him, because he does what he loves and is motivated to do better. Over the years our boys have wanted to try out a Super League Baseball season, but we have not been sure this is what we wanted to do. Because of Tanner's motivation we gave in and decided to give it a try this Fall. Rick decided he would coach, because we weren't sure what the season would bring. Rick contacted the other coaches in the city league and got names of other boys that would enjoy doing a Fall Competitive League. He also got a few names off of the Fall League site and invited them to be on the team. We now had a team of 12 boys that didn't all know each other, a coach that had never coached in this league, keeping costs down so going with a known team name instead of making up a team name (which no else in the league had done) and their first games cancelled due to rain. The next game was a tournament against teams that had played together for years with matching bags, helmets, etc. You get the idea. . .a Sandlot idea. Needless to say, the tournament didn't turn out well for our team. It was pretty much a comedy of errors and the boys losing confidence that they could beat a team. It was a tough 4 games. The next week the team won one of their games, but that is all that they have won all season. We had another tournament in Logan and it was similar to the first tournament, but our boys were making progress. The boys still hadn't gelled together like the other teams. Rick took advantage of the time in Logan and invited the boys and families to join together for dinner, a game of parents vs kids and then swimming at the pool. In the morning the families had breakfast together at 6:30 a.m. before heading to the field at 7:30 a.m. The boys continued to show improvement, but two weeks ago at the end of the game the boys were totally discouraged, their actions on the field showed they had given up and the coaches sat on the bench and didn't know how to motivate them anymore. I got a text from Rick saying, "I give up. They just don't care. I can't help that." At the end of the game the coaches weren't even sure if they were going to gather the boys and talk to them. It seemed like all hope was lost. It was time to regroup. There were 6 games left and the boys have the talent to win, they just needed to find their motivation. The next week there were practices, but the Friday before games Rick decided to have a party with the team. It wasn't a party to celebrate the losses, but to revive their motivation. To figure out what motivates them and figure out why they all want to play and love about the game. The whole team came and they started with dinner - pizza and celebrating one of their teammates birthday. There were two separate tables for them to sit at, but they all wanted to sit together so we slid the tables together. Then they went to playing with water balloons. Not the way you would envision. The boys lined up and Rick would throw "fly water balloons" and they had to catch them or get wet. Then he would throw a straight shot balloon from 1st to 3rd and the boys would need to catch them. They loved it! They were having fun, but learning baseball skills. Then they went into a room with a big screen and watched a few different aspects of baseball. They watched Professional Baseball highlights. They loved it and were cheering loudly and commenting on how cool the plays were. Then Rick showed them bloopers. They were saying things like, "I can't believe they missed it" or "Why did they throw the ball to that base" or "We haven't made that mistake." Then Rick showed "You Make the Call." He would show a play and the boys had to say what the call should be. They had so much fun with all of the clips. After all of those clips Rick had a heart to heart with the boys. He asked them what the difference was between the bloopers and the highlights. Why did some of the plays get caught and why did some miss the balls. The boys were answering things like, "They were paying attention" "They were fast" "They thought ahead" "They did their very best". There is a boy that hasn't been sure he wanted to be playing and even when asked whether he wanted to be at school or at the baseball field he would say he would rather be at school. He quietly raised his hand and waited for Rick to call on him. Rick called on him and he said, "They were having fun." He had smiled the whole evening and had a great time with the team.
We left that evening thinking the boys were feeling motivated to go out and win. We were excited for the next day to see how this motivational evening carried over into the games. Unfortunately, the rain came and the games were cancelled so we didn't get to see the effects of the party immediately. Early this morning the boys had a double header. They all showed up with smiles on their faces and ready to play. They hit the ball better, they got the outs and had fewer errors. The feeling was positive and fun. They didn't win either game, but they scored points, hit the ball better, had fewer errors and had a great time. They have found their motivation. Their "why" they play baseball. We might not always "win" with the things that we love and put our efforts towards, but if we know our "why" to be motivated we will have a desire to keep improving, learning, finding answers and solutions and keep pressing forward until we do "win." It will mean so much more to us and our motivation will build momentum. We will find that the things we are successful at are things that are "fun." The other day a friend of mine posted, "Sometimes life gives you lemons, but they turn rotten before you can make lemonade." We can all relate to that at times, but I love this song because it points out there is good in everything. . .just have to find it sometimes. My 9 year old realized last week that we will be gone for the AM Session on Saturday morning. He let me know that we would have to record it and watch it later. It was very important that we didn't miss it. Then on Sunday he said, "I can't wait for General Conference. I wish it was this weekend." It's almost a competition between Christmas and General Conference on which one we all look forward to the most. What makes General Conference so exciting for us as a family? It's the traditions and some have changed over the years as the boys have gotten older. I thought I would share some of the traditions that we have done over the years that has made this a special time of the year. For the last 6 years life has been about the same. When people would see me a couple years down the road they would ask me what was new and I would respond, "It's all pretty much the same." Rick works in the same industry, I have the same cub scout calling, Rick has the same calling (for the last 3 - 4 years), kids are healthy, I am still volunteering in the schools a lot, I still have the same job, etc. I was actually feeling a little bored about that and thought it would be nice to say that something had changed in my life. This is a GREAT video! Loved thinking about what I am going to do with today and how important each day is. http://www.upworthy.com/this-dude-just-used-jelly-beans-to-convince-me-to-live-my-life-to-the-fullest-2 Back in the summer of 2012 Rick was called in at work for his annual review and was given a raise and he felt really good about how things were going. There are always areas to improve, but he really enjoyed where he worked and felt that he could be there for a long time. Then in September he was called into the office and was told that he was being let go or "fired", however anyone wanted to look at it. It came as a HUGE shock to him. He had been out sick the week before for a few days with pneumonia and had done his best from home and being so sick, but was aware there had been some problems. Sometimes things are completely out of your control like serious illnesses. So, today I posted on Facebook "I have always known this, but it has become so strongly obvious to me that in times that appear to be the greatest challenges are truly the greatest blessings. The Lord really does know the BIG picture and the timing of certain things that need to happen in our lives. So grateful for the gospel." I have kept pretty quiet about some of the challenges that our family has gone through over the last few months, but I have decided to share. Back in September I decided that I was going to focus on getting healthy and decided that since I was 40 it was time to just go in for an annual check up. I went in and decided that whatever the doctor said I needed to do I was going to do. We had insurance and it was time. I had several concerns and was ready to get to the bottom of them. My doctor did several blood tests and said it would be a few days before we got the results. The next day I was in charge of a PTA Council Meeting in the morning and then had other things going on in the afternoon. I got done with my Council Meeting and noticed that my doctor's office had called. That made me nervous that I was getting a call the next day instead of a few days later. I called immediately and talked with my doctor at length. I was on the verge of diabetes, had really high cholesterol, high blood pressure and some other stuff that he was really concerned about. He wanted me to come back in and visit with him. I told him I would call back and schedule a time. About 30 minutes later I was at Lindon Elementary and talking with a few friends when Rick called. I figured I would call him back, but instead I got a text from him. I looked down at the text and saw, "Hope you are having a good day, because I just lost my job." I didn't even know who it was from, because it was scrolling across the top of the screen. I was feeling bad for whoever it was and clicked on the text. That is when I realized it was from Rick. We had been through unemployment before and it was a very hard, stressful time. That day was full of news that shook our world. The company he worked for gave him 2 weeks and then he was gone. Of course, right through the holidays and some of the tougher financial times of the year. There were many things that didn't line up or make sense about Rick losing his job. So many questions and no answers. I was a wreck and decided I needed to go to the temple the next day and figure things out. As I went to the temple I felt so peaceful. I didn't want to leave, because it was the only place I was finding peace through everything. That evening we went to my parent's and received priesthood blessings from my dad. I don't remember a whole lot from the blessings, but one thing that stood out to me in Rick's blessing was that he was told this was the Lord's timing and in His plan for our family. There would be opportunities that would come that would not have come any other time for his future and to provide for his family. There was a job that he was really excited about and we thought for sure this was it. Things were going smoothly and then the job didn't come through. The boat rocked a little bit in our lives, but then things fell right in place. The timing ended up being perfect in our lives. The job he has is PERFECT for him! He is the happiest I have ever seen him. The money is a little tighter than before and we currently don't have any insurance, but I have never seen Rick so happy. Our children are happy because he is more a part of their lives than before because he is working from home. The job fits our lives perfectly. There is flexibility and that is what our family needs with all that we have going on. The holidays were simple and perfect! We were able to enjoy time together as a family, share the gospel with many and the boys were happy with what they received. We are working through catching up from the time of unemployment financially, but we feel that we are on the right road and find peace in where we are at. Rick has been contacted by some of those he worked with over the last few months and he has watched what happened to him happen to others. Then yesterday he saw several posts, twitters, etc. from many that he worked with and knew that major things had happened at this company. Nobody was happy and it was very evident that it was a blessing he wasn't there right now. He got out at the right time. We have found that the grass is greener on the other side and thought it seemed unfair, difficult and things didn't add up we are soooo grateful to be on this side. He is so glad he wasn't in the meeting yesterday where so many lives were turned upside down. I agree that there are many things in life that are in our control and we bring on in our own lives, but I also believe that there are certain things in our lives that the Lord specifically guides to bring us greater happiness if we are willing to follow and trust despite how challenging and hard the road might look. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I thought it was really fun and would share it on my blog today. Have fun with the play on words :). Need to smile today? Try one of these:) I tried to catch some fog, but I mist. When chemists die, they barium. Jokes about German sausage are the wurst. A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran. I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time. How does Moses make tea? Hebrews it. I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me. This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore. I'm reading a book about anti-gravity, and I can't put it down. I did a theatrical performance about puns; it was a play on words. They told me I had Type-A blood, but it was a Type-O. A dyslexic man walks into a bra. PMS jokes aren't funny, period. Changed my iPod name to Titanic. It's syncing now. The Energizer bunny was arrested and charged with battery. I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me. How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it! Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils? What does a clock do when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds. What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus. England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool. I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough. Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes. Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy. |
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