May 28th - By Love Possessed

"Your possessions express your personality.

Few things, including clothes,

are more personal than your cherished ornaments.

The pioneer women,

who crossed a wild continent clutching their treasures to them,

knew that a clock, a picture, a pair of candlesticks,

meant home,

even in the wilderness."

-Good Housekeeping, August 1952

We Mormons have a rich pioneer history.

I love pioneer stories.

I've always loved how they could move their entire lives in a handcart, and if you were lucky a covered wagon...

and how they loved a few things,

and left everything else.

But material possessions, while we love them,
aren't everything.

Sarah talked about Margaret Reed, and how the only way she would go across the plains is if she could go in luxury and style. They had velvet curtains on her covered wagon and they took her organ!

Unfortunately, they left with the Donner party.


She saved her children off of "snow, bark, and leather broth" until her husband got back with help.

"The fact that her family did not perish
-physically or spiritually-
had absolutely nothing to do with the worldly goods she had counted on, for the wagon and all it carried had to be abandoned along the way because it was too heavy and cumbersome to travel through the mountains.

The possessions that saved Margaret and those she loved were of
Spirit - her wits, her faith, and her courage."



Sarah tells us about her daughter's godmother who experienced the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, and how "in a few minutes, everything from valuable antiques to sentimental souvenirs became pieces of jagged glass, shards of china, and splinters of wood on the floor waiting to be swept up and thrown in the trash...

Start Quote
Once the initial shock wore off,
she said that the loss of her possessions
actually became very liberating.



After the sharp pain came peace.



All sorts of things she thought she couldn't live without,
all the things she believed were crucial
to expressing her personality
became what they really are,
just things.


Now as she re-creates a nest of comfort,
she's surrounding herself only with objects
that she really needs or loves
-the useful and the beautiful-
but fewer than before...





Here's what I believe.
I believe our possessions can be very revealing,
offering insights into our personalities
in intimate and illuminating ways.

I believe surrounding ourselves with objects that speak to our souls
can bring us authentic moments of pleasure.



But I do not believe possessions define us.


Instead, I believe it's what you love
that expresses the authentic woman you are,
not what you own...



[Jacqueline Kennedy's son said about his mother and his]
recollection of what meant the most to her:
'The love of words, the bonds of home and family,
and her spirit of adventure.'


Her passions defined this extraordinary woman.


Today I wish for you, as I wish for myself,
that when our authentic adventure comes to a close,
we can also be remembered as being by love possessed.
End Quote

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Gratitude Journal

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1) Grandma's and Mom's cooking.

2) When my kids can just be kids, which I try to do all the time, but you know, when they can just go explore and look for frogs and rocks etc etc.

3) Wildflowers.

4) Church. Today, taking the Sacrament, and listening about hope and how humility isn't weakness, and the Plan of Salvation, and how perfect love casteth out fear...Sundays are great.

5) Talking about Shelby with my family.