“Clearly anyone who thinks Jesus taught no-fault theology didn’t read the fine print in the contract! No, in matters of discipleship the Church is not a fast-food outlet; we can’t always have it ‘our way.’ Some day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ and that salvation can only come His way.”

Jeffrey R. Holland

“Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God’s purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable.”

–Elder Neal A. Maxwell

“We do not obtain our heavenly reward by punching a time clock. What is essential is that our labors in the workplace of the Lord have caused us to become something. For some of us, this requires a longer time than for others. What is important in the end is what we have become by our labors.”

Dallin H. Oaks

“Faith is not a theological platitude. It is a fact of life. Faith can become the very wellspring of purposeful living. There is no more compelling motivation to worthwhile endeavor than the knowledge that we are children of God, the Creator of the universe, our all-wise Heavenly Father! God expects us to do something with our lives, and he will give us help when help is sought.”

~President Gordon B. Hinckley

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Happy Birthday Pam!

“Think of a Wonderful Thought…”

Did you happen to notice?

To the right of this post–way up at the top–there is a box that says “A Million Things To Be Happy About.” That was the place where you could click and read our huge list of things that make us happy. But not just us…you guys as well. We’ve tried very hard to add the happy comments to our list each time someone has left them.

Well, now it’s changed a bit. We have moved the “List” to a tab above. Look up, you’ll see it.” But the best part is that we’ve added your happy thoughts to the scrolling list at the top right side of this page. Look to the right…see it? Each quote will appear for about 8 seconds before randomly displaying another. Oh, I’ve added four or five of my own–if they were particularly brilliant, but for the most part, they are all yours. Don’t worry–only the first names will be posted.

If you’d like to be part of our scrolling happy list–all you have to do is add what makes you happy to this post—now, and any other time we are collecting. We’ll add your thoughts to the display and to the main “List.” Our goal is to inspire others to see the joy and beauty that is there, around them, all the time–if they will just look.

After all…happiness is a choice.

What do you say? Right this minute—what is making you happy?

Please tell us…we’d love to share!

…at this very moment…

1) A sister who brings over Turkey Cupcakes–they look like turkeys, they taste like chocolate–that are so, so cute–I couldn’t let anyone eat them until we got a picture. Plus, I figured if I could distract everyone long enough…I wouldn’t have to share. Heh, heh, heh…

2) A big black cat named Beany, that sleeps at the foot of my bed–the far right side of the foot of my bed so that I can still move my feet if I want to OR scoot my feet under him to keep them extra toasty. Yeah…he’s a good sport.

3) Thanksgiving decorations all over the place. Laurie–the cupcake sister–made the pilgrims for me a billion years ago.

The turkey bailed into my cart at JoAnn’s last year.

4) The piles on my ridiculous desk. So much potential for fun stuff. I can’t wait to sort them out and see what’s in there. I must point out…this s not a mess. I mean it. This is total order in my world.

5) “Thing 1″ and “Thing 2.” The squishyist and most magnamonious babies in the world. It’s quite possible that I made both of those words up. If so…don’t tell me. They are perfect for my needs–thank you.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.”

~Meister Eckhart

~ Veterans Day, which used to be known as Armistice Day is a national holiday that falls on November 11, and is set aside as a day to honor combat veterans who fought and died for their country.”

I’ve never known much about this particular holiday because it doesn’t seem like people pay much attention to it. There are flags on many of the houses and and businesses in town-but since the kids aren’t out of school–even that doesn’t normally get my attention. It’s always just been one of those random holidays that I mixed up with the other ones– Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day.

So after some guilt induced research on the subject I learned that Veteran’s Day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. Ok, fine…well done…the ending of a terrible war. But here’s the part that surprised me.

In 1938, Congress passed a bill that each November 11 “shall be dedicated to the cause of world peace and …hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day.

I love the phrase, ‘dedicated to the cause of world peace.’  So, I looked up World Peace and came up with tons of sources. There were hundreds of  World Peace sites, World Peace photos, and even a World Peace cookie recipe.  I especially enjoyed the  World Peace quotes:

“The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.”

– Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945)

and:

“Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.”

– The XIVth Dalai Lama

But even those great words from good people left me feeling very hushed and small on a loud, angry planet. I want to help–I do. So we recycle, and conserve energy, and carpool, grow a garden, and try to compose, and make hats for struggling babies, and filter our water, and hand make whatever we can…I could go on and on.

But world peace? That’s a big one.

Then I found a few other words that shrunk the world back to a smaller, more manageable size for me. One that helps me feel strong and settled and able to make a difference again. This one:

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

This, we can all do…

…and change the world.

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey…delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

~Gordon B. Hinckley