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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.
Is the journey THAT important?
Salmon hatch from eggs in streams. They are born quite small and after a time have an urge to swim down stream. They swim to the ocean, sometimes as far as 100 miles, and others swim more than 2,500 miles, where they live for five years! They again have an urge to return to their birth place. Only now they have grown 100 times their size at birth. Traveling upstream is difficult. They become strong. The salt water mixed with the fresh water changes the salmon’s coloring to a...
The Second Gift of Christmas – Shining Bright
Mathew 2: 1-2 reads, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” This star was planned, created, and set into motion, not on that Christmas day, but before then. It’s shape, position, brightness, movement and declaration were not by accident, but by and through the word...
My First Gift of Christmas – Letting Go
In my front yard is a row of trees, three to be exact. I love these trees! In the spring they produce the most glorious pink blossoms! As they fall to the ground at the onslaught of summer, the gently wafting pedals look like a pastel snowstorm, blanketing my newly emerging grass with a layer of spring. Last year the middle of the three trees took began to decay. The life force of tree has cut off several large branches, which has in turn browned and frozen old, withered...
Finding Christmas
What is the most Christmas filled experience you have had? I have been thinking a lot about Christmas. What exactly is the Christmas spirit? There are parties, trees, lights, gifts, hot cocoa, bundling up by the fire, watching movies, shopping, mailing cards to family and friends. There is giving, and donating; there are plays, musicals and concerts. There is a palpable feeling in the air, and throughout the community of good will, of hope and purpose. This feeling is unique to Christmas time. And yet, none of these things...
Giving Thanks
November is swiftly coming to a close. Our days are vacillating between brisk cold winds, and unusually warm sunshine. Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving, last weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving. What a wonderful opportunity to stop, and reflect. My gratitude doth overflow. Its not so much about the things, but the people, the miracles, the faith, the journey, the failing and rising that I am grateful for. Out of billions on earth, why am I so blessed to know you? To know Him, the great creator? How is that I have...
Enjoy Every Ordinary Day
When I was a little girl, over and over my Grandma Joy would say, “Enjoy every ordinary day, those are the ones you’ll miss when they are gone.” I’m going to miss the piles of laundry, maybe not. I AM going to miss the morning scraggly hugs from my little ones; soothing my baby, in only a way a parent can when he wakes up disheveled after a harried night. I am going to miss requests for chocolate chips cookies, and little helpers who want to pour in the...
Today’s Vulnerability, Tomorrow’s Hope
I recently finished reading Brene Brown’s book, “The Gifts of Imperfection.” I had never heard of Brene’s work until about two months ago. Since that time I have been flooded with recommendations, quotes here and there, and mentions of her name. “We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection. Love is not something we give or get; it is something that...
The Truth About Family Pictures
A few weeks ago we met my brother Solomon at our old stomping grounds, the Garden Park Ward, in Salt Lake City, Utah for family photos. The truth about family photos is that there is nothing pretty or easy about getting six people out the door cheerfully looking well groomed and on time. I am so happy to have these precious moments preserved for our family memory book, at this time, in this moment, these are our children. This is our love. This is our laughter. This is the...
Help Them Find Me
The Relief Society, Priesthood, Young Men and Young Women were all invited to attend a special class on family history this past October. Brother Sciamarella invited a friend to share her testimony and experiences of doing family history work. I do not even remember her name. I do know that she works at ancestory.com. She is an avid family historian, and has not only the technical skills to do family history, but also a love and passion for the purpose behind the data. She shared a story about her...
The four thousand three hundred and eightieth day
The night before she was born, I was frantically rushing to get everything done. For weeks prior I had been on bed rest due to some complications. Pre-eclampsia had taken its toll on my blood pressure, and so I was required to do nothing, even though I felt fine. My doctor schedule my induction three weeks prior to my due date because of his concern for my health. Once we knew that the baby was in a safe range for birth, it was go time. The usually molasses stricken...
You Have To Go Through It
Last week my daughter Allyson rediscovered a book that we have had for quite a while, “We are Going on a Bear Hunt,” Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and written by Michael Rosen. This small family, a dad with four little kids and their dog set out on a fine, sunshine filled day, to find a bear. Their journey is fraught with obstacles; mud, a dark forrest, a bog, a storm, and all manner of difficulties. Over and over, they realize, accept and enjoy going through the trial. “We can’t go over...
The Sweet Fruit
In the Garden of Eden Satan tempted Eve to taste of a fruit, that was most delicious, and very desirable. “It will make you wise,” the serpent slithered. “You shall be as the gods, knowing good from evil.” Eve was our Mother, the first of this mortal world. While I cannot remember her with my mortal eyes, my spirit knows her. She is brave, the kind of courage that takes to be the first of a whole world to step into the world of new beginnings, knowing that everything...
Love, the great commandment
Jonny and I went to Harmon’s on Saturday. It was after our day long adventure in our tomato garden, stringing the gigantic stalks up to the heavens on this really cool rig that Jonny built. We had been weeding, trimming, and cleaning out are vegetable garden. Beautiful!! We took our starving family to Fong’s, our favorite local restaurant just down the street from our house, dropped the kids off at the house, and then went to Home Depot, for Jonny and Harmon’s for me. There we ran into our...
The Garden’s Teachings
I was having strange, creepy dreams last night, after having a pretty stressful, kind of awful day. Too much on my plate, too unorganized, working too ineffectively makes for a grumpy momma. The great news is that each day is a new day, and I am grateful to have my husband at my side. What have I learned about this? Number one, there is more to my circumstance than I can see. There are forces outside of my control that can influence my experiences. However, despite their influence, I...
The Sacrament
Each week we gather as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In reverence and solidarity we partake of God’s emblems through the sacrament to wash and sanctify our souls unto Him. Of the sacrament, Elder Holland testifies, “With a crust of bread, always broken, blessed, and offered first, we remember his bruised body and broken heart, his physical suffering on the cross where he cried, “I thirst,” and finally, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?1 As the Apostle Paul wrote, we were...
Men, women. Women, men. Both needed, both loved. The end.
Spencer W. Kimball said, “In his wisdom and mercy, our Father made men and women dependent on each other for the full flowering of their potential. Because their natures are somewhat different, they can complement each other; because they are in many ways alike, they can understand each other. Let neither envy the other for their differences; let both discern what is superficial and what is beautifully basic in those differences, and act accordingly” (“Relief Society—Its Promise and Potential,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 5). What are the fundamental purposes of...
Temperance
Today a senior missionary stokes the once bellowed fire by a flick of a switch. Hot air taunts the red coals to sing heat into a lead stick. Now glowing the iron worker transplants the soft medal to a place where force can be applied over and over, molding and shaping a useless piece of iron into a tool. The blacksmith shop is one of many local businesses that worked all in conjunction with one another to create the prosperous and industrious Nauvoo. The once hard medal shaft glows...
Carthage Conspiracy
The lush green surroundings seem to mock. The well springing of life that is provided by this landscape spreads in its vastness all around the deadly prison that held our sweet Prophet, Joseph Smith. Standing just two simple stories high, this jail was made from a honey colored natural rock. White windows adorn the wavy and inconsistent glass panes. Inside the family home included a prison awaiting trial cell as a side business. There were two holding rooms, one was a bedroom with a simple iron door that contained...
Joseph’s City
The city streets whisper stories from ancient days, long ago when travelers found refuge on the sandy shores of the Mississippi River. The green hillside slopes in reverence to the crystal white walls of the Saint’s ultimate life work, the temple. Sunstones cap the great pillars to eternal life and heralding calls of angels. Great billowing flames in the blacksmith shop stoke our hearts to look inward at our roots, in awe at their courage, their determination and willingness to follow, despite and in spite of the burning opposition of...
I Can See You & 30 Life Lessons
Dearest friend, Today is a wonderful day! Your birthday marks the moment when a new light came into this world. I hope you have enjoyed and absorbed all the love that is coming your way from friends and family who are celebrating this special day. You know that I love to write, and so on your special day I wanted to send you a bit of encouragement and love. My prayer is that my words may offer you a bit of sunshine in a moment filled with storms, or...