Ceyda's baptism.

About a month ago I received a text from one of my very best friends telling me of her baptism date, & I was so excited for her!! Unfortunately I missed it. I had just seen her a couple of months earlier and because her baptism was during the holidays I couldn't go out west to witness her special day. 

Last week she texted me a photo of her baptism day and...oh my gosh! Just look at her. If you knew this girl eight years ago and saw all the changes, along with the triumphs & trials she had to learn & overcome in order to get to where she's at you would think "wow...she's really come a along way!" 

And she has. 

Ceyda is one of my dear friends whom I've  known for eight years now and I'm just so happy that she made this decision in her life.

Sharing my beliefs to her eight years ago without having a clue as to how to share it was awesome. For those of us who've never served a mission, attended seminary or grew up in the lds church we tend to shy away when it comes to talking about religion & Christ. I have then since realized that it's not hard to share the gospel, or be a friend. I learned to be a friend first & to let them know that my first priority in this life is 'to love'. To share the love that I have for God & them. To share with them that life is good & that there is a purpose in this life for all of us. 

I will always remember the first time I met Ceyda & how sweet & shy she was. Having her visit us for eight days last September was so much fun. Her example and personality was filled with confidence, and it was amazing. She wasn't this shy girl anymore. Her face glowed with a happiness that seemed all too familiar to me. She reminded me of how I was 21 years ago after I joined the church. Her behavior tells me that she has found the true meaning of happiness within her life. It's humbling to know that my example had a lot to do with her conversion & that is really touching. I am also thankful for those missionaries who taught her & never gave up on her. 

I am thankful that I never gave up on her. 

Heavenly fathers plan is unique & while we are living our mortal lives in a world that is so corrupt with negativity it's good to know that as long as we trust & believe in His plan of eternal life that we can be happy. That if we do what is right we can be able to handle that negativity with strength, and the Lord will be by our side for assistance.

Life will never be perfected, but having the love of Heavenly Father permeating throughout our entire being will help us to want to be better every day.

Patience, love & yearning for change will help us get to where we need to be in this life. 

Hearing that Ceyda was going to be baptized was full circle for me knowing that the missionary work that I strive to do as a member of the church was accomplished. Again...I'm so glad I never gave up on her. 

And I'll tell you something else. It is a tearful & wonderful moment knowing that you are going to be with one of your best friends for eternity. 

All we have to do is to continue to live our life that is pleasing to the man above.

Remember Who You Are

Some people on life's journey forget who they really are, and what is really important. Without finding your identity and priority, blessings that matter most are at the mercy of things that matter.

~Elder Russell M. Nelson

A couple of months ago I sat in on a lesson in Relief Society at church and our Relief Society president gave a talk about finding our identity through Christ. I logged onto lds.org and remembered the talk in which she discussed. It was a talk given by Russell M. Nelson titled Identity, Priority, Blessings. This talk really helped me realized in choosing the things which are deemed important in this life. Sometimes we need reminders to remember who we are, why we are here, and what the purpose is in our life while living here on earth.

Yesterday, we had a leadership meeting in Broomall, PA in which Sister Julie B. Beck spoke. She is such a wonderful teacher and truly inspired me as she shared a little bit about herself as well as her spiritual experiences when it came to visiting teaching. I know that everything she taught us in how to become better visiting teachers and members of the Lord's church really strengthened me. She reminded that every one of us are sisters and children of God. I pray that all who attended the fireside on Friday and the leadership meeting on Saturday felt edified and strengthened as well.

Today was our stake conference for those of us who live on the Northeastern seaboard. My family and I were in attendance and heard talks given by Russell M. Nelson & President Henry B. Eyring. I loved both of their talks. Elder Nelson spoke on how important it is to teach our children true principles at a young age. Principles such as paying tithing, and for the youth to attend the temple to do baptisms for the dead. He encouraged us to have pictures of Christ and the temple in our home. One thing I LOVE doing is reading to my children, and mentioned to teach the scriptures to our children; and to always kneel in prayer. He mentioned that we should strive to carry a current temple recommend, and to attend the temple as often as we can. There is so much work to be done for our kindred dead in the temple.

All of these things are important in my life. I LOVE The Book of Mormon, the Holy Bible and other good books. I have to admit that there are days when I wake up and I don't do it. Especially on the days that are hectic. There are days when I am too tired to read because my husband came home late from work and talked with me until midnight. Or too tired to read because I stayed up half the night with a sick kid comforting them, and then slept in until eight a.m. (that's sleeping in for me!) Or too tired to read because I myself am not feeling well and hope that by skipping a day, I'll feel better and hope that I can find the energy to read in the evening. Sometimes that's not the case. I really want to be consistent in reading my scriptures. Everything else seems like a piece of cake.

I started a blog back in January, and I have been pretty good in keeping it up to date. I also keep a handwritten journal and I am diligent in writing in it almost every other day. It all depends on the subject or what transpires at that given moment. I LOVE serving and helping those who are in need. It doesn't matter whether or not you attend my church. I LOVE attending all my meetings at church and feeling renewed after leaving the chapel.  I appreciate the time it takes for each sister in preparing her lessons so that I can leave feeling spiritually fed. I LOVE doing my visiting teaching and trying to help sisters get strong again with the Lord. Some of these things I am strong in might be someone else's weakness.

In the Relief Society lesson, there were things mentioned that were not important and things to do that are important. One of the things mentioned on the "not to do list" was blogging, going to the movies, having lunch with a friend, and reading books. You can imagine the look on my face when she mentioned blogging! The "to do list" was of course reading your scriptures, serving others, praying daily, attending the temple, and doing visiting teaching. There is so much more that can be added to both these lists and I have to say I am guilty of doing things on both of the lists.

I love to write.
 Since I started my blog, I don't feel guilty, and I don't allow it to take over my life. I don't google everything and I certainly don't have many blogs I follow. I know there are those who spend countless hours on the web searching for the latest fashion, stores, etc. That is worldly to me, and I don't really spend too much time on that. There are pros and cons to the web, and I am careful and have control in using it.

I started a blog to connect with friends, and for my family to keep in touch so they can see what is happening in our daily life. I feel that if I am "doing" and making the time for everything on the "to do list" that it's okay to take time to do the things on the "not to do list." There are times when I have had lunch with a friend, and at the end of the lunch date, our friendship is stronger and somewhere along the way we both needed each other's company. I don't watch too many movies and I love to read. I will TRY to get my scripture study in before I begin to open a "worldly" book and start to read. There are a lot of good books out there that are uplifting, but I know that I need to prioritize my daily scripture study before reading another book, blogging and watching a DVD.

I'm older, wiser, but I'm still learning.  I feel that I have found a balance in my life in being a wife, a mother to four children, and to be able to handle the things of the world while at the same time focusing on the things that are important. I am thankful for the membership in the church I attend and for leaders in our church such as Sister Beck, President Eyring, and Elder Nelson who help me to recognize my priorities. Believe me when I say this...when you have four kids and they are all five years apart heading in different directions, I have had to learn to balance my life. It's not easy, but I know that in the end...it'll be worth it.

 Each day they grow older. Each day they learn something new. Each day I find myself as a mother feeling needed and more loved by them. I am teaching them by example and want them to know their identity and to do the things that are important. We are all children of God and that is something that I want our family to remember for the rest of our life; and to know that we can kneel down in prayer and pray to Him...especially in times of stress and trials.