A Child Is Born....

I love this time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. I have thought about how I have allowed that gift to shape my life in 2010. 

I am so grateful for all that is wrapped up in the gift of the Saviour's birth and how it softens my heart as I allow the feelings it invokes to guide me along the way.

As a parent my thoughts turn to Joseph and Mary, I am touched when I think of Joseph and the strength required of him to protect his family from all who would do them harm. What an amazing example he is of loyalty, wisdom, obedience, and love. I can see the little boy Jesus by his side looking up at him watching his every move, learning from his earthly Father all that would help Him in His life.

Then my thoughts turn to Mary and I can't help but weep a little, each of us who have been touched by the love of a new born can know what it is to feel that protection come over you. I stand in awe of this woman who walked by faith, who walked uprightly before the Lord and raised, with Joseph, the Son of God.

I have reflected this Christmas Season what I can do to show my gratitude for the gift I have received through the Life of the Saviour. I have concluded that the best way I can show my love for Him is by following his example and serving and loving those around me. By standing as a witness of Him and sharing this knowledge and testimony with all who have ears to hear.

My wish for all this Christmas is to feel the the love that was given to us by our Heavenly Father when He sent His son to earth to show us the way back to Him, to enjoy the peace that it brings and to share that with those around us.

Have a very happy Christmas and may the new year bring peace, joy, hope and blessings to your life.....

Emotional Healing

" Somewhere along the line, we assume - erroneously so - that what happens to us causes our happiness or unhappiness. This is not true. It is how we perceive what has happened to us and how we act upon that perception that results in the emotional reaction we feel. We cannot always control what happens to us, but we can most certainly control the way we react to what has happened." Kathleen Rawlings Buntin.
For all those who have wounds to heal and are searching for that peace to come, all I can say is that come it will when we earnestly seek for that healing from the only true source by which it is given. We are healed as we yoke ourselves to the Saviour, by following him and by doing our very best each day. As we do this we find that we are being upheld in the very hollow of his hand when times are too difficult to face alone. We are healed as we draw nearer to him and when our self esteem is based upon what our creator thinks of us then we will not personalize the behaviours of others as our paths cross and their heavy loads press upon us for a time. We will be able to withstand these buffetings and look above the smog and still know that we are good enough. As we develop this divinely given self esteem we will find strenghth enough to be the extension of His arms and lift another's weary head, reassure a troubled heart and love a wounded soul so that they can know to whom they should look for their inspiration, guidance and self esteem. As we walk uprightly and with certainty about our divine identity, we allow others to do the same.
"True joy can be born of painful experience. The atonement of Jesus Christ makes this joy possible."Catherine Christensen.
Thank you to all who have shone so brightly in my life that I now know how and to whom I should look for my source of inspiration, revelation and confidence. Today I am still the same girl I was at that beautiful age of eight in my desire to be good but have learned so much of what is required by way of sacrifice to stay on that path of goodness.

A Pleasure To Meet You

I have been waiting in anticipation for a little while now to finally meet the man that would determine whether we would qualify to register as a home school. The phone call came and the appointment was set, 3.30pm Tuesday 9th November. The reality all of a sudden hit me, I had to show that I would be a great teacher for Jared ! I needed to show a plan for the year, our goals, our curriculum, now I was feeling nervous.
Geoff arrived and within a few minutes I felt a lot more relaxed, he explained that he had been working for NSW education board for 40 years, 20 years of which were spent as a teacher and Principal. This was going to be interesting I thought. Geoff explained how he had learnt so much from the many home school families he had met over the years. That he now could say a few things for sure having observed these families. Firstly that there are many different ways to educate children and that homeschooling was definitely a great way to go. That these students were able to transition into University and deal with all those changes and pressures with great success and that all the stigma attached to home schooled children and how they are not able to deal with social settings etc simply were not true, in fact in his experience he found the complete opposite to be true. Well after that introduction you can imagine that I was now feeling far less overwhelmed. We discussed all my ideas and Geoff gave such a lot of good advice. He chatted with Jared and looked at the school room, and of course loved our little garden with the chickens happily foraging in the grass. He finally declared that he thought that Jared had a wonderful opportunity ahead of him and that all that we had discussed sounded wonderful. That was it ! I couldn't believe it, we were now a registered school, I felt so much happier having met the lovely Geoff. He gave me confidence and with all this new advice I felt that I had a clearer picture of how we were going to start this adventure and where we wanted to go.
Thank you Geoff It was a pleasure to meet you .......

One year older.....

I keep saying it year after year, but time really does seem to go faster! I have just celebrated another birthday and am happy to report I still feel as though I am eight years old except with so much more experience and knowledge but with all the passion and love that I had back then. I loved to hold my friends hands and just spin round in a circle really fast, laughing and looking up at the sun. Rolling down hills, walking to Primary through the park with my mum. I loved the creation then and that feeling of contentment that comes from being out in nature. I still feel that way now, a walk in the sun, looking at beautiful trees, watching animals, I feel so grateful for my life. I feel so grateful for the parents that I have, they have both taught me so much in different ways. I could not have learnt from my mother what I have learnt from my father and I could not have learnt from my Father what I have learnt from my mother, both examples are so important to a child and have been integral to the my own journey as a woman. I know that I have an accounting to make to my Heavenly Father one day regarding my stewardship and how well I managed it. I know I cannot pass onto someone else that responsibility to take care of my family no matter how hard it gets or how exhausted I feel ultimately I will be the one to make that accounting along with my husband who will make his own accounting. We have a family business and no other success will compensate if our family business fails. Our family business is to be an eternal family to make sure that no one gets left behind, no matter what it takes. To have the courage to make choices we know are right even when those around us weigh and measure our choices and declare them foolish or unwise. I would like to quote Julie B.Beck " with personal revelation she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently. The ability to qualify for, receive and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."  Life is so busy and noisy that it can be hard to hear the still small voice that will ever guide us home. All I can say is that I'm slowing down and eliminating as much distraction as possible so that I can feel that guiding influence in my life. I have asked myself often how much of the world I am willing to sacrifice in order to ensure the success of our family business? I find that as each day comes and I have that prayer in my heart, I am willing to sacrifice more and more.....

Here We Go!

I'm so excited to report that Aaron has given his full support to homeschool. So on Sunday we invited Jared to a little meeting where we shared the news that we had decided that he would be home schooled starting from next year. He was very excited and had lots of questions that continued for about 24hrs. I answered the best I could . Yesterday I decided to keep him home from school and have a practice day. I had to de program him because he was so caught up in structure, but he got into the swing of it eventually. We decided to take a trip to the book store, we spent hours looking at all the different books with our hot chocolate. I spent time reading out loud from Paddington Bear, it was a lovely time. We decided to buy some books to start our collection. This is when we came across more de programming that needed to be done. Jared wanted to buy big books with chapters so that he could feel that he was a good reader even though he didn't enjoy it and lost interest within a few pages. I eventually convinced him to trust me. So we chose some Dr.Seuss books. He was not sure that they looked 'intelligent' enough but I purchased them anyway. He started to read them as soon as we got in the car and didn't stop all night, except to come to me now and then to hug me and thank me with a look of pure joy on his face because as he discovered, he was a reader after all! I was so happy for him and a real feeling of peace came into my heart. I'm so excited to be able to support jared in this way and look forward to this adventure together...........

How did I get here!

But ye are commanded in all things to ask God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving.....D&C 46:7

I thought I would share a little about myself and my journey. I was born and raised in England as was my husband,we have five children, two from my first marriage and three with my husband now, my Beau, two of these precious babies did not make it through the pregnancies, this is a hard thing to write as I have only shared the story of the two baby boys that did not make it through the pregnancy with close friends. There is no need for details except to say that I think of them and the short journey we took together. A little piece of my heart goes to all women who have experienced this incredibly difficult trial.

After trying for many years to add to our beautiful family, we have arrived at a place where that is no longer possible. My older children are now young adults and navigating their way through life, they live with us at home but the time I have left with them is slipping through my fingers....

Our youngest son is ten years of age and a delightful little nature boy, he loves all creatures great and small and is the keeper of a growing number of animals!

We are now living in a land down under and have recently become Australian Citizen's. We love our life here and are so grateful that we have been blessed to be able to stay here forever, under the warmth of the sun.

Here is where I will start my blog. I have been praying for a long time to receive direction for my life as a wife, a mother and ultimately a daughter of my Heavenly Father. What am I to do now that my children are growing? I have worked hard, given all to the ones I love, endured illness, basked in the light of personal inspiration and growth and now need to know what next?

I thought I was headed towards a life of studying to become a Bikram Yoga instructor, something I have fallen in love/hate with! Anyone who has taken this kind of yoga class will understand that sentiment towards it. I thought I would finally get my degree in Nutritional Medicine. Then all of a sudden I had some promptings come to me, then a flood of inspiration, before I knew it I was on the path of felling that the right thing for me at this time was to home educate Jared. This was strange as we had picked out his next school which we felt was going to be a great place for Jared, so I was not expecting this. Although I had had these feelings come to me before but had pushed them far away from  my mind. 

I now could not push them away as I had before, they were too strong so I decided to get some courage and faith and just follow them and see where they led me. Where they led me was to a new friend who also home schooled her children. Again I had a good friend already who home schooled and we had had many conversations about that and whether I felt up to the task but had always decided NO! So here I was again full circle with this new friend. She gave me a book to read called Leadership Education and as soon as I opened the first page and started to read I had confirmation that this was what I had been praying for. I had had this experience before with other books I had read. I just knew that this was the plan for me. I was humbled as it would take me in the opposite direction than I was planning, I was grateful because of the peace that washed over me and the reassurance that my journey was known and I was and always have been held in the hollow of my makers hand and that it would all be ok. I was worried to brake the news to my husband as I was pretty sure this was not in his wildest imaginations :) But this book had already changed me, it had softened me, it was leading me to a level of living that i had prayed for, longed for and sought for. 

I shared with my husband my thoughts, I explained how this could bless all our lives including our older children, how I wanted to be a better example myself with a life of learning and I asked that he pray about it, that we together pray about it, he could see the change in me and could not dismiss how deeply this was affecting me. It could potentially change our lives,the lives of our young adults and the life of Jared forever. So he did what any good man would do he shared his concerns in his usual gentle manner, never imposing his will upon me and I listened, he agreed to ponder and pray and I agreed to wait.

I am still waiting for a final answer. Aaron is reading the book right now and I am praying that we can be united on this choice. I will let you know as soon as we get clarity as to the road ahead but for now, I am truly grateful for the principle of personal prayer and revelation. That we can receive direction from a loving Father in Heaven to help us navigate our way back to him, that he knows us by name and has a plan for each of us. Farewell for now ......