This is a quick post about what I'm thankful for today-in no particular order.
#1.The wee hours of the morning before anyone else is awake.
#2. The love I feel in my life
#3. The roof over my head
#4. The clothes on my back
#5. The smell of my house
#6. The feeling that no matter what happens I know where I can go for help and peace
#7. Oatmeal with raisins
#8.That now, since we've had our huge trees taken down, I am not freaked out every time the wind blows.
#9. Reading glasses
#10. That it's Saturday and I can go back to bed if I want to
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Let Down
I have not been able to write anything for quite some time because I'm busy ironing shirts and making dinner and working part-time and volunteering at the school and helping with homework and listening to people read and doing laundry and being a den-mother, and vacuuming up pet hair and etc
Kari became employed again and started working October 5th. This of course is what we prayed and worked for but it was the end of a sort of sweet and spiritual time for us.
I am going to attempt here to relate some of what was "Fun" about being jobless, in case you or I are ever there again and we can both try to enjoy it all more. Also, maybe this is an exercise for me to try to figure out why I feel so....utterly let down.
Having a job is good if you want to do things like feed your family and keep a" roof over" and stuff like that, but it's not all it's cracked up to be.
When does anyone get 6 months off of a job to regroup and have time to think and spend with your family? It was an amazing and meaningful experience for us. It was a time of prayer and Temple Attendance and service to others and finding things to do together that were free-which is why we took a lot of walks, went hiking and also just stayed home a lot. We read, talked and were very much "together". We had a whole summer of comfortable togetherness. In our almost 20 years of marriage we have never had the luxury of an entire six months of time off together. We had alot of time to share our feelings and talk to each other.
We spent more time praying together and reading scriptures. And less time watching T.V. because we were in a humble and searching circumstance and waiting so much on inspiration and direction from the Lord everyday that the Television for the most part was an affront to our senses.
We went through a bare-bones period of simplification. It happened on every level.
Political issues distilled down to the basics of Home, Family, Faith and Freedom.
I was annoyed by whiny and selfish demands for "rights". Only talk to me about the disadvantaged, the disabled, the jobless, homeless, wounded, fatherless or hungry!
We were there needing and asking for strength and guidance and it came almost everyday. For example, I'm sometimes affected by what I consider periodic mild depression and would have thought that this recent state of joblessness would have sent me there pretty quick, but I cannot remember once feeling anything like depression during that whole time. There were serious moments of doubt and worry, but for some reason, they were fleeting and generally we would be led to read some conference talk or scripture that would be like the voice we needed to "hear in the wilderness" and we'd be okay.
I will admit here that now I am struggling with it a little and wonder if it's something like "Post-Traumatic Stress disorder" or something like it.
We had family and friends who were praying for us and I think this is partly why we felt so continually comforted and helped.
We were also very thankful for my part-time job, the little severance pay we had, the generosity of family and friends, the occasional trip to the Bishop's Storehouse, and the unemployment benefits that got us through almost 6 months.
We're Back now to life in the working class. We have an income again. Hurray. I mean it.
But we're also back to the stress of not having enough time. Not enough time together. When do we go to the Temple now? Am I feeling let down because my prayers have not been so constant as they were? Did we breathe a huge sigh of relief and go back to watching too much TV? There were many prayers of gratitude and they will continue, but did my daily prayers of asking for help and direction stop somewhat? Maybe I need to acknowledge my ongoing need for his comfort and direction in my life. I still need it. Even though we have a job. Maybe especially since we do now. There's a lot of stress that goes along with raising a family today.
Help me find meaning and direction in my life everyday. Help me be directed to do Thy will every day. Help me help and serve where thou would have me. Help us find time to sit comfortably and quietly together.
I am deeply thankful for the blessing of Work.
But here are some fun things we did when we didn't "Have Work";
#1.Pray
#2.Exercise
#3.Read (inspirational books and scriptures)
#4.Choose regularly not to worry and have Faith
#5.Go to the Temple (I can not emphasize this enough)
#6.Spend a determined amount of time each day in the job-search and then stop and do something else. (Clean the garage, do some service or volunteer work)
#7.Take a walk
#8. Play games with your family-have a water fight
#9.Get a journal and write down your concerns, inspiration that comes to you, private thoughts
#10.Read together
#11. Turn the TV off.
Actually, that's maybe why I have felt sort of let down lately. Have I been too busy to continue to do the "Fun" things on my list?
It's a good list for me to keep in mind during both times.
Kari became employed again and started working October 5th. This of course is what we prayed and worked for but it was the end of a sort of sweet and spiritual time for us.
I am going to attempt here to relate some of what was "Fun" about being jobless, in case you or I are ever there again and we can both try to enjoy it all more. Also, maybe this is an exercise for me to try to figure out why I feel so....utterly let down.
Having a job is good if you want to do things like feed your family and keep a" roof over" and stuff like that, but it's not all it's cracked up to be.
When does anyone get 6 months off of a job to regroup and have time to think and spend with your family? It was an amazing and meaningful experience for us. It was a time of prayer and Temple Attendance and service to others and finding things to do together that were free-which is why we took a lot of walks, went hiking and also just stayed home a lot. We read, talked and were very much "together". We had a whole summer of comfortable togetherness. In our almost 20 years of marriage we have never had the luxury of an entire six months of time off together. We had alot of time to share our feelings and talk to each other.
We spent more time praying together and reading scriptures. And less time watching T.V. because we were in a humble and searching circumstance and waiting so much on inspiration and direction from the Lord everyday that the Television for the most part was an affront to our senses.
We went through a bare-bones period of simplification. It happened on every level.
Political issues distilled down to the basics of Home, Family, Faith and Freedom.
I was annoyed by whiny and selfish demands for "rights". Only talk to me about the disadvantaged, the disabled, the jobless, homeless, wounded, fatherless or hungry!
We were there needing and asking for strength and guidance and it came almost everyday. For example, I'm sometimes affected by what I consider periodic mild depression and would have thought that this recent state of joblessness would have sent me there pretty quick, but I cannot remember once feeling anything like depression during that whole time. There were serious moments of doubt and worry, but for some reason, they were fleeting and generally we would be led to read some conference talk or scripture that would be like the voice we needed to "hear in the wilderness" and we'd be okay.
I will admit here that now I am struggling with it a little and wonder if it's something like "Post-Traumatic Stress disorder" or something like it.
We had family and friends who were praying for us and I think this is partly why we felt so continually comforted and helped.
We were also very thankful for my part-time job, the little severance pay we had, the generosity of family and friends, the occasional trip to the Bishop's Storehouse, and the unemployment benefits that got us through almost 6 months.
We're Back now to life in the working class. We have an income again. Hurray. I mean it.
But we're also back to the stress of not having enough time. Not enough time together. When do we go to the Temple now? Am I feeling let down because my prayers have not been so constant as they were? Did we breathe a huge sigh of relief and go back to watching too much TV? There were many prayers of gratitude and they will continue, but did my daily prayers of asking for help and direction stop somewhat? Maybe I need to acknowledge my ongoing need for his comfort and direction in my life. I still need it. Even though we have a job. Maybe especially since we do now. There's a lot of stress that goes along with raising a family today.
Help me find meaning and direction in my life everyday. Help me be directed to do Thy will every day. Help me help and serve where thou would have me. Help us find time to sit comfortably and quietly together.
I am deeply thankful for the blessing of Work.
But here are some fun things we did when we didn't "Have Work";
#1.Pray
#2.Exercise
#3.Read (inspirational books and scriptures)
#4.Choose regularly not to worry and have Faith
#5.Go to the Temple (I can not emphasize this enough)
#6.Spend a determined amount of time each day in the job-search and then stop and do something else. (Clean the garage, do some service or volunteer work)
#7.Take a walk
#8. Play games with your family-have a water fight
#9.Get a journal and write down your concerns, inspiration that comes to you, private thoughts
#10.Read together
#11. Turn the TV off.
Actually, that's maybe why I have felt sort of let down lately. Have I been too busy to continue to do the "Fun" things on my list?
It's a good list for me to keep in mind during both times.
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