Friday, February 4, 2022

You Are Loved With A Perfect Love!



Today

 

https://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/2022/02/

Looking Out My Window

I woke up to a winter wonderland. There were two inches of beautiful snow, and we needed the water desperately. There hasn't been a lot of snow this winter, so I am grateful for the moisture.

                                                             I am thinking

I missed the month of January completely. My blogging has been very random. Part of it is that I am tired; it's been a rough 3 months of this sad moment and other activities. On January 29th, three months since our much-loved Grandson, Austin, was killed in a tragic Truck and Semi Accident. Our family is grieving over his loss. Austin was 22 years old and left his sweet wife, Shamra, 14 months. Austin is the second child of eight. It has left a hole in our hearts and family. 

During this time, we had many tender moments and miracles. Our family has great faith in our Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation. We know that Austin is busy doing work in the Spirit world and near us when needed. 

Our treasured Grandson, Austin, and his dearest wife, Shamra -  a few photos of the funeral
Photos at his graveside and the luncheon afterward - 
 Upper left, Austin's siblings - Upper right, Austin's family - Middle left, Austin's Missionary companions - Middle right, our grandchildren - Bottom left, luncheon photo - Bottom right, Our family that came, and our daughter-in-law, Amanda's parents.
 
 I am thankful

I have a heart full of gratitude for many blessings. Our family has been blessed in countless ways. We live in difficult times and the best of times in many ways. I'm grateful to live on this earth at this time.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior. I know they love me and all of you. We are brothers and sisters of Heavenly Parents. They love us all, with perfect love. 

I have had countless moments when I have known that my Savior was near to lift, bless, comfort, and heal me of various afflictions. I could write a book of miracles that have happened in our family. Our Heavenly Father and our elder brother, Jesus Christ's greatest desire is to bring us safely home to them. We are here to gain a body, experience earth life, and learn to be like Them. Their plan is perfect and the only way to true happiness. I am grateful for the knowledge that this is true. Part of this Plan is the promise that everyone who has ever lived on this earth will have the opportunity to hear and understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ, either here or in the Spirit World. We have the agency to choose, and it is a gift from God.  

One of my favorite things

Wow, I have many favorite things I like to do. I love to play the piano, read novels, and I love spending time with my husband. We have recently been having a morning devotional. We like to listen to audiobooks. We have been learning a lot about temples, the ancient temples, the religious practices, and the purpose of temples today in our faith. That being said, I would say my favorite thing to do is attend the temple to do proxy work and work as an Ordinance Worker. Next to that, I am dabbling more into Family History. I love finding stories of my ancestors. Their stories are inspiring. They worked hard to forge through the wilderness under challenging circumstances to create homes and cities. They didn't have modern conveniences, good medical care, and the many blessings today.

I am creating

Right now, I am creating a mess as I work on going through years of files, pictures, etc. My plan is to get organized so I can delve into family history. I want to make my husband and my own history. I have my own journal of 45 years to go through and edit. 

                                                               I am wearing

I am wearing dark blue Levi's, a blue and white shirt, and a blue sweater. I just found out it is wearing red day; I missed out on that one. 

I am reading (read) /watching (watched) / listening to

I am spending time reading the Bible and the Book of Moses and studying the "Come Follow Me" lessons in our Sunday School. I am always reading the treasured; "Book of Mormon daily. I am reading, The Temple - Gaining Knowledge and Power In the House of the Lord by Ed J. Pinegar. 

I am hoping

To become better organized. I find I randomly live my life. Every day, I have a plan, which gets messed up by various life situations. Sometimes, it is the blessing of a call from a child, texting with grandchildren, phone calls from friends, a spontaneous visit to someone, and countless other little moments. I have decided that I need to go back to a planner. When raising my children, I used a planner, and it had everything down that I was to do for the day, and I managed to get through most of the list. I don't have a plan; therefore, I live in Chaos. I bought one yesterday. I need the self-discipline to put down what I want to accomplish for the day and then do it. 

I am learning

During this seige of Covid, I have learned many lessons. First, I have more patience with others. I try to listen to their concerns and the different thinking on Covid, Politics, etc. Second, I am learning to agree to disagree and not conflict over masks and vaccines. It's has been hard on everyone. I pray it will end soon. I hope we have learned the lessons of loving and caring for our neighbors and one another. I have also learned more about my feelings of loss and grieving. It's hard, but I know we will all find peace when these times happen. Knowing we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father has helped, and Austin and us all are his children, and He wants our happiness. 

In my kitchen

Gosh, I will need to ask my husband what we are having for dinner tonight. He is very creative when it comes to cooking. We do share this responsibility. Tonight, it will be his. 

                                                             Shared Quote

  A moment from my day

I can't take a photo of this day. Most of the day has been spent on the telephone. I found out last night that my dearest cousin, Kate is in an assisted living place with her husband. They are both on Hospice. I want to visit her. I didn't have the address and needed to contact her daughter. I found Kate's daughter, Jennifer, on Facebook. Our niece and nephew were her friends. I obtained my niece's number from my Sister-in-law, Gloria, and left a message. My daughter had our nephew's number. He gave me Jennifer's number, and I connected with her; we had a delightful conversation. I have the address for my cousin and details on her condition. Thus, I can visit; I am excited to see her. She doesn't have long to live. I feel grateful today for social media and the ability to find people through it. 

Closing Notes

I started writing blog posts about The Plan of Happiness a while back. First, I covered our Pre-mortal life earth life, and then I planned to write about the spirit world. I have a strong testimony of the spirit world. I don't have any family left here on earth. My parents and two brothers have passed away, and countless family has passed. Since Austin's passing, I have relied on my testimony of life after death. I feel the spirit world is near; I know they are busy with tasks, and I know they are close to us. I have personally felt my parents near. 
As a hospice nurse, I was with many patients at the end stage of life. I witnessed as they talked with spirits from the other side. I knew they were helping them cross over. These were sad but beautiful experiences that helped my testimony grow. This has helped me as I have faced the passing of my family members. I know beyond doubt I will see them again. 
Here are some articles on the plan: 

Fun Moments in the last three months -
Celebrating my Birthday with my beloved Husband, Roger; a delightful day!
A visit from my daughter Tiffani, Dave, and their children -
 Tiffani, Katelyn, Josh, Sarah, Michal, William, and Dave.
A Family reunion for my husband's siblings - 
Photo of all the Sister In Laws - Kaylene, Anita, Mary Kay, LeAnn, Tammy, and Lana

Baptism of our youngest Granddaughter, Haven, and Priesthood Ordination of our Youngest Grandson. Layton - Upper Left Photo, our son Travis, Amanda, and their children. Upper Middle, Layton, and Haven. Nest two photos of us with the children. Grandpa with Granddaughter, Justice, Abbey, and Haven. Grandma with Ryley and Kason.

Moments with our son, James, Amber, Averi, and Taylor Jo -  Next, a trip to downtown Salt Lake and a photo of the reconstruction of the Salt Lake Temple. Celebrating our Granddaughter Emma's Birthday was a delight. 
Baby Blessing of my Nephew Gus's new Grandbaby - 
Christmas Time - A favorite gift given by our son Travis, Amanda, and family - A picture of the Savior with my precious Grandson, Austin -  An adorable photo of our fur baby, Sammy, on Christmas Morning.  

Treasured photos of my daughter Christina, Brandon, and their family sent from Minnesota.
A Christmas storm - Upper photo, Levi, Faith, Christina, Brandon, Abbey, Sariah, Alex, & April
Happy 76th Birthday to my dearest husband, Roger, on January 29th - We had a fun celebration. Our kids came for a while the next day, and he received lots of phone calls from the rest. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all! 
May you all feel loved by family, friends, loved ones, etc. 
Just remember that our Heavenly Father loves you with perfect love!


3 comments:

Barb said...

Hi LeAnn~

What a beautiful, heartfelt post...I loved it. You may not think you are accomplishing much...just read your post...you are sooooo busy! I need to take a page out of your book and work on family history, I know how important it is, I just need to get busy on it. I of course loved all of the photos, I saw a sunset photo in your photos that was just beautiful! I have enjoyed having Averi here with us, she is a lot of work, but so worth it, such a sweet little soul. I felt bad that I missed coming over when you guys were here, but hopefully next time. You have had such an emotional and hard few months, maybe the next time you are here, we can go out for lunch, I would love to catch up!

Much love to you and Roger, and a happy late birthday to both of you. You are both always in our thoughts and prayers.

Hugs and Love,
Barb

Debbie said...

it was hard to enjoy this after reading of austin passing, i can only imagine the pain in everyones heart!! you need to rest more leann, you give so much but i am sure you are exhausted!!

i am happy that you received some snow, it is so fresh and beautiful, almost like a new beginning.

as a nurse, i too have been with many people when they passed. hospice nursing is so difficult and takes a very special kind of person!! i enjoyed your pictures, getting caught up, it was nice to see your pretty smile!!

Debbie said...

thanks for visiting, i'm so happy you enjoyed my posts!!!!