She's Just Around The Corner

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.

All is well.

~Henry Scott Holland

 

 

 

Have Courage & Be Kind

Recently, my mom took the kids and I to see the new Cinderella movie. My mom thought it would be fun to get all dressed up to go, and so Olivia also dressed up. They both looked so wonderful and dressing up helped make the movie even more magical.

It really is such a charming movie. It is so positive and although at times bad and sad things happen, the overwhelming theme is goodness. I have thought about it's message a lot, especially over the last several weeks.

The last year has been difficult for us. We have gone through some of the biggest challenges we have ever faced as a family and I must admit my faith has been deeply tested. While things always seem to work out with each new situation we face, my faith in people has greatly diminished. I keep wondering, what has happened to kindness? What has happened to people caring about each other?

I know that we get so caught up in our own lives that it is hard to see those around us, but we need each other. We need just a small moment or act of kindness from someone each day. When someone is ill we can rally around them and support them through it. When a job is lost we can offer comfort and support.  When a friend has conflict or a concern that needs talking through we can offer a listening ear, without judgement. All of these things I have really struggled through recently, but instead of feeling buoyed up by people around me, I have felt like I am a bad person for being weak. For having everyday struggles, illness and human frailty.  I have felt judged and misunderstood. I have felt so deeply alone. 

I read a great article in The Ensign recently called It Isn't A Sin To Be Weak. 

I love this sentence: "It is crucial to understand that while sin inevitably leads us away from God, weakness, ironically, can lead us toward Him."
All of these things my family is experiencing can lead me/us toward him. I just find it so sad that along the way I have felt so alone in the journey. Kindness has been discarded and forgotten.


I am trying to find my way to Heavenly Father. I want to be with him. In order for me to get there I need to be here on the earth serving and loving those around me. I want to have courage and be kind. I hope that these experiences will lead me to look at others deeply. To help them through the hard times and through what we all experience, human weakness.