Upon Destiny's Song Quotes

“I truly believe we can either see the connections, celebrate them, and express gratitude for our blessings, or we can see life as a string of coincidences that have no meaning or connection.
For me, I’m going to believe in miracles, celebrate life, rejoice in the views of eternity and hope my choices will create a positive ripple effect in the lives of others. This is my choice.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“They looked to each other for support, for strength, and at times, motivation, to remember why and for whom they lived.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“The boy’s skeletal frame was now all that remained of him, and through his flesh could be seen the steady beat of his indomitable heart.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“She took comfort in the familiarity of his smell, knowing that if she lost all her possessions and her home, at least she would have her family.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“They could have fought against it, begged for another way or gone off the path in hopes of finding an easier passage. Instead, they looked upon the trail ahead, the rough ridge, now bound by thick snow, and they accepted the path they had chosen.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“Some had come to look upon death as a mercy. Death meant warmth. Death was light. Life was cruel, cold, heavy and dark. Life was pain. Death was deliverance, and many would welcome it. Others doggedly clung to life and willed themselves to walk on.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“Her sadness was like a deep well just beneath the surface of her determination.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“She had walked to the brink, abandoning all belief, and just before the bitter end, she was pulled from the abyss by faith.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“I don’t think my journey has to be harrowing to be important. Simply doing the tasks of the day is enough. Such as getting up every morning to go to work to support my family and sacrificing personal time in service to others, teaching my children to give thanks for what they have and to care for others.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“If there was one thing I learned from all my research, it was that the majority of the early pioneers didn’t dwell on the hard times; they indeed related every aspect of their lives to their relationship with God, specifically in regards to this disastrous journey. They thanked Him for their lives and the fact that they made it through. Most didn't blame leaders or those around them. They learned to accept their plight and move forward with faith.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“He was not being courageous as he bore the freezing stream for his wife and children. He simply chose between the lesser of two evils—the pain and suffering he would endure in the river, a physical pain that he could stand to bear, or the pain and suffering he would feel if he had to watch his family wade across and freeze. It was not a decision. The choice had already been made the moment Ole proposed marriage to his wife and welcomed these beautiful daughters into the world.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“She felt the depth of her losses before they were realized, and she wondered, Is there still hope? Did she even dare hold on to such a tenuous thing as hope?”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“I knew in that moment that everything happens for a reason, but we can’t always know the reason when the journey begins. Some things we can only understand at the end of our journey.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“The shoreline of my thoughts disappeared as I drifted upon an open ocean of reflection.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“She considered what had made Denmark home to her anyway. Was it the sense of familiarity? That wherever she went there were echoes of a hundred memories she could pluck from her thoughts?”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“The things that matter most to me are eternal. The bonds of love shared within a family I believe to be eternal.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“In a matter of moments, I awakened to a life that wasn’t mine. It was like peering into a dark hidden world that I wasn’t supposed to know about and that my mind didn’t want to believe existed.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“They left their encampment with dirt-covered linen strewn about the abandoned grounds amongst clothes, shoes, children’s toys and other discarded belongings. The handcart wheels crunched over them, and the dry wheels screamed as the Willie Company started for Zion.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“She slowly rolled the book over in her hands, memorizing the cover as she said goodbye. She flipped through the pages, feeling the air on her face and breathing in the smell of the paper.”
― Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

“...my mind drifted to my family. I thought about how I had the opportunity to serve them. I didn’t have to carry them across a freezing river in the middle of a snowstorm or give them my food when they didn’t have enough. There would be other streams they would need help to cross, and I’d be there for them, always and in whatever way they needed me.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“In my mind, past, present and future became a blur as I stood in the middle of the celestial room, in the middle of forever. It was as if I were to take a rope that went on forever in both directions and cut it anywhere then the cut would always be exactly in the middle. And if I cut it twice I would have a beginning and an end, but eternity would continue in both directions.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“Suddenly a feeling swam over her with a mighty strength. The feeling was both overwhelming and peaceful, linking her to some cosmic and eternal force as the earth around her became more vibrant and alive. It was as if heaven and earth, past and present, were all one in an instant.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“You see that car?' he said. 'I drive where I want, I have everything I want and all my life I have had three meals a day. I have nice clothes and a good place to live. I’ve been given everything and it’s time I did some- thing for someone besides myself.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“It seemed so simple in a lot of ways, to use a basic melody to pull away from myself. To ease the pain and hide my feelings deep within a metaphor that only I understood. I couldn’t have foreseen that my quiet and dark night of the soul would start me down a path of expression through song.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song

“I remembered looking up in the sky to see the contrail of a jet overhead. I thought how the harrowing journey that took Marie's family four months across the plains would take a little more than two hours in a plane.”
― Mike Ericksen, Upon Destiny's Song