Sharing your gift

By Lacey Gunter

As the Thanksgiving holiday wanes and the Christmas holiday begins to wax, I seek to bridge both wonderful holidays with some brief thoughts on gifts and thanks.

On what is traditionally considered the first Thanksgiving, the Native Americans living on the North East coast of America had a gift, the gift of knowledge and skills.  In a true act of humanity, these wonderful humans shared their gift with a group of immigrant settlers who would greatly benefit from it. I am confident those settlers were truly grateful for the acts of generosity from their Native American neighbors.

At this time and season in my life, as I reflect on the things I am grateful for, the obvious things emerge; family, friends, the gospel, the means to provide for ourselves, and the talents and knowledge we have been blessed with.  Love is of course a key part of that list.  But recently I have found myself being just as grateful for the abilities of others, as for those Heavenly Father has blessed me with. How grateful I am for the beautiful gifts of talent, knowledge and insight Heavenly Father has given to those who have been willing to work to perfect those gifts and have freely shared them with others. These gifts truly edify and enrich my life. They fill me with joy, peace and understanding.

As I reflect on those gifts, I am left to ponder over what gifts Heavenly Father has given to me that he desires I should cultivate and share with others.  How can I edify and uplift those within my sphere of influence.

It is not always easy to discover what these are.  While I am still not entirely confident what they are or should be for me, I am entirely confident on one thing.  As I seek to discover and perfect these talents, my desire should be to benefit those around me, rather than to benefit myself.  With this frame of mind, we truly find how we can make a lasting and valuable contribution to the world around us. It seems ironic, but by giving greater value to the welfare of others, we end up discovering our own infinite value.

I encourage each of you to recognize and give thanks for the gifts of others that have made your life better and then, in turn, seek out and share the special gifts you have uniquely been given to help and benefit others.  My gratitude to all of you lovely Mormon Mommy Writers, you help me to see the world in new way.  I will strive my best to do the same for you. God bless all in this lovely season.

A funny thing happened....

By Lacey Gunter

Earlier during the day I was on the phone with my hubby explaining the sizable skid mark in our lawn next to the driveway. He was a little worried and wanted to know what had happened. It was sort of a random story, nothing dramatically exciting. But at the end of the story my husband remarked in amazement "Seriously, Lacey, you have the oddest things happen to you." Then he proceeded to list several other incidents he found unusual, as evidence, and ended with a "Weird!"

I ruminated on the conversation for quite some time.  He is not the first person to voice such opinions.  And, in truth, the incidents he mentioned were very strange. One or two I would even have trouble believing had I not experienced them myself. But, don't strange things happen to everyone?

I unreservedly accept that I am a bit of an odd duck. However, I came to the conclusion that what he and others were really expressing is that I love a good story, especially the kind that actually happened.

 I love to hear other people's narratives and I enjoy telling people my own narratives. One of my favorite types of narratives to tell are the ones that are funny, strange or unusual.  I love to set the scene and sprinkle in all the quirky details. And that moment when they start to giggle or their jaw drops open in surprise is great. I guess I share them to help me process the experience and to try and decipher any hidden meanings or lessons learned.  I also share them to try and connect with people and make them laugh or get them thinking.

What about you?  Do you love to tell a good story?  Not just the made up kind, but your own intriguing or romantic narratives? What stories do you love to tell?

Me Again

by Cheri Chesley

Last week, my son hijacked my weekly post with a short story of his own. Imaginative, isn't he? Today, you're stuck with me.

Sunday is Fathers' Day. For years, I had a really hard time with this holiday. My own father divorced my mother when I was four, then died when I was 7. Each year as I grew older, I lamented what I was missing. But how could I miss what I'd never known? It's easier than you might think.

As I married and had children of my own, I wanted to focus the day on their father (my hubby), but often my own resentment toward the day would make it difficult. We went through the motions, but it didn't have the right feel to it. It frustrated me to think, in this at least, I was letting my kids down.

Then, about 5 years ago, I was at the cemetery with my dad for Fathers' Day talking things out. As I sat there in the grass, I had a revelation. (a series of them, actually) I stopped thinking about how awful it had been for my family that my dad died, and started thinking about his quality of life had he lived. My whole understanding shifted that day. My dad's death stopped being about *me* and started being about *him*. Obviously, I can't know for sure how things would have been, but I have a pretty good imagination and a fair understanding of human nature.

I'm really grateful for that day. I'm also grateful for the Gospel, and with it the understanding of what happens after this life. It doesn't hurt that many of my priesthood blessings mention my dad, how proud he is, and how he longs to be a part of my life. No, that doesn't hurt at all.

Fathers' Day has a new meaning for me, now. And I love helping the kids plan and do something special for their dad. This year--strawberry cake!

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY!

Sharing of your Talents

Remember how we have promised Heavenly Father to share of our talents?

I've made it a point to do just that. I am an artist. I am a writer. I am a friend.

I love to draw things for my friends, for lessons at church and for my family. When someone is sick, I've made copies of cute things to color. I've whipped up coloring books for Easter, Christmas and Birthdays.

I've been into the writing craft for over 30 years. Yes, I am not a published novelist. I do have a few poems published and am an award-winning author. My efforts have paid well. I intend to become published as soon as I get my current work edited and accepted by an agent. On the meanwhile, I share my talent, my skill and my time with others. I have edited and critiqued many friends--even those whom I don't know--with their work.

I am not afraid to make friends or extend myself to them. I will share everything the Lord has blessed me with with them, so long as it's within His will. I do it with a prayerful heart.

I will be your mentor if you feel you need one. I know enough about the writing world and what it takes to make your work shine. If you or a child who is an aspiring author, and you aren't sure what goals you need to set up, please email me! I don't bite, I promise!

I will post your question along with my advice. I will call it my advice column (I will post it on the side of this blog with a link so you can always find it!) I will do the best I can in answering your questions, if I don't know the answer, I will find it for you.

I'll be waiting. ;)

elizabethmuellerATgmailDOTcom

Dishing

I learned one of my most important life lessons when I was 12 and attended Girls’ Camp for the first time. Every camp is different and has varying degrees of roughness -we slept in tents with cots on wood pallets. Very out-doorsy but we didn’t sleep on the ground. I don’t have to try very hard and I can smell the musty green tent, but oh, how I loved waking up and hearing the birds chatter. The New England morning air had a crisp coolness in it, even in August, and I’d cling to my sleeping bag until the second wake up bell. I could go on, but I think I was trying to make another point. A life lesson.

That first year, I was assigned to a tent with a girl I’d never met, but soon learned was a little eccentric and not at all popular. And there were popular girls at camp. Silly, I know. After the first night, one of ‘them’ asked me what it was like to bunk with ‘her.’ I was 12 and hadn’t learned yet what I was about to learn. I opened my big mouth and described all her strange habits. It didn’t even take two hours before we were sitting at breakfast and fake-friendly popular girl number one started talking to my tent mate. I listened in horror as popular girl 2 and 3 chimed in to the conversation –or whatever you would have called it. They teased and taunted her with the ammo, uh –info, I’d provided. Dumb!

I couldn’t eat. I was sick. My tent mate shrugged it off. I was stunned for days. I wrote in my journal, “Never talk to so-and-so again!” That was a little extreme. I was too young to have the words of the hymn come to mind, “Nay, Speak No Ill.” But I did learn, even if I couldn’t articulate it then, sharing is powerful and it’s one of the ways girls bond and it can be used for good. Or not.

And my point today? What is a blog but sharing – a lot? Let’s face it, there is a lot of blogging and writing and sharing going on in the blogosphere. It is one of the reasons I am glad to be here – on MMW – sharing my thoughts about writing. It enhances my creativity and if I give support – it comes back to me. That is my point in a nutshell. To say it like you’ve heard it before, ‘what goes around comes around.’

I’m guessing if you are a writer you already know this: Words can be powerful and they have a way of coming back to you. So. If you meet any popular girls wanting to dish – do what I wish I’d done –keep your mouth shut and hand over your dirty mess kit. And whatever else you get to do today – send good words out into the world.