IAT for Common Sense

IAT = I am thankful

I don't care what race you are, Mayor Nutter is right. Every parent should be parenting with these simple common sense ideas. The only thing he left out is music. In our home, we have the "as long as you are in my house" mentality. It seems to work. Teens ought to watch this too.

IAT for Eternal Life and knowledge of it

IAT = I am thankful

IAT for Synchronicity!

IAT = I am thankful

 syn·chro·nic·i·ty

noun \ˌsiŋ-krə-ˈni-sə-tē, ˌsin-\

plural syn·chro·nic·i·ties

SYNCHRONICITY

1

: the quality or fact of being synchronous

2

: the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality —used especially in the psychology of C. G. Jung 

Only 3 days ago, we were in Mesa in the food court of one of the malls. They have the tv screens with music videos playing. I don't care for them, but hey that's ok. So, on the screen came a concert ad for Josh Groban. How I love his voice! It mentioned to purchase tickets in your city. I turned to the Bish and said, "if he ever comes to "town" (ha! 4 hours away), I really want to see him in concert. I haven't been to a concert in ages. I don't think I've been to one while I've lived in Arizona.

Going to a Josh Groban concert would require three things, none of which I thought of at the moment. A paycheck. Josh coming to Phoenix, and tickets. Had I looked it up and seen the cost of the tickets, I probably would have dismissed it. But, I didn't think about it again until I got on facebook this afternoon after a long day of real estate...AND...a paycheck. Scanning the home page, I saw that a friend had posted a half hour earlier that she needed to get rid of 2 JG tickets. Sweet! In the process I found out that he'd be in Phoenix next Friday. Did I say SWEET?

I believe when I get a check I should celebrate and splurge on something. Fortunately I had not picked my splurge yet. Sooooo, I asked the Bish, rearranged something in my schedule and decided to get them. It's really ridiculous, but I also felt like, if that was something I had just uttered from my lips, and it was dropped in my lap, I should do it. I know I will really enjoy it. So, next week, I am going to Josh Groban with my dear hubby. Woohoo!

IAT for Brokenness

IAT = I am thankful

He gives beauty for ashes, strength for fear;

Gladness for mourning, and peace for despair.

Based on Isaiah 61:3

So, this morning, on my walk, I thought I'd just listen to music. I usually listen to a favorite book or Philosopher's Notes. Hillary Weeks happened to be ready to go on the ipod. I was listening to her on our way home last night, because my family was listening to comedy and I couldn't read a novel. So, I know her music well enough that I could ignore it and still read my novel. :-) So, this morning I was overcome with the beauty of the desert, the serenity of my walk, and the beautiful strains of music coming through the headphones.

I wish I had every Hillary Weeks album. This one is called Lead Me Home and I've practically worn it out. Most of the songs are amazing. And I love her alto voice. As I listened to the heart felt words and notes, my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude for the times I have been broken. That may seem kind of weird. But my brokenness has brought me to humility, divinity, and grace.

I'm a pretty independent kind of gal. Even when I should be praying for strength, I often think, "ah, no problem, I can handle it." That often leads to trouble. Until my heart is broken. Then when I turn to Him, the Master Carpenter can take my broken heart and mend it. There's an amazing talk I love by Elder Holland called Broken Things to Mend. How grateful I am that when I have suffered from grief, loss, abuse, betrayal, depression, discouragement, or any other situation where I might have felt hopeless, that I can turn to the One who knows all these things and has suffered them for me, (not just sin, but sorrow) so that I might not walk alone. As I tell a friend frequently, when you are walking with God, you never walk alone. Here's the awesome lyrics to When My Heart Was Broken, written by Hillary Weeks and Doug Pincock.


I pray to the air
Faithless, unbelieving.
Lost in despair
The darkness deceiving
But I held on
My pride too strong
I needed His love to show me

And then my heart was broken
And my eyes were opened
I could feel His arms around me
I could feel His love surround me
Oh, and I felt His grace
And I will praise His name
I lived for so long without knowing
I didn't care where I was going
Until my heart was broken

I knew when I knelt
I knew from that moment
How good it felt
Letting go of my soul and
Trusting Him
He took my sins
I gave them all up to know Him

Chorus

Oh and I feel His grace
And I will praise His name
I lived for so long without knowing
And I didn't care where I was going
Until my heart was broken.

IAT Amazing friends

IAT = I am thankful

 I will add pictures later, but...

I can truly say that one major reason, I have the life I enjoy today is because of my friends. Friends who, at a critical time in my life, included me. I had no connections, I had no wealth, my parent wasn't important. I didn't have a mom. I might have been looked at as a possible bad influence (see previous sentence). And yet, the long arms of my friends reached out to me and drew me in.

On friend I mentioned in the previous post. Camille. I moved into a new ward with not a friend in the world. I temporarily lived with my Granny and my first Sunday in town, Camille and her family came and picked me up for church. They did that a lot. And gave me rides to activities. As an adult Camille has had some amazing trials, and she has taught me how to move graciously through trials. And to be grateful for the trials I have.

Then there's Beth. Beth was a year older than me. She had a sister, Jenny, my age. And an older and younger sister. They all kind of took me in. Again, parents included. I stayed there a lot when my dad traveled. Beth took me to early morning seminary a lot. And to drill team practice. She had band practice. Once, I ran away from home to Beth's house. It was a shelter for me. Her family loved me. And I loved them. I learned how a family worked in their home. Beth has been through some excruciating trials as a wife and mother. Two years ago, after her girls were in an accident and a friend of hers died, her heart literally broke. (Well, that's what I think). She had to have open heart surgery. She came through it great. She's going back to school and doing really well at her studies. She is a wonderful mom. I love Bethy's sparkling eyes, beautiful smile, and her laugh. I also love how direct she can be. And how thoughtful and intelligent she is. Beth is teaching me persistence.

Then there's Kimbo. Kim lived in a family with lots of money. I didn't. That didn't matter to her or her family. They loved me anyway. Once again a friend takes me in, and her parents went along with it. We had sleepovers and Kim gave me lots of rides to seminary too. We laughed a lot and her mother was the quintessential gracious southern woman. Another great example of how a loving family works. I learned so much in the Humphrey home. Kim is experiencing tremendous challenges. And she too, is grieving. But she is facing it the best she can. She is battling the enormity of it all, and teaching me courage. I know she's going to rise above and succeed. She is needed and loved. I love her playful spirit and gorgeous blue eyes and the strength I know she has.

I am blessed beyond what I deserve. I have my own trials. They are smaller to me than what some of my friends are facing. But they are there. And I know I can face them and overcome them like my friends are. I know my life would be vastly different if I had not friends who reached out to me and loved me. That is how it is supposed to work. The youth of our day; I wish they knew they power they had to save, to succor, to include, to love, to make miracles happen. How I love my friends. Thanks girls for loving for just exactly who I was.

(This post only covers 3 of my friends. There were others. Seminary teachers. Other friends and family. College friends and roommates. I am so grateful the Lord provided me with so many good people to lead me along. I hope I will always be that kind of friend.)

for Health and Strength and Daily Food we praise thy Name oh Lord.

IAT = I am thankful

And family and friends and reunions.

I'll probably be adding to this theme. I am in my former home state of Georgia. I think I am the only one of my friends, who did not end up here. Probably not, but it seems like it. I am so glad to have friends wherever I go. And that when I come to visit my home state, and my dear cousins and their children, that I have dear friends here to reconnect with.

Camille is probably my oldest friend that I still keep up with. Old, like not oldest in age, but old, like in the longest I've been friends with someone. I think I was 13 when we met. With the exception of my family, she has known me longer than anyone else. I have a couple of other friends that are also pretty close to that time frame.

For me, there is comfort in picking up a relationship (and continuing one too) where you left off, knowing that person knows you so well, that there are some things you just don't have to explain. It's amazing to me that we've had a friendship now for over 30 years. The funny thing is, there are so many opposites in our friendship. Our childhoods were very different. Though we have similar values and desires, our adult lives have been very different. She has brown hair, I have blond. Hers is curly. Mine is straight. She has a big biological family, mine is small. I could go on.

One of the things I love about her is her people skills and wrapped up in that, her kindness. I have seen her meet a total stranger and treat them like a life long friend. She pulls people in with her great big green eyes and loves them. She is interested and wants to know things about them. She is giving. Unbelievably giving. I'll stop at that to not embarrass her.

Her adult life did not really take the direction she thought it would. I have agonized over events that have come to her that she has handled with grace. I have wondered that with all she's been through, she was able to rise above and make something of herself. She's a nurse in labor and delivery and I can't think of a more perfect position for her. She is an inspiration and encouragement to me when I feel down and discouraged about something insignificant. It's a shame I am past having more children, because I'd love for HER to be my l&d nurse. I know people who get her are extremely blessed.

I sure hope we have 30+ more years of friendship. And I hope I've been a blessing to her like she has been to me.

IAT for God's protection

IAT = I am thankful

Yesterday Elder Norton had a pretty intense experience. Not nearly as intense as the ones he went to help. Every day as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we all pray for our missionaries all over the world. Our missionary is serving in Kentucky. There are times when I fear. What if he never comes home? What if something happens to him? But, I think being a missionary is the safest thing in the world a young man of that age can do. When others their age are pushing the limits of life, they are trying to follow all kinds of rules so that they can have the spirit with them and teach with power.

Yesterday in a small area in Kentucky, two missionaries were in a car and swerved to miss another oncoming vehicle. They swerved right off a 200 foot cliff. Those at the rescue scene fully expected to find fatalities. The car should not have contained survivors. And yet, it did. It contained two young boys working hard to introduce people to Jesus Christ. They were flown to the closest hospital in Louisville, where a chaplain at the hospital called the local mission home (not the mission home these two were from in Tennessee), and asked if someone could come and administer to these injured missionaries.

Elder Norton who works in the mission office and Elder Thompson were assigned to go and give the blessing. As they were leaving, their mission president added to the urgency having received a call from Salt Lake City church headquarters, requesting the same thing.

There is a brotherhood between missionaries and Elder Norton said he really felt that as he looked upon the broken boys in beds far from home. Bloody, cut, and dirty, they were in fairly good spirits as hands were laid on their heads and promises were given. Elder Norton testified of the protection that comes from millions of people praying each day for the missionaries. He knew without a doubt that those missionaries were alive because of God's protection. And only that.

One of the elders will be released today. The other is recovering from a broken sternum, a concussion, and a partially collapsed lung. Everyone around this experience realizes that these two boys should be dead. Their mothers could be planning their funerals. Instead they are rejoicing at the goodness of God and that apparently, they both have things to fulfill in their lives. Praise God for His protection of His missionaries. It does not always turn out this happy.