Looking Back

I've been thinking alot about the past year and all that has happened. It was a good year. We didn't have any major illnesses or anything. I managed to not strangle any of my children when report cards came home, and they somehow forgave me all my mistakes of mothering. (You'd think after all this time and this many kids that I'd be better at it, I'm not.)
I always try to take inventory of my life and see if I've changed or improved over the past year. I always hope that I'll be smaller when the big ball drops next time. 20 pounds wasn't my goal, but it's better than nothing.

The other goal I always have is to become more spiritual. I know that alot of years went by that I just stagnated. With young babies and toddlers in tow, it's hard to focus on spiritual things. Church is not much more than an endurance test- can you make it through three hours without pulling out your hair? Now that my kids are older, I can focus more on those things. I tried to keep up with the Sunday School reading and tried to remember to read the RS lesson. I did learn alot from church this year, we have a great ward with wonderful teachers. But, as I reflected on this year, I realized my spiritual growth came in some very different ways.

There's a great quote by President Uchtdorf from the general Relief Society meeting. He said, "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty-and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children. Our birthright-and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth-is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things."

I have had a year of creating. It's been amazing to me to find new ways to create. I've always loved to make things. I've been called 'crafty'. What I haven't been called is a seamstress. I can sew. Thanks to my mom and a few years of 4-H I can run a sewing machine and follow a pattern. I don't like it, though. I don't have the patience or the perfectionism needed to make clothes. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I love to quilt!! I started because a couple women in my ward starting a quilting group. I thought, 'What the heck. It might be fun, and I'll get to know some women better.' It was fun. I made one quilt top, then before I could finish it, I decided to make a quilt for my brother's wedding. I have to say, it turned out beautiful. I've never made a quilt before and this gave me such a great feeling. And, now I'm addicted. I already have plans to make one for each of my children.

The other creative outlet I've discovered is this blog. If you haven't already figured it out, I love to write. I always have. I started writing poetry when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I've finished my one book and am working on a couple more. But, this blog has been my real outlet. I've written more in the past nine months than ever before. I find myself thinking of things to write and laying awake at night as I write in my head. I've learned that the parable of the talents is true and as we work on the talents we have, the Lord really will increase them. As we create, our desire to create is increased as is our ability to do so.

I do have some goals for this next year. (Another 20 pounds would be great.) I think the biggest one will be to continue to find new ways to create.

Thanks to all of you who read my blog. I hope you have a happy and creative New Year!