Friday Evening

It's been a good day! We got home from the cannery around 5PM.
Everyone had a good time and the Young Women are excited about returning to the cannery next time. It was a unanimous vote that the dried apples are fabulous and I know for certain that the next trip to the cannery will have many orders for them. I am anxious to try their dried refried beans! They look really gross but they smell wonderful.

I hoped online tonight to read the blogs that have been posted today.
I love to read them. I noticed that Diane had commented on one of them and thought I'd like to share some thoughts with all of you. I don't think I have ever shared them with my children so perhaps this is a good time to do so...

I know that getting up early sounds bizarre to many people and it may seem like I am nuts. I think most of my family would agree with that. I know it sure upset them when I would get up so early and start in with my day while they were still in bed.I tried hard to be quiet with whatever I did but our house was just too small and they would always hear me. I really struggled with this problem in the winter but I learned that during the summer I could go outside and work and it would not disturb them. Of course when they started detasseling they had to get up early too.

There are some positive reasons for getting up early and for me they far outweighed the negative. I'll share a few of them with you!

Some positive sides of the early morning hours:

1. No one else is up to disturb your talk with the Lord. It is much easier to listen when you are not being distracted by all the noise/ demands of the world around you.

2. You are in complete control of how you will spend your time. There is no one placing any demands on you. This sounds incredibly selfish but taking some time each day for yourself is very important especially when you have a family to tend too. It is easy as a mom to let yourself go and put everybody's needs before yourself but over time it turns into low self-worth.

3. I found that if I took care of myself and got myself together before others got up I could better focus on their needs. when they got up. It is preparation time. If I was prepared I was less stressed, not hungry and more able to meet the demands that came up .I could do a better job of dealing with the situations as they developed. This was really important in keeping peace and harmony in the house and keeping the stress levels down. It was like taking a deep breathe and going forward!
I was my sanity time.

4.I like to watch the sun rise. It is refreshing! And the sunrises can be spectacular! It reminds me of the creation, when God said,"Let there be light" I love the creation story. Heavenly Father is right- the creation is good!

5.Its a new day to greet, a new day of life, a new day to achieve more goals, a new day of learning, a new day full of promise and hope.

6. It is peaceful and quiet and it gives me time to touch bases with the Holy Spirit. It allows me time to invite him into my life and my plans for the day. It gives me time to reflect, to ponder and to pray.I really need/needed this time.

Those are just some of the reasons I love the early morning hours. Not everyone is an "early bird" and I can understand where it would be hard for them to be invigorated by the early morning hours. I have a hard time staying up late and do best in the early morning. "Night Owls" are at their best later in the day.

About #6:
The truth is that even though I had babysat many children while I was growing up , when it came time for my own family I felt inadequate for the job. That really got bad as our family got older. They were smarter, they were wiser than I in many ways and could walk circles around me. There were times that I felt stupid.There were times that I didn't know which way to turn or how to handle certain situations.There were times when I felt frustrated, hurt and angry. I spent a lot of time in prayer with Heavenly Father. I wondered if I made him feel the same way.
I pleaded for his help to be a good mom, especially after I would get upset and angry.
I didn't like the way I would act and would later hurt for being so mean tempered.I developed patience and became better at controlling my anger but I still am not perfect. There are still times when I feel frustrated- mostly with my sister and I have to really work at keeping myself from saying things that would cause strife and contention between us. I am working on having an unconditional love for her but sometimes...
I am hoping that by serving her more often I can develop a Christ- like love for her. I know that the Lord chastises those that he loves but I think it is better if I leave that to him

It's 8:30 and I am getting windy and the chores are not done. I must get going!
I love you all.
Have a wonderful Father's day everyone!