My second favorite day of the week - Monday!

I truly love Monday! It is the day I clean my house - yip - I love cleaning my house! At 60 years old I still have a few OCDs and a tidy, clean house is one of them. Do I have the energy for doing said chores? Nope! I sure don't! Living with MS makes housework a challenge. However, I love the feeling of getting it done so I push on through with a lot of breaks!

As I was cleaning yesterday I found myself thinking about how Sunday (my favorite day of the week) is the day the Lord gave us to rest, rejuvenate, serve others and worship God. It is my day of "spiritual cleaning" if you will. Sunday is the day I try to put my spiritual and emotional "house or self" in order.

D&C 88:119 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.."

Monday I take care of my physical needs - a clean and orderly house. I have two pups that I love so much. They are constant companions and bring me such joy. However, they are messy - yip - furry and muddy especially during the winter. If you want to keep a clean house and have pets - then you are committing to daily vacuuming/mopping and picking up after them. It is worth it. I wish I could train them to help with chores - but so far that has not happened! So they get to spend the day outside while I clean.

Mentally, cleaning my house makes me feel good. Nothing lifts my spirits like walking through a clean house that smells good and looks fabulous. Are there days that I just don't feel well and can't manage to get it all done? You bet. I have learned to be OK with that too. I have learned that I have to take care of myself so that I have the strength and energy to do all the things that are important in my life.

Mosiah 4:27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

I am not a person that likes clutter. I am not someone that attaches to "stuff" and has to hang on to everything I have ever received. If something hasn't been used in 6 months or more then I am OK with tossing it out - sending it to goodwill for someone else to enjoy! By keeping "clutter and stuff" under control I find that keeping my house picked up is a much easier task. Even when my wood floors need to be cleaned or my rugs could use vacuuming; if my house is clutter free and picked up - the rest doesn't look so bad if I miss it a day or two. Taking care of yourself is the most important thing you can do. You can't be there for others if you haven't taken care of yourself first. Fill your own reserves, so you have something to draw from in serving others.

I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Brent L. Top:
"To preserve the temporal balance of our lives, we may need to say no to those activities for which we do not have time, resources, or energy. We need not feel guilty or selfish in periodically pulling back to regroup, for there is a strength that comes from sometimes just being home with loved ones."

Sunday - my favorite day of the week!

I love Sunday. It is a day set aside by a loving Father in Heaven where we can rest, rejuvenate and worship. It is the one day of the week where I can focus on the things I am grateful for and do a personal evaluation of ways I can improve myself. They are days where I can attend my Sabbath day meetings and be taught by the spirit those things I need in order to get through the next week. They are days where I can ponder the gospel principles and work on my personal goals. 

Now, not all Sundays turn out to be that perfect - but I do try and succeed a great deal of the time. What I really miss is the Sundays spent with our daughters as they were growing up. Those were the best Sundays ever. After our Sabbath meetings we would come home, change into our comfies, make every yummy food that sounded good to us and then set around eating and playing games, laughing and enjoying each others company. Those were perfect days. Our daughters are adults now with homes and traditions of their own. But my heart will always be warmed by those Sunday memories of family time spent in loving each other and building strong bonds. Being empty nesters the Sabbath day has taken on a different perspective, a more personal and individual time of reflection and growth.

There is one thing that I know for sure and that is this: My Father in Heaven loves me perfectly and accepts my efforts, whatever they may be, as long as I am trying to do my very best.

I am reminded of the following quote from Scott Anderson, BYU Education Week 2016: 

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked. What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us. Our Father stands with his hands as though pressed against the veil each night – listening to us pray. The hardest thing for him is to not step between the veil each night and embrace us and assure us how much he loves us and that his greatest desire is to get us back home with him. Our Father in Heaven is so anxious to bless us."

Spending the Sabbath day with the Savior is one of the greatest blessings we've been given. He is always there to guide, direct, inspire and love us. He knows what we need and gives  of himself unconditionally. If we can live our lives in such a way as to be even half the person Christ was we will be accomplishing so much in making this world a better place. 

We never face our challenges alone. He never wants us to feel alone or helpless or forgotten. He is anxious to pour down blessings…. He went into Gethsemane and bled from every pore – and some of those drops of blood were for me. His greatest desire is for us to receive what he has to give. He is anxious to bless each of us with hope and love. I love the Savior with all of my heart. I am grateful for him and his gift of the atonement. I can hardly wait for the day I can return to be in the presence of my Father in Heaven and elder brother Jesus Christ.

My dog is a Millennial Snowflake!

I love my pups! They are my constant companions and bring me so much joy.... until.... they don't. LOL Let me explain. 

I just spent a month in Arizona with my daughter. She owns an amazing townhouse with a beautiful courtyard - and 2 pups of her own. My pups are use to a home with 1/3 acre of land, a doggy door and the ability to come and go, run and chase at will - they are not use to sharing their space with 2 cousins and being very limited in there playing.

So a month restricted to a courtyard and being taken for walks where mama expects you to "poop" on command - was just a bit too much for my Bolt. He is a Prima Donna - a Millennial Snowflake! I'm not kidding. He required twice the walking as Bella did in order to do his "business" and sometimes he still refused to go. After a few days he went on a food strike refusing to eat and then to even drink; he had the longest most depressed face you have ever seen. He sulked, pouted and acted all around like the biggest baby ever! No amount of loving and snuggles would make him feel better. 

We ended up having to take Monsieur Snowflake to the vet (to the tune of $250) as we were concerned about his reluctance to eat (usually his favorite activity) and drink. He was very dehydrated and required a camel hump to rehydrate him. This is a procedure where the vet injects a large quantity of saline into the scruff of their neck creating a camel hump which their bodies slowly absorb. After 12 hours Bolt was starting to drink a little and by the next day he was eating small amounts of a bland diet. After another few days he was back to eating and drinking as usual. His attack of the “moodies” was appearing to ebb and he was getting back to his usual playful self. I was really shocked by his behavior. Who knew a dog could be such an emotional mess? He was worse than a teenager. I decided that I was not doing my pups any favors taking them with me on such a long trip away from home. They do better being able to stay at home with a doggie sitter, familiar surroundings and routines. And it is certainly easier on me! I am also pretty sure that my daughter’s pups woke up every morning thinking “Are you still here? Will you ever be going home?” LOL

At the end of the day this is what I know: This earth is God's estate and every creation is sacred and important to him. One of the reasons that our family has always loved having dogs as our companions is because it is an opportunity for us to nurture and love one of God's creations. They bring us joy and love beyond measure. They love us unconditionally and are always there to cheer us up. If they require a little extra care and attention, then I am happy to give it. And when we get to heaven there will be a field of pups waiting for us with tails wagging and voices whining because they can't wait to throw themselves into our arms for a snuggle. It just doesn't get any better than that!