Title: “Amazing Grace”
Exhibitor: Dana Wright
Description: This project will provide ideas and insight to help families
coping with challenging
trials. The outline will include ways
to involve your family and others to uplift and reach out through difficult
times. There are ways to have glimpses
of heaven through the storms. "Be
not defeated twice, once by circumstances and once by oneself (Lowell Bennion)." How we climb up the mountain is just as
important as the spectacular view from the top. And, so it is with life, which for most of us becomes one
enormous test or series of tests, followed by meaningful lessons. In the end, it all comes down to enduring to
the end. Enduring to the end with grace
seems much more rewarding for everyone.
Grace. It's how we accept
winning and losing, good times and bad times, the darkness and the light.
How To’s:
Peace & Understanding
Keep
Priorities Close to Heart and Home *
It would be impossible to handle our adversities without the
love of our Savior. After all, He is
the true and everlasting source of peace.
Pray often. Even when demanding and time consuming trials weigh us down,
those quiet pleas of the heart can
bring serenity and comfort.
Trust the
Lord. His ultimate desire is to have us
return to Him.
Seek to have the Holy Ghost each
day. Rely on the Holy Ghost to give
direction.
Reach for the scriptures. When our time is consumed with the day-to-day
challenges of difficult trials, even just a few short passages can help us feel
connected to our Father in
Heaven. This provides tremendous
strength.
Take time each day to fill even the smallest of your needs.
It might be a ten-minute walk, a
chapter or even a page in a good book, or listening to uplifting music as you
cradle a sick child. Perhaps writing
journal passages while caring for aging parents can fill a void. Do at least one thing that refreshes you. I have a dear friend who carries her temple
bag in her car. Anytime she has an
extra few hours she drops by the temple for a session. This certainly revives the soul.
Place a new uplifting quote or
scripture in your home each week in an obvious place so that all can benefit
from words of wisdom. We even placed
quotes around the hospital room during our daughters stay. This provided encouragement for all of us
including doctors and nurses.
Allow family and friends to help
you through your difficult circumstances.
This isn't an easy task. This
may appear to be another added trial.
We want to be independent. The
truth is we need each other. More often
than not, the individual rendering service to you comes away feeling uplifted
and truly blessed. The assistance might come from actual physical help, or
perhaps it's a listening ear and consoling heart. I had a hard time with this concept. I wanted to say that I could do it all. The fact was that I couldn't do it all and stay sane. More importantly, I felt the distinct
impression that I need to allow people to bless the life of my daughter and in
turn that she was to touch the lives of many.
Allowing our friends to help our daughter and our family has brought
immeasurable blessings. We experience
the ultimate joy as we feel charity being delivered to our home in countless
ways.
Keep
Priorities Close to Heart and Home:
Remember that your family, your testimony, your knowledge
and relationships are the common thread between this life and the next.
Weigh your responsibilities and
decide what is critical and what is not.
Give yourself permission to let the less important matters be put on the
back burner for a while. Don't let
guilt add extra burdens to your already heavy load. I have always placed a great deal of emphasis on a big breakfast
along with prayers and scriptures before my children leave for school. During the illness of my youngest, I soon
realized that cold cereal along with prayers and scriptures would be
totally acceptable until my burdens became lighter. I tend to work better with a fairly defined routine. I'm still learning to take a deep breath and
just let some things go.
Evaluate
the needs of all your family. Find out
what is extremely significant to each individual and plan around those
needs. Do your best to make everyone
feel important especially when so much attention is being given to a certain
family member.
Allow immediate
family members to help out and even sacrifice. When our young daughter was first diagnosed
with her brain tumor I was determined that life for my other four children
shouldn't change. I wanted them to
have every wonderful experience possible.
I didn't want them to "miss out" because of their sister's
illness. I have since come to learn
that sacrifice is a wonderful teacher. Of
course school and church are definite priorities. But, there are other activities that they can
forego when there are needs elsewhere. A
greater love and understanding, and testimony have resulted from the sacrifices
of our entire family.
" Thankfulness is measured by the number of words; gratitude is measured by the nature of our actions. " David O. McKay
Despite the complexity of our
trials since our daughters illness and surgeries, there is no doubt that we
have had countless blessings as well.
We find the following ideas to be helpful in coping with our stresses
and expressing our gratitude for the abundance the Lord bestows on our family.
Set up a Website.
We realized that it was literally impossible to keep all our family and
friends updated during our daughters eight -week hospital stay. The website allowed us to provide
information about our daughters progress on a daily basis. It was also a means for us to express our
feelings, a journal of sorts. We found
out that the website is also a great missionary tool. Many people, unknown to us, found out about the website through
family and friends. They have been
introduced to the gospel in the midst of our trial. (www.nataliewright.com)
Have A Guest Book.
We have a small notebook that we ask our visitors to sign. They write about the activities they do that
day as they play with our daughter or sometimes they write her progress. It is nice to look back and review.
A Miracle Book.
From the onset of our daughter's illness my husband and I were aware of
the numerous miracles and blessings we were receiving from our loving Father in
Heaven. We want all our children to be able to go back, reflect, and gain
strength from those miracles. Keep
track of all the marvelous accounts in a book or journal.
Letters of Gratitude. During the intensity of trials we most likely cannot find the
time to write individual Thank You notes.
A short, but genuine " form letter" of appreciation will still
deliver a thoughtful message. Give your
children the opportunity to write letters of appreciation as well. It is nice to see them expressing thanks to
those who bring in meals, those who might iron their clothes, or those who
chauffeur them to practices.
Small Gifts of Love.
At Christmas we wanted all our family and friends that had prayed and
fasted for our sweet daughter to receive a token of our love and gratitude.
This can become quite costly. Writing
an original poem or finding one that expresses your feelings is a loving gift
in return for their prayers and devotion.
The Gift of Prayer. We
know firsthand how prayer can heal, sustain, bless, and bring peace.
Most nights our daughter returns the gift by asking Heavenly Father
to bless all those that pray for her. This helps her feel linked to all who have
helped her.
* Our young daughter
doesn't have the ability to swallow. We
are waiting for her nerves to heal following brain surgery. We want her to be a part of our family as
much as possible, so at the dinner table she draws and colors food on a paper
plate while we eat.
* Of course Halloween is difficult if you cannot eat. We went to the dollar store to buy small
trinkets and toys to give to our neighbors so they could hand our daughter
something other than candy.
* Getting our ill child to go to sleep brought on a lot of
anxiety for a long period of time. One
thing to soothe her was to name all the people who love her. We would start with family and relatives, go
to neighbors and friends, then move on to ward members, doctors and nurses.
Some nights the list went on forever.
This isn't a bad idea for adults who have a hard time falling asleep
either.
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