JoAnna Lynn Oblander's Blog, page 57
June 28, 2016
Simple Smile…
We never know the power of a smile… How many smiles have been the only positive interaction in an otherwise bleak day? If we live long enough (and most of us do), there will be moments in our lives in which our familiar world vanishes. In those moments, the world continues to move around us – completely unaware that our life has experienced significant loss or trauma. Those who pass by us do not mean to be uncaring but they cannot sense our despair. Our heartache doesn’t hang like a sign around our neck though it feels like it should. As I reflect on those moments in my life, I am so grateful for each stranger who has shared a smile. I am even more grateful for those sensitive souls who, though strangers, knew that I needed an encouraging word or who “hugged” me with their concern. No smile is ever wasted. Every smile acts as an elevator in lifting the positivity levels of our world. Smiles are a universal language of caring – please share your smile today!
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June 27, 2016
Always Do Your Best…
Setting goals or planting the seeds of tomorrow’s accomplishments is sooo important. We are the sum total of our choices. Do you ever think where your choices and your attitudes naturally lead you? Do you want to be a positive person but you constantly speak negative self-talk to yourself? Have you taken the time to listen to what your self-talk tells you? Do you genuinely believe in yourself and in your worth and in your many amazing abilities? No one needs to be conceited to believe in their worth and/or abilities. There is only a problem if you believe you are the only one who is important or has gifts. You are a gift to this world and you are meant to make a positive difference but that will only happen as you are willing to share yourself and your talents with others. I believe that at some level we all want to make a positive difference in this world. What are your gifts and talents? What positive contribution are you meant to make? What seed(s) are you planting for tomorrow’s harvest?
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June 24, 2016
I Am There with You…
I remember so many moments in my life when I felt so alone – many of those moments I was surrounded by large numbers of people. Other than losing a loved one, I’m not sure there is a more difficult experience than feeling lost and alone in a crowd. Those years that I suffered from severe depression had more of those moments than I care to think about. I have always been a person with spiritual inclinations and depression stripped me of my normal ability to feel connected to God. For all of you who are wading through depression or other life altering experiences, please know that God loves you and is aware of you. If you can’t yet feel Him talk to you in your heart – climb a mountain, smell the sweet scent of a flower, hold a newborn baby or do whatever it takes to sense the miraculous. Miracles abound in this world if we will open our hearts to their presence. God’s majesty is ever ready to be found. He is present in your heart – hang on and hang in there until you can feel Him. Ask Him to hold your hand each day until you can feel certain that He is holding your heart as well. As a witness of His divine presence and perfection, I cannot promise that each day from this day forward will be easier for you but I can promise that you are loved by God unlike anything you can relate to in mortality. I also promise that as you open yourself to His presence in your life you will see miracles and you will eventually know in your heart that you are not alone and that you never will be.
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June 23, 2016
If a Country…
I have great concern for the United States of America. I think this country is filled with wonderful individuals who do not understand how precarious the blessing of freedom can be and is. Situtational ethics and morals are not a strength to this country – they are a weakness. The Ten Commandments were never intended as biblical law only – they are eternal law from a God who is as unchanging as HIs laws. The constitution of this country was written through divine guidance from that very same God who created us. It is divine guidance that enables ordinary humans to do extraordinary things. It was through divine guidance and divine miracles that this nation was established. It is an unfortunate truth but it is true that evil men exist in this world. Power, wealth, and greed successfully tempt individuals to do many hurtful things that bring pain and misery to our world. Those evil men and women live in all countries of this world. There are men and women who live within our borders who desire to and who are taking steps to take over this country and to remove the freedoms that this nation was built upon. It is because of evil men and women that our personal freedoms must be protected and cherished. We must be able to defend ourselves and our beliefs. Our nation was rightfully established as One Nation under God. The strength behind our nation is the families that teach right and wrong and who make God central in their lives. The Fathers, Mothers, and Teachers who help to instill an understanding of God, His laws, and his everlasting desire to bless us with abundance and love are the very individuals that this nation depends upon for its well being. It is the not president or congress that gives this nation its strength – it is the citizens that they are elected to represent. We each are responsible to be the type of citizen and the mother, father or teacher (example) that our nation needs in order to keep our freedoms protected and our children provided with the life education that will continue to engender moral individuals who hold dear and sustain the freedom of this nation. If our nation is to remain free and strong – we must each take personal responsibility to maintain our freedom and strength. We must not be afraid to do the right thing and to stand for that which is right.
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June 22, 2016
Continuous Effort….
Children are such an amazing example! I marvel each time I have the experience of watching a newborn progress through their first year! Having 6 children and 17 grandchildren, I have been blessed with that experience multiple times. From a helpless baby, totally dependent on others for movement and care, they transition to a toddler who, in a relatively short amount of time, has gained the skills needed to feed themselves, move independently, and participate in simple communication. Day to day, the progress can seem barely perceptible. Yet, over the course of a year – the miracle happens. If we are deliberate in our efforts, we can continue to unlock our potential throughout the course of our lives. We each have been blessed with abilities and gifts which are meant to be manifest in our lives! With continuous effort, you can manifest yours! It is never an easy task but it is always worth the effort!
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June 21, 2016
Looking for Rainbows…
As I write today’s post, I sit in the PICU waiting room at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. My 10 year old granddaughter is in surgery. She sustained injuries 9 days ago in a rock slide while hiking in the mountains of Montana with her family. As a result of that rock slide, she sustained several injuries and has suffered through the pain of her injuries and all of the medical procedures intended to help her. Watching her suffer has been very difficult for her parents and all of her family & friends. Throughout these last nine days, I have reflected often on the fact that two situations have co-existed side by side throughout this ordeal. While my granddaughter’s injuries have been (and are) serious, it has not been lost on me that we have much to be grateful for. I realize that, in the midst of this trial, we have been blessed with miracle after miracle. She was a part of a rock slide in which an approximately 300 pound boulder landing on her abdomen. Yet, although she has a broken pelvis and other injuries, she does not have head trauma, broken ribs, broken appendages, nor was her spine injured. Prayers and blessings have been offered in her behalf and heaven has heard and responded. It is clear to me that God and his angels have had my granddaughter in their arms from the very moment the rock slide began. I realize that because of divine intervention, I and my family get to be concerned about her recovery rather than her loss. Did I mention that I hate hospitals? Suffice it to say that I have had many unpleasant experiences in hospitals. Did I also mention that I am grateful for those individuals who have been trained to handle the trauma of injuries like my granddaughters? I could choose to focus on all the negatives right now – but the truth is that although pain and trauma have made a place in our lives for a time, there is much to be grateful for and too many rainbows present to not know that God is with and assisting us. Today, I am extremely thankful for all of my rainbows.
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June 20, 2016
Which Way?….
Once we move beyond God’s presence and come to this world through that process called birth it becomes much harder to understand God’s perfection and character. Children “Get It” and they are able to exercise faith much easier than those of us who have been around for a few more years. As children become older and progress into adolescence and adulthood, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain that childlike simple faith. Faith is a significant reason for our presence on earth. Yet, we don’t obtain faith until we turn over some control to God. Most of us tend to be control freaks when it comes to life. We think we know ourselves (and others) better than anyone else. My experience in heaven showed me how incorrect that notion is. I saw that God knew me and knew you better than we could even begin to know ourselves. I wish I could say that once I returned to my body that utilizing faith was easy peasy – it isn’t but it is getting easier. I know that turning myself over to God is absolutely and unconditionally the best way for me to have to most amazing and meaningful life possible. What I learned of God, while in heaven, left me in awe of His ever perfect and complete knowledge and intelligence.That’s why I keep working at turning my life over to God. Every time I exercise faith in God’s plan for me my faith grows and life gets better and I continue to see miracle after miracle in my life. Although I rarely know what the next event in my life is going to be – I know that as long as I trust in God and his direction that everything is going to be as it should be. If trusting in God is difficult for you – don’t stop because it is hard – allow God to take your hand and help you along the path of life that is meant to be yours! It may be difficult at times but I promise you it will be worth it!
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June 16, 2016
There Are no Ordinary Moments…
Do you love your life? Do you treasure each breath you are blessed with? Do you feel like your life is blah blah blah? If so, I’m thinking that perhaps it has been too long since you exercised some good ol’ fashioned gratitude! Are you waiting for that special moment when there are no trials present and you have everything in life that you want? If you really have had such a moment, please let me know about it – you might be the only person I have ever known. If, you, like me, have never had such a moment – welcome to the blessing of life! We are not here for a time share experience, we are here to learn. When we exercise gratitude and learn how to cherish each precious second that we are blessed with – that is when I have found that life becomes the blissful, amazing experience full of blessings and growth that we all yearn for! Life is precious – blessings are abundant – we just have to recognize them!
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June 15, 2016
Love is Spelled…
The most precious gift a parent can give their child is TIME. No adult looks back on their childhood and mourns the fact that they did not have designer clothes but plenty of adults have mourned the fact that one or both parents were barely present. The most precious gifts we can give to each other are free and yet priceless. Be sure to share your love and your time with those you love!
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June 14, 2016
Remember to be Grateful
This seemed like an appropriate rerun to post today. I have posted this meme before however the commentary is fresh! This meme just seemed appropriate as I sit today in ICU with my 10 year old granddaughter who was injured in a rock slide 3 days ago. It is difficult to see her in pain and mostly immobile. It is hard to think that it will be several months before she can be pain free and her playful self again. Yet my family and I have much to be thankful for. She is alive and she will heal. Although I wasn’t there and I couldn’t see them, I am 100% sure that she was given angelic protection and that we, as a family, have been the beneficiaries of many miracles (again). She is severely injured but all of her injuries are nothing compared to what an understanding of falling boulders and their propensity for damaging human bodies tell us they could have been. Between her angels protecting her from the full impact of those boulders and a gentle giant in her hiking party that threw himself in front of a large Boulder that was falling in her path, she is alive. Her gentle giant was protected himself by a dozen water bottles in his back pack and a few angels of his own. Our lives have been disrupted and will be for several weeks as we make sure that she is surrounded by those who love her most. Yet, I cannot help but have a heart that is filled with gratitude for the incredible blessings, miracles, and support that we have been blessed with. In reality, there is always more to be thankful for than to be upset about – if we are willing to look for the blessings in our lives!
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