Overcoming The Weeds of Life

I had the chance to get outside and do some yard-work last week. After some weeding in the front flower bed and edging with the weed eater on the side of the house, I had to tackle the weeding of a rose bush I had planted a few years ago.

I hadn’t realized the time had gotten away from me and those weeds had grown so fast over my low growing bush that I could barely see the bush itself. With the blossom season upon us, I didn’t want to miss those beautiful pink blooms popping everywhere. Now the weeds had over taken it and I had to save it from the invasion.

After pulling the weeds away, it was amazing to find how well my rose bush did. I was very pleasantly surprised how my struggling rose bush was growing so well even with those quick growing weeds all around and over it. It was just growing like crazy. I thought all those weeds would hinder the growth. The bush looked as if it wouldn’t have grown at all. It looked as if it would have been smothered. But it flourished and grew anyway. New shoots had grown all over and I actually had to cut it back.

I had to reflect on this idea because humans are so very vulnerable to trials and challenges. We meet bumps in the road or rapidly growing weeds and it discourages us from going any farther. How many times have we had the weeds of life come upon us and try to smother us and we just keep growing? How many times do we let those challenges in our life overtake our great attitude and we flounder with the thought of “I can’t get through this” and then realize months down the road that it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. Many times we let unimportant setbacks ruin our day of other wonderful accomplishments. I’m guilty as well and need to take a lesson from my own rose bush.

Louis L’Amour said it best: “The one law that does not change is that everything changes, and the hardship I was bearing today was only a breath away from the pleasures I would have tomorrow, and those pleasures would be all the richer because of the memories of this I was enduring.”

Don’t let the weeds of life pull you down so much you don’t follow through on your goals in life. Don’t let the weeds of life over come your good attitude and worthwhile life of family and friends. You come from a godly heritage and enduring to the end with courage and dignity will in the end come back around to lift you up. Have a great day.

Success is fleeting,... unless.....

This past weekend, I had the honor of attending the LDS Storymakers Writing Conference. It was a wonderful experience being surrounded by so many talented people who made me realize the importance of working hard and never being complacent.

There are a few times in life when I amaze myself. Today is one of those days.

Not because I am so wonderful and creative, but because I simply have the most incredible dumb luck at times! Once again I digress as I get off on one of my ADD tangents. I’ll begin at the beginning….

After getting home and mulling over all that I learned and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the gratitude of being able to help, meet and learn from so many wonderful people, I finally remembered that I needed to do my blog posting .Since I had arranged the tour over a month ago, there was no way that I could have foreshadowed my thoughts and feeling on this particular day. I looked at today’s Life Saver and smiled. It read;

“Unless you’re the lead dog, the view is always the same.”

Publishing is an interesting business. As authors we are always trying to step up one more rung on the ladder. If you are unpublished, you want to get a contract. If you are published, you want an agent, a bigger contract and a national audience. If you have a national audience and an agent, you want to be on the best seller lists. And once, you’re there, you want to stay there and do it better and better and better…..

I’ve been lucky and had an amazing amount of success – success that others merely dream of. I’ve hit the national market, done TV, radio and hit the charts high on Amazon. I’ve seen my name in print in prestigious publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Content and big papers across the nation. I’ve seen my name go as far as England, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. But I look at J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyers and Richard Paul Evans and even some of my closer acquaintances like James Dashner, Josi Kilpack and Janette Rallison and think, “Man, I have a LONG way to go!” Adn i look at even closer friends like Candace Salima, Tristi Pinkston, Annette Lyon and Michele Bell who have more knowledge in their little pinkies than I have in my entire noggin and think, "There is NO way I can ever catch up!"

Discouragement sets in and before I know it, success is out the window and I’m a failure. Thankfully, God knows me well and slaps me up the side of the head every once in a while and places opportunities in front of me that get me outside of myself and focused on others in a positive way. It’s when I have the ability to serve and follow in the footsteps of the only lead dog who matters – the Savior.

And when I do that, the level of success suddenly does not matter but the route in which we get there – flowing in His footsteps following His lead – does.

I came out of Storymakers so incredibly grateful that I have been placed in positions where I could help fulfill the dreams of others, learn from others, teach others and spur the hope of others. But mainly, I am grateful for the opportunity to be used as an instrument in His hands for blessing the lives of others.

It’s true; success is fleeting -- unless you look at it as an eternal proposition. And if you do, not only your success, but that of others, becomes an eternal gift that is satisfying where ever you may be on the success spectrum.

There are many reasons I have become a part of the Stayin' Alive With Stacy Virtual Tour and Life Saver Challenge. I'll share just one:

November of 2008 found me brooding and ill-tempered. The struggling building industry made it necessary for my self-employed husband to seek employment in another state. The eight hundred plus miles between home and work meant that for most of each month I was alone in "The Parent Zone." I had little time for such frivolous activities as sleeping or showering, let alone going to lunch with friends. When a notice came through my writer's group that Stacy Gooch-Anderson would be in town and that we were all invited to meet for lunch the following Saturday, I sighed heavily and prayed that I could survive long enough to just get to the weekend. Amazingly, the week flew by as I did my best to meet the needs of my active children, my aging parents and the demands of my church callings. As I knelt by my bed Saturday morning, praying for peace and assistance to accomplish the many tasks ahead of me, I felt a strong desire to attend that lunch. When I tried to dismiss the "temptation," I felt loving arms surround me and a voice whisper in my heart. "Fill your well."

Attending lunch in Tempe that day changed my life. Not only did I reconnect with old friends from ANWA, but I met Stacy Gooch-Anderson. How many people do you know would, upon meeting you less than ten minutes before, excitedly announce that the house next door was for sale and she would love to have you as a next-door neighbor? Stacy relfected the Light that has accompanied her throughout the many challenges she has faced in her life. Of course, I had to get a copy of her book, The Santa Letters. I loved that book even more because nowI knew the author.

Stacy has a unique flair for finding flecks of humor in even the most bleak situations. Her newest book, Life is Tough, I Doubt I'll Make It Out Alive is full of laugh-until-you-cry, life-saving wisdom. Just as easily as she invited me, a relative stranger, to live next door, Stacy invites the reader into her home and her heart as she recounts "A Mother's Life Lessons Learned Through Laughter." Each chapter offers a unique life lesson learned during her journey through marriage and motherhood. Can you imagine having to call your husband to discuss your child's misdeeds so many times that the office starts a betting pool about the nature of the call? And just how do you cope when multiple generations of your family are struck with cancer? Stacy does it with a frankly honest style and humor and just enough tears to soften any heart.

And the fun continues! Stacy is posting a daily "Lifesaver" on her blog. Today's Lifesaver is:
"If you want to be a leader with a large following, go slow on a two-way street." I highly recommend you pick up the challenge. You never know when you ar going to need your own lifesaver!

There is only one path to follow...

I am a slow learner and I have a problem with feeling very inadequate at times.

I remember when my dad (who was Bishop of his ward at the time) passed away and looking at the hundreds of people waiting in a line, which snaked out of the cultural hall, through the lobby and out into the rain as they waited for an opportunity to bid adieu to him and lend support to his family.

Since he was loved by so many more than just his family, I also remember thinking that I did not envy the man who would have to step into his shoes.

Neither did that man.

He came to my mother’s door soon after he’d been set apart and cried as he expressed his ache over losing such a good friend and concern over having to fill my father’s shoes.

I remember clearly my mother placing her hand on his arm and telling him ever so sweetly that he did not have to fill my father’s shoes but simply use his own to walk in the Savior’s footsteps.

When President Hinckley passed away, I shamefully but admittedly thought again that I did not envy the man who had to try and fill his shoes. But since this church is one of perpetual order, progression and consistency, another was called to fill the position.

Soon after, my family and I got to meet and listen to that man. And as I shook President Monson’s hand, I could not help but remember the words of my mother and feel with all of my heart that this man too had probably cried over losing such a dear friend as well as facing the imposing task of following behind such a beloved prophet as President Hinckley. Nonetheless, he would serve and follow in the footstep of his Savior doing as He would have him do.

Amongst laughter from the personal stories and memories he regaled us with was the permeating feeling that this was a man called of God to take care of His business, minister to the members of His church and be His mouthpiece as we are ushered into the next period of worldly change and ecclesiastical growth.

I did not see an elderly man so very different from the last but saw and felt the spirit of a man who has been prepared and cultivated all of his life to bless the lives of all he may.

I did not see an untouchable man but one who took the time to shake the hands of those who were there, listen to them and love them.

I heard a man who made us laugh, allowed us to cry and encouraged us to stand a little taller and believe a little more.

In short, I met and shook hands with a man who emanated the spirit and qualities of the one whom he has promised to serve,…. and it gave me hope. Hope that I too don’t need to worry about filling anyone else’s shoes but that I simply need to walk in my own as I follow in the footsteps of my Savior.

PVC and Me

By Sarah Albrecht

Last Friday I bought four five-foot lengths of 2-inch diameter PVC pipe, three connectors, and one set of PVC primer and glue at Lowe’s. It sounds simple but that was also the day I had about 1,543 other things to do, plus all my kids were with me and my ten-year-old found a great hideout under the shelves and my four-year-old kept screaming at the (innocent, of course) older kids.

That night while everyone watched Spongebob I opened the family room window for ventilation, brought in the pipe and primed it with noxious purple primer, then glued on the connectors with a cute little pompom of a brush. Never having primed or glued pipe before, I felt quite proud.

The job had to be done Friday, you see, because Saturday was Nature Trail Work Day at my son’s elementary school, and, lack of knowledge and experience aside, I sort of chair the nature trail committee. During the work day we planned to dig an arroyo to channel water from the bus bay to the pollinating garden we’re planting. We would dig one retention basin on each side of the garden to hold the redirected water. We would dig a narrow trench between the basins, into which we would lay my pipe so the water could flow from one basin to the next, as a water harvesting expert had advised.

Saturday morning I arrived early, tools and plants and wheelbarrow and pipe rattling around the back of our 1996 Ford pickup. I had to glue the pipe lengths together so the pipe would be ready when needed. Turns out three lengths fit between the basins, so we had one pipe left over. Not a bad error. Could have been worse, I thought.

I finished gluing and left my pipe lying between the projected basins. About that time a volunteer family arrived with a landscape-savvy dad. I told him our extensive digging plans, then pointed out my lovely pipe. “Thing’s gonna be full of silt in a year,” he said. “Now don’t get fancy. Just dig another arroyo over to the other basin.” My face carefully bland, I said, “Sure, that makes sense, we can do that,” while in my head I screamed, “Do you know what I went through for that pipe laying right there?”

Fortunately I was in the midst of reading Three Cups of Tea, a book about former mountaineer Greg Mortenson’s efforts to build schools in Pakistan. Due to trial and error, it took him three years to build the first school. Subsequent schools took three months. My little pipe was nothing like building a whole school, but the reminder was the same: mistakes, often time-consuming ones, are essential to learning. In fact, they function like springs, drawing one back in compressed discouragement, yet, if released, able to launch one forward further than was possible before.

I’ll take a deep, cleansing breath and keep that in mind.

Good Medicine

By Sarah Albrecht

The other night my four-year-old sat giggling on my lap as we watched our grey tabby kitten on the opposite couch. He lounged on his side with one paw raised, then swiped at our golden retriever’s plumed tail when it splayed into the air.

This scene of pet felicity might imply a family of long-standing feline and canine ownership. Not so.

About two-and-a-half years ago my husband and I first considered letting our younger son pick a cat from the humane society. He wanted one so badly, you see. We checked out books from the library, talked to cat lovers (and haters) and weighed the pros and cons. Pros won, and one hot July day we trundled down to the pound and our son chose an orange tabby he named Sparky. A couple of months later our neighbors had retriever puppies and we repeated the process. A year later our other son longed for his own cat. We repeated the process. Then the first cat punched out a screen and sneaked out the window one night to have a fatal rendezvous with a coyote. We repeated the process.

So we have a grand total of two cats and a dog, and when the boys forget to clean the litter box or the dog chews the rug or sneaks into the library, the only part of the house she considers “outside,”or we spend an astonishing amount at the vet, I still feel drawbacks to pet ownership.

The fact is, though, at least one of the pets makes us laugh every day. And after a stressful day at school, the first thing my teenager does is look for a cat to hug. When my preschooler is lonely while the other kids are at school, ditto (well, she might tuck the kitten under a blanket instead). As I sit reading in the quiet of the morning before the rest of the house awakens, I’ll look up and see the mature cat sitting squarely in front of me, squinting her eyes in welcome. If my ten-year-old son has too much energy, well, he’d better find the dog.

The pets have become good medicine with a few side effects.

Applying the pets to life in general, I find that the pros and cons in many of my choices morph into “medicine” and “side effects” after the decision has been made and the new lifestyle begins. Over time, if the benefits of the medicine continue to outweigh the detriments of its side effects, I can live with, and even enjoy, the situation. If negative side effects eclipse the benefits of the medicine, then it’s time to make a change.

Waxing philosophical about cats and dogs—medicine or side effect? I’m not sure!

Healing in a Jar

After a major loss in my life, I attended a grieving class. One concept I learned is that it's normal to be forgetful and distracted when you've experienced grief, even when you're not thinking about your loss. And that gave me hope that sooner or later ordinary aspects of my life would settle down.

And they did.

Then I happened to read a magazine article about a woman who gave her mother, "the woman who has everything" a unique gift. She took 365 small slips of paper and wrote memories of her mother on each. Then she put them in a pretty jar with a ribbon and presented it to her mother.

"Read one each day," she told her mother, who promptly reached in, took out one slip, read it, and smiled. They reminisced about the event on the paper.

Then, after the daughter left, the mother read each of the remaining 364 papers! She just couldn't ration herself to one a day, she enjoyed them so much.

I returned to my grieving class the next evening and one member said that her familiy was gathering in a couple of months to honor the life of her brother, who had taken his own life. They couldn't afford to do anything expensive or elaborate, but they wanted to do something significant that would bring them closer and help them heal. I thought of the "memory jar" in the magazine article, and told her about it.

Her face lit up. She said it was a great idea; she would ask family members to write favorite memories of her brother and bring them. They'd put them in a jar and take turns reading them.

I later heard that it was a great success. They pulled the memories out of the jar and they laughed and they cried and they began to heal. From simple ideas great things can happen. And in this case, I had the privilege of passing on a story, one that helped a family deal with their grief.