Great Post

I hopped on C Jane today for a quick peek while I sat down to nurse Coleman. I love the way she writes and always leave there inspired. Today was no disappointment. Her post about the new year spoke to my soul and encouraged me to seek after the important things in 2009 and let go of the negative. You can read her post here under the post "Be Forgot".

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! I can't believe Christmas is already upon us! I just wanted to share a few quotes I read in the Ensign this morning and then I'm off!

"True Happiness comes only by making others happy--the practical application of the Savior's doctrine of losing one's self to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.

It's the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring 'peace on earth,' because it means--good will toward all men." David O McKay

"Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illulminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the 'spirit of Christmas' we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ." Pres Monson

A Christmas Carol

"A Christmas Carol" is one of a few books I try to read each December. I love this book! It's a quick read and has many of my favorite quotes. One of them comes at the part of the book where Marley's ghost is visiting Scrooge. Marley is truly a troubled spirit and is mourning over his wasted life. Scrooge tries to comfort Marley and himself by telling him he was always "a good man of business". Marley replies:

"Business! Mankind was my business! The common wealfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business". He laments and shakes his chains and says, "At this time of the rolling year I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?"

Then the story moves on and before Marley leaves he asks Scrooge to join him at the window. Scrooge looks out and sees countless spirits chained as Marley is flying through the night sky reaching out to those around them. And Dickens states:

"The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power forever."

I just love this whole scene because it's not only a warning for Scrooge but for us all. This life is the time for men to perform their labors---for us to serve one another and in so doing give service to God. To love each other--and to put that errand first in our daily lives. I pray that I can rededicate myself to this First Commandment and let the useless and unimportant fall more by the wayside. (And yep that probably means a little less blogging!!)

And one last quote because I love it:

"It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself."

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Gratitude

With the coming and going of Thanksgiving and the Spirit of the season my thoughts have been drawn to the subject of gratitude. And I've been pondering three of my favorite thoughts and wanted to share them. The first is a poem by Riley. It speaks of envy but I've always applied it to the subject of gratitude. How often am I envious of someone's possessions or talents I don't have instead of seeing the bounteous feast of blessings the Lord has placed before me. Far too often I must admit.

"I saw a man and envied him beside--because of this world's goods he had great store;
but even as I envied him he died, and left me envious no more.
I saw another man and envied still--because he was content with frugal lot;
but as I envied him the rich man's will bequeathed him all and envy I forgot.
Yet still another man I saw, and he I envied for a calm and tranquil mind
that nothing fretted in the least degree--until alas! I found that he was blind.
What vanity is envy! For I found that I have been rich in dross of thought, and poor
in that I was a fool, and lastly blind--for never having seen myself before."
James Whitcomb Riley

My next 2 thoughts have always just been my favorites. Probably because they relay a message I need to hear---over and over again!

"Think to thank. In these 3 words are the finest capsule course for a happy marriage, a formula for enduring friendship, and a pattern for personal happiness."
Thomas S Monson

"When you finally develop a little gratitude in your heart, make up your mind to express it. 'Appreciation unexpressed is not appreciation'. If you can't find someone to say thank you to for something, just take a look at your toothbrush and say, 'Thank you for being. You are a wonderful little gadget!'

'Thank you' is a wonderful phrase. Use it. It will add stature to your soul. Never let a day go by without saying thank you to someone for something--and especially to your Heavenly Father." Marjorie Pay Hinckley

(the last quote is from the book "Glimpses into the life and heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley". I love this book---READ IT!