Meditation

Today I am grateful for Meditation. And all of my items are going to be about it.

1. I am grateful that I am a part of a 40 day meditation group. I love feeling the support from others and learning from them and from the teacher. 40 days is a celestial number for transformation and for communion with God. (Christ fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before He began His ministry. The Hebrew spies were gone from the twelve tribes for 40 days. etc.) So we were challenged to do 40 consecutive days of meditation to see where God would lead us. Today is day 36, (I'm geeking out a little bit that tomorrow is day 37) and I am really loving the closeness that I feel with Heaven.

2. I'm learning tons about meditation and about breathing. I am grateful for this knowledge. Meditation has two parts--the thinking part, or stillness, and the controlled breathing part. I am grateful for learning more about controlled breathing--because controlling our breathing helps us become more holy. We have in us the Breath of Life, Moses 3:7, and becoming aware of our breathing helps us to be aware of the holiness that we have in us. So I am grateful for the new insights and knowledge I am getting. 

3. We are doing Kirtan Kirya, which is an ancient Indian form of meditation. I really like it. There is a ton of symbolism that points to Christ, but there are two parts that just make it an ideal fit for me. As part of Kirtan Kirya, we chant Mantras, and we preform Mudras. Mantras are sayings that we recite again and again, to help move the thoughts into our subconscious -and as they all point to Christ, then when I am chanting I am placing Christ in my mind and removing all other distractions. The Mudras are finger actions that we repeat with each word, and I love them. I am really like a teenager still, where I can't sit still. I'm always either fingering a bookmark as I read, twiddling my thumbs as I listen, or tapping a foot, or doing some small movement--especially when I'm focused and engaged. The Mudras and Mantras are just enough to help me focus and be still. I don't think I could be still and feel God's presence without them.

4. I am grateful for The Bug Hero for helping me take care of the boys so I can meditate every morning. It makes the biggest difference in my day to take time to be still, and listen to God before I start everything up. I am feeling more patience, and more love because of the time I have to allocate to God in the morning. I'm only doing it for 19 minutes and it is powerful.

5. Today I had an incredible experience while I was meditating, and that's why today is all about meditation. I tried meditating in the morning, but it didn't work because The Bug Hero wasn't there to watch the kids. So I wasn't really worried about it and knew that I would do the meditation while The Peaceful Hero was taking his nap. 

The past few weeks have been hard, because The Bug Hero has been working on his PhD Proposal, and he's been gone a lot, and then stressed out when he's home. I have been picking up a lot, and I've been happy to do so. But today as I went up to meditate I was feeling like it was hard. I had a lot to do for the rest of the day, and I wasn't sure how I was going to get it all done. 

I started meditating and as soon as I was in my meditative state, and I felt an overwhelming sense of Love for The Friendly Hero and for The Peaceful Hero. I felt how much I loved them, and how proud I was of them growing, and then I could recognize that I was also feeling the Love the Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father have for them. As I felt that love I could feel it changing direction and moving towards the Bug Hero. I am proud of him and I am very blessed by him. I am willing to make a lot of sacrifices for his education and even when it gets hard, he is a very good man and I felt my love intensify as I felt Heaven's love for him. Then I felt the love that is felt for me. And I felt completely cherished and divine. I could feel that I was awakening the Goddess within me. And as I felt this I realized that even if The Bug Hero is very busy and we are helping him, that Heaven is helping me and taking care of me. And I felt humbled. That I am that important to the Divine. And it was powerful. I felt so much peace and I realized that patience is founded upon love, that I can be patient with all the shortcomings within myself and within the other family members because I love them.

6. I am grateful for how close I am feeling to Heaven and how meditating is helping me bring myself to a place where Heavenly Father can talk to me. My favorite metaphor for meditation is that you bring yourself to Heaven's Door and knock and are willing to take whatever is offered, whenever it is offered. And you are offered more than you can imagine.

If you are interested in learning more about meditation, I would be happy to answer any questions. The 40 day meditation webinar is starting up again on November 13th, and it's amazing how much closer to God you can feel. 

Cars

1. I am grateful for Gasbuddy.com. I was watching the gas prices, and as I went out tonight to go tutoring, gas had jumped up 27 cents a gallon. I was able to call the Bug Hero, and one station hadn't jumped up that much and I was able to get the cheaper price.

2. I am grateful that I am the favorite parent right now. The Peaceful Hero decided this afternoon that only MOM could take him to the potty. (We did have two accidents over it). It warmed my heart to hear him tell Dad, "no,no,no,no,no,no,no Mom" because I'm no longer the favorite parent once they are weaned.

3. I'm grateful for Nature. We went on a nature walk, and it was great to spend time walking with the boys. And playing red light, green light with the Friendly Hero. Even when he didn't announce the change in colors and I ran him over.

4. I'm grateful for my bank. It's pretty much awesome. We are looking at getting a new car, and they have a car buying process that guarantees us a no hassle price that is a great deal! It's pretty awesome.

5. I'm grateful for my students. I'm tutoring a lot right now and I love going to hang out with teenagers and talk about math. And they pay me for it. It's pretty much awesome that I walk away with all the benefits. (Sometimes I think they are going to say, you had too much fun to get paid for this.)

Sunday Gratitude

1. I'm grateful for the Sunday tradition we took from my Aunt. Every Sunday Dinner we share a time we felt the spirit that week, a time that we were prompted and something we are grateful for. The Friendly Hero and The Peaceful Hero are beginning to say things and it's sweet to hear what they say. (The Friendly Hero was grateful for his Thumbs today.)

2. I am grateful for my calling. I have the best calling for myself right now. I teach Sunday School to the 12-14 year olds. I have a hoot every week. We laugh so hard every week, and the best (most amazing) part is that they all love to have fun and be silly, but when it's time to feel the Spirit and be sensitive, they calm right down. It's the best! (Last week one of the 14 year old boys was telling us about how much he loved babies. I then told him that I loved that a 14 year old boy loved babies and he responded that anyone who doesn't love babies has NO SOUL! Just awesome.)

3. I am thankful for Daylight Savings Time. I got to sleep in the extra hour (Thanks Bug Hero!) and I think that was the turning point for my cold. I am grateful I am feeling better.

4. I am thankful for being able to see progress. Even though the Peaceful Hero had two nasty accidents today, he started telling us when he needed to use the Potty--so we are making progress---and he told us successfully several times throughout the day that he needed to go. Up until today, he would have accident free days only if you took him to the potty every hour. He will continue to have days forward and backwards, but he is making progress every day.

5. I am grateful for the prophet. We watched part of one of his talks and I loved watching my boys watch him. They know that he is the prophet and they are trying to listen to him. The Friendly Hero was able to tell me that he heard the prophet say "Happiness." And The Peaceful Hero said, "Mon-on" which was very tender to see him learning.

November 3

1. I am grateful for a clean house. Cleaning everything always helps to make my attitude and the spirit in our home a lot better.

2. I am grateful for opportunities to serve. We were assigned to clean the church today with one other family. It was great to serve.

3. I'm grateful for my eyes. I love seeing the beauty in the world around me and the delight on my children's faces.

4. I am grateful that the Friendly Hero is curious. He is constantly asking questions. Sometimes it trys my patience, but I love that he wants to learn about the world. But today he said, "I'm sorry I lost my temper. Mommy, where is my temper? Can we find it again?" Pretty cute.

5. I am grateful for colors. The Peaceful Hero is learning his colors and he loves to point out colors and I love to see all the different things that he spots. (Any large truck, van or bus that is school bus yellow is a school bus. It's adorable.)

Boilermaker Express

Today I am grateful for the following:

 1. The Boilermaker Express. There is a free train ride every Friday before a home game here at Purdue. I am grateful that we were able to ride it twice today. The boys were in heaven!

2. I'm grateful for the Peaceful Hero. He had so much fun, but he insisted that we get off and go to the bathroom between the two rides. He had another accident free day. I am grateful he has the desire to learn how to use the bathroom and is learning how to do it!

3. I am grateful for libraries. We went to our library right after the train and we got some more books. It was great to see the two little heroes sliding around the colored rocking chairs and looking at train books.

4. I'm grateful that Purdue's mascot is a Boilermaker. This means we see A LOT of trains around our hometown. Which these two little boys love.

5. I'm grateful for the Bug Hero. He is working on his PhD research proposal and is putting in quite a bit of time to do that. But his professor is pleased with his work, and he is getting really excited about the research he will be doing the next two or three summers.

Gratitude Posts

It's November! I love November, especially my gratitude tradition.

1. I'm grateful for this holiday season. I love spending time being thankful.

2. I am thankful for our Awesome Halloween Costumes. I almost said, "I'm grateful I'm incredibly talented for making all the costumes...." but I can't claim credit for all of them. I made Peaceful Hero's costume from a pattern two years ago, and I had help for Friendly Hero's--I followed this tutorial. http://kthix10.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-an-R2D2-Costume So I didn't come up with the idea, but I did do everything else. Friendly Hero loved it, and it was one of the best we saw that night---everyone really appreciated it. I wish I could claim the Bug Hero's costume, but I did make the vest. (The white part). I did make mine, and it's my own design. (And mine is only cool because I told everyone to look for an announcement for the gender of the baby.) But I'm grateful for the costumes and that we all had fun!

3. I'm grateful for little kicks. I am feeling this little girl move around a lot. It's so much fun! At least for a month or so and then she'll be making big kicks and those are not as fun.

4. I'm grateful for meditation. I've started doing Kundalini yoga and meditation, and I love it! I start every day with about 20 minutes of meditation and time to put God first in my day. As a side note, I am grateful that the Bug Hero takes care of the boys in the morning during that time so I can be uninterrupted in my personal time to worship God.

5. I am grateful for two towheaded boys. These boys make me so happy! Their joy and enthusiasm spreads and I love it!

And it's a....

Girl for those of you who missed the costume!

We are excited to have a baby sister. But the Friendly Hero was in denial for a long time (about a week) and told his friends we were having a brother to be like the Prophet Alma. I had some inspiration and told him that President Monson, our prophet today, has two boys and one girl. And then the Friendly Hero was happy to have a sister!

The Peaceful Hero loves babies and comes up and pats my tummy and says, "Hi! Baby!" and then he runs away. We are so excited!