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My Ordinary Days
My name is Sarah Johnson. I am a wife, a mother, an entrepreneur, a baker, and a friend. I write for work and I write for relief. I write for fun. When I am not writing, I am often thinking about writing. This blog is a collection of my thoughts, my heart and my faith. I celebrate my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love people, I also love connecting with and sharing life lessons and light with people of all faiths. I enjoy cooking and baking, gardening, and being in nature.
Emotional Resilience
This presentation was given in Ogden, Utah in February of 2022. Resources are included here for those who want to download the workbook, or review the material. Enjoy! Workbook- Emotional ResilienceDownload St. George Volcano There is charcoal-colored volcanic rock scattered across St. George. At the very top of Snow Canyon is the remnant of an ancient, and now dead Santa Clara Volcano.Several years ago we gathered our four kids, who at the time were ranging in age from 15 to 4, and made our way around on the ice...
History in the Making
History in the MakingSeptember 14, 2020 My kids are all at school full time. After 18 years of mothering, it’s the first in a new season of independence for all of us. It’s Monday morning and I have spent some time this morning gathering: gathering my thoughts, gathering my task list, gathering my breakfast, gathering my peace. I am grateful for this time to reflect and prepare for the week. I vacillate in wanting to write publicly. It fulfills a deep purpose in my heart to share my faith...
Favorite Kind of Labouring Day
As a little girl I loved planting. It was always a favorite day to release the pony packs of flowers and veggies and bury the roots into the freshly turned soil. We had a long, skinny lot that was surrounded by large trees. So there was lots of shade to hope around. One year a pumpkin vine grew up into the fence, around a tree trunk and over a branch in our neighbor’s yard. a small pumpkin grew perfectly round as it hung from a branch like an apple....
Flames
We sat under a blanket of stars at Bear Lake. When the lights are all out you can see the mist of the Milky-way and billions of stars. When the bonfire started, the crowd was as raucous as the flames, there was laughter, songs and s’mores. As the volume of the crowd faded, so too did the fire. One by one parents lead their sleepy kids off to bed. Eventually the fire turned into a fallen pile of fuel. When the logs were separated the fire waned. When the...
Father’s Day
Dad: Part 1 Tucked away in my treasures is a hand-stitched, silk dress adorning a custom made doll. First sketched in his art books, and then molded from clay and cast with plaster. The paint, despite being 35+ years old encases a deep smooth shine. As a little girl, this doll stood tall on my bookshelf with a wireframe. She watched from afar as I grew from a toddler as a recipient, to a bride, who tucked the other earthly reminders of her father away as treasures to start...
2020 Census, Did you catch the pandemic and the earthquake?
This past week I filled out my family’s data for the 2020 Census. I like the feeling of being counted among my people. There have been days not too long ago that I scoured the handwritten census records from 1940 in New York City, looking for clues about my long lost family. Fancy cursive, in worn-out sepia toned ink and faded paper claimed roughly scratched names, including family members and their ages as a timestamp, a mark of being in the great American passport of belonging. I submitted our...
AmeriCANS
True story. Americans are strong. Americans are brave. Americans are faithful. Americans are stalwart and courageous. Americans have survived wars, famine, bombings, economic devastation, civil unrest and natural disasters, but our spirits have never been broken. We have looked after our neighbors and our brothers and sisters for centuries. We are innovative and adaptable. We will get through this. The community dynamics of two weeks ago will not work in the coming days- the regular hours and open doors will have to be tweaked, but as a nation and...
Darkest Days, How To Get Through
Have you ever had a day that you didn’t know how you were going to get through, not just til’ nighttime, but the next few minutes? You ever know without a shadow of a doubt that you came to earth prepared for whatever challenges you would face, and were even were prepared for your specific Gethsemane… except in the face of reality, it was more than you could bear? In our intellect, we knew. And in mortality, it is HARD. Way harder than you imagined. Yet, here we are....
The Gift of Prayer
I am grateful for prayer. I love that in any instant I can connect to my creator and ask for support, resources, strength, and clarity. Prayer fuels my spirit with divine energy and purpose beyond what I can see right in front of me. Prayer helps me release my pride and the tight grip on how I expect things to go. It turns out, sometimes my prayers are answered, almost instantaneously with promptings, direction or peace. Other times it is a holding ground for me to work through deep...
A Beautiful State
If it is one thing, being in a refiners fire sure helps you learn, and quickly. I am incredibly grateful for the knowledge I have of a loving and sure God. I am also thankful for the many kind and gracious men and women who work on our behalf. Today I wanted to share a bit about suffering… and the oppositive which is peace and beauty. One of my mentors, Allyson Chavez, is teaching me about being in a beautiful state, and how that is where resources and connection...
Updated Church LBGTQ
Today’s updates to our church’s policy on matters of baptism and blessings and marriage in the LGBTQ/Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints brings me joy and peace. What once was black and white in my mind and heart is now a garden full of compassion, love, empathy, and strength. I’m sharing what I wrote about the original policy back in 2015. I love my fellow humans. I am grateful to be a traveler on the adventure of life, with all of its ups and downs. You matter....
Brain Tumor Anniversary
It was a year ago today that Jonny and I took the final steps into the hospital, where our lives would forever be adjusted to that moment, for good or ill. One year ago Jonny’s head was opened and an acoustic neuroma brain tumor removed. One year ago that his severed nerves would be a daily reminder to the life saving and altering course. One year ago that I was reminded poetically and majestically of God’s love for us, individually. One year ago that our path took a winding...
Trusting and Having Faith in the Lord to Get Us Through the Challenges We Face
There is charcoal colored volcanic rock scattered across St. George. At the very top of Snow Canyon is the remnant of an ancient, and now dead volcano. Recently we gathered our four kids ranging in age from 15 to 4 and made our way around on the ice cream swirl trail. The hike started with a small incline as we twirled around the back side. About halfway up the trail, the path took a sharp turn straight up the mountain. The view from on top of the mountain was...
Christmas Letter 2017
Dear Family & Friends, What a year it has been! It is an understatement to say that this has been filled with significant obstacles and challenges, but has equally been a witness to the service, compassion, and kindness of others. We couldn’t let the Christmas season pass without sharing with you our gratitude for your love and support. We also wanted to share with you a few of the miracles we have experienced and lessons we have learned with Jonny’s diagnosis, surgery, and recovery from his Acoustic Neuroma brain...
Shepherd’s Field
It was a hot August day in 1998. I drove on a blue and silver tourist bus with my BYU Jerusalem class out to Bethlehem where we had a chance to visit the Church of the Nativity. My instructor warned us before we went into the dark and rank church not to focus so much on what we were experiencing, but try to think about the events that we were honoring that day. Gold plated lanterns with matching draping-chains covered the walls on the ground floor. Incense drowned out...
Born into the Kingdom For Such a Time As This
No stranger to turmoil, Esther was orphaned when her parent’s died. Taking the roll of father, protector, teacher and guardian, her cousin Mordecai also shared his devout Jewish practice with his niece and raised a daughter unto God. Descendants from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, their ancestors, back 4 or so generations, were exiled out of their homeland of Jerusalem during the Babylon captivity. Now living in modern day Iran, they were part of the vast Persian Empire, which spanned from Egypt in the west, to Turkey in...
Enduring the trial of the Rocky Mountain pass, then and now.
I arose on Saturday morning after a night of many awakenings; my mind wandered to a holy landmark. It had been nearly two weeks since my husband had surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. At 16 years old I traveled with the youth from my stake on a journey to remember our pioneer ancestors. Pioneer Sheroes Early Mormon saints were driven out of their homes and land by extermination order in Missouri, and then again in Illinois. They were murdered, women were pillaged, and the Prophet Joseph was...
Grand Council In Heaven: The Cost of Love
Long ago we gathered together as spirit children of our Father in Heaven, in the grand council. While my mortal eyes prevent me from remembering, through scripture, revelation and the spirit, I can image that we gathered in a grand hall; and at the great Elohim, our Father at the focal point. Just as President Monson presides the church here on earth, adorned with his faithful counselors; Jehovah, known in mortality as Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer stood to his right, and the Holy Ghost, the great spirit...
Making Friends with Despair
It was another Sunday, another weekend, another week. Another endurance of medical problems, illness, financial struggles and despair. I thought life was going to be different than this. I never imagined that at nearly 40 I would continually be facing greater and greater challenges. On our weekend date, my husband and I drove around a lot. We talked a lot. I cried, he doesn’t like that. He was frustrated with my despair. I didn’t like that. I have this burden I have been carrying, this load of worry, of...
Little Girls Running
I walked my daughter to school today. Her small hand firmly grasped mine as we took the quarter mile journey to first grade. Older sister is in middle school and older brother had to be there early, so it was just the two of us. The bright early morning sun was just cresting over our majestic Wasatch Mountains. Looking east was blinding, except that when my eyes were closed I could feel the warmth on my skin as the light radiated through my eyelids, making my closed eyes see...