Finding Joy in the Journey...

(Time for the softer side of Suzi, sort of)....

Ok, so today I was working on my Young Womens lesson (I teach the 16-18year old girls). They are an active bunch, each with their own personality. Its hard to find things that will keep them interested but I do the best I can. Heck I have Cayla in there so I really have to try hard. But every now and then I get a lesson that really isn't that difficult of a lesson but I have a problem with it personally, what I mean is I have my struggles with it in my own life. This weeks lesson is "Finding Joy Now".

What a lesson for me...my close family and friends know that right now my Joy Factor is non-existent. Don't get me wrong...I have GREAT JOY with my family (that is when they are not driving me up a wall) and love them, and with the Gospel itself. But really thats about it right now and its been that way...well since we moved to BUCKEYE!! Yes, I will say it, I really hate it out in Buckeye, EVERYTHING about it. But thats something I need to work on and I am, sort of...ok not really...I just love to be miserable...you can ask my mother, I really do love being miserable! :-)

BUT...I wanted to share with you all something I read by President Monson from the October Conference...(sorry its going to be another long blog entry)...

"Many years ago, Arthur Gordon wrote in a national magazine and I quote: When I was around thirteen and my brother ten, Father had promised to take us to the circus. But at lunchtime there was a call; some urgent business required his attention downtown. We braced ourselves for disappointment. Then we heard him say, 'No, I won't be down. It'll have to wait.' When he came back to the table, Mother smiled. 'The circus keeps coming back you know,' she said. 'I know,' said father. 'But childhood doesn't.'

If 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 not going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and tha you will to your surprise miss them profoundly." (OK-truth be told...sometimes I really, really can't wait for that time to come, especially while I'm doing all the cleaning...really the dishes and the laundry..IT NEVER ENDS!)

"Stress 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.' 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."

So, first of all I really love what he says here. Funny thing-I'm not using it in my lesson, I'm sure I found this article again for me (will I listen and take heed to what he has instructed, who knows...only time will tell). And I wanted to share it with all of you. Remember things aren't always what they appear to be with those around you.

(That was then...)

As I watch my kids grow, especially Cayla right now, I realize it's only a matter of time before she leaves to College and gets married (ok secretly I really can't wait for her to get married and for me to be a grandma). Everyday I see her growing in to adulthood and I'm ok with that, except I want her to remember, no matter what, I will always be her mother. I often ask myself...as I'm sure each of you do...have I been an ok mother. When I watch their struggles and the things they do, mistakes they make, I often wonder if its because of something I've done or didn't do. I'm sure I could spend more time with them than I do and become that perfect mom. Kids really can frustrate us and that's ok, right?!? Let's just remember whats important...Loving our kids (even when we want to kill them, oh and trust me, sometimes I DO!)...Spending time with our kids and family (even if they drive us batty and some of us are half way there...ok no comment from the peanut gallery on that one)...And trying to find JOY in OUR LIVES!!

(...and this is now...they are growing up fast!)

Facebook...

OK, so some friends from school asked me to join facebook, (along with my mom and sister). They said its really cool and I could get a good laugh and see people I haven't in a long time, great communication. After a while, cuz I really didn't want to add more complication to my life, I gave in and joined. THEN, I made DJ join. So I've been on facebook for about a month and WOW, it drives me CRAZY. I'm not addicted to it, but I tend to check it all the time. Whats that say about me?!?! (Maybe I am addicted to it...) But I know I'm not alone...DJ is always on it playing some weapons game or something...And I know others have a secret ADDICTION to it also. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!! If you haven't checked out facebook yet, well watch out, it takes over your life:). If your on it, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ON IT TODAY? Are you ADDICTED!?!?

Poor Josh

I'm telling you...this kid has had a rough couple of weeks. I always thought that Cayla and Seth were my klutz' but now I think Josh is trying to play catch up. Or maybe he just felt out of the loop.

Last week, every time we turned around the kid was hurting his hands. He smashed his finger in something...now its turning black. (Its only the 3 maybe 4th time hes almost lost this same nail). Then the school got this really cool hot pink-big, I mean really big, ball for P.E. The kids all love it, BUT you can get hurt if your not careful and leave it up to one of my pills to get hurt. He smashed his fingers into it. Did a pretty good number on them. Even had to have his teacher do his writing for him. Way to manipulate the teacher.

As if thats not enough for his poor little hand, he went to the park and was playing basketball and crushed his fingers in the ball really hard. When he got home, they were kind of swollen. We put ice on it and told him in a jokingly way, I know this is very motherly, told him to suck it up...be a man and STOP getting hurt. Well, what else could I do...it wasn't broken and he was getting hurt ever 5 minutes and I WARNED him that his hand was hurting and he shouldn't go play basketball, but he didn't listen, said he'd be fine. Hey MOTHER ALWAYS KNOWS BEST. The next day was his class field trip and he was having a really hard time moving his finger, so my EMT friend looked at it. It was pretty swollen. She pulled on it and "POP". It had gotten jammed into a spot and wasn't popping back, so she did it for him. Taped his fingers and it was all good....

UNTIL...Yesterday...Poor guy. I was with my two friends, in town handing out flyer's, (again shameless plug for our silent auction and spaghetti dinner coming up for the school), and of course going to Dennys for the FREE breakfast. (The lines were more than a mile long so we changed and went to IHOP). Anywho, while we were out I get a call from the school. Its Josh..."Mom are you at the school?" I always know when he asks that, its not good. Poor thing, you could hear the hurt in his voice. He was trying so hard not to cry.

Heres what happen...He was running in P.E. for warm ups and another kid running behind him hit his foot somehow and sent him flying on the basketball court. He went a tumbling every which way. His head is all cut up, his arm has road rash and some big cuts on it from the shoulder to the wrist. His hip got a small little puncher wound from a rock and some road rash and of course the knee is all cut up. And all the muscles hurt like heck.

When he falls, he falls good. I mean really, I've always tryed to teach my kids...

If you're going to do something, do it right, go for it all the way!!!

I think he took it literally.

Poor guy couldn't even sit down, he was limping and everything. After a while he started getting dizzy. He did hit his head pretty hard. I ended up taking him home cuz he wasn't getting much work done at school.

BUT if you ask Josh what happen, one of the teachers told him he had to be creative, so you might get one of these story's (They worked on them at school)...

"There was a baby in the street and these cars started speeding down the road. I turned and saw the baby, just as the cars were getting closer. I ran as fast as I could and dove in front of the car and grabbed the baby and rolled out of the way. Protecting the baby with my body."

OTHER STORY...

"Our house caught on fire and I heard my brother scream. He was still in the house. I ran in, with flames coming from everywhere. Ran up stairs to get him. Then we had to jump from the top window. I was holding my brother so he wouldn't get hurt when we landed."

Whats funny, when I went back to the school to pick up Seth, our friends said that there was already a rumor going around that Josh got into a fight. Hes really the last person you'd think to get in a fight. But anyways, he was in a fight with an 8th grader and held his own. When I told Josh this, he sat up with a smirk on his face and says..."Really?" Our friends were telling their kids it wasn't a fight cuz they also heard it. SO Josh may just add that story to his other two, Who knows.