Joy in the Journey

Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. -- President Thomas S. Monson

I am so grateful for this talk by our great prophet last October.

The months following Thanksgiving were filled with lots of stress -- between the never ending home refinance saga and the looming book deadline -- Brian and I were pretty consumed. Whenever the mortgage company would call us with more gloom and doom and requests for yet more documents, the thing that bothered me the most was that I would find myself bogged down with worry, looking at my darling three-year-old who wanted my attention, feeling unable to disconnect from the demands at hand and just enjoy him.

I needed to follow this wise council from President Monson:

"Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us."

The first good news of this entry is that -- at long last we were deemed worthy of a refinance! It was a painful process -- six months in the making -- that ended with the mortgage company requiring us to pay them an additional $500 in fees because "it took so long." But, all is well that ends well and extra $500 or not, we are extremely pleased with the end result (envision me jumping up and down with joy as I type this paragraph).

In addition, for the past two-and-a-half months, Brian has been all consumed with trying to get his book project off the ground -- rounding up sponsors, last minute photo shoots, marketing, final edits and trying to figure out whether the whole thing was really a good idea or not. I was beginning to feel that we ate, breathed and slept "Ogden Book". I could see that Brian was having a hard time enjoying the present moment.

Two Sundays ago, he was seeking inspiration about whether or not and/or how to publish the book. I asked him how he was feeling and he said, "I feel like I need to be enjoying the journey." And, to me, that was the best inspiration of all.

So, right after church, we climbed into our big bed with all the kids and had some good quality tickling, wrestling and dog-pile hugging time. And, for one entire day, we did not talk about the book once.

Here are some other things we did to find joy in the journey during that week:

Monday night we had dinner together as a family plus family home evening.

Tuesday we all got new haircuts (Brian's from his friend Bic).

Brian ate breakfast with the family every morning even though he was working until 3 a.m. every night (except Monday which was his night off).

Yoga class two times this week. Yoga days = good days.

Tuesday I received word that Ian's Kindergarten class would be having a substitute teacher for the 3rd day in a row on Wednesday. What is the point of sending your kid to school when everyone is going to be naughty for a frustrated sub who keeps handing out busy work? So, I kept him home. And, my mom and I took him to Karen's Cafe for Mickey Mouse pancakes. And, then I took him to the Library where we played "Sorry" over and over to our hearts' content.

On Friday, my 27-week Doctor visit went very well. I passed my glucose and iron tests. Baby is growing well -- tremendous blessing indeed. And, I only have to get nine more weekly shots (twelve down -- more than halfway there).

The kids had an early out Friday for parent-teacher conferences, so I took them to my mother-in-law's to work on this beautiful quilt for the baby.


Brian's aunt who lives in Sweden pieced it together and now Brian's mom is hand quilting the entire thing. I was able to make it down to her home twice last week to add a few stitches here and there. I feel truly spoiled to be the recipient of this gift.

Friday night, I met up with my awesome sister-in-law and her two kids for a fun swim at the Bountiful Bubble (aka South Davis Recreation Center). Two preggo ladies and their five kids at a pool - woo hoo! Isaac and I even went down the giant slide three times together.

President Monson said, "This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

I am grateful beyond words that we were able to gain some perspective and enjoy the journey during this last week to book publication. The other good news of this entry is that Brian sent his book to the publisher's on Monday!!! I can't believe it. I am filled with a peace that maybe, just maybe the past four years of our lives have been leading up to this moment in time. I surely hope so. He gets the shipment of about 2,000 copies in 10-12 weeks.