A Gift in Light, Dark, Shadow

• The sun coming up over the mountains in the morning.


• The full moon in the night sky.


• My shadow as it fell on the sand on a beach in Florida.

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Three Gifts Baked

• Chocolate chip cookies.


• Wheat bread.


• German chocolate brownies.

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Three Gifts Musical

• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream. (Over the past sixteen or seventeen years, I've seen numerous productions of this musical based on the Biblical story of Joseph, found in the Book of Genesis - and I've loved them all. My favorite song is "Close Every Door.")


• The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof. (I have memories of watching the film versions of both these musicals with my parents when I was a child - and the feelings they invoked have been part of my life ever since. More recently I saw stage productions of these musicals and fell in love with them all over again.)


• The Secret Garden. (The classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett upon which this musical is based was one of my childhood favorites. After I first saw a production of musical, I had to buy the soundtrack - with Mandy Patinkin as Archibald Craven - because I loved the music so very much. I've since seen another production, which I also loved. My favorite song is "Wick." By the way, I've seen Mandy Patinkin in concert since then too - which was awesome!)

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Three Gifts Learned

This week I'm attending a seminar for work. Today's gifts are ideas I'm learning at that seminar.

• Success is ultimately about being relevant.


• One component of the implementation of a strategic plan is metrics. The crucial factor is deciding what to measure!


• If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.

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Three Gifts Random

• Carrot cake - for the third time since the beginning of June. In some ways I think I like it even more than chocolate!


• Reliable transportation - to get me to work each morning. It's nice to take this for granted, though I try not to.


• Libraries - my favorite use of my tax dollars. I live in a county with a particularly great library system.

#1000Gifts #JoyDare

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Three Gifts of Stone

• "Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" (Helaman 5:12).


• "Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall" (D&C 50:44).


• "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock" (Matthew 7:24-25).

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Three Gifts Yellow

• The Golden Arches, where I picked up lunch for the kids and me (because I was working from home today).


• Some of the M&Ms on the chocolate frozen yogurt I ate for dinner.


• The old, soft Tshirt I'm wearing to bed.

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Three Gifts Curled

• Erin, all dressed up for church.


• Birthday presents, tied up with ribbon.


• Pasta, with the works.

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A Gift of Life, Growth, Decline

The year 2006 was a year in which I truly felt "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

In July I became an aunt for the thirteenth time when my nephew JT was born, and his birth mother gave the incredible gift of life to my sister Cathy and brother-in-law James. (See photos here and here.)

In September I grieved at the death of my long-time friend Laraine - and yet (as I wrote here) I also realized that even my grief testifies that there is "a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:2,4). It's all part of the circle of life.

When, on November 2, JT died from SIDS, it was only my faith that brought me any comfort. A few weeks before I had told my family about a song that I had heard during the women's meeting at our church. The son-in-law of our pianist had written the song when his baby died, and the title was "I'm Not Suffering." When I heard the title, I assumed the "I" was the baby, and I thought the song was going to be a trite statement about how the baby had gone to a better place. Instead, the "I" was the father, grieving over his child, and the lyrics were based on the promises of Jesus Christ to "not leave [us] comfortless" (John 14:18), that He "hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows . . . and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5), and that while life is hard, He is with us and will give us the strength we need to carry on.

Still today I have to believe in those promises! Throughout the circle of life, He is with me!

#1000Gifts #JoyDare

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Three Gifts in Jars

Last fall, I spent a good part of one day at my mom's house, canning vegetable soup for my family's use in the following winter months. Those jars held more than three gifts. In addition to the edible gifts of potatoes, carrots, celery, and barley, the jars were filled with the gift of my mother's teaching, the gift of preparation to cast out fear, and the gift of my love for my family.

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Three Gifts in Weakness

Faith. Humility. Grace.

"My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27).
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A Gift of Rhythm, Rhyme, Reason

Music.

Elisabeth performing at Abravanel Hall.
November 2008.

Poetry.

Numb
A Poem by Erin Kaseda
(2011)

"Numb"
Said the mama bear to her cub
"Is devoid of sensation
Devoid of emotion

Empty.

Numb is when you stop
Feeling
Numb is when you blend in
With the snow
And when white becomes black

So be anything but monochromatic
Bleed red
Bruise rainbows
Spray paint yourself purple

Just don't become
Numb."

Thought.

Alumnae of Brigham Young University.
Class of 1962, Class of 2013, and Class of 1986!

#1000Gifts #JoyDare

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Three Gifts Water

Crystal Cove State Park. October 2009.
Laguna Beach, California.



Oxnard Beach Park. March 2013.
Oxnard, California.



Ocean Beach. December 2011.
San Francisco, California.

#1000Gifts #JoyDare

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A Gift of Challenge, Conflict, Change

• A dare to live more fully.


• A belief in Christ and reconciliation to God.


• A new creature, spiritually born again.

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Three Gifts of Enthusiasm

en·thu·si·asm
enˈTHo͞ozēazəm/

noun: strong excitement about something; intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.

• Right now I'm very excited about my upcoming trip to NYC to celebrate my fiftieth birthday with my family! A year in the planning, now less than a month away, this trip will be the fulfillment of some of my lifelong dreams.


• Though I am shy and an introvert, I can talk about books and ideas for hours! I am grateful for the friends and family members who are willing to do that with me.


• "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). My mantra scripture, this is a reminder to be grateful in every circumstance and a prompt to always seek joy.

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Three Gifts of Persistence

That which we persist in doing becomes easier -
not that the nature of the thing has changed,
but that our ability to do has increased.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

• I've never actually seen the movie Finding Nemo - but I find encouragement in Dory's advice: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."


• In July 2012 I ran a 5K for the first time. Since then I've run four more, most recently yesterday. My training has ebbed and flowed over the past three years, but I keep reminding myself that persistence is the key - so I keep going.


• All my life I've taken a perverse sense of pleasure in doing what other people say I can't do. (Yes, I'm one of those people!)

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A Gift in Red, White, and Blue

Happy Independence Day!
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

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A Gift in Family, Faith, Freedom

• I have an awesome family! (Facebook Status on June 29, 2014.)


• "Let us ... come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). (Facebook Status on April 27, 2014.)


• During this Independence Day weekend, I'm particularly thankful for the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution - separation of church and state, the right to assemble, freedom of speech! (Facebook Status on July 3, 2011.)

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Three Gifts Read

• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.


• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.


• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

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Three Gifts Loved

• Elisabeth, my firstborn, now twenty-three and ready for a adventure in Japan next year.


• Erin, the middle child with all the charm and the neuroticism of that position, just graduated from high school and preparing for college in the fall.


• Jonathan, the boy with three "mothers," my baby who is now taller than I am.

#1000Gifts #JoyDare

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