Category: Family

Relationships, children, and the dynamics between family members.

WHY FISH

Jeanne 1 Comment

For some people, it’s fishing. Some really get into gardening, or walking. Some of us travel. Photography, art, singing. Hobbies. My Dad always said that everyone needs a hobby. His was building radio-controlled airplanes and then flying them. He also played the guitar and taught me. That became a passion for me for many years. What is it for you? What beckons you? What is it that is so compelling that you even forget to eat?

Fishing brings us to lazy rivers, streams & bayous, or lakes wide & deep,
Or sand & waves, or oceans wide, with dreams where large fish sleep,
Where small & large, thick & thin, black to white, fish wish to stay,
With live bait, flies & lures, we fish night and day.

And when at last, we catch a fish, from a bass to silver king,
We have a fight from great to sleight, that makes our spirits sing!
Some fish for food, some fish for sport, some catch & then release.
Some fish to relax in our Creator's art.  God's canvas brings us peace.

As we hold this life force within our own two hands,
It's up to us to free that fish, or cook it in a frying pan.
If I decide to keep this fish & take it's life away,
I take it's life reverently & before we eat that fish, we pray.

We thank God for all the miracles of fish to meats on land or sea,
From fruit to nuts, peas to melons; all here to set our taste buds free.
We thank God for everything we smell,  touch, taste, hear, sense & see.
For the Gifts to talk & walk, & sing praises unto Thee.

We are grateful for every living thing:  mammals to birds, shrimp to fish.
We thank God for Jesus the Christ.  He grants us each worthy wish.

Innocence

Jeanne 1 Comment

I’ve been thinking about our society and how we relate to each other. I see tons of mistrust, judgement, apathy, anger, depression, hopelessness, sadness, pain, disappointment, discouragement, and the list could go on. You’ve seen it too.

We could all argue about the causes of all this, and we all have different solutions. And it all just makes me tired and want to go to bed and forget it all, but, when I’m trying to go to sleep, I keep thinking about it. Wondering.

There are some days that I never laugh or even smile. But, there are some days that I do because of what I see.

I see my grandson. He always has a smile for me, and he hugs me in his own special way. We point to noses in his animal books. We laugh at the pig puppet. He squeals when I chase him. He says words that I don’t understand, but they are sweet, and they are innocent–totally accepting. He doesn’t know about COVID. He’s never been bullied. He doesn’t even know what country he lives in. He doesn’t know that you need money. He doesn’t know what the plan is for the day.

He lives in the moment and loves it. New objects are a delight. Old ones are too. Anything you plan is fine. I see a peace and calmness in his face, and, for a few minutes, all the world is great, and problem free, and happy.

I just can’t thank God enough for this precious miracle in our lives. Blessings really do come in little packages.

The Gateway

Jeanne 1 Comment

This is the first of 5 psalms of Thanksgiving, one to be posted each day for the next 5 days.

Gratitude is the gateway for all who truly see.
Grateful eyes see past life's woes into eternity.
When we see & hear through all life's trials, with all our soul & heart,
We do become more clear & true, as gratitude becomes a  practiced art.
The true joy & gratitude are found in the simple things of life.

Thanks Giving

Jeanne 1 Comment 
Thanks Giving is for giving thanks from the last unto the first,
For what our family is to us, we strive to tell in humbled verse.

From Roland  unto Grandpa, we'll give each soul two lines,
And hopefully we'll say some things where truth with love entwines.

Roland Gene  is the newest babe to join us here on earth.
Roland rolls us in joy and laughter.  His heart is of great worth.

Allie-Mae Venice is sweet & honest.  She touches us deep within.
Allie fills us with her love.  Her warm heart helps us win.

Jetta Rose Renee is full of energy.  Her smile warms our hearts.
Jetta's kind, caring ways touch us deep, as she does her special part.

James David  has fun-loving honesty reaching deep within his soul.
We feel his heart & like his smile & love to watch James grow.

Asa Joseph Aaron is a thoughtful son.  His courage grows within.
Ace's honest integrity will keep his soul from sin.

Parleigh Ann Deseret is a gifted soul in art and writing too.
Par's honesty and courage will safely guide her through.

Ammon Abraham is a thoughtful soul, wise beyond his years.
Ammon has a wondrous mind.  His good choices cast out all fears.

Now we move to our children & every special spouse
That gives us joy & love, as we seek for God's house.

Evamarie Richardson, our last daughter, is a Mom, clear and true.
Eve's greatest joy is for Ben & James, to help them to grow true.

Benjamin H. Richardson is a loving Dad and a true mate.
He tries his best in all he does for a good home to create.

Valoree Dawn Carver is a special, caring friend to all our family.
Val tries her best, as wife & Mom, as everyone can see.

Joshua Brian Carver is a great Dad & husband to his wife.
Josh helps us when he can & lifts our worldly strife.

Aaron Abraham Anderson is a good Dad & mate to his wife.
Abe loves & serves his family beyond all earthly strife.

Taryn  Wooley Anderson is a great Mom.  Taryn's children love her so.
We're thankful for out daughter & friend..  She helps our family grow.

Jeanne Rich Anderson is a grandma, a mom & wife,
The greatest gift Bob will ever have is Jeanne, as my eternal wife.

Now Robert Earl Anderson has left his part to me,
Bob adds the spice in abundance to this, our family.

Get Out Of The Box!

Jeanne 1 Comment

Just some thoughts today…Once you think about it–it just might seem to get worse.

A health crisis is upon us. Cases are on a sharp rise. Hospital beds are at capacity. Wearing a mask and washing your hands is easy-peasy, but some other aspects are not…over time:

Staying at home, as we are asked to do…when we need grocery items (all the time)…When we crave a burger and fries that we haven’t cooked….When we need to prepare for Christmas and shop as we have always done in the past…When we are asked to limit physical contact and who we ought to be around…when we just want to take all day and stroll through a store and just ‘look’.

So, you begin to feel BOXED IN, and the walls seem to squeeze you, and

..that only makes all the things you want to or need to do seem bigger and bigger…and the box gets smaller and smaller and pushes all those ‘things’ against you–in your face, and you can’t see anything else. And there just isn’t room anymore.

And a thousand things are undone…then, none of them are even appealing, in fact, nothing seems appealing. You don’t want to do anything, but you feel ‘driven’ to do something, but what? You can’t see any answers because all your problems have wrapped themselves around your face, and blocked off everything. Sometimes you feel you can’t breathe. Sometimes you feel the whole world is against you, and any joy that used to be vivid is now muted and dull.

And in that closing box, even vision is now limited to not even beyond your nose.

I CALL THIS DEPRESSION !

It’s a very ugly thing. See it for what it is, and get out of that box!

getting out of the box will make the walls of your home seem even expansive! And your sight will lengthen out and discover the many things inside your new expanded space–the things that you CAN DO without even leaving the house. And you are so busy thinking of those things that you no longer notice what it was that you CAN’T DO.

That’s the trick…get out of the box

Sometimes, just knowing you’re in a little box is all it takes to step out and re-focus…but, we’re lucky if it ends up being that easy.

Sometimes we sit in the box, and we know we are in the box, and we want to be out, but we can’t break away.

Friends and family may help if we want them to. Call them. Doctors can help if we need them to. Call them. Jesus Christ will help is we pray him to. Pray.

Just get out of that tiny box!

I think it must also be dark in the box. Watch this to see images of light..

A Worthy Routine

Jeanne 1 Comment

With permission from my son-in-law, Joshua Carver, I am posting a delightful and poignant poem:

I lift him us as he wails against an uncertain world,
And he weighs me down like a warm anchor.
I hold him close while you watch us leave.
Somehow, you trust that he's in good hands.

He weighs down the bed between us like an anchor,
and I see a blanket of peace drape over your face.
Somehow, you know he's in good hands--
They reach for each other in the dark.

I see the blanket of peace still over your face
as we feed the creature whatever we can.
He watches us reach for each other in the light,
grinning at the spectacle of his two happy keepers.

We feed him whatever we must, or
hide him away in the dark cove of the beach.
His grins are never far from my thoughts as
we laugh and rest against one another, waiting.

He wakes in the dark cove of the beach.
I toss him up so he knows I'll always catch him,
and we laugh and rest against one another.
My blood swells as I watch you breathe love into him.

You toss him to me so he knows we'll always share him.
We fawn over him as he wails against an uncertain world, and
My blood swells as all three of us share our love at once.
I hold him close while you watch us leave.

A worthy routine, indeed!

Bandit

Jeanne 1 Comment

I still remember the day that my son, Aaron, who worked at a nursing facility, came home from lunch bringing a leashed Bandit home to stay. His son, Ammon had been wishing for a dog, and, Bandit had been a companion dog for one of the recently deceased residents of the facility.

Bandit had the appearance of an aggressive, no-nonsense dog, not to be fooled with; but he was anything but that. He did bark ferociously at intruders (anyone who came through the door), but that was never backed up. He was shy and scared and timid. He became a beloved family dog, welcoming in another 3 kids, besides the two already there.

He loved being a part of the family and expected to be treated as one of the kids, including having McDonald’s cheesburgers, even if he had to steal one. And so it was sad to see his physical decline in the last few weeks and months, finally sucumbing to death last week.

So, here’s to Bandit and all the love our pets freely give us.

BANDIT
Bandit joined our family; a nursing dog, kind and true.
He loved each member from Abe to Allie, and me and you.
Bandit served us in kindness, in his own loving way.
We know God has a special place where souls like Bandit play.

Aaron learned from nursing, how to love each passing soul.
He comforted and helped Bandit to join God's forever show.
Your Dad gave you precious moments to share with a dear friend,
Through Bandit's last days here on earth, with his dear ones, to the end.

We feel for your great loss of this dear loving soul.
His memory will live in us where ever we may go,
Until that day, we met again, somewhere beyond life's trail,
And run and play with our dear friend, somewhere beyond the veil.

Anxiety

Jeanne 1 Comment

So, like many of you, I’ve been feeling anxious about all this COVID-19 stuff: hospital capacities, new cases, schools starting, face masks, social distancing, etc. Everybody has an opinion, and the more I hear, the more anxious I become. One of my friends posted a comment on face book that helped. She said she expressed fears about the future of our nation, and, her friend responded that there is no sense in becoming frantic over situations that we have no control over; instead, focus on the good things around us, on the things we CAN control, like our love, and the happiness within our spere.

And then I listened to ‘Music and the Spoken Word’. It was a pre-recodred program commemorating 90 years of public broadcasting, and they opened the program by singing, “The Morning Breaks, the Shadow Flee”…

You can hear it (I can’t seem to post it) on thetabernaclechoir.org and choose #4739

Below is the script of today’s broadcast. I found it to be encouraging and comforting.

july12Download

46 Years Together

Jeanne 2 Comments

On Saturday, June 20th, we celebrated our 46th Wedding Anniversary in Teton National Park. That’s where we took our honeymoon. We kayaked and camped, and have returned there for many of the other 46 years!

Our daughter sent us a text: “Happy Anniversary to my favorite lovebirds! 46 years later you’re back in the Tetons. Still having adventures. Still best friends. If that’s not true love I don’t know what is. Have a wonderful day you two!”

Gros Ventre Campground 2020

Bob wrote us a poem about true love–it’s called “Our Greatest Gift”

Our greatest gift is You, Lord, for all we know and see
From mountains unto deserts, from rivers, lakes and trees,
From a sparrow to an eagle, from an elk unto a mouse,
All life does astound us that passes through Thy house.

In God's house are many mansions, worlds beyond our eyes.
We share His grace together; through Christ, we grow more wise.
God has given you to me, Dear, for time and eternity.
You are my greatest gift of all I know and see.

You help me to remember our God's love is eternal.
You lift me when I'm down, caught in hate's inferno.
You are my greatest blessing our Lord gives to men on earth:
A righteous caring wife, Mom and Grandma is of an untold worth.

May I live always worthy to walk close by your side
And live with you forever and in God's love abide
And have our special family always in God's sweet love,
With Mom and Dad, kids and grand kids, forever up above.

And so, I thank God for all that is good, and for his tender love that has carried us(me) through these 46 years. Love that has lessened pain, steeled us against the cold blasts that come to us all, deserved or undeserved…and has helped the unpleasant things to work out for our good. I’m reminded of a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants (D& C 123:17) ” Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”

And thanks be for our family, our children and grandchildren, who are a constant source of joy, who make life worth living, and who make us laugh and smile!

Inspiration

Jeanne 1 Comment 
Inspiration is a word that reaches each of us.  As we seek, we will find.
The more we learn to listen with our whole heart, soul and mind.
Prayer builds our desire to hear Truth's music to our soul.
Eternal light comes to us as we stretch, seek and grow.

Inspiration is a gift we each, who seek, will surely find.
If we strive with determination, the spirit fells our mind.
We must strive with deep desire to hear God's eternal soul.
The Holy Ghost whispers to us, when we truly strive to grow.

Inspiration grows like a seed.  We must water it with our tears.
We feed it with our hope, as our faith grows through the years.
Only by our constant effort, hope builds faith through charity,
We will grow in understanding, through our Lord's pure clarity.

In these pandemic days, there is more time for meditation and self evaluation. When we are away from things that challenge us; things we encounter as we interact, which we are doing very little of now….I think the easy way is to gravitate to the lazy, and we find that we avoid anything that takes much effort.

But effort is the gateway to accomplishment, growth, learning and satisfaction. Seeking for divine inspiration is an effort..much more than a casual prayer, but a focused desire that is accompanied by patience, perseverance, and sometimes pleading.

It is my hope that we can all restructure our lives to include the divine–the higher purpose that manifests itself by our love, kindness, compassion and reverance.

There’s nothing like somebody who cares.