Wow, I have't don't this in a long while and thought that it would be a good idea to post now that I am a happily married woman.
Life has been quite interesting these past few weeks with the wedding and all the wonderful people that I have been around! The sealing was amazing and the Spirit so very strong. ( A sealing is where a man called of God and given the authority binds a marriage on earth as well as in heaven. Meaning that marriage is eternal and goes on into the next life and forever!) It was amazing that so many were able to attend and that my mom and two of my best friends were able to attend!! My mom just recently received her endowment ( endowment means a gift and it is where you receive and accept covenants that Heavenly Father has given so that we might return to live with Him once again) so it was an added testimony that the Lord hears and answers prayers that are offered up in righteousness. There are so many amazing memories of that day and I can't even begin to truly put into words that greatness of the love that I feel from Heavenly Father on a daily basis.
The joy that fills my soul as I think about the man that I am blessed to have for eternity permeate all the actions that I carry out during the day as he is away at work. I want nothing more than for him to come home and feel the love as the apartment is clean and the dinner is being finished so that we are eating together a warm meal. He also enjoys cooking so, there are times that we cook together and have fun doing it. I know that I have much to learn about being married, but I know that with the help of the Lord and keeping in mind that I must at times make sacrifices for his happiness and knowing that he is doing the same for me that it is more than possible and that our marriage will be happy and full. The more I see how I want our marriage to be the more committed I become to living the gospel more fully and with more enthusiasm. I really am the luckiest woman alive!!
More about the wedding day. After the sealing was finished we were able to take some photos outside of the temple with our family and friends and it was great! We have some great pics and thanks to the kindness of family members and friends we didn't have to pay for them!! The Lord is merciful and I know that He desires us to be happy and not struggle too much. After we finished with the pictures we came back to the apartment and changed into more comfortable clothes and went and enjoyed a luncheon with those that were at the sealing and played around with family and friends. Then we went and started getting used to being with each other and although sometimes we both wonder how we ended up where we are we are happy!
Life is great and The Lord is mindful!
(If you want to learn more about temples and sealings please go to lds.org or mormon.org)
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
The Story of Love!
So, I think it might be time that I finally tell to story of how love snuck up on me and started this amazing journey that I am now on!
It all started as an early morning janitor in the Fall of 2008 right after I finished serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the great state of Alabama!! We met once that semester started and had a lot of fun at work and I was just not even close to ready for anything to happen and he was otherwise engaged with another girl, so I just hung out with him while at work. I was fine with that and we went about doing our own thing. We worked together for 2-3 semesters and then moved on kind of. He asked me out in 2009 and we went bowling and had fun, but still it was not the right timing for the two of us to see what the future held for us together. We both admit that we were attracted to each other, but other things were happening and it was not our time. I know I was not ready for a relationship any deeper than a friend, especially with young men.
Let us fast forward to December 2011, we have now both graduated and we some how are both still single. I notice that Rob is commenting on a lot of my posts and so I start responding back and reaching out on facebook with chats and what not. Before long, I say let's text it will be easier, so we exchange numbers and start texting. I mean texting a lot and getting to know each other and then we decide that even though it is long distance and what not we both feel that this is going to go somewhere special. He asks me if I would like to come out to California and visit him and meet the family and I say that I would love to. I finally get out to see him the weekend of April 14 and we decide that I am going to move to California to see what comes of our deepening feelings for each other. All along neither one of us really knowing what was happening, but just following the promptings that this was right and letting it go from there.
I move to California the following week and we just let things go from there. Then May 5, 2012 happens and I suppose y'all really want that story more than the one above:) So, here is that story; I want to let you know that I had no idea that he was going to ask me to marry him!! His parents invited us to go to the temple with them, so I jumped right on that as I love going to the temple and was excited to go with Rob! We attended the 7am session and it was amazing as it always is and proceeded on into the celestial room. We were standing around talking and then he asked me if I wanted to go and sit down with him on the couch and I said sure and we went and sat down. We talked for a few minutes and then he looked at me and he said "I truly love you Crystal, will you marry me?" and I said "yes!" He had set this up and his parents and my parents already knew and that brings us to now. Planning and getting pictures and all that other stuff done and become a family for eternity!!
It all started as an early morning janitor in the Fall of 2008 right after I finished serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the great state of Alabama!! We met once that semester started and had a lot of fun at work and I was just not even close to ready for anything to happen and he was otherwise engaged with another girl, so I just hung out with him while at work. I was fine with that and we went about doing our own thing. We worked together for 2-3 semesters and then moved on kind of. He asked me out in 2009 and we went bowling and had fun, but still it was not the right timing for the two of us to see what the future held for us together. We both admit that we were attracted to each other, but other things were happening and it was not our time. I know I was not ready for a relationship any deeper than a friend, especially with young men.
Let us fast forward to December 2011, we have now both graduated and we some how are both still single. I notice that Rob is commenting on a lot of my posts and so I start responding back and reaching out on facebook with chats and what not. Before long, I say let's text it will be easier, so we exchange numbers and start texting. I mean texting a lot and getting to know each other and then we decide that even though it is long distance and what not we both feel that this is going to go somewhere special. He asks me if I would like to come out to California and visit him and meet the family and I say that I would love to. I finally get out to see him the weekend of April 14 and we decide that I am going to move to California to see what comes of our deepening feelings for each other. All along neither one of us really knowing what was happening, but just following the promptings that this was right and letting it go from there.
I move to California the following week and we just let things go from there. Then May 5, 2012 happens and I suppose y'all really want that story more than the one above:) So, here is that story; I want to let you know that I had no idea that he was going to ask me to marry him!! His parents invited us to go to the temple with them, so I jumped right on that as I love going to the temple and was excited to go with Rob! We attended the 7am session and it was amazing as it always is and proceeded on into the celestial room. We were standing around talking and then he asked me if I wanted to go and sit down with him on the couch and I said sure and we went and sat down. We talked for a few minutes and then he looked at me and he said "I truly love you Crystal, will you marry me?" and I said "yes!" He had set this up and his parents and my parents already knew and that brings us to now. Planning and getting pictures and all that other stuff done and become a family for eternity!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Miracles Do Happen!!
Well it has sure been a long time since I posted anything on here. I guess sometimes I just don't care to write about the comings and goings of my life. I am doing well!! I quit my job at the call center and am preparing to move to California. I know this might sound like I am crazy, but it is right and I had thought this a year ago and now I need to!! There are many reasons and one of them is that I am pursuing a young man that I went to school with. We reconnected and we both want to see where it goes. The Lord works in a mysterious way!!
I am excited to spread my wings and see what happens. I never thought that one could reconnect via text the way that this young man and I have connected, but I know that the Lord hears and answers prayers and we have both been praying for the next step in life to come our way. This may seem crazy, but we both feel that this is gonna work out and that our prayers are being answered. We both feel great and want to go about this in a manner that proves that!! I will keep all informed. Life sure can throw some interesting curves and hills and valleys upon us and as we let them happen and follow along the Lord unfolds a great path that although not easier is the right one and the one that He will lead us through and help us follow. It is amazing if you really take the time to see just how in our loves the Lord is. He leads and guides us and if we take the time to recognize that you will see just how much leading and guiding is done!
The more aware I become of the participation the Lord had in my life that more and more I am letting Him truly lead me. He has led me all over the US and I know that I am going where He needs me to be. He knows that I need to find a place that feels like home and where I can settle down and raise the children that are waiting for me to get the ball rolling and bring them here. Miracles do happen and I know that I am in the midst of one!! I am grateful and humbled that such an amazing world has been shown me! The Lord is leading my mother more and more into the light and peace and happiness that the gospel has and that means if all works out she would be able to be there to witness me being sealed! This is a fulfillment in part of a blessing that was given me more than once!! The Lord knows the perfect timing and I am willing to wait for all things to come into alignment and be amazed over and over again!!
I still have many hurdles to jump and fears to overcome, but I know that as long as I stay on the Lord's side I can and will overcome all that is placed before me. Who is willing to join me??
I am excited to spread my wings and see what happens. I never thought that one could reconnect via text the way that this young man and I have connected, but I know that the Lord hears and answers prayers and we have both been praying for the next step in life to come our way. This may seem crazy, but we both feel that this is gonna work out and that our prayers are being answered. We both feel great and want to go about this in a manner that proves that!! I will keep all informed. Life sure can throw some interesting curves and hills and valleys upon us and as we let them happen and follow along the Lord unfolds a great path that although not easier is the right one and the one that He will lead us through and help us follow. It is amazing if you really take the time to see just how in our loves the Lord is. He leads and guides us and if we take the time to recognize that you will see just how much leading and guiding is done!
The more aware I become of the participation the Lord had in my life that more and more I am letting Him truly lead me. He has led me all over the US and I know that I am going where He needs me to be. He knows that I need to find a place that feels like home and where I can settle down and raise the children that are waiting for me to get the ball rolling and bring them here. Miracles do happen and I know that I am in the midst of one!! I am grateful and humbled that such an amazing world has been shown me! The Lord is leading my mother more and more into the light and peace and happiness that the gospel has and that means if all works out she would be able to be there to witness me being sealed! This is a fulfillment in part of a blessing that was given me more than once!! The Lord knows the perfect timing and I am willing to wait for all things to come into alignment and be amazed over and over again!!
I still have many hurdles to jump and fears to overcome, but I know that as long as I stay on the Lord's side I can and will overcome all that is placed before me. Who is willing to join me??
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Learning and Remembering
The past few weeks have been ones of reflection and learning. I have realized that I miss some of my friends and my family for the simple things and not for any pain or misunderstandings that we might have had. I realized that there are something that I have to get over my pains and insecurities about people leaving my life. If they leave then there is nothing that I can do and can't live in fear that everyone that I love will leave me because I am too much to handle. It really is okay that friendships and other types of relationships have long periods of silence and it doesn't mean that I have been forgotten or that anyone has given up on me. Each day I am learning that people will be people and that means that sometimes someone or many get hurt in the process. I know that I have caused my fair share of pain and afflicted more than enough sorrow on those that I love and for that I am truly sorry. I am weak when it comes to that and I am working on it. I have a long ways to go!
I am learning so much about me and what my role in this mortal life is and I can't even believe that I was chosen to come down at this time and be here do what I am doing. I know that I am a teacher of the gospel and that the other half of me is still missing. I am at a place right now where I am happier than I have ever been, but feel incomplete like there is something missing and I don't know what else I have to do to get it. I am trying to be where I need to be and do what I need to do and I am trying to prepare for the other half of me, but I am missing something and I am not sure what it is. I feel like I am where I belong and doing what I am supposed to do, but I also feel like I am missing out on something that is right here in front of me and I don't know what it is. I am trying to be nice to everyone and not be as outspoken as I tend to be, but then I feel fake. I am learning that being me works for some, but not for most and I am not sure what that means for me. I just know that something is missing and I need it more than I ever have and desire it more than I ever have. I am sure that having so many friends getting engaged and married isn't helping me, but I feel great joy for them and know that they are on the right path that leads to exaltation.
The more I sit and think the more I realize that I am making great and very hard changes in my life and I can only hope that that means that I am getting to a point where I can let the real me show to everyone. Self-discovery sure is tiring and hard, but I know that it will be worth it. The Lord is preparing me for something and although I want it to be what my heart desires, I might have to wait longer and go a different way to get that desire. I don't really know I just hope that I am ready for whatever it is and that I can fulfill it with all that I have. The more I learn about myself the more I see that I have a lot more to offer to those around me than I am offering right now and that is not a good thing. Time to let my light shine and stand as a beacon for others to come to when they need to be guided safely into harbor!
The life sure is crazy, but I am learning to love all of the twists, turns, bumps, and ruts that it throws at me. My faith is simple, but it is firm and strong and that is how I keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when that step is into the dark.
I am learning so much about me and what my role in this mortal life is and I can't even believe that I was chosen to come down at this time and be here do what I am doing. I know that I am a teacher of the gospel and that the other half of me is still missing. I am at a place right now where I am happier than I have ever been, but feel incomplete like there is something missing and I don't know what else I have to do to get it. I am trying to be where I need to be and do what I need to do and I am trying to prepare for the other half of me, but I am missing something and I am not sure what it is. I feel like I am where I belong and doing what I am supposed to do, but I also feel like I am missing out on something that is right here in front of me and I don't know what it is. I am trying to be nice to everyone and not be as outspoken as I tend to be, but then I feel fake. I am learning that being me works for some, but not for most and I am not sure what that means for me. I just know that something is missing and I need it more than I ever have and desire it more than I ever have. I am sure that having so many friends getting engaged and married isn't helping me, but I feel great joy for them and know that they are on the right path that leads to exaltation.
The more I sit and think the more I realize that I am making great and very hard changes in my life and I can only hope that that means that I am getting to a point where I can let the real me show to everyone. Self-discovery sure is tiring and hard, but I know that it will be worth it. The Lord is preparing me for something and although I want it to be what my heart desires, I might have to wait longer and go a different way to get that desire. I don't really know I just hope that I am ready for whatever it is and that I can fulfill it with all that I have. The more I learn about myself the more I see that I have a lot more to offer to those around me than I am offering right now and that is not a good thing. Time to let my light shine and stand as a beacon for others to come to when they need to be guided safely into harbor!
The life sure is crazy, but I am learning to love all of the twists, turns, bumps, and ruts that it throws at me. My faith is simple, but it is firm and strong and that is how I keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when that step is into the dark.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Lessons Learned!!
The past few weeks have been riveting to say the least. I totaled my car, got started in a job, got my first paycheck and am in the hunt for a bike. I am learning that I am able to handle lot more than I thought I could. I think that not having a car is going to help me to get back into shape. There are other lessons that I have to learn and that I am learning and this time really trying to learn. The more I open my eyes and look at the world around me the more I realize how closed my eyes have been. The more I realize this the more I recognize that I have hurt so many people that have tried to help or that I have pushed away, so that I can hide my true self and especially the issues that I have. I am trying to change that one person at a time and make up my selfishness in the most simple of ways. I have a long ways to go and many people to as forgiveness from. One day restitution will be made and I can feel as though I have done all that I can to make things better between me and them.
The Lord sure does know me and what I need to grow and overcome my biggest hurdle, myself. This being said I am trying to get over myself and then go from there. There is something liberating about come to terms with my weaknesses and open up to the ways that I need to change and how I need to do it. I can't say that it is going to be easy, but I know that it will be worth it. I have so many things that I need to get through, that it is going to be something of a miracle in my life when all is said and done. I can see that the Lord is answering my prayers and that lets me know that He is aware of me and answers the prayers that I don't always voice. This past year or so has been one of the most amazing journeys that I have ever been on and I know that the next year is bound to be one miracle after another! Here's to that!
With each passing hour comes the knowledge that life is livable and that I can make it. I am going to be happy even when things look like they are going all wrong. Happiness is far more worth it than living in the dark abyss that I have been in for most of my life. True happiness comes from within and I am the one that controls that not the circumstances around me!! Here is to the learning that keeps coming my way and the blessings that I have yet to recognize!!
The Lord sure does know me and what I need to grow and overcome my biggest hurdle, myself. This being said I am trying to get over myself and then go from there. There is something liberating about come to terms with my weaknesses and open up to the ways that I need to change and how I need to do it. I can't say that it is going to be easy, but I know that it will be worth it. I have so many things that I need to get through, that it is going to be something of a miracle in my life when all is said and done. I can see that the Lord is answering my prayers and that lets me know that He is aware of me and answers the prayers that I don't always voice. This past year or so has been one of the most amazing journeys that I have ever been on and I know that the next year is bound to be one miracle after another! Here's to that!
With each passing hour comes the knowledge that life is livable and that I can make it. I am going to be happy even when things look like they are going all wrong. Happiness is far more worth it than living in the dark abyss that I have been in for most of my life. True happiness comes from within and I am the one that controls that not the circumstances around me!! Here is to the learning that keeps coming my way and the blessings that I have yet to recognize!!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Its never to Late to Slow Down and Smell the Roses!
The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least!! I started volunteering at the Bishop's store house and love it!! It is nice to be able to get out and serve! I would have been there more this past week, but I got into a car accident and have been without a car, which makes it hard to do much of anything. I also started my new job and although training is tedious and will take me pretty much two more months I feel like I am where I need to be for the moment. I am going to go back and get an associates in Business Management in hopes that I can stay in the apartment complex that I am in right now, and also because I think that I am more business minded than I thought. So many things happen in my life each and every day, but I am learning and with each lesson I grow more firm in my faith and more grounded in my testimony.
There is something to helping others and being reminded that there are people that are way worse off than I ever thought of being. Helping them has opened my eyes to what it must be like to never have enough to take care of those that you love or even just yourself. It is humbling to have to ask for help and it isn't easy to go and say that I can't take care of this, but when you do you get to see the Lord in action through His chosen leaders and other children. I must say that He is so very mindful of what we need and knows that He can reach us if we ask Him to. I struggle with this and now that I am getting some help I am realizing that there is no shame in asking when you are doing all that you can to make ends meet and it just isn't working out the way that you planned. Time to swallow the pride and realize that none of us can do it alone, we all need help in one way or another. That is just the way that it is... even rich people have their problems that they need help with. No one in this mortal life is exempt from needing to ask for help.
The accident was not so fun, but upon reflection of why it might have happened (other than me running a red, due to I don't even really know what) and what I can learn from it and how to apply those lessons in my life I have come to a rather startling discovery for myself.... I need to slow down!!! I was overlooking the blessings that the Lord was giving me and not allowing myself the time to reflect and think of the ways that I am being blessed. If I don't take the time to stop and smell the roses so to speak then I am not able to seek and find the answers that I am asking for. I need these answers if I want to progress in this life. There is no way that I can get to the Celestial Kingdom if I am rushing around neglecting the answers that I am being given. If I want to get married and have solid and amazing friendships then I had better start applying the answers that I have been given and will be given, so that I am what the Lord needs me to be. I can't be what I want to be and I for sure can't help people with seeking the answers that they need to keep progressing with me. I thought the accident that I got in last April was my wake up call, but I guess I needed two more to really get it. Now that I hope I have it I can move forward and make sure that I am taking the time needed to get my answers and get myself fully on the path back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!!
I have so many relationships that I need to repair and I hope that you can all bare with me and let me get to you as I am able. I want to fix it all right now, but I know that I can't been there and tried that... it just kills me to be pulled in that many directions. I am going to fix them each one by one until those that are left in my life know where we stand and know what our friendship means to me. I value my friendships and relationships so dearly and so deeply that I hurt losing any that take the time to help me in any way. I am weak and I know this but I also know that with great people surrounding me I become strong and so do all those that are part of the great fabric of our lives... we are as weak as our weakest link and when you take the time to strengthen that then we can all become stronger and more unified together.
There is something to helping others and being reminded that there are people that are way worse off than I ever thought of being. Helping them has opened my eyes to what it must be like to never have enough to take care of those that you love or even just yourself. It is humbling to have to ask for help and it isn't easy to go and say that I can't take care of this, but when you do you get to see the Lord in action through His chosen leaders and other children. I must say that He is so very mindful of what we need and knows that He can reach us if we ask Him to. I struggle with this and now that I am getting some help I am realizing that there is no shame in asking when you are doing all that you can to make ends meet and it just isn't working out the way that you planned. Time to swallow the pride and realize that none of us can do it alone, we all need help in one way or another. That is just the way that it is... even rich people have their problems that they need help with. No one in this mortal life is exempt from needing to ask for help.
The accident was not so fun, but upon reflection of why it might have happened (other than me running a red, due to I don't even really know what) and what I can learn from it and how to apply those lessons in my life I have come to a rather startling discovery for myself.... I need to slow down!!! I was overlooking the blessings that the Lord was giving me and not allowing myself the time to reflect and think of the ways that I am being blessed. If I don't take the time to stop and smell the roses so to speak then I am not able to seek and find the answers that I am asking for. I need these answers if I want to progress in this life. There is no way that I can get to the Celestial Kingdom if I am rushing around neglecting the answers that I am being given. If I want to get married and have solid and amazing friendships then I had better start applying the answers that I have been given and will be given, so that I am what the Lord needs me to be. I can't be what I want to be and I for sure can't help people with seeking the answers that they need to keep progressing with me. I thought the accident that I got in last April was my wake up call, but I guess I needed two more to really get it. Now that I hope I have it I can move forward and make sure that I am taking the time needed to get my answers and get myself fully on the path back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!!
I have so many relationships that I need to repair and I hope that you can all bare with me and let me get to you as I am able. I want to fix it all right now, but I know that I can't been there and tried that... it just kills me to be pulled in that many directions. I am going to fix them each one by one until those that are left in my life know where we stand and know what our friendship means to me. I value my friendships and relationships so dearly and so deeply that I hurt losing any that take the time to help me in any way. I am weak and I know this but I also know that with great people surrounding me I become strong and so do all those that are part of the great fabric of our lives... we are as weak as our weakest link and when you take the time to strengthen that then we can all become stronger and more unified together.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The First Night of the Rest of my Life!!
Tonight I finally made myself talk with the Lord in a way that I have never really talked with Him before. I can't say that it was easy or that I really said all that mush, but it is a step that I have needed to take for a very long time and it is a huge step forward. I know that I have a lot longer to go in this journey of ultimate healing and my quest for inner peace and balance. I just know that I am going to need all the help and support that I can get from those that are in my life at the moment. I learned that I can't try to do this on my own and that the Lord doesn't put people in your life just so you can drift apart when there is so much more that you can learn from one another.
I have come to the realization that I all too often don't allow others to help me the way that the Lord fully intended me to and that that is limiting me in my ability to overcome my insecurities and allow others to develop their skills and talents that the Lord has given them. If I don't let others help then I am in a way telling the Lord that He isn't giving me enough and that what He is giving me isn't what I need.
I also realized that I was never really practicing what I preached when it came to the Atonement and that means that the lessons weren't as the Lord would have liked them to be. I can't possibly hope to lift another and help them more fully live the gospel when I am not doing the same in my life. There is so many things that I need to learn and hope to learn with the help of you out there that are reading this. I am nothing without the Lord and as for any strength others might perceive me to have it is given me of the Lord and to be truly honest I am not as strong as most think that I am. I am just a lost and scared woman that is trying to find her way back home and at the moment is a little confused as to how she ended up where she is.
I have many things that cannot be expressed in words, but I know that I am going to a plain on this plan that is The Plan of Happiness that I have never ever been before and although it is going to hurt and I am a bit scared it is going to be worth it. I am going to find ways to find joy in me journey and hope that I can along the way help to life those of God's children placed in my path to do the same!! The gospel is an amazing gift and it is about time that I finally received it fully!!
I have come to the realization that I all too often don't allow others to help me the way that the Lord fully intended me to and that that is limiting me in my ability to overcome my insecurities and allow others to develop their skills and talents that the Lord has given them. If I don't let others help then I am in a way telling the Lord that He isn't giving me enough and that what He is giving me isn't what I need.
I also realized that I was never really practicing what I preached when it came to the Atonement and that means that the lessons weren't as the Lord would have liked them to be. I can't possibly hope to lift another and help them more fully live the gospel when I am not doing the same in my life. There is so many things that I need to learn and hope to learn with the help of you out there that are reading this. I am nothing without the Lord and as for any strength others might perceive me to have it is given me of the Lord and to be truly honest I am not as strong as most think that I am. I am just a lost and scared woman that is trying to find her way back home and at the moment is a little confused as to how she ended up where she is.
I have many things that cannot be expressed in words, but I know that I am going to a plain on this plan that is The Plan of Happiness that I have never ever been before and although it is going to hurt and I am a bit scared it is going to be worth it. I am going to find ways to find joy in me journey and hope that I can along the way help to life those of God's children placed in my path to do the same!! The gospel is an amazing gift and it is about time that I finally received it fully!!
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