All Is Calm, All Is Bright

Christmas was last week. Perhaps you've heard of this holiday.

I am a week (and also a year, depending on your point-of-view) late in posting photos of our family shindig, but suffice me to say that we had a good one together. I was down and out with strep throat though I was on antibiotics, and the family was good enough not to shun me from spending time with them and observing the many goings-on.

Our annual family Christmas Eve program was very well put together, as it always is, by my sister. Kira enjoyed playing the part of Mary, while Luke was one of the three wise men:

Dad grew out his annual holiday beard for the occasion and gave Kuma a good scratch on the head as he looked on.

Gifts were also exchanged, and among the many given and received, I must say that my family knows me well enough to get me gift certificates for Dee's:

I hope the rest of you out there in blogging land, likewise, had a good Christmas holiday and that the year 2014 is a good year for one and all.

Day 350: Improvables Benefit Show

Like many of you, I was deeply saddened yesterday by the news of the mass shooting of nearly 30 innocent school children and teachers that took place in Newtown, Connecticut. You couldn't turn on the TV or Facebook or the radio without hearing a report on it. Here in Utah, it rained and/or snowed ("sleeted"?) all day long, as the heavens seemed to be weeping for this senseless act of violence.

When I hear of a tragedy of this magnitude, the Savior's teaching comes to mind: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)

When I arrived at the theater, I noticed that the American flag outside was at half-mast in a gesture of support and respect:

Our show last night was a benefit for four-year-old Koda Woodall, who is battling leukemia. The theater graciously let us perform rent-free, and since we didn't have to pay rent this night, 100 percent of the proceeds (amounting to more than $300) went to this boy and his family to help with their medical costs.

Yes, my heart definitely went out to the little children and their families in Connecticut yesterday. We want to do something or make some sort of gesture to make things better when it's not physically possible. Fortunately, life sometimes presents us opportunities, however, to pay it forward, in some small degree, to other "little ones which believe in (Him)."

Day 322: Lookin' on the Other Side of My Front Door

I realize that most of my photos this week have been of inanimate objects rather than people. Sorry about that. It's a trend I don't plan to continue for long. I also am battling a chest cold right now and haven't really been getting outside for the past few days.

At any rate, today's post is of a sign that was recently hung up on the inside side of the front door. I like it a lot.

Cough Cough, Wheeze Wheeze

For the last couple of days, I've been coughing and wheezing like a chain smoker of 40 or 50 years. As a result, I found myself visiting the good folks down at InstaCare this afternoon.

It turns out that I have what is termed a respiratory infection, something I had not previously been diagnosed with before now.

Part of this is due to Utah's dry, desert climate, and the other part is due to the fact that my lungs have not always been as strong as they could be.


Due to the climate and vegetation in Puerto Rico, where I lived from age 12 through age 14, my doctor diagnosed me with bronchial asthma. And in the mission field, when I was transferred from the relatively flat, sea-level terrain of Lima up to the mountains and hills of Cusco - at an elevation of nearly 11,000 feet - my lungs took a month or so to adjust and reminded me of this fact every day when I had to climb almost any flight of stairs or something akin to it.

So, my point is . . . uhh . . . let me think here for a second (cough, cough). . . .

Well, how about this: Does anybody else 'round here have this kind of problem (respiratory infections)? If so, what do you for them - just grin and bear it, or is there something more I could be doing?

Also, why is this thing I just coughed up starting to crawl out of my palm?

In Memoriam

I don't have any smarmy comments today; I won't even post a picture. I just want to write a few words about a good friend of mine who died unexpectedly this past Sunday night.

On Sunday, I saw him at church. My brother sat next to him during elders quorum. He even passed the sacrament to the members of the congregation. And within just a few hours after that, he was gone.

At Monday night's FHE, the bishop broke the news to us. It hit me like a ton of bricks, for lack of a better term, and I have been trying to make sense of it throughout the week. I have asked myself the question "What could I have done to help my friend?" numerous times.

Depression is a dark, difficult, scary, painful, and bewildering thing. It's one of those things some people have to struggle with that, I think, will never be fully understood in this life. It affects not only those who suffer from it but their loved ones, as well. You can know how hard it is only if you or someone close to you goes through it personally, and I speak from experience. My friend fought this battle his entire life, which came to a close in this mortal sphere at the much-too-young age of (I believe) only 29.

My own struggle with depression has taught me some valuable lessons about life, and a few of these have resurfaced the past few days as I have reflected on the loss of my friend. Among them: Forget even the slightest inclination to judge, and leave it in the hands of God; He will make all things right in the end. Simply love others. Always give others the benefit of the doubt, for you've no idea what demons they fight against. The Atonement is available not just to sinners but to heal all of our wounds, no matter the size or the scope.

We miss you, Joe.

While You're Busy Making Other Plans . . .

I'm sick today. This is definitely not something that I planned on happening nor, for that matter, really needed to happen today.

Because I spent quite a bit of time last night worshipping the toilet gods, so to speak, I ended up missing out on this morning's Passion Buckets audition at EnergySolutions Arena. Dallin's wife gave birth to a baby boy yesterday, so he did not make it, either, and John was absent because of work. The five remaining members of Passion Buckets, I'm told, went ahead with the audition regardless and gave the best performance that they could under the circumstances. Thank goodness we recorded our version of the anthem on CD.

Because I'm sick, I'm also currently missing out on the BYU vs. USU football game in Provo as I write this. As a birthday present, Biz and Jeff graciously gave me one of their tickets so that I could go to the game. I should be there right now along with my dad, Steve, and Becky. Instead, I'm watching the game at home on TV.

More than once today, the words from John Lennon's song "Beautiful Boy" have gone through my mind; specifically, the line that states, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

I was first introduced to this song when Richard Dreyfuss sang it with that less-than-perfect voice of his in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. Mr. Holland's has since become one of my favorite films, while "Beautiful Boy" has become one of my favorite songs.

John Lennon said a few dumb things during his career and lifetime, but he also said and wrote some amazing stuff as well. "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" is truly, from my experience, what much of life is about.

Such has certainly been the case for me today. I had people depending on me to be places, and there were places I wanted to go, but I could do neither. Yet somehow it's okay.

I also write this on the eve of another birthday - yet another cause for reflection today. The years just don't slow down at all once they speed up. It is also the eve of another general conference of the Church and another opportunity to be instructed at the feet of men and women of God.

Whatever plans I may make, I am looking forward to the future and whatever it is that life may have to offer me.

An Attitude of Gratitude

Three days ago, I came down with the stomach flu for the first time in my life. At first, I feared that it was food poisoning - following an unwise decision to give West Bountiful's new Five Guys Burgers and Fries place a try - but this was not the case. Anyway, as a result of coming down with the stomach flu, I got to spend much of the weekend with my stomach grumbling non-stop as if it were digesting concrete, while multiple times each day it has felt like I have been giving birth to all of my internal organs . . . if you catch my drift.

Fortunately, I am feeling much better over the past 24 hours or so. The feeling that has overwhelmed me today - whether as a result of the feelings of the previous three days or not, I don't know - is one of immense gratitude for all of my many blessings.

Being sick always helps put things into perspective for me. It helps me to realize how truly well things are going for me and how truly blessed I am when I'm not sick. It's like the line in the song "Opposition" from My Turn on Earth (one of my all-time favorite musicals - really!): "You've got to be sick to be grateful for your health." It's a simple-but-true message.

A good friend also helped to put it into perspective for me by telling me of a friend's boy, already suffering with lukeimia, who had been diagnosed with the swine flu on top of that.

As soon as I learned of this sad story, I suddenly felt much better.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about a lesson that Mike Adams, our ward's high counselor, gave in elders quorum last month, in which he talked about going to the temple only with the attitude of being grateful for things, rather than wanting to ask for something (as we are wont to do when we go to the temple), and how this attitude greatly enhanced and enriched his temple-going experiences after that. It is a lesson that I have reflected on a lot since.

Looking around me today, I couldn't help but find just about everything I was grateful for in my life close by: family, who I got to spend the afternoon with, including my three favorite nephews (okay, so I have only three; I'm not picking favorites); the great people in my ward; taco soup, shared with good friends; the gospel's restored truths - the list goes on and on.