This Side of Invisible

In the memorable words of Dr. Ian Malcolm played by the incomprable Jeff Goldblum, "Life finds a way." Even when we don't want it to, when we can't keep up, when we're exhausted... it just keeps coming. Life simply happens. But we must remember that we are created to be agents of action, not simply objects to be acted upon. Life comes at us unbidden, but we too can create the life we want. We can be the life unbidden. Life isn't merely something that happens around us, it's not just a force happening to us. Life happens within us. And with each exhale, we can speak life into existence all around us. We just have to be intentional, choosing moment to moment how to expend our energy. You are a child of God, the Great Creator; the DNA of creation makes up your every molecule. Don't wait to be bidden. Don't wait for approval. Listen to the beating of your own lifeforce. What life will you release into the world today? Now available: Life...

--> Au Naturel : in a natural state; without anything added. Bare : devoid of amplification or adornment; lacking tools or weapons. Raw : not treated or prepared for presentation, marked absence of refinements, unprotected. Nude : without conventional covering; having a natural appearance. Naked : devoid of concealment or disguise; lacking embellishment. In the beginning, God’s children came into this world naked and naked they remained while in close communion with Him. It was only after Adam and Eve had gone against their Father’s wishes and partaken of the forbidden fruit that Satan pointed to their nakedness and shamed them for it, pushing them to hide themselves from God. It has been the story ever since. Death is a separation of our spirit and bodies. Eternal death or spiritual death is a separation from our Father in Heaven. This is the Adversary’s sole focus. And since the beginning he’s known just how to push us away from God. He villainizes our divine origin, ...

Looking back now, it’s all so obvious. But you know what they say about hindsight… The first time I cut my own hair, we were living in Wyoming, it was summer and I was hot. I was tired of trying to grow my hair out and we didn’t have money that day for me to go to a salon, so I just started chopping. It was liberating. Setting myself free from my heavy, overlong tresses. Okay, let’s be honest, my hair was just reaching my shoulders, but anyone that knows me knows that I’ve had short hair for over fifteen years. It’s just me. Though, there may be a mental block as to why that is… hmmm, I’ll have to ponder that one. I remember feeling like a new woman after giving myself that first haircut. Something inside me felt lighter, a little less stressed, a little less painful. That should have been my first clue. Well, that and the timing… it was a remarkably stressful time for me. Over the past seven years, I’ve continued to sporadically cut my hair. Though it’s gone from ...

I have come to realize lately how free I am. This is big. The last year has been an arduous journey to hell and back again.  I felt the fire and brimstone licking my very core as memories and awareness were forced upon me.  I gagged on the sulfurous fumes, my body racked with sobs, as I saw for the first time the many chains that bound my hands, my feet, indeed, my entire being.  I have fought against those chains, my fingers have bled with the effort of prying them off of me.  I have cried at night in exhaustion.  I have sat like a vegetable during the daytime, unable to move, paralyzed by the task of freeing myself. And here I am today, laughing in joy as I realize that those chains are falling off by the minute.  Every step I take, link by link they are losing their hold over me.  And now, in my newfound freedom I am ready.  I am daring greatly. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,...

After I got married and before I had my first child, I worked in a life skills center for disabled adults.  This is Edgar, his was 62 at the time this photo was taken and yes, he has Down's Syndrome.  As an infant in the late 1930's, he was placed in an institution because his disability made him unsafe and put his siblings at risk.   *note: please try and ignore my overly large pregnant-ness in the pic :) I'm not sure I can comprehend, as a mother, sending my child off to an institution.  At least, that's my initial thought.  But if I am honest, and if I were Edgar's mother and the whole world was fear mongering about how dangerously unpredictable he would be and about how taxing it would be, how difficult, how alone I would be, I might have listened too.  During that era, with so little help and compassion in regards to disabilities or mental health challenges, was there really another option for Edgar's mother?  

Yesterday I wrote about my journey, my marathon and how/where I am.  But you know what?  It's not really about me.  This is what it's about. Those sweet faces are the faces of warriors.  They have been through a lot and are still loving, kind, and cheerful 99% of the time.  What about the other 1%, you say?  Funny you should ask. Saturday, I had a 14 year old crying about not being able to go to a school dance... and by crying, I mean, crying.  While I was mopping the kitchen floor and trying to reason with him, my daughter came into the kitchen soaking wet.  My first thought: I just mopped that spot!   My second thought: "Why are you wet?"  She informed me that she was wet from chasing after Big Brother down the street.  And it was raining.  I looked out the window astonished.   Why yes, it is raining , I thought, and when it rains it pours, apparently.

Published on the Liahona Project, link here Recently, Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers sent me a complimentary copy of "My Life Without Limits" by Nick Vujicic to read and review.  And I will admit, when I first started reading it I was skeptical.  It was a little too upbeat, a little to cheesy for my tastes.  But what I came to realize is this: Nick isn't selling cheesy feel-good motivational fluff.  Nick is speaking from the heart, telling the world about his experiences with real trials and heartache and how he has learned to overcome.  Nick isn't selling anything; he's spreading the truth about the power of hope. The author asks, "What is hope?"  What follows is his answer (which I love):  "It is where dreams begin.  It is the voice of your purpose.  It speaks to you and reassures you that whatever happens to you doesn't live within you."  This statement struck such a cord with me.  I love this principle that your experiences...

Normal : noun the  usual , average,  or   typical  state or condition  Normal :  adjective conforming   to  a  standard ;  usual ,  typical ,  or   expected   According to my dictionary app: Most  people want to be regarded as  normal , an adjective that implies conformity with established norms or standards and is the opposite of abnormal ( :  a normal body temperature; normal intelligence ). Regular , like  normal , is usually preferred to its opposite (irregular) and  implies  conformity to prescribed standards or established patterns ( :  their regular  monthly  meeting ; a regular guy ), but  normal  carries stronger connotations of  conformity  within prescribed limits and sometimes allows for a wider range of differences. photo credit: here What do you think?  Do you buy into this definition?  Do you think normal is such a ri...

 I was recently involved in a discussion about ADD and tips for getting yourself back on track when distracted or daydreaming.  And I'm trying not to let it go to my head that the blog author, Josh Weed, picked my comment as one of three from 100+ to mention in his follow-up post.  Who am I kidding?  I'm FAMOUS!  Almost.  I mean, at least some random people from somewhere who don't know me from Eve are seeing my name in print on blog today. p.s. If you are looking for a quick fix of the good stuff, meaning laughter, head over to The Weed .  Josh's humor is very medicinal. If you want, click here to see the original post that I commented on.  And click here to see the follow-up post where I became famous! I was actually feeling like a bit of a fraud posting any comment because I was thinking, 'I'm not ADD and my children aren't either'.  But then after about 2 seconds of contemplating the validity of that statement, I realized that act...

Some days my life seems to revolve around medication schedules, either for myself or one of my children or several of us.  This weekend it's pain meds and heavy-duty antibiotic eye drops for my son, Thing 1, who had eye surgery on Friday.  In the past we've had days and sometimes weeks and even a few months were it's been round-the-clock medication for a plethora of illnesses: asthma, eczema, pneumonia, swine flu, tonsil/adnoidectomies (we've done 4 for these in the past 5 years or so), ear infections, fungal infections (on the skin, so much fun), allergies, back injuries, and countless other surgeries... not to mention the other things like depression, anxiety and ADHD.  Anyone else feeling exhausted?  (and people wonder why I homeschool... imagine packing up half this cabinet to send to the school... and actually this is less medicine than my children required when they were in public school, so...  also, I really love to use ellipses when writing...  see...

We had a scare this morning, and by we I mean me.  My 3 year old would not wake up for anything today.  And I'm not talking about just sleeping in.  I had her out of bed, dressed her, changed her diaper, sat her at the kitchen table, put her in the car to take the boys to school, went to the post office and the bank all while she slumbered.  She stirred a time or two, but just wouldn't completely wake up. So when I got home from my morning errands and she was still sleeping I was starting to worry.  She had been out of bed for nearly 3 hours and dragged around town without waking up.  The thought kept crossing my mind to check the drink mix container for ingredients.  Twice I let that thought fleet away with my many others.  On the third go around, I finally did check.  I found the warning for phenylketonurics.  I had no idea what this was, so I decided to look it up.  It was nothing that concerned anyone not having PKU, but what I did find was a link to the site SweetPoison t...