Friends 'till the end!

Have you ever been blessed to have a true and honest friend? Isn't it nice to know that as we work our way through this thing called life that there are actually people out there who will be by your side through the good and bad, thick and thin, sweet and sorrowful, and clear 'till the end? I have been blessed with so many wonderful people in my life; most of them like sisters to me. And, as this new year has its way of "ringing in," I have felt heavens blessings of dear friends showering upon me and I am so grateful for sweet friends!!!! ( I wish I had a picture of and room for all of them, but here are just a few to get my point across... I think you know what I mean!)

Have you ever had a friend that loves Christmas as much as you do that she would come over to your house at 1:00 in the morning because she knows that you are excitedly putting up the decorations while all of the little ones are fast asleep? And then she still gets up in the wee hours of the morning to go for a run with you just to share more moments of laughter, inspiration, and rejuvenation together?

Have you ever had a friend that you could confide anything in? Someone that loves you both in your sparkles and your sweats? Or have you ever had a friend to go through some of life's bumpiest spots with and still end up squeezing each other tight no matter where the road of life leads?

Have you ever had a friend that would care for your children as if they were her own and do it countless times both simply for the fun of it and with only a moments notice just to get you out of a pickle? Or have you ever had a friend that you could enjoy her smile both at 5:30 am at aerobics class and at 10:00 pm after a presidency meeting?

Or, have you ever had a friend that regardless of whether you are catching up at soccer practice, or being proud together over your second graders "being friendly to everyone" awards at school, you can sit back and laugh together and love each other even if it IS a bad hair day!

Have you ever had a friend that's been there for you literally since the moment you were born? One that has experienced birth and death, love and tears, gut-aching laughter and long distance road trips, the smell of GLADE brand air freshener one too many times, and eating soooo much ice-cream that you felt like you would be sick for the next two days?

Or, have you ever had a group of friends that could pull together just two weeks before an adoption and clean, paint, wallpaper, and decorate for the arrival of your friends long awaited baby girl? And when you are with them, you can live, laugh, love, learn, and blossom into what a beautiful woman really should be?

Have you ever had a friend that just simply "gets you?" One that listens with her heart and understands the demands of life and tries to lighten the load, whether its in the form of laughter, a phone call, or even if it is in the form of a baby shower that you insisted you didn't need - for a sweet baby girl that without it would have been dressed solely in baseball and Lakers attire?

Or, have you ever had a friend that you wanted to be permanently attached too, like Siamese twins or something? Someone whom you love so much that you are literally becoming like them right down to knowing what their next word will be or knowing what 1 item out of the 50 off of the menu will be the one that they are in the mood for that day? Someone who thinks you are beautiful in just a T-shirt and even after it has baby throw up on it?

There is something wonderful about friendships and relationships that help us make it through this life. We need each other and we need to love each other. What a blessing it is to have a true friend to share all of life's experiences with. All in the past month or so, I have had friends to celebrate with, to struggle with, to comfort in times of loss, and to rejoice in the news of gladness. Friends have visited, made a phone call, sent a note, offered an invitation, and even extended new hands of friendship - both from close to home, and far away. We have shared trials and triumphs, anticipation and gratitude, and embraced with arms of compassion. To all of you who have been a friend to me... may heavens blessings truly pour out upon you in abundance a feeling of peace and comfort that comes from knowing that you are loved! You are one of those things that keeps on tugging at my Heartstrings!

At the Christmas Concert, there was another gift...

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I wrote about an experience called "a Christmas Concert and a Gift." Well, there were so many neat things that I had experienced that day, that I did not have enough room in that post to write them all down. But, one particular experience keeps coming back to my mind and I feel that I should write it down. It is one of those experiences that I feel was a great lesson that I learned about listening to the spirit and hopefully in writing it down, I might never forget one of those great lessons that Heavenly Father would have me learn.

I can still remember so many of the small details. I was with my friend Susan and we were at the mall enjoying a beautiful Christmas concert together and really enjoying getting a good dose of the "Christmas spirit." As I was taking everything in, I remember looking all around me and seeing so many different people with smiles on their faces and everyone seemed to be genuinely happy. There were friends meeting friends, elderly couples holding onto each other, mothers with strollers, and even a group of handicapped adults. It was amazing the sense of unity that the music in the air was bringing. It was clearly evident that all those who were there had a feeling, even if just for a moment, that this was a wonderful gift at Christmas.

After Paul Cardall's beautiful piano music was over, there was another performer, Nathan Osmond, who bounded onto the stage with all of the energy and excitement of a little kid at Christmas! As I sat and balanced Gavin and Kambriella, their soda and pretzel bites, and listened to the happy sounds that were filling the air, I couldn't help but notice a voice from behind me that was singing along with some of the songs that were being performed. This voice was singing beautifully on key and as I turned to see who it was, I saw that it was a handicapped man standing and smiling with a crowd of others. At this point, the man singing on the stage invited another man from over in the corner to come and join him on the stage. This young man immediately spread more of the "Christmas spirit" with the huge smile that was on his face as he clapped his hands and danced around on the stage. His enthusiasm was contagious! I remember feeling so happy and the huge smile that also showed up on all of our faces. Then, I remember looking around the crowd at all of the people and just observing what was happening. That - was when I noticed him. A young man that looked to be in his 20's or so. He was confined to a wheelchair but had full use of his upper body. He started out on the opposite side of the stage from me, and as I watched him over the next few minutes, he began maneuvering his way in and out of the crowd. He wheeled himself from one aisle to the next trying to find just the right spot to sit and watch the concert, and apparently not wanting to give up until he had found the perfect place. He would work his way up the aisle being sure not to bump into anyone, and then he would work his way back. He then moved over a few rows and would do the same thing - work his way up the aisle and then back again. After following this same pattern every few minutes, he had finally ended up just a few rows over from me, strategically seated between a huge pillar and a garbage can. From where he had finally seated himself, I had the perfect view to witness what I felt was a little piece of heaven. He was literally glowing because he looked so happy. He was smiling and nodding his head to the beat. It was so much fun to see someone get so much satisfaction out of something so simple as music. But that is what music does to me, too. Good music fills my soul with joy and gladness that it usually becomes uncontainable! Well, what happened next was not what I had expected, but as it did, I felt that I was being given another gift from Heavenly Father because He was letting me be a part of all of this. I watched this young man wheel himself back over to the other side of the stage to where they had a table set up for people to buy any of the CD's of the artists who were performing. As I watched this man, the music was still filling the air and I could hardly believe what I was seeing. He proceeded to pull out a large bag and empty its contents out onto the table. From all of the lights reflecting I could easily see that it was a huge pile of coins. Pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters - no bills to be seen, only coins. For a few minutes I watched him sliding the coins from one side of the table to the other, obviously separating them and counting them at the same time. I thought to myself, "He loves this music so much that he must want to buy one of their CD's." But what I saw next made me feel sad. I saw him look at the lady behind the table and shake his head as if to say, "I just don't have enough money." At this point I found myself doing something so spontaneous that I almost didn't have time to think about it. I picked up Kambriella, grabbed my wallet from the diaper bag, and told Susan that I would be right back. I walked as quickly as I could through the crowd and walked behind the stage to where the table was set up only to find that the man in the wheelchair was gone. "Where could he be? He couldn't have gotten that far, could he?" I walked straight up to the lady behind the table and asked her if the man that was in the wheelchair was trying to buy a CD. She said that he was going to, but that he had changed his mind and decided that he didn't want one anymore. I turned around and started walking back through the crowd scanning the group with my eyes for the man in the wheelchair. "He couldn't already be gone," I thought to myself. So my steps quickened. I turned the corner almost back to where Susan and Gavin were seated when I finally saw him headed away from the concert and down the mall. I began running so that I could catch up to him quickly and very soon did. I stopped him and said, "Excuse me sir, I couldn't help but notice how much you were enjoying the concert, and I was too! Wasn't that music beautiful?" He smiled back at me and said, "Oh ya, I just love Nathan's music! My brother and I went to high school with him and he is just amazing!" At that point I said a quick prayer in my mind because I wasn't sure what to say and the last thing I wanted to do was to offend this neat man. I had wondered to myself too how this man may have come to the circumstances that he was in? Was he born with a physical handicap or had he had some terrible accident in his life that had put him in this wheelchair? He seemed to be completely intelligent and mentally able and seemed to be a neat person simply limited in his physical abilities. After my quick thoughts and prayer I said to him, " Were you going to buy one of Nathan's CD's?" He smiled a sort of sheepish half smile as if he were a little embarrassed and said, "Oh ya, I was going to, but I just didn't have quite enough money." Right then and there I knelt down beside him and said, "Could I please buy you that CD that you wanted? It would be my Christmas gift to you and it would mean so much to me. Would that be OK?" He paused and rolled back in his wheelchair and then he popped a wheelie! "Really!? That would be AWESOME!" He replied back to me. "Well which way do you wanna go?" He said pointing behind the stage or around the crowd. "Well, it looks like less traffic if we go behind the stage," I said. And at that point I had to keep up my jog to keep up with him as he popped his wheelies all the way back to the table. If he would have been walking I imagined the hop in his step that was being so easily imitated by his wheelies in his wheelchair. With the music still playing all around us, I had truly captured that spirit of Christmas and it was filling my whole soul. When we got to the table I asked him if he wanted an extra CD for his brother and he said that the one would be just fine. After asking the lady behind the table how much the CD's were, I gave the man in the wheelchair my meager $20 bill and told him he could keep the change. I knelt down beside him one more time and over the noise of the concert told him "Merry Christmas." He responded with a literal twinkle in his eye, "Merry Christmas!"

I went back to my original seat with Gavin and Susan and smiled as we all continued to take in this most tangible Christmas spirit. It was an amazing day from start to finish, and one that I thank Heavenly Father for letting me experience. I don't even think that words can adequately express the feeling that was there, and I think that is why I hesitated in writing it down. But, now I know that there was a great lesson to be learned and by writing it down, it will not only benefit me, but also the lives of those whom I love. Susan even made a comment to me after seeing what had happened that she was grateful that I had been sitting where I was so that I was able to see that man because she hadn't. It taught me many things of course, but most of all, it taught me to be sure that I am always trying to have eyes to see what is going on around me. Life is busy, and so was the mall. But when the spirit directs me in the craziness of life, am I willing to stop what I am doing and help someone around me, even if they aren't tapping me on the shoulder and asking for it specifically? Do I notice the needs of my brothers and sisters and then willingly go and be the Lord's hands? Unfortunately I'm sure that I have missed out on many wonderful opportunities, but after having an experience like this, it makes me want to be ever ready to go and do. I also learned that we need to listen to the spirit carefully and not assume that someone else will go and do the work because the view from someone else's seat, even if it is only one foot away, can be totally different than ours. I will close my thoughts with one of my favorite quotes from President Thomas S. Monson, the same quote that introduces my blog. It says, "As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always." So, as we begin this New Year, let us have Christ's spirit with us every day with grateful hearts, and then lets roll up our sleeves and "go and do!"

Time to Put it All Away...

The spirit of Christmas has definitely found its way into our hearts and home this year, and after another year full of memories and traditions, it is time to put away all of the lights, decorations, and keepsakes of Christmas. But - one thing is for certain as we do so; the true Light of Christ will shine on even brighter as we keep Christ with us in our hearts and home every day. - For it is our Prince of Peace that is truly the Keepsake of all time... may you have a "Peace full" New Year!