Reflections of a New Year

Today after I taught early-morning seminary, I went for a long walk. The rain had finally stopped, the sun was trying to break through the clouds, and I wanted to think and ponder.

As I climbed up and down the hills in my neighborhood, I silently prayed, "Heavenly Father, what do you want me to do?"

Sometimes, my life feels like a jigsaw puzzle. There are missing pieces and yet, if I can just find the right combination of patterns, colors, and pieces, everything will fall into place. I love the New Year because it feels fresh with a whole world of possibilities. Some of my friends tease me because I LOVE to set goals. I also love to work on them. I don't always succeed in every goal--but I am making the effort and hopefully by the end of the year I can look back and see some progress.

So this morning, as I walked, I asked, "Heavenly Father, what do you want me to do?"

I had already written down some goals I wanted to accomplish for the coming year. I want to study the life of the Savior as I re-read the New Testament. I want to continue to read the Book of Mormon. I want to attend the temple at least once a month.

I had some physical goals as well--exercising 250 times this year, organizing my recipes, filing my magazines. And I had some intellectual goals as well--completing a couple more BYU classes and reading at least 24 books. But, I felt like something was lacking.

As I walked up and down the streets of my neighborhood, silently praying, this is the thought that came to me:

"Don't just study the life of the Savior, but become more like Him."

It made me think of one of my favorite Primary Hymns.

I'm trying to be like Jesus,
I'm following in His ways,
I'm trying to love as He did,
In all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still, small voice whispers,
"Love one another as Jesus loved you,
Try to show kindness in all that you do,
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."

--I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus from the Children's Songbook.

This coming year I will try a little harder to be kinder. I will try a little harder to be more loving. I will try a little harder to be more patient. I will try a little harder to be a little more like my Savior.

I may not be able to measure this goal in numbers--I won't be able to wake up one morning saying, "Good job--you did it!" But, hopefully at the end of 2011 I will feel a difference in my spirit.

Time Capsule Opened

Yesterday afternoon, I was determined to find the lost time capsule. After a little bit of searching, I found it! When I looked at the carefully labeled lid I realized I was supposed to open the time capsule last New Year's Day! Ooops! I guess with all the excitement of Jennifer and Jacob's wedding and Christmas and the New Year's Eve youth dance that I was helping with, I forgot.

Well, better late than never!

Ron and I had a good laugh over some of our predictions. Some came true. Some did not.

A couple of my predictions that did come true was that I went back to college and that we paid off our mortgage. One of the predictions that did not come true was that Ron and I would travel to Israel. Oh well. Maybe this decade!

I also asked each family member to share a little bit about themselves for the time capsule on their "Who I am" paper. Jennifer's paper made me smile when she wrote as an 11 year old, "I like horses and hope to own/ride one someday." She also shared "I like playing Centipede the most (on my computer.) You have to destroy the centipede and save the world." Go, Jennifer!

In our time capsule I included the front sections of the local paper for Dec. 31, 1999 and Jan. 1, 2000. The New Year's Eve issue's headline was "Clock ticking down." It also mentioned that "Ex-Beatle stabbed by crazed intruder." The New Year's Day paper's headline read, "Jan. 1, 2000: Looks like we made it!" The whole Y2K scare was just that--a scare. Thank goodness.

My favorite part of the time capsule was the sheet of paper titled "Words of Wisdom." Here is what we wrote 11 years ago.

Emily (age 6) "Hug and kiss someone everyday."

Jennifer (age 11) "Don't ask Mom what you can do when your room is a mess." More words of wisdom: "Don't write things you don't want other people to read." A.K.A "I didn't want to keep the first message I wrote, but Mom said I couldn't cross it out."

Loralee: (age much younger than now.) "Start the day with prayer, scripture study, and exercise."

Ron: (age much younger than now.) "Buy low--sell high."

Christie (age 18) "Do what is right even when it's hard. Sometimes the right thing to do is not always the 'popular' thing to do."

Heather (age 14) "Always finish what you start."

Dear Christie, Heather, and Jennifer,

Your predictions will go into the mail next week along with your "Who I Am" papers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Love,
Mamoom

Predictions

Ten years ago, our family put together a family time capsule with predictions of what we thought would happen to us individually and as a family over the next decade. The time capsule was sealed up with tape and placed on a top closet shelf. I looked at it occasionally, but never opened it up. I was waiting for 2010's New Year's Eve to reveal if our predictions were accurate.

Alas, with the move, I am not sure where our time capsule is now. I don't know how accurate we were in our predictions. If I ever find it, I'll have to let the family members know so we can have a good laugh. However, as we approach a new decade, here are my predictions for the coming 10 years....

Christie will continue to be a computer genius and be recruited by a major computer giant in the Bay Area. Tim will complete his animation studies and get hired to design the next big computer game. They will both relocate to the Bay Area and buy a home on our street.

Heather will receive another promotion at work, finally leave public accounting, and start her own home-based business where she doesn't have to put in such grueling hours during tax season. Dustin will not only graduate with his degree in Mechanical Engineering, but he will find a great job in the Silicon Valley. They will relocate to the Bay Area and buy a home on our street.

Jacob will graduate from the Police Academy. Jennifer will be named "Teacher of the Year." After a series of rapid promotions, Jacob will land a great job as a commander of a small town's police department (because it's safer) and Jennifer will become a principal of the elementary school right across the street from our house. They will relocate to the Bay Area and buy a home on our street.

Emily will not only graduate from High School, but she will go onto college where she will get an amazing degree in Floral Design/Photography/Business. She will marry a marvelous returned missionary in the Oakland Temple. Once he gets his Ph.d he'll be hired by San Jose State and Emily will start a wedding planning business. Of course, they will settle down in the Bay Area and buy a home on our street.

And my big prediction for Ron and I?

Ron and I will finally become grandparents and we will spoil all the grandchildren who live on our street!