The date was May 18, 1971; a day to live on in our memories. I realize many of you were not even born at that time. But surely, you must have looked down from heaven with excitement and angelic shouts! This was the day that the Utah Stars won the ABA Championship title. I knew...that you knew...this historic date! I have it written down in my Happiness Calendar.
I got the idea of a Happiness Calendar years and years ago from an article in the Readers Digest. You construct a twelve month calendar containing blank squares. In each square you note a few keywords and the year to remind you of a happy event. By the end of your life, you have hundreds and hundreds of wonderful memories.
Since I am doing the writing here, let me share some of my squares with you. February 1, 1985 was the Dale Murphy fireside at Weber State and February 18, 1996 was the Steve Young fireside. February 27, 1974 I received my patriarchal blessing from Grandpa Bennett. March 15, 1979 I attended the rededication of the Logan Temple, even with the cast on my broken leg and crutches. March 30, 1984 was my first date with Jim Robinson (the love of my life...at that time). April 4, 1975 found me in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, just a few feet away from Pres. Kimball as the USU Institute Chorale sang in a session of General Conference. On May 30, 1991 Mom, Dad and I ventured out on our vacation to the church sites around Nauvoo. June 11, 1994 was the Michael Bolton concert. July 16, 1989 I was set apart as a German extraction worker in our stake.
I still remember, like it was yesterday, July 25, 1970 when my sisters took me and a friend to a Bobby Sherman concert. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Probably the happiest day of my life came on August 2, 1982 when I received notice that I had passed the CPA exam, FINALLY! September 10, 1982 was the day Pres. Reagan came to Hooper and I along with thousands of others crowded the Weber County streets...for what? November 18, 1975 was a royal day. I was crowned Miss Rich Hall. I still have the diamond tiara I wore...worth all of $4.57. And finally the girls' team from Clearfield High beat the boys' team on the Inquiring Editor television program on December 8, 1973.
There were other dates to note, but I realized the "home movie" syndrome might be setting in and you are bored with my slide show. But let me add just one more. July 17, 2010. As of this moment, it is 6:58 a.m. and already I have a happy moment. I was out walking this morning. The blanket of clouds must have been an electric blanket with the temperature turned up to eighty. It was hot. Most of the sky was overcast, but towards the mountains, the clouds were wispy. The sun was attempting to shine through and managed a pink glow around those yellow clouds. It was a beautiful sight. And I realized I have another day on this earth to enjoy. Because...
Yesterday I had a three month checkup. The lab work did not include the tumor marker test, but all other procedures indicated good health. It was an "attitude of gratitude" kind of day. It probably won't be entered on my happiness calendar; nor will this morning's walk. But they were good moments, nonetheless.
And I've had my share of not-so-good days. It is in those times I try to remember Pres. Packer's counsel: "Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once in awhile, or several in a row, to stand steady and face them. Things will straighten out." I wonder if maintaining an Unhappiness Calendar would help me see how silly some of my bad days were, and that things really did straighten out just like Pres. Packer said? (By the way, I have one, only one, entry in January! Watch out for that month!)
So may I challenge you to start your own happiness calendar. You can go back and fill in the spaces from your journals or personal history. Or you can go forward from today. If you don't have access to an exact date, print off a few months with miscellaneous squares. Just write in the memory. Start a calendar and maintain it for Family Home Evening each week. Strolls down memory lane can be so wonderful. "Recall it as often as you wish, a happy memory never wears out."
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Our Relay Team
I'm not having much luck with the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life events. Last year, I didn't have the physical stamina to put together a team. This year I was prepared to participate with the Cancer Busters, a team comprised of members of my Stake. But the event got rained out. Perhaps next year. Regardless, I would like to borrow the catch phrase Relay For Life for this week's Grace Note. Today's editorial may sound familiar to some of you because it is similar to one I wrote over a year ago...one that didn't get widely circulated.
The previous Grace Note was entitled The Sign Up Sheet. After sitting in 1,680 Relief Society meetings (48 meetings annually for 35 years), I can now say I understand why we're here on earth. It all has to do with sign up sheets. Relief Societies are notorious for wanting your signature. We put our names to lists for cannery assignments, casseroles to the sick and the afflicted, window washing at the church building, ward socials and gatherings, feeding the missionaries, substitute teaching in Primary or performing in the ward karaoke night. Week after week we sign up for an assignment here or an activity there and often we feel guilty if we pass the obligatory clipboard on to our neighbor without our "Ann Singleton" attached.
Consider this statement from Pres. Henry B. Eyring. "Not everyone shouted for joy [in the premortal councils]. One third of the children of Heavenly Father saw danger in the plan He offered us. The risks seemed too great. It would be too hard, it seemed to them, to keep God's commandments perfectly with all the weaknesses of a mortal body." (Henry B. Eyring, Church News, April 18, 2009). Knowing how I shy away from hard things, I can't image that I had courage to "sign up" for the mortal experience activity. But apparently, I did. So did you. Our ancestors before us and our descendants belows us did. Therefore, this chain of spiritual brothers and sisters agreeing to take the risk of agency is a type of Relay For Life...each team member taking their respective turn and running the race of mortal life.
Someone has to begin the race when the official gun is sounded. If we had enough lines and spaces, and of course the written records, we could trace our ancestral roots back to Grandpa Adam and Grandma Eve. They volunteered for the first leg of the relay. After nine hundred or so laps, Grandpa Noah and Grandma Mrs. Noah picked up the relay. What I wouldn't give to be able to trace our genealogy from there, down through 3018 BC, to 1657 BC, to 398 AD? Who were those people? Where did they live? Were they good, honest people, or "dirty, rotten, scoundrels"? It isn't until the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries that names emerge to give identity to our specific team. Such relayers as James Bennett, Nelson Arave, Sarah Singleton, Phoebe Webster, Enoch King, Nancy Melvina Taylor, Nancy Ann Shaffer and thousands of others consented to run their own leg, often during some very difficult and challenging times.
We are now in the final stages of the relay. The baton has been passed to our generation and the few generations yet to come. I find it fascinating that Kathleen and Alan are at this very moment walking the footsteps of our ancestors in England. And at the same time, we are anticipating three new recruits to our team in the coming months. Do you think Daxson's little sister is chatting with great-great-grandma Susan Arrenia Perry right now and getting the lowdown on this Singleton bunch? Is Jessie being instructed by great-great-grandpa William Andrews on what is expected of her? Is Sam's sibling being coached on how to run the race by another Samuel, even Samuel Thurgood? I've got just enough hope to say "why not"?
Amy and Shannon can testify there is no such thing as a one-person relay. That would be called a marathon. A relay takes a team effort. No wonder we spend precious time in the temple and sing "...families can be together forever..." July is wonderful month to focus on our relay for life. We honor our pioneer and unknown ancient ancestors with gratitude and with an anxiousness to meet and greet them. We appreciate their legacy and good names. We endeavor to leave the world a better place when our lap is completed for those who will finish the race for us...the great-great grandchildren to come. I'm so glad you all grabbed the clipboard in the premortal councils and signed up for this assignment, as hard as some of our trials may be. We knew it would be hard, but we also knew it would be worth the effort to stay on "track"...in this our Relay For Life.
The previous Grace Note was entitled The Sign Up Sheet. After sitting in 1,680 Relief Society meetings (48 meetings annually for 35 years), I can now say I understand why we're here on earth. It all has to do with sign up sheets. Relief Societies are notorious for wanting your signature. We put our names to lists for cannery assignments, casseroles to the sick and the afflicted, window washing at the church building, ward socials and gatherings, feeding the missionaries, substitute teaching in Primary or performing in the ward karaoke night. Week after week we sign up for an assignment here or an activity there and often we feel guilty if we pass the obligatory clipboard on to our neighbor without our "Ann Singleton" attached.
Consider this statement from Pres. Henry B. Eyring. "Not everyone shouted for joy [in the premortal councils]. One third of the children of Heavenly Father saw danger in the plan He offered us. The risks seemed too great. It would be too hard, it seemed to them, to keep God's commandments perfectly with all the weaknesses of a mortal body." (Henry B. Eyring, Church News, April 18, 2009). Knowing how I shy away from hard things, I can't image that I had courage to "sign up" for the mortal experience activity. But apparently, I did. So did you. Our ancestors before us and our descendants belows us did. Therefore, this chain of spiritual brothers and sisters agreeing to take the risk of agency is a type of Relay For Life...each team member taking their respective turn and running the race of mortal life.
Someone has to begin the race when the official gun is sounded. If we had enough lines and spaces, and of course the written records, we could trace our ancestral roots back to Grandpa Adam and Grandma Eve. They volunteered for the first leg of the relay. After nine hundred or so laps, Grandpa Noah and Grandma Mrs. Noah picked up the relay. What I wouldn't give to be able to trace our genealogy from there, down through 3018 BC, to 1657 BC, to 398 AD? Who were those people? Where did they live? Were they good, honest people, or "dirty, rotten, scoundrels"? It isn't until the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries that names emerge to give identity to our specific team. Such relayers as James Bennett, Nelson Arave, Sarah Singleton, Phoebe Webster, Enoch King, Nancy Melvina Taylor, Nancy Ann Shaffer and thousands of others consented to run their own leg, often during some very difficult and challenging times.
We are now in the final stages of the relay. The baton has been passed to our generation and the few generations yet to come. I find it fascinating that Kathleen and Alan are at this very moment walking the footsteps of our ancestors in England. And at the same time, we are anticipating three new recruits to our team in the coming months. Do you think Daxson's little sister is chatting with great-great-grandma Susan Arrenia Perry right now and getting the lowdown on this Singleton bunch? Is Jessie being instructed by great-great-grandpa William Andrews on what is expected of her? Is Sam's sibling being coached on how to run the race by another Samuel, even Samuel Thurgood? I've got just enough hope to say "why not"?
Amy and Shannon can testify there is no such thing as a one-person relay. That would be called a marathon. A relay takes a team effort. No wonder we spend precious time in the temple and sing "...families can be together forever..." July is wonderful month to focus on our relay for life. We honor our pioneer and unknown ancient ancestors with gratitude and with an anxiousness to meet and greet them. We appreciate their legacy and good names. We endeavor to leave the world a better place when our lap is completed for those who will finish the race for us...the great-great grandchildren to come. I'm so glad you all grabbed the clipboard in the premortal councils and signed up for this assignment, as hard as some of our trials may be. We knew it would be hard, but we also knew it would be worth the effort to stay on "track"...in this our Relay For Life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)