Tag: beautiful nature

Repentance is possible

Repentance and forgiveness are hard, but the resultant transformation is worth the hard.

Repentance is an interesting topic to discuss with people. There are many people in this world who have set limits on the ability to change, the ability to grow. But Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father have set no limits on what can be repented of, or how many times a single sin can be repented from. I think many of us have that understanding in our heads, but we don’t always have it in our hearts.

I remember when my kids were in elementary school, having a shocking realization of what the world believes about repentance and forgiveness. I was volunteering at the school that day, so I was in a classroom with a teacher. There was an altercation in class where one child was mean to another during a group activity and if I remember correctly, there was a physical interaction on a mild level. These kids were little and so just learning. No one needed to go to the principle, just a teaching opportunity.

The child who had gotten angry and hit or pushed the other child was then reprimanded and told to say sorry, which they did. The other child then politely said, “It’s alright,” to which the teacher reprimanded that child saying, “It’s not alright, just because they say sorry doesn’t make it ok!” I was shocked by the teachers response. This child was trying to be forgiving and was told it wasn’t ok to forgive and move on.

I saw this exact same interaction between students and faculty on several occasions. I am not sure if that’s what teachers are taught to say to students or if these particular faculty members believed the same thing about repentance and forgiveness (these were great teachers who I respect deeply, just a difference in our understanding). I asked my kids if that had ever happened to them, and they all confirmed that yes, they had been told not to say, “It’s alright,” because it wasn’t. We discussed forgiveness heavily during this time and that it’s not only ok to be forgiving, but that the Lord has asked us to forgive all men. We also discussed that weight that is lifted off our shoulders when we take the opportunity to forgive, regardless of whether the other person said sorry or not.

We read about people who have done horrible things, gone to prison, gotten out, and then changed their lives completely, and we’re all inspired by their strength and ability to change. Those are extreme cases that are faith building. But how often do we see our neighbor next door, who one day encroached on our property, or yelled at us for our barking dog, or whatever the case may be, and we get mad at them. We then stop speaking to them, or speak poorly of them in front of our family or other neighbors. We see a need and choose not to help because obviously they’re a bad person. Do we allow others the opportunity to repent, to change and do better? How often do they repent and we can’t see it because we’re too busy holding a grudge?

I’m not justifying anyone’s behavior, but who knows why they acted like that. Maybe one day we were a jerk first and we don’t remember. Maybe they’re having family stress or they have job or money issues that make everything hard. We just don’t know. But when we hold a grudge, it doesn’t make our lives any better, and it doesn’t help their life be any better either. In fact, it creates chasms that get deeper and harder to build bridges across.

We each at some point in our lives have been on both sides, being hurt by others as well as hurting others, intentionally or not. We can repent from hurting others, but we also need to repent from holding grudges. It’s hard to change when others can’t see the progress we’re making because of old grudges or perceptions of us. But when we can be both repentant and forgiving, relationships can be forged and deepened, friendships grow and families become stronger.

I remember one instance from my life, not that anyone was hurt because of the interaction, but I was not totally honest with a friend. She was not aware that I hadn’t been totally honest, but it bugged me for several hours. I finally talked to her and admitted that I hadn’t been honest, worried that this might ruin our friendship. She listened without judgement, expressed gratitude for my honesty, and we moved on. No one would have been hurt by what I had done, but the feeling of relief from her forgiveness was palpable to me.

I am grateful for all the people over the years who have been forgiving in my learning and growing process. I am grateful for opportunity to repent, to be forgiven and to forgive others. I am grateful for the relief of conscience that it brings, and the deepened relationships that result.

Voting With Your Money

Do you avoid businesses that support things you don’t agree with? Are there other options for purchasing products we need?

On my Marketing blog post I asked if there were any topics that my audience might like me to address. Today’s blog post is in reference to one of the suggestions made. The question was how to avoid buying things from big box stores who have opposing political views from your own. I have actually pondered on this subject on many occasions so I thought I would share my thoughts today. And if you have any questions you would like to know my opinion or stance on, please feel free to comment.

There have been quite a few businesses lately that have put forth advertising and products that have been consistent with the political and woke agendas running rampant in our country. These businesses have come to quickly realize however, that regardless of what these parties are trying to normalize and push on the average citizen, most of us aren’t buying into their agenda, and consequently aren’t buying into their companies or products anymore and they have lost millions of dollars because of it.

Specific businesses like these, that sell products in other stores are easy to avoid, simply walk past and don’t buy. But avoiding an entire store, especially a big box store, where many products that we need are being sold, is a completely different, much harder prospect. But, I believe it is something we need to take into consideration when we go shopping, and having looked around my community, I think there are some great ways to avoid big box stores in general.

One suggestion by the person asking the question was buying local. I love this and have been a huge supporter of this for quite a number of years. There are Farmer’s Markets all over the country, in big cities and small towns, and there are so many local people, working hard, trying to make a living for their families, who would love the support (me included)! Farmer’s markets aren’t just about veggies either, there are so many great products that you can get at a local market. At the market I sell at you can buy things like art, soaps, wood products, pottery, baked goods, lunch, snacks, blankets, and so much more, along with the veggies, berries, and fruit.

Besides the market, there are a number of locally owned stores in my area, and I would imagine in other areas, that sell only locally produced items. Some items similar to farmers market offerings, but available all year not just in the summer. Other items as well that you might only find in those stores. These are fun to check out, and offer quite a wide range of options from housewares to clothing to furniture and everything in between. Again, the draw, at least for me, is that I am supporting someone local, as opposed to big corporations with agendas that I don’t care for. Look around your local area for these shops and check out their local products.

Ultimately, there are larger stores that I do frequent. There are also several stores and restaurants that I choose not to go to because they have made very public statements and display’s of what they choose to support, which is their right, but is inconsistent with what I believe, so I don’t shop at the ones that are very vocal. There are also a number of local shops that are very vocal about supporting things I disagree with. While I do like shopping local, and while I wish those shops well in their business ventures, I will not support them with my money. I believe we need to stand up for what we believe, and the dollar is one of the best ways to vote and have our voices heard.

Trek

Pioneer Trek is a great opportunity for the youth.

First off, happy Father’s day to all the dad’s out there! I hope you have had a great day today and that you are feeling loved. Dad’s are an essential part of family life, and make a huge difference in the condition of our society.

This past week my youngest two children, 15 and 17 years old, had the opportunity to participate in a pioneer trek. This is a reenactment of the original pioneer trek that members of my Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) participated in, moving from Missouri to the Utah valley from the years 1847-1868. This is a great opportunity for the youth to connect with their heritage as members of this Church, whether they had “pioneer” ancestors or not, and to relive a time in Church history when miracles occurred and opportunities to learn and draw closer to God happened on an almost daily basis. I thought I’d share a little bit about the requirements of trek as I can’t share the experiences because I didn’t go as a participant.

There are some stipulations to go on trek, the age is 14-18 years old. Each individual is required to have period style clothing, so no jeans and t-shirts. The young men are to wear long-sleeve button up shirts with collars and have a hat, most wore a straw hat of some sort. Their pants were to be made of something other than denim or modern fabrics (most were canvas or linen). They were encouraged to wear suspenders and vests, but those were optional as per the young man’s preferences.

The young women were to wear dresses or skirts with long-sleeve tops and to have an apron and a bonnet or some form of head covering. Most wore bonnets but there were a few straw hats among the young women as well. Non-period piece clothing they were asked to bring were well broken in tennis shoes (rather than boots, although one of my sons always wears boots so that’s what he wore without problems). Spandex shorts or leggings of some sort for the girls under their dresses, particularly for the river crossings where they needed to hike their skirts. They needed water shoes of some sort for the crossings as they didn’t want cut feet from the river beds they had to cross, and they had weather related gear like rain jackets.

The youth were then organized into families consisting of a Ma and Pa (adult leaders) and 8-10 “kids.” They do a great job of spreading the youth out so that family members weren’t in the same “family” and so that there was a pretty equal number of boys and girls. This year there was a total of 14 handcarts and averaged 8 kids per family.

Each youth can bring one 5 gallon bucket (up to 17 lbs) with their extra set of clothes, personal items, scriptures, toiletries, etc. One drybag with their sleeping bag and sleeping pad. And one daypack with things like sunscreen, bug spray, rain jacket, water shoes, snacks and water. Their food is brought in every day, but their cooking items like dutch ovens, griddles and things are in the handcarts along with tents and tarps.

Everyday they push their carts, some days 5 miles, some more or less. Some of it depends on the weather and depth of the rivers they may potentially have to cross. Everyday they have a devotional and learn about pioneers then and now. Everyday they have to cook their own meals. Every evening they play pioneer games and sit by campfires to talk and tell stories.

It is amazing to see all the youth on the first day, to feel their excitement! It’s interesting to pick them up at the end, tired, dirty, but smiling from ear to ear. My boys talked all the way home, telling stories about the good things that happened, some of the frustrating things that happened (mostly to do with their trek siblings), and to hear how excited and rewarding their 5 day journey had been.

My daughters participated in the last Trek our Stake held 6 years ago, and still talk about the fond memories they gained. They are still friends with many of their Trek siblings, and I think my boys will be talking about this experience for many years to come. I am grateful for the logistical people who organized and worked behind the scenes for months to plan and prepare for this opportunity for the youth, I think it was a huge success. I remember as a youth participating in a much shorter (overnight) handcart trek, and it helped me appreciate those who paved the way for all of us to follow. If you ever have the opportunity to participate in a pioneer trek, take it, it will change your life!

Marketing

I need some feedback, what do you want to read about?

I’d like to change the above quote, taking out advertising and replacing it with marketing. I recently started taking some online marketing courses. I am not good at marketing, at all. I am learning however, that if you’re not aiming at something, the chances of hitting it are slim, and hard to replicate. Not that I haven’t been aiming at specific goals, I have goals, but I think they’re too far down range. I need to bring some targets a little closer, but haven’t really understood how to do that. This class is helping me understand that better, and given me some steps to take to keep my big targets, but have other closer targets to aim at and keep moving forward.

I have recently been trying to work on my behind the scenes scheduling. I am great at keeping a schedule in mind, but not so great at writing it down. But I am going to really try hard to get things written down so I have a clear path ahead of me for several weeks or months in advance. So I printed out a month calendar and wrote on it the big business things that need to be planned out in advance, or that take up a lot of my time so I needed to make sure I didn’t overlap them and possibly not have time to finish one or the other. Here is my June schedule:

There’s not a lot on there yet. But remember, I have 3 kids at home and my husband’s contracting business to assist with besides my business. This is the minimum business items that need to get done each week. July looks about the same. What I want to do is write a topic for each blog post ahead of time so I have something in mind to be thinking about. This makes the blog writing process so quick when I’ve already written it in my head, and often, when I have an idea ahead of time, I write it over the course of days rather than impromptu on that specific day.

The Farmer’s Market takes up my entire day with packing, being at the market and then unloading when I get home, so I need that day to be totally blocked out. Videos I create, I used to do haphazardly, whenever I felt like it, but I am learning that a scheduled time for those is also better, not just for the viewer, but for my time as well and that it takes a couple of days to edit, so I need to have time to film and edit before I get them published.

Lastly, and this is where I would love some feedback (actually, I like feedback on all of it). In the marketing course it talks a lot about writing for a niche market. I don’t do that obviously. I enjoy writing about my rambling thoughts, my art and sharing recipes or whatever. So I am asking my audience, do you like reading my unspecific thoughts along with stuff about my art and recipes and whatever else I think to write on? I have debated on starting a more industry specific blog about art. Also, if you have ever watched my YouTube channel, it’s as random as my blog. I have debated there about creating more than one channel with each being very niche specific. Any thoughts on that? And lastly, do you have any topics you would like me to talk about that I could add to my calendar? Thanks for reading and for any feedback you might be willing to share!

Meatloaf

I love easy to prepare meals and this meatloaf has to be one of the easiest.

I grew up hating meatloaf. But, my mom converted me with this recipe. She made it for us when she was taking care of my family after I had had one of my children and it became an instant favorite. I don’t know where the recipe came from, it might be my mom’s or she might have gotten it from someone else. If anyone knows, I’d love to give credit to whoever’s it is.

I created a YouTube video so you can watch me make it, and I’ll add the recipe here so you can print it off if you’d like. The video is linked to the title below and is called:

Easy Meatloaf Recipe

1 pound Ground Beef

1 Box Stovetop Stuffing (any flavor, I like Savory Herb)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (Cream of Mushroom is a good substitute as well)

1 Egg

Mix the 4 ingredients together and put in a loaf pan or form into a log on a sheet pan. You don’t need to grease the loaf pan, but lightly grease the sheet pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and then cut into slices and enjoy!

I like to bake potatoes at the same time, putting them in just before I bake the meatloaf means everything will be done at the same time. If you like a glaze on your meatloaf you can add that just before baking. My family doesn’t like the glaze. Some people in my family like to add Salsa or ketchup on their pieces, sometimes Ranch. But I think it’s good just plain. I hope you enjoy!