A Promise to Myself....

 My Baby is asleep, the laundry is folded and now I sit down, to find myself, 

6 months behind on our family journaling.

I am committing today, to never let that happen again.

That, is a promise I am making to myself.

After my Mom and Dad lost their sweet baby boy near 5 months of pregnancy, 

someone advised my Mom to write down all she experienced during that trial.

What a blessing that advice became.

She purchased a journal -

White, with blue writing on the front, and from there, wrote only a few pages, but in great detail all she experienced during that difficult delivery.

I came upon that journal one day.

I was in great need of feeling my Mom close that particular day.

I cannot remember if I was in Jr. High or High School,

but none-the-less, I began snooping through my Dad's dresser drawers.

I went there often, because that is where her purse was - filled with those things she had in her possession when Heavenly Father called her home.

I used to open the purse, and try on her wedding ring.

She was so tiny.  At that point in time, I was too.....

but had to really work to get that thing on my finger!

When I came across her journal, I couldn't wait to open it and read from its pages.

While I was elated to find it, a huge amount of disappointment came 

when I realized it was less than 10 pages full.

What I wouldn't give to have volumes of journals, in her writing, filled with her thoughts.

Now, fast forward to a few years ago.

My sweet Brother and his wife, found themselves experiencing that same, devastating trial

that my parents had to endure.

Nate and Ally lost their sweet Kate just weeks shy of her birth.

They were living in California at the time, which was such a hard thing,

 knowing that was all going on......made it feel like that lived overseas.

Within a couple of weeks, they flew home to lay their precious baby next to our Mom.

I cannot remember why, but I had Mom's journal in my nightstand.

I had carried it with me to each home we had moved to.

When Nate and Ally came to our home, to share their experience,

my mind was immediately turned to thoughts of Mom's journal.

I left the room, went to my nightstand, retrieved her journal, and gave it to Nate and Ally.

It wasn't easy to turn that over, but I knew at the point in time,

that journal was not written for me.

It was written in 1984 for them.

I do not think it was by chance that that advice was given to

 my Mom to document such a sacred, trying time in her life.

If ever there was a time that a boy needed his Mom, that was it for my brother.

Here now, he and Ally had a piece of her there with them, to help comfort and guide them,

from someone who knew first hand what they were going through.

I have never forgotten that day.

We have been told to be a record keeping people.

That was a huge testimony builder to me of the importance of keeping a record of our lives.

I have loved making the books of our blog, and watching our kids go to the front room and pick them up and read from their pages, all of the fun times we've shared as a family.

Just a couple of days ago, I came across Ty's journal from his 5th grade class.

I sat in my chair in my room and read the things he wrote.

I was grateful to know that Travis and I have provided opportunities where Ty has felt loved, important, and found himself having fun making and living traditions we have set.

I have my own personal journal that I have let slip just a little too, and am hoping to start setting aside time to write on it's pages once again, as well as here on this blog for our family.

I want my children to have something to look back on, 

where they will have no doubt the love I have for them or their Father,

and where they will know with assurity, of my testimony and feelings.

It is a great responsibility.

It takes time and effort to keep our family history.

But the gifts that come from doing so, far outweigh it all.

"....... Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your going and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events. ... This is what the Lord has commanded and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives." (Pres. Spencer W. Kimball - New Era, Oct. 1975)