Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Pure Joy!!

My kids hadn't played on a slip-and-slide for about 4-5 years!  Tyson and Jordan had bought one for the little children for Christmas.  Today was the day to try it out!  I sat on the edge of the patio to watch them play while I read my scriptures.  I opened my Bible with a prayer in my heart.  I had asked God to help me feel better about some negativity that I had experienced.  As laughter and pure joy erupted from my children,  guess what verse I "happened" to read?

Acts 2: 28 "Thou has made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."

Oh what a beautiful verse!  I reread that verse about five times!  As I watched their joyful faces, I realized that the Lord's countenance was upon them.  They haven't yet allowed the negative forces and criticisms of the world to overpower their thinking.  They haven't yet decided to stop believing in the goodness of the ways of life.  Rather, they are living in the joy of Christ.  Therefore, their hearts are ready to be filled by HIM.

I sat and watched and felt inspired to do the same.  People's negativity sometimes makes me feel sad inside.  I decided in that moment to cast those thoughts away and simply fill my soul with joy.  It takes practice and hard work to continually push away the negativity of the world…but the joy is oh so worth it!!

I think it's pretty special that God wanted to remind me that I can smile away and laugh away the negative influences that come my way!!  What a WONDERFUL message!!

I 'm grateful for my little faces full of PURE JOY...



Jayden didn't want to stop taking his turns, so he just lay there and soaked in the joy of the moment!


Juliana and Mariah loved doing army-crawls through the water.



Jordan was all about style!  He even did front hand-springs into the water!!


Tyson knew the correct technique to get the most speed.


Jackson had the CRAZY slides!  We always got a good laugh from him. :-)



I included this picture from Tyson's surfing success yesterday.  He's on the surfboard from Hank from the story I wrote last week- not bad for his 2nd day on the water!  Tyson had no training from anybody.  He just believed he could do it, so he tried… and tried… and tried… until he found success.

BEAUTIFUL!!



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4 comments:

  1. Becky June 6, 2014 at 6:40 PM

    Thanks for the wonderful reminder that we do not need to let others negativity bring us down. Today I was grumpy because of something someone did. I had no one to share my grumpiness with so I went to text my husband while on my break. I had everything written out and was about to send it when at the last second I erased the text and sent him a "I'm thinking of you" message. That text lifted my spirits more than the original text would of where I was trying to find someone to commiserate with.

    I've missed reading your posts. I got a full time job and am trying to adjust to not having so much free time. I've missed your daily inspirations. I can't wait to "catch" up on the goings on in your life. In a couple of weeks I will be taking my daughter up to BYU - Provo for their summer session. After I leave her, I plan on just relaxing for 24 hours before I get back to work. Hopefully then I'll be able to read some more of your blog, until then I'll let this sweet message inspire me.

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    1. UnknownJune 12, 2014 at 12:25 AM

      What a beautiful example you are! That is hard to do… to eliminate an opportunity to vent. I will try to not weigh my husband down with the negative happenings in my day, and we'll both be uplifted. :-)

      What year is your daughter in at BYU? Will she return before the fall semester starts?

      Wow! A full-time job! I hope you're enjoying it. What are you doing? (Sorry about all these questions. :-) I don't want to take up too much of your VERY limited time. :-))

      Thank you so much for your comment. It's always wonderful to hear from you. Safe travels!!! :-)

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  2. Becky June 20, 2014 at 10:36 PM

    Hi Rachel, I'm so excited to catch up on your blog. I can't wait to hear about your heroes.

    I'm in Utah to drop my daughter off at school, I helped her set up her dorm room, met her roommate, who is such a sweet girl, and now I'm alone in my room missing her like crazy (and missing my husband and boys). My Husband and son have been at high adventure camp this week so I drove my daughter to Provo with my non-member parents. They've visited Provo a couple of times when they came to visit my oldest while he attend BYU. My daughter graduated from HS on June 12th. Just barely a week ago. She wanted to go to BYU but did not get in. She was accepted to BYUi and has the Winter/Fall session. She decided that instead of staying home for 6 months that she would go to summer session of BYU. She was thrilled to be accepted for this session. They grow up WAY too fast.

    I never went to college so when I started looking for a new job (I worked parent time at what I call my mom job in the AR dept of a fundraising company) my choices were slim. Especially since I had a couple of requirements that needed to be met. I needed to work not more than 15 minutes away from home, I couldn't work on weekends or evenings, I couldn't go in before before 8:30 on Mondays and needed to be off of work by 5:00. (my son plays sports and he's done at 5:00 with practice). For someone who has no college experience I sure was asking a lot. Anyway, I applied to a Craigslist ad not even knowing the company that I was applying too just that it was a file clerk position at a law firm. I got the job after 4 interviews, and the CRAZY part is that the owner of the company is a member AND was my daughters seminary teacher (he never did the interviewing and I had only met him one time at parent morning at seminary). The owners daughter is in our ward and the CFO is in another ward in my stake. I love telling that story because it taught me that you always need to be careful how you treat people because you never know who knows you. The owners daughters husband works at the company too and he was asked what type of person I was once they found out I was in his ward. Anyway after two months of working there, I'm now the concierge for the company. Which I'm really excited about. I see God's hand in all of this because I made a new years resolution to improve our families financial situation. Even with a cut in pay I was working more hours that allowed me to make more money than I did at my other company, plus it was a more stable work environment. And now with the new position, in 6 months as long as everything goes well I will be making exactly the same amount as I did at my last job. Oh and it's five minutes away from my home.

    Anyway that was a LONG answer to your question. Sorry.

    I'm going to start reading now. Thank you for sharing this beautiful blog with me and the world.

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    1. UnknownJune 23, 2014 at 11:08 AM

      I LOVED your long answer!! The details were GREAT!! I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I was gone most of last week, and I don't have a laptop to type… some day I will! I pictured you in your hotel room feeling a bit empty-handed. It's going to be a sad day when I start sending my children off to college and on missions. It's even hard for me to send them off to scout camp!! I pray I will feel peace that I have done all I could to prepare them for the world. I love it that your daughter wanted to get going with her life and her education that she would choose to leave so soon after graduation. She must be highly motivated!!

      What amazing news about your job!! I loved reading about the details that came together to give you an opportunity to fulfill your New Year's Resolution. It's always awesome and encouraging to see how God is working in all of our lives in such an individual way.

      You are a BEAUTIFUL person!!

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