Friday, April 24, 2015

Living Joyfully In Big and Small Ways!

What brings happiness and joy into your life?
 I would say that we will each have a variety of small and big things that bring happiness to us. I would note that each of us as individuals will have different ideas on what brings happiness to us.  I also maintain that our attitude towards life can have a huge effect on whether we find happiness or not. 
We will all have moments of despair and discouragement because that is part of our life experiences. In my life I find that with faith in our Heavenly Father I can have an optimistic view of life and I can find that inner peace I desire.
There is a verse about Joy in The Book of Mormon found in 2nd Nephi 2:25; " Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." We are on this earth to experience happiness and Joy. This is part of our Heavenly Father's plan for his children.
So today, I thought I would share with you what brings Happiness and Joy into my life. 
I have often thought that happiness is easily found in our everyday life where joy is more like an exquisite moment in time. 
Here is a short list of what brings me happiness on a daily basis: 
1. A happy husband 2. A clean house  3. A good novel 4. A warm bubble bath 5. A new pair of shoes 6. Sweet moments with my grandchildren. 8. Lunch with a friend 9. My Dog, Sammy 10. A great movie 11. Time outside to enjoy nature and the different seasons 12. Time to work on Family History 13. A piece of Chocolate Everyday 14. Listening to beautiful music 15. Creating blogs and reading posts from my blogging friends 16. Time with the scriptures 17. I love my friends and they bring me great happiness

The following is a list of those moments that bring me great joy. 
1. My husband brings me great joy. He is such a good man and I know and feel how much he loves me and I know he knows how much I love him. Every Saturday morning he leaves earlier for the temple and when I get up to get ready I have been finding a sweet note from him. Sometimes he write these in the form of poetry. I seriously feel like I  am on cloud 9 throughout the day at the temple. I feel so loved by him. 
I will share with you just one of his poems:
"The fairest girl in all the land - 
The sweetest heart, the softest hand.
 Warm to touch and warm to hold.
The first time we met, I was sold.
With a smile of joy that filled your face
 and eyes that sparkled with perfect grace
I knew in a moment what I must do,
From that minute forward - it was only you". 
Travel with care to the temple~
2. My Children, spouses, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren bring into my life great joy. Of course, sometimes I do have despair over my family struggles. However, I would say most of the time they bring me great happiness and  moments of pure joy. 
One of the sweetest moments of joy was the day when the last daughter was married in the Salt Lake Temple. Inside our temple are beautiful sealing rooms and all of my children and their eternal companions were seated around this lovely room that day. The joy at that minute of time was truly overwhelming and I cried silent tears of joy.

3. My testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brings such wondrous feelings of exquisite joy into my life. I know that I have a Heavenly Father and a Savior Jesus Christ that know me by name and love me. I know that my prayers are heard and answered.

 I know that our Church is true. I know that we have a Prophet who lives today and holds the keys of the Priesthood.
 President Thomas S. Monson - Our modern day Prophet for the world~
I know that the church was restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in the 1st Vision in 1820.

  I know that he translated the Book of Mormon from ancient writings found on golden plates. The Book of Mormon is about a group of people who came from Jerusalem around 600 BC where they eventually settled in the America's. This is the story of those people and what happened to them over 100's of years. I know that Christ visited them after his Atonement, Crucifixion and Resurrection. 
One of my favorite stories in The Book of Mormon is when the Savior called the little children to come forth unto Him and he ministered to them and then Angels surrounded them. You can find this beautiful story here.

This book is compelling and I have read it many times and taught lessons from it's pages. 

We as a family have had many experiences with the power of the Priesthood. Blessings have been given for comfort, healing and guidance. I have witnessed many times the fulfillment of those Priesthood blessings.


4. I love the temple. I have enjoyed every moment that I have spent within the walls of the temples where I have served. There is a peace and a beautiful feeling within these sacred buildings. If you ever hear of a open house for one of our temples; take the time to go through one and you will feel what I mean. 
6. I believe in Service and the joy that you can feel when you assist individuals and or families around you who are in need. I love to serve in callings and have felt great joy when given the opportunities to teach and or lead in one of the organizations. I have also been the recipient of true Christ like service from others. 

Many years ago I was a Hospice Home Health Nurse. This job brought a great deal of joy into my life. It was hard in many ways but very satisfying. I loved the individuals that I cared for and their families. I had some very sweet moments at the time of their passing. I have a strong testimony of life after death. Many times I could feel the presence of loved ones who had gone on before and that they were there to help in the transition at the time of death. I felt true joy in knowing that they were leaving their world of pain into the comforting arms of loved ones in the spirit world. 



7. I love the Sabbath Day. It is a joy filled day for me. I look forward to it each week. The best part of the day is the Sacrament meeting where we partake of the sacrament and renew the covenants we have made with our Heavenly Father. This is the time to reflect on all that my Savior has done for me. It is a moment to think about how to overcome struggles or sins in my life and how to be a more dedicated disciple of Christ. 


8. My friends bring me a great deal of joy. I have the blessings of having some awesome friends. I have made friends where ever I have lived. I often go to lunch with friends from High School, College and those in my LDS ward. I have met and had lunch with some of my blogging friends; which I love dearly. I have many that I consider my Forever Friends~

Perhaps you can answer this question; "what things big and small bring you happiness and joy". I would love to hear what makes you happy??

8 comments:

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

Absolutely beautiful post, LeAnn! LOVE that poem from your sweet Husby! What brings me joy? All of the above! Thank you!

Barb said...

Hi LeAnn!

I love you too! What a great post. . . made me cry. . .

Who knew that Roger was a poet, oh, wait a minute, I knew! I remember he wrote some extra words to a song! The poem was beautiful, you are very blessed.

I love all of your, "loves", everyone so sweet and precious. I also love that we share grandchildren, I can't think of anyone I would trust more with them than you, sweet friend!

Hugs and Love,
Barb

Susan Anderson said...

You are a blessed woman! And I love your husband's poem...

=)

Christy Monson said...

Sweet message as always, and as always it is just what I needed to help me enjoy my day. Lots of love

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I love your hubby's poem, very sweet. You are very blessed! I have many things that makes me happy so I won't try to list them all. At the top would be my family's happiness. When they are happy, it makes me happy, too.
Happy Sunday to you!

Marie Rayner said...

You always write such beautiful posts LeAnn. Many of your joys and pleasures are the same as my own. Love you! xoxo

Debbie said...

we all have a choice...i make it everyday when i put my feet on the floor. i always say "today, i will be happier than a seagull with a french fry"!! it works everytime!!!!

love that first image * wink *

Denise said...

lOVE AND BLESSINGS PRECIOUS FRIEND.