Life is wonderful or at least it should be. I believe we are on this earth as part of a grand plan with a purpose to gain experience and to enjoy all of God’s creations. I also believe it goes beyond that. I don’t know that there’s much we can do to orchestrate where we are raised or the circumstances of our life. This said I believe we are all spirit brothers and sisters, have a common set of Heavenly parents and our lives on this earth are part of a grand design we agreed to in the preexistence. I don’t think our creator is completely managing our lives. I think He may have a general plan for us just as we have a general plan for our children. We recognize that our responsibility is to help them gain the wherewithal to take care of themselves and to contribute positively to our world. We’re born into families and conditions of varying circumstances. Our challenge is to navigate our way through that jungle. It isn’t easy and certainly not always fair from our limited point of view.

I’ve often wondered why I was born into what I deem to be an ordinary family while others I know of are born into abject poverty and a lifetime of sacrifice. My life hasn’t been one with ideal circumstances, but my parents always made sure there was food on the table and a roof over our heads and I knew they loved us. I was never abused at all and I never felt disadvantaged. I knew our family did not have many things I assumed other people had. It didn’t bother me, I just figured that’s the way it was. It took a while for me, but I finally figured out that my mindset made the difference in how I perceived my truth. I recall as a young wife and mother finally understanding that I was in charge of my own contentment. At one point I briefly considered looking for something that would make me happier. It’s not like I had some grand ah-hah moment, but I believe that the Lord inspired me to know that I needed to be content and concentrate more on the goodness around me rather than obsessing about what I might be lacking. I’m just saying what I decided for myself. I’m not advocating that people who do otherwise are somehow at fault. My conclusions are mine, they fit me not other people.

I’ve pondered over the meaning of love. I have friends and family members who talk about “falling in love” and often those same people use the term, “we just fell out of love.” I guess for me I figured that people were either “in love” or just hadn’t found that relationship. I thought if you were “in love” you were there for the long haul.

As a teenager, I recall that twitterpated feeling in my stomach when a boy named Robert Stewart passed by. I felt light-headed and was sure I would pass out if he so much as looked at me, not even dreaming he would ever say hello. Once at a junior high school sock hop, he asked me to dance and it was all I could do to nod my head in the affirmative, let alone chat while dancing. Looking back, I’m sure I was the biggest dweeb ever. I knew I had botched my big chance for “true love.”