tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40180953329670131822024-03-14T07:25:22.420-07:00JoLyn Brown's BlogInspired by LifeJoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-28912311835355255792022-05-15T15:57:00.004-07:002022-05-15T18:34:39.418-07:00My Life: The Gifts God Gives Us<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioymUg5ZIrxDEUKpPcG6PquGxC1CTqAx5Wdc3BV7qpJyzyNV0zaCAdJFodk4BTpeTr3KTLKUWhTrV4kOzzNa-y-b1pXw6hmTYeNfVYxXCLujJO8yttrTHnVYFSVz5y6SfSVwW8RWoixSe1w9cywctRSAcQhv0sed3vK5komJIQ5FBraomYE7zu4mTs/s2048/mormon_channel_daily_quotes_meme_april_forest.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioymUg5ZIrxDEUKpPcG6PquGxC1CTqAx5Wdc3BV7qpJyzyNV0zaCAdJFodk4BTpeTr3KTLKUWhTrV4kOzzNa-y-b1pXw6hmTYeNfVYxXCLujJO8yttrTHnVYFSVz5y6SfSVwW8RWoixSe1w9cywctRSAcQhv0sed3vK5komJIQ5FBraomYE7zu4mTs/s16000/mormon_channel_daily_quotes_meme_april_forest.jpeg" /></a></div><br />The last six months have been a blur. I graduated from
college with my Bachelors in English with an Emphasis in Literary Studies. I’ve
been dealing with health issues. And I applied for and was accepted to a summer
internship with the <i>Liahona</i> magazine. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve hesitated to talk about my internship on social media. It’s
not because I’m not excited. I’m <i>so</i> excited. I think it’s more because I
feel strongly the magnitude of this gift. And I’m sure it’s a gift. I don’t always
see far into the future of my life. Especially the last few years; it seems I
never know what will happen next. But these next four months are a bright spot
of love and hope that I can’t quite put words on. Nor can I express how humbled
by and grateful for this opportunity I truly am. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I want to get honest with you about the past year or two of
my life. It’s been quite possibly the worst I’ve ever had for mental health. I’ve
had anxiety my whole life, but last year, I really thought I wasn’t going to
ever be happy again. I wondered if God intended for me to wade through sorrow
forever. Hope was like a flickering bulb in my hands, and the more I tried to
keep it lit, the more it seemed to dim. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I knew God was with me, but I was
constantly hurting emotionally. I got medical help last summer. It made a
difference, and I’m so grateful for that. But it’s only been in the last six
months, as I’ve contended with other health issues (I’ll maybe write about them
another time) that I started to see patterns in my thinking that were
unhealthy. These last few months, I’ve seen another pattern of thinking that I
had no idea was limiting me. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I realized as I started to apply for this internship, that for years I
haven’t been consistent about reading the magazines. I had reasons. I was
reading my scriptures, General Conference talks, and<i> Come Follow Me</i> already.
Wasn’t that enough? I was busy going to school, taking care of family, and
trying to manage health issues. How much more could God ask of me? And second,
but maybe the most impactful, some of the topics the magazine addresses are particularly
sensitive for me. I didn’t want to open that door when my anxiety was only
barely manageable. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the first instance, I was looking at the magazines like a
checklist item. In the second
instance, I was thinking of the magazine articles like social media posts. I
thought if I read stories about things that were hard to understand, or issues
my own family was dealing with, that I would end up in the bottom of my anxiety
pit, sick to my stomach and trying to claw my way back to the light. I was
afraid. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Both</i> were lies. They were so subtle
I didn’t even realize I was trapped in them. Then, the first week of the
internship, I realized that the magazines, much like the internship opportunity
itself, are a gift God has been holding out to me. I just haven’t been
accepting it. Check lists are okay in their place, but God wasn’t adding an
item to that list at all. He was trying to reach me with answers to the
questions I had. He was trying to talk to me!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The magazines are inspired by God. The people who work on
them are listening to the spirit every day. I know because I’ve met many of
them. They aren’t perfect people any more than you or I are, but they are
listening to the Holy Ghost, and they are seeing miracles day by day, sometimes
moment by moment. God is working through them to reach us! He is trying to say
things to us about concerns that we are having <i>right now</i>. He is trying
to share stories from people all over the world who are dealing with hard
things, <i>just like us</i>. We are not alone. We are not the only ones. We are
not abandoned. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe Covid made you feel that way. Maybe hours alone in
your houses or surrounded by the same core people for weeks on end has run you
dry. Maybe death, sickness, loss, or mental suffering has dragged you into a
pit you can’t get out of. You. Are. Not. Alone. God sees you. He is trying to
reach you.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I knew this in the first hour I spent at my new internship,
and I couldn’t believe how wonderful the gift was that I’d been leaving unopened.
That it was another chore to be done was a lie Satan told me because <i>he didn’t
want me to open the gift</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This week, I had to copyedit one of those sensitive topic
articles I avoid. As I approached it, I felt misgivings. Would this lead to a
bad day of anxiety? A paragraph in, I saw that I’d been tricked by another lie.
I expected to feel guilt. I expected to learn I was doing something wrong. I
expected fear. Instead, I felt love. I heard God say to me, “JoLyn, you’ve been
doing your very best. Good work.” I saw things I’d already been doing were
backed by spiritual insight, medical research, and prophetic counsel. I felt
strong. I felt relief. I started to heal. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The magazines are not a social media post meant to click bait
you to some article with a sensational approach to the latest hot topic or social
issue. They are gathered, written, edited, and reviewed by a multitude of
people who are praying about how to teach doctrine and principles in ways that
will help you and me. The magazines cut through lies. They cut through the noise.
They cut through fear. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Don’t be afraid. God isn’t afraid of our questions. He isn’t
afraid of our problems. But He can stand there all day with a gift in His hands
for us, and it will do us no good if we don’t open it. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am so blessed to have this chance to be a part of the
creation of that gift. I want you to know I take this opportunity seriously. I pray
about the things I write and edit. I’m praying for you, just like the people I’m
working with are. We are human. We’ll make mistakes. We may not have all the
answers, but we are sure God does. He speaks to His prophets. He speaks to His children.
He wants to speak to you.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please, if you haven’t done it yet, open the gift. It’s waiting
for you, <i>right now</i>. <o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-17317118438469963182022-01-21T05:00:00.001-08:002022-01-21T05:00:00.161-08:00A New Look<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HPY6DTY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3UFF_H1DG2wG1ehDBcA3lPBxXzRn82I_pV1y6tlqeG4-5AfQu7fCA_inPRPft99Up9t5hKOCVejJB5Jb1LWRENiw7NQOhJFRLp0KvdM4r2GClwPRgcO0rKPyyRDIEeckTI4TLntw-Og/s320/Run+Final.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="hhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KM8Z11H" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9ZuJ-OCQYW-FEQAXPrjlAedaVgj2nK0ZForm4OOH6eCiFFYcbG01nSEbnxQP_kskrokh3dbb6x-110xPoXhEAlbHt_3PWpZ_Hkc6Vx34q8FK6MYJNOA8aAWHk_t2KLbXaXU2a_16KilNYekRhCt1GKW91O5z4CE5GXpMJ6Cy7Fg0I84Z8U0QaFew2=s320" width="213" /></a></div></div><p><br /></p><p>I'm so excited to update you about what's happening in my writing world. I've decided to republish <i>Run</i> and <i>Break</i> with new covers on Amazon Kindle. They are currently available on Kindle Unlimited and will soon be on Print on Demand. Or, if you just want to buy the eBook, you can do that too. </p><p>You may be wondering why I've changed my author name. J.D. Brown is my Young Adult Author pen name, just to help keep my different genres separate. (I have plans for other books in other genres in the future.) I've also got a new series title,<i> Inspired by Faith</i>. This series will include <i>Run</i> and <i>Break</i> with a prequel called <i>Jump</i> that will be coming out next year. </p><p>Because of the way I had to republish, I was only able to get the reviews for <i>Run</i> transferred from the previous edition of the books. <i>Break</i> is sitting there all lonely with just a few reviews. If you have reviewed <i>Break</i> in the past, or if you have read it and never reviewed it, it would help me out a ton if you'd leave a review on the new edition. Of course, leaving a review for <i>Run </i>is also very welcome. The links are below or click on the photos. </p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HPY6DTY" target="_blank"><i>Run</i> by J. D. Brown</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KM8Z11H" target="_blank"><i>Break</i> by J. D. Brown</a></p>JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-13177116001886081942020-05-04T13:17:00.000-07:002020-05-26T14:36:07.628-07:00My Life: Leprechauns, Cats and a Dictator Writer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEire7MO8jef9exIMyGX2-OYN7XicLQja4AqTkQ-HNWxmQXVn7YD7EIiucviMdldGdiyXQwL-cQJWDtmkIoEW5TQO8ZhLiujfKxHaBRa5t0VJabblJO1s5-IhA7eMgFLj4c9mU3t4wdHbpw/s1600/Apricot+Blossoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEire7MO8jef9exIMyGX2-OYN7XicLQja4AqTkQ-HNWxmQXVn7YD7EIiucviMdldGdiyXQwL-cQJWDtmkIoEW5TQO8ZhLiujfKxHaBRa5t0VJabblJO1s5-IhA7eMgFLj4c9mU3t4wdHbpw/s1600/Apricot+Blossoms.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m going back to college for an English Degree, and this semester,
I read a book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Brief Wondrous Life
of Oscar Wao</i> by Junot Díaz. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The book says writers are dictators. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I shuffle mentally through my six published books and over a
hundred blog posts and ask myself: “Am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I </i>a
dictator?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Covid19 means I forget to get a little treat to leave in my daughter’s
leprechaun trap on St. Patrick’s Day. Then I forget to sneak in and spring the
trap while she’s in deep sleep. By the time its morning I know she’ll never stay
asleep through me going into her room. Instead, I tip-toe around the kitchen praying
she won’t wake as early as she usually does. I fling cereal and my loose change
over the table, make a trail to the fridge, and dye the milk green. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I write a note. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her sneaky trap <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i>
tricked the leprechaun, but he managed to escape and found his favorite
marshmallow cereal. By the time she wakes up, I’m back in bed, pretending I
never got out. She spends all morning finding things the leprechaun must have
done (he gets blamed for everything, even stuff I didn’t stage). She makes a
plan to trap him next year. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I write another letter from the Easter Bunny and leave
nibbled on carrots for her to find the Saturday before Easter, I realize I’m
everything Díaz was saying. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a crazy sort of power. I write and people believe me.
Especially little humans. I spend hours on words. I move them and change them
and hate them and love them. In the end, after I push publish, they aren’t even
mine anymore. I only control the beginning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Díaz creates a book were the good guys are reflections of
the bad guys. A writer, trying to reveal all the darkness of a dictator, turns
into a dictator of sorts himself. My super power is words and I use them like
air. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does that one comic book say? “With great power . . .”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sit in a drive-through waiting for my turn to order and scroll,
out of habit, to words of a social media feed. When it’s time to order, I’m
looking at cat memes. Someone told me to. I just don’t remember who.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-71793077286197756792019-02-12T07:00:00.000-08:002019-02-12T07:00:00.362-08:00WIP: No, I Haven't Given up Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeA6p_BWCIF3VqK8dJhatB5BUn07-pjipOjufHDZduaYCZqeXyS4EUU010XySg0xSJJPe_n5KbVYn22HiZLdT74Y5ZS0aH3PFpvgU-JsX9WbA90zP5XV1iUFLV0q_RCd9heJDpcYGddE/s1600/reading-3606441_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeA6p_BWCIF3VqK8dJhatB5BUn07-pjipOjufHDZduaYCZqeXyS4EUU010XySg0xSJJPe_n5KbVYn22HiZLdT74Y5ZS0aH3PFpvgU-JsX9WbA90zP5XV1iUFLV0q_RCd9heJDpcYGddE/s1600/reading-3606441_1920.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
After silence on this site for more than a year, I feel like I need to update everyone. But really that's sort of exasausting, and maybe one of the reasons why I haven't posted. Jacob is doing much better. We have had an almost normal life since last August. Life keeps on happening.<br />
<br />
But for now, after telling you Jacob is doing better, I think I'll just focus on the writing updates.<br />
<br />
I'm fighting to get back to my writing. People say: "You should write about the cancer." And I suspect I will. Some day. Just not yet.<br />
<br />
In November I tried to do Nanowrimo. I was supposed to write a 50,000 word book. I got about 10,000 into one, started another that got 30,000 words and wrote an essay for an application for college. (I'm going to go back to finish my bachelors.) So I kind of got the words, just not all on one thing.<br />
<br />
But I did wake my fingers and my writing brain back up. It was a small moment when I really felt it, finally the words were connected to me in a deeper way, finally I was interested in my character and what she wanted. It was a scene set on a dark night. My character had gone stargazing with her grandpa. They were riding back on a ATV, her sitting behind him, and it just sank into me. I remembered why I loved writing and I finally realized this book was about my character and her grandpa all along. I'd been trying to outline and everything, but this was the moment I finally saw where I was going.<br />
<br />
So that's in the works. This is meant to be a smaller book, only about 40,000 words or less. It's a little bit of a travel back in the timeline of my teen fiction series set in Kanab, to when the parents of the characters in <i>Break</i> and <i>Run</i> were teenagers themselves.<br />
<br />
I've also been working on my new <a href="https://teenfiction.jolynbrown.com/">teen fiction</a> website that features books with religious characters. There are a few books up and more on the way. (Reading hasn't been as much of an issue for me as writing.) I hope you check it out.<br />
<br />
I'm also planning on wrapping up the ending of my fantasy book, the first in the series. It's grown quite a bit and I'm hoping to have it finished by May for Storymakers Conference. Mostly because I'm going to some classes that are on plot and I'd love to be able to work with this book on an editing level instead of first draft level.<br />
<br />
That's the big stuff with writing. I haven't given up, just been detoured a little by life. I hope you are also still working for your dreams and passions, even if you get a little side tracked sometimes.<br />
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-64136596758245721652017-11-13T17:02:00.000-08:002020-05-26T14:39:30.048-07:00My Life: The Grace in My Fight Song<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEq-wRDMOWMLfSiLnbH4fucdUDJNoEM8XSx-odJGbbqD8FXKEN-EsHNh10N2uywnm7THGZ2dfLkcxj9gM3mfj0K0wXOEKdLUKJf1XJEyyySix8R1hG7hnARTNxWayQUQo6yLbAaLZkKY/s1600/I+will+love+others.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEq-wRDMOWMLfSiLnbH4fucdUDJNoEM8XSx-odJGbbqD8FXKEN-EsHNh10N2uywnm7THGZ2dfLkcxj9gM3mfj0K0wXOEKdLUKJf1XJEyyySix8R1hG7hnARTNxWayQUQo6yLbAaLZkKY/s320/I+will+love+others.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The heart my 4-year-old daughter gave me after trying to make my bed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I wake up each day to a new reality. Get the kids ready, get myself ready, and see if Jacob needs help getting ready. I flush picc-lines, sit with my husband through chemo, blood transfusions, and ER visits. Most mornings, I put on makeup even though I rarely wore it before the cancer. <i>My war paint</i>, I think. It's like a mask, but it isn't artificial. It's a real part of me, a part of me I'm getting to know better.<br />
<br />
In the car, Rachel Platten sings a fight song. I sing with her in my loudest voice. This is me strong. This is what I want to write about. Invincible me. Making it work out me. I like that me. I like being stronger than I thought I was.<br />
<br />
But it's so small. A tiny bit of the truth.<br />
<br />
The truth is this:<br />
<br />
When they come to put the picc line in my husband the first time, I want to stay. Why would I leave him to face something like that alone? I am shuffled into a corner and told to stand near the window of the tiny, closet-like room. They hook up their computer and tell him "See, that's the vein we are looking for. It will go right up your arm and almost to your heart. Instant access to everything we need without having to put in an IV every time."<br />
<br />
My knees tremble. The spotted linoleum wavering below my feet might soon become my seat. I sag against the wall. This isn't the strong me. This is the me that passed out during a college class on dialysis.<br />
<br />
"I actually need to leave." I say.<br />
<br />
My husband agrees. "Don't stay. I'm worried about you more if you stay."<br />
<br />
I walk into the hallway and the door closes behind me. I've been down this hall every day for a week and I haven't cried once here. I've been holding on with two hands to the strength I've found inside me.<br />
<br />
Now, I break down. I sit the waiting area in front of the elevators and hide my face as I lean over my lap. I cry. I'm too weak to stay while he gets his picc line.<br />
<br />
My phone beeps. A text.<br />
<br />
It's Aunt Marcy whose husband passed away from cancer this summer. <i>"I'm close by the hospital today. Can I come see you and Jacob?"</i><br />
<br />
Yes. A thousand times yes.<br />
<br />
Today is the picc line. Today is the first chemo. Today is cancer being reality. I'm not strong enough today.<br />
<br />
Aunt Marcy comes in like sunshine. Nothing is too big for her optimism. She takes me and she takes my husband and she sits right in the middle of that tiny room and talks to us. And makes us laugh. And tells us about Uncle Roy. And reminds us that we are going to be okay.<br />
<br />
Until we are through the first round of chemo and we don't even know what happened.<br />
<br />
When she leaves, my husband and I look at each other. "I needed her today." I tell Jacob.<br />
<br />
"So did I." He says.<br />
<br />
This is the truth, then: I can't do this alone.<br />
<br />
As time passes, we are flooded by offers of help. Things left on the doorstep, neighbors mowing our lawns, child care, dinners, and even an offer to make my daughter's birthday cake.<br />
<br />
Birthdays? I can hardly think about tomorrow, let alone birthdays.<br />
<br />
I feel guilty. I can buy a cake from the store. No one needs to make us a cake. No one needs to drop off apple cider and cookies. It's too much and more than I deserve. I see it then, how I've been keeping a tally. I used to think service was like a cycle. If I did something for someone, it would come back to us eventually. Sooner or later, it would all work out.<br />
<br />
This time, there is no balance. No matter what I do for the rest of my life, I can't make this even again.<br />
<br />
But when I think about telling people "No thanks", the Holy Spirit whispers "Say yes."<br />
<br />
Every time, it turns out that I need them.<br />
<br />
I need the prayers, the kind words, the baskets left on our porch, the reminders that we aren't alone. They come right at the edge of the cliff, just when I think I can't do it anymore. It's God's love in all of these people, and I need them even though I feel like a burden.<br />
<br />
I tell Jacob one night.<br />
<br />
"I understand. I feel like that too," he admits.<br />
<br />
"There will never be a balance." I say. "I can't pay all this back. Ever."<br />
<br />
He's silent for a moment and then, "It's like our Savior," he tells me.<br />
<br />
Like Jesus.<br />
<br />
The words hit me in the chest. I've never quite felt it like this, so real, so stark. No matter what I do, I'll never be able to repay my Savior for what He's done for me.<br />
<br />
My friend brings my daughter a birthday cake and leaves before I can tell her how much it means to us. I'm too stunned to do anything but weep. My daughter loves her puppy cake.<br />
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Fast forward to two weeks ago. Jacob is back in the hospital. I've got a writer's conference to present at that I've been planning since March. I can cancel. I don't have to go.<br />
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Jacob doesn't even blink. He's laying in the ICU, but he tells me. "No. You are going. I want you to have this opportunity."<br />
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It's a flurry of chaos. I need help. Help cleaning the house, doing the laundry, packing my bags, tagging my books. I need God's help with my power point. And I need help for Jacob. I need his mother and my niece and my sister-in-law to be with Jacob while I can't. I need my parents to help me get to the conference and watch my children. I present at my first writer's conference. There are million things I can't do, but somehow, there are people everywhere picking up the slack.<br />
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Not long after that, I sit with my husband on our bed and pull up a version of Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" that has been on my mind. We listen to it together. This is what I'm am learning from cancer. We fight, we are strong, but in the end, we will always need the Grace of God to get through.<br />
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We can't do this alone. We can't do everything ourselves. But we don't have to. There are angels standing by with amazing grace, each one employed in the service of God.<br />
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-45084315972124906532017-09-21T14:58:00.001-07:002022-02-15T14:01:10.177-08:00My Life: Cancer and a Storm God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm driving my husband to a chemo treatment in the pouring rain. It's mid-morning and early September, but the road is so drenched in water and fog, the white line on the side of the road is almost invisible. Wind rocks the car, and my fingers grip the wheel so tight they hurt.<br />
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But I can't let go. I can only breathe. And pray. <i>Heavenly Father please help me get through this.</i><br />
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In another life, just a few weeks ago, we'd never have left the house in a downpour like this. If the storm hit unexpectedly, I'd have pulled off the road. Waited out the storm. But we have a ten o'clock appointment with a small bag of poison and not going isn't an option.<br />
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Ahead is a stretch of road that terrifies me in bad weather. Low in the valley, it collects the fog like a bowl and the water pools on the freeway instead of running off. I'm terrified of hydroplaning, and the truck we pass that is turned almost completely around doesn't do anything to ease my fears.<br />
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Just before we hit the dreaded spot, the fog lifts enough to make the road visible a few more feet ahead. My windshield wipers catch up with the water, clearing the view, and a calmness settles in my chest. We are going to be okay. The rain drenches us all twenty five miles we drive, but we make it in one piece.<br />
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Later, when we are done and the sun is elbowing through gray clouds outside the treatment center, my husband tells me he wasn't afraid as we drove.<br />
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That's all fine. But he wasn't the one behind the wheel. <i>Remember how you used to drive in stuff like that rain, </i>I think, <i>back when I got to sit in the passenger seat and close my eyes when things got a little scary? </i>I can't close my eyes now. Not anymore.<br />
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Jacob, ever the Ancient-Near-Eastern-Studies-with-an-Emphasis-on-the-Hebrew-Bible graduate, doesn't leave it there. "Did you know that in classical classification, Jehovah was known as a storm god?"<br />
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I didn't.<br />
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"There were war gods and fertility gods and any number of other gods, but Jehovah had control over the elements. A storm god. That is why it was significant when Jesus Christ walked on the water and calmed the seas. He was essentially saying 'I am the Storm God. The God of the elements. I am Jehovah of the Old Testament.'"<br />
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My heart lifts a little at this, images born of years of Sunday school lessons and seminary. Jesus walking on water, Jesus rebuking the storm.<i> "The master of ocean and earth and skies."</i><br />
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Jacob keeps talking and his voice is breathy and scratchy. Talking this much is hard for him. A side effect of all the procedures done and medicines given to him. "It was like we were going to chemo with the Storm God. I felt comforted and safe. I knew we were going to be okay. I could tell that you were nervous though. I told God, 'I know you can control this water. You have control over all the elements. If it be Thy will, please lift the rain a little so she can see.'"<br />
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I remember that moment, the easing of the rain, the peace settling inside me.<br />
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That evening we realize my husband is almost out of pain medication. It's 4:30 on a Friday and we have no idea which of the sea of doctors we've seen we are supposed to contact for refills. Jacob has spent the afternoon visibly shaking under a mound of blankets. Now he has a fever. If he runs out of medication over the weekend, what will we do then?<br />
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I pull out the discharge papers from the hospital he spent twelve days at. Other than when I had my babies, I've never stayed overnight at a hospital. I'm thirty one years old. I've never dealt with a serious illness and my thirty-six-year-old husband never has either. Not until cancer. I feel like a frightened teenager again.<i> Someone tell me how to do this. I don't know how. </i><br />
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I call the family practice doctor, get a recording to call the pharmacy, who then tells me to call the doctor who prescribed the medicine. A doctor I've never met and my husband doesn't know. The pharmacy gives me the number they have for him and tells me to give it a try. I reach the seventh floor of the hospital when I dial the number. The same floor we left a few days ago. They tell me to call the family practice doctor. I call back and wait until I finally get a receptionist. She directs me to call another doctor, the oncologist we saw earlier in the day. So I call the office who does the chemo treatments.<br />
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It's almost five.<br />
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Jess answers. I don't know him. We've never met. I stumble through my explanation. How we've never done anything like this before. How we don't know what we are doing, and I don't want my husband in even more pain over the weekend.<br />
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He tells me he'll check with the doctor. When he comes back he says "If you can be here in thirty minutes, I'll get you the prescription. Here's my personal number. Call it when you get here. The doors may be locked."<br />
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I herd my three-year-old to the car, leaving my husband in the bed and my ten-year-old on the couch with a video game. We drive the twenty five miles again and get to the treatment center by 5:30. Jess meets me at the office. He gives me the prescription and talks me through the latest chemo symptoms. I know he must have waited for me. I can't stop thinking about that.<br />
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I've been numb for a little while, too scared to feel too deeply, or maybe just too overwhelmed to think about anything but what has to come next. It's almost dinner time. I haven't made any food. I still need to fill the prescription. My daughter is hungry and tired.<br />
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But out over the valley, the sun breaks through the still overcast sky, and a ray of light runs in a straight line to the earth below, a spotlight on the very place I'm headed for. The storm comforted my husband. The light comforts me. I say a prayer of gratitude. <i>Thank you, for Jess.</i><br />
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The woman who rings up the prescription remembers me from the phone. Another pharmacist lets my daughter have a free sucker. I get a text message from my husband. Someone from the ward has brought us dinner.<br />
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When the pharmacists ask me how I'm doing, I almost start crying right there. Not because it's so hard or I can't do it anymore, but because Jess waited. Because everyone who helped me on the phone was so kind. Because dinner is waiting at home. And two pharmacists took time to look beyond the prescriptions they were filling.<br />
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The fog and rain have lifted just enough for me to see again. I know we are going to be all right. We're being carried in the hands of the Storm God.<br />
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-71195665414436110872017-09-12T07:00:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:33:14.559-08:00WIP: Break and You Are Worth ItHere's the latest news on my new releases this year.<br />
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<i>You Are Worth It: Eternal Perspectives for a Young Woman</i> received its first review! Check it out on Christy Monson's blog: <a href="https://christymonson.blogspot.com/2017/09/you-are-worth-it-by-jolyn-brown.html">Connections with Christy</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://deseretbook.com/p/you-are-worth-it?ref=product-image&variant_id=149026-paperback"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1372" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslETPq15XuHhGgLIG3uZ9zsU8dhEPvoRkbg518w2E9uWNtVqX6Uq5KG_4amN8eUPRwSoKQrPZq1TBwGr8owkivX-vwzrvh5xU6f18yzdtijPR8jze-1H5BkEFWi6bOTXLHtrb6hgVEeg/s400/You_are_Worth_It_Final_sRGB.jpg" width="342" /></a></div>
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<i>Break</i> has also been getting some reviews. (Check out this blog review if you are interested: <a class="yiv4785197524enhancr2_69b9147f-73c9-2e38-c3db-53277f49735f" href="http://melaniemasonauthor.blogspot.com/2017/09/break-by-jolyn-brown-preston-bensen.html" id="yiv4785197524yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504800880263_18474" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-color: white; color: #338fe9; font-family: "times new roman", "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">A Creative Addiction</a>)<br />
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Also super exciting is that<a href="https://www.seagullbook.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=seagull&Product_Code=997812"> Seagull Book</a> is now carrying <i><a href="https://www.seagullbook.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=seagull&Product_Code=997812">Break</a></i>! My sister-in-law saw it in store and then I did some searching and found it online. This is the first time Seagull Book as picked up one of my books. So I am pretty happy.<br />
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<a href="https://www.seagullbook.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=seagull&Product_Code=997812"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1036" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyagCtdThh_q7DIK-PyORYGdkxvPYzE5W2CyBc1Lb48R8mCT985zgoIMRmy82J_s_D1leP_BlaqbHTs1y9s3apl7c5CukrOctTqBy4WrEBI5fZEe9-hTKR907rFOU2poYkJMh1SgGn8hA/s640/Break_Print_final_sRGB.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
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We should be getting ebooks up soon and even though <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Break-JoLyn-Brown/dp/1599921782/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505151249&sr=8-1&keywords=break+by+jolyn+brown">Amazon</a> says <i>Break</i> is out of stock, it's usually a pretty fast turn around if you order it.JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-78818948035759935782017-09-05T07:00:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:33:37.068-08:00Create: Cookies and KidsMy son has recently discovered an interest in cooking. He's been doing simple meals for a while (think mac and cheese from a box and Ramen noodles.) But since attending his first webelos meeting where they were working on earning an award for cooking, he's been asking me a ton of questions about what I'm cooking and how. He especially wanted to know how to cook a fried egg and just the other day made one all on his own.<br />
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My daughter has always been my little shadow in the kitchen, but it's fun to have my son joining us more often now. I'm discovering I'm more of a social cooker. I enjoy it all much more if I have company. The same goes for chores. I blame it on being born eleven months after my sister. I always had someone around to hangout with and do my chores with. (I'm sure my natural tendency toward clutter also plays into my avoidance of cooking and cleaning, not just the lack of social company, but hey, it's a good excuse.)<br />
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My mother recently broke her wrist and was craving some chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies. One morning, we whipped some up as a surprise for her. The kids loved it. (And so did my mom.) Though my son did mention that the cookies look a little bit like . . . something gross.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ1mQFAyWh1qgRgq_pYN_FMTF_hyphenhyphenFRdUxAb23gVLp-UoF3BgMkRs6dMiEgbgkkxf8RBtBfrkZ16-oLISMgwBhbEXZwe7SYpoHa9z8Yxxazhl0WwM-ZTjHTQb_3ODuRJhCtb-2-cRlxw0/s1600/cookies2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFKTaws5udIH2eaMNv_N7-YHmnRhqLrhWR2vPNclBC7x4966L5DZeJMAulu0J6oyWZ8merK22i2UvtEt7ok1Nk0CffF0JD-p08sxvqrFLqNjliy7dw_yocneAUM24CHvlwl3nOf0mmts/s1600/cookies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFKTaws5udIH2eaMNv_N7-YHmnRhqLrhWR2vPNclBC7x4966L5DZeJMAulu0J6oyWZ8merK22i2UvtEt7ok1Nk0CffF0JD-p08sxvqrFLqNjliy7dw_yocneAUM24CHvlwl3nOf0mmts/s400/cookies.jpg" width="300" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ1mQFAyWh1qgRgq_pYN_FMTF_hyphenhyphenFRdUxAb23gVLp-UoF3BgMkRs6dMiEgbgkkxf8RBtBfrkZ16-oLISMgwBhbEXZwe7SYpoHa9z8Yxxazhl0WwM-ZTjHTQb_3ODuRJhCtb-2-cRlxw0/s400/cookies2.jpg" width="300" /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9E6T4j17IF-xBC2jYEY2cx96HRLhWbFfSR5SdWq2RAdPngb9le6aMu_8ZfTVapAv1fsz1WzQd8G0mmUU6WRum2a78C0Yr_ekfzXF-NkuSgEHXGRrhSV85IPyu4ow8zVrq-OLUakKSFdc/s1600/cookies3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9E6T4j17IF-xBC2jYEY2cx96HRLhWbFfSR5SdWq2RAdPngb9le6aMu_8ZfTVapAv1fsz1WzQd8G0mmUU6WRum2a78C0Yr_ekfzXF-NkuSgEHXGRrhSV85IPyu4ow8zVrq-OLUakKSFdc/s400/cookies3.jpg" width="300" /></a>JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-67484591067367004972017-08-29T07:00:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:34:00.104-08:00Women I Admire: Still Going Strong<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZ37ZXK8SBJzEXJ6ze9KRamnG3s-uF9EV33vm6IoT9t8ebjSrgVnFSPwj4THLuGjJKd4ZSlTaKd4RCMs9nF7Xp4AGwZwqMe2hvHP3G3c-KfL-0nxreFEx0MN4Ti52XoMuumLlk5NtubY/s1600/Humanitarian3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZ37ZXK8SBJzEXJ6ze9KRamnG3s-uF9EV33vm6IoT9t8ebjSrgVnFSPwj4THLuGjJKd4ZSlTaKd4RCMs9nF7Xp4AGwZwqMe2hvHP3G3c-KfL-0nxreFEx0MN4Ti52XoMuumLlk5NtubY/s1600/Humanitarian3.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisters in my Stake, in front of quilts they will be donating soon.</td></tr>
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One of my first posts on this blog was about a group of women in my hometown who got together every Tuesday morning to do humanitarian work. (Check out the original post <a href="http://www.jolynbrown.com/2012/04/a-widows-mite.html">here</a>.) After several years and two other towns, I moved back into my childhood home this summer. Crazy life kept me from the going over to the stake center on Tuesdays, but now that school has started, I went back. This time I had a daughter in tow, pedaling the same bike with the same bike trailer I'd used to haul my son over in. But everything is older. The bike, the trailer, me. I don't remember it being so hard to bike all that way! And that same day, my little boy started fifth grade.<br />
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Fifth!<br />
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Despite the years that have passed, I found a scene straight from my memory. A handful of women, many of them the same ones I met that first time, still faithfully working away, one tie, one quilt and one project at a time. I had to take a moment to think about the sheer numbers involved in what they've done. Using mostly donated materials from the stake, they have tied at least one quilt each week for the last five years! And that's just the basic stuff. They also make school kits, shopping bags, Days for Girls kits, newborn blankets, newborn kits, and a bunch more stuff I can't even begin to tally up. The stuff in the photo below are the supplies they have to move out of the room so they can get to the stuff inside. Most of the boxes are full of things to make the Days for Girls kits. They were getting ready to take them to a humanitarian meeting the next day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WNjEp6JcfsAxYqBpqtEciAyomVoSHE59K0BjmMB4kcIPDRKUX5xwJnW_gJ7Kdgp54DEX7X5zdJLW6MIPZXeIHP0D7ObWM678fbkeDvCsyL9ujFdOkd0K2hx0colzZrA4oxdsAxXYrMA/s1600/Humanitarian2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WNjEp6JcfsAxYqBpqtEciAyomVoSHE59K0BjmMB4kcIPDRKUX5xwJnW_gJ7Kdgp54DEX7X5zdJLW6MIPZXeIHP0D7ObWM678fbkeDvCsyL9ujFdOkd0K2hx0colzZrA4oxdsAxXYrMA/s1600/Humanitarian2.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The foyer outside the Humanitarian room in our stake center</td></tr>
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The amazing thing is the reach these women have. They provide countless opportunities for the stake and community to serve and get involved, from asking for donations, to taking supplies to families or groups willing to assemble kits, to sending home sewing projects with people who can't make it to the Tuesday meetings.<br />
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I love that they are still working away like this, making a difference one Tuesday at a time. Big miracles truly come with small steps and even a small town humanitarian effort can do incredible things.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVN41S5lE5QC9JcTggDHjbip_YLqNtXTK9SP8q8ioSOEY0Y8Q99_8-mCdHZSa49PZ1U5D90br8RjqU8OMim_3EQEwcrgrOpVkiJMrYCgQ_mmHxuOfhU9IV9XAeTwvlqKCiajJm03OVwWo/s1600/Humanitarian1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVN41S5lE5QC9JcTggDHjbip_YLqNtXTK9SP8q8ioSOEY0Y8Q99_8-mCdHZSa49PZ1U5D90br8RjqU8OMim_3EQEwcrgrOpVkiJMrYCgQ_mmHxuOfhU9IV9XAeTwvlqKCiajJm03OVwWo/s1600/Humanitarian1.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few of the women who come to tie quilts.</td></tr>
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-74998526790188813672017-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:34:24.088-08:00New Release BREAK<i>Break</i> is now available online at <a href="https://deseretbook.com/p/break?ref=product-image&variant_id=152819-paperback">Deseret Book</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Break-JoLyn-Brown/dp/1599921782/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3Q1G5Y9GSGYQPYZ0ZV2P">Amazon</a>. You can also start looking for it in your local Deseret Book stores.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Preston Bensen struggles with the same social anxiety that led his father to walk away years ago. With a younger brother who has Down syndrome, Preston has made it his job to hold together what remains of their family. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A few weeks after he loses a friend in an accident, Preston's mother announces her decision to remarry. Now Preston must deal with a prying stepdad and three emotional stepsisters. After growing up with six neighbor boys, Preston doesn't know what to do with glitter, pet mice, drama, and nonstop chatter.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The only thing untouched by change seems to be Preston's relationship with Morgan, a girl he met during the summer. But he fears that sharing more of his past will scare her away. Juggling everything at once, he reaches his breaking point. Is Preston going to end up like his father after all?</span>JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-84996762293816475992017-08-08T14:36:00.000-07:002018-01-10T12:35:44.687-08:00Reading Corner: The Kavanagh House (A Ghost Story!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kavanagh-House-Aeturnus-Machine-Book-ebook/dp/B01N9WAK9S/ref=pd_sbs_351_16?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CK0NSJZPM711KBHV9VNX"><img alt="The Kavanagh House (The Aeturnus Machine Book 1) by [Dayley, Susan]" height="400" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510F8mgEk7L.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Built at the threshold of the steam-driven, Gilded Age, The Kavanagh House is filled with mechanical wonders, mechanized puzzles, hidden places, and seven death traps. A century later, Parker discovers the journal of Eleanor Kavanagh inside a metal, puzzle box and wrapped in a cryptic note: My father’s house is haunted and it’s my fault.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">Vincent Ferrari, the ruthless, ambitious man who built the house, is destined to remain with it, long after his death. Vincent mistakes Parker for Eleanor, who finally lured him into one of his own deadly traps. Now he wants revenge.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Parker enlists the help of the mysterious Mason to find Vincent’s body. Together, while avoiding the vindictive spirit, they search for Eleanor’s hidden journal pages, which contain the information they need.</span></div>
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My Thoughts:</div>
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I've always enjoyed a ghost story with a decent scare, but not <i>too</i> much. This book had the right amount. While it's clean and isn't overly dark, author Susan Dayley doesn't tip-toe around the scary stuff either. It reads realistically and believably and the mysteries keep you going until you aren't sure what's going to happen next. I was actually a little worried about Parker's safety at times. This ghost isn't a friendly type.</div>
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My other favorite part of this story, aside from enjoying a good scare, was the environment. The details in the house are amazing. There are puzzles around literally every corner and the author has clearly done her research and created a character of the house itself. I also liked the quirky real characters, like Parker and Mason and with their unusual talents. </div>
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Fans of the TV series, The Ghost Whisperer, would probably enjoy this book as well. So if you like a clean ghost story, give this one a try!</div>
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-53775629693389004932017-07-20T13:24:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:35:29.121-08:00Run eBook Sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Run-JoLyn-Brown-ebook/dp/B00U2U1DOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500578950&sr=8-1&keywords=run+by+jolyn+brown" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3VXGuSURNMfBo2Xk-6xGTIsVSavGr5js1IaEZPem6ylvUAggEKsgOjK3kUuWlUGUmm_YOtmYWbFWuq3-IQ0k9pLVu21FfDZjGg12HScaGNebZsYh6osZo6GJdqMQHDGytniZyhcZy4w/s640/Run+ebook+sale.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-70101588137947495352017-06-27T12:57:00.001-07:002018-01-11T21:35:59.996-08:00New Release: You Are Worth It: Eternal Perspectives for a Young Woman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My newest non-fiction is available in <a href="https://deseretbook.com/p/you-are-worth-it?ref=product-image&variant_id=149026-paperback">Deseret Book Stores</a>!<br />
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Each of us comes to this world with a divine worth and strength. Yet every
person will experience times of doubt and darkness when we need comfort and
encouragement. <i>You Are Worth It</i> features thoughtful lessons that will inspire a
young woman to honor, love, and nurture herself and others. In a down-to-earth way,
author JoLyn Brown teaches of faith and obedience, hopes and dreams, family
and friends, and Christlike service, with lessons such as:<br />
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• Faith to Act<br />
• Prepared by God<br />
• Voice of the Spirit<br />
• He First Loved Us<br />
• All Things Bear Record<br />
• You Are Not Alone<br />
• Beauty that Lasts<br />
• The Power of a Friend<br />
• Your Divine Nature<br />
• Catch a Dream<br />
• Miracles and Blessings<br />
• Courage to Share<br />
• Hands of Service<br />
• Standing Up<br />
• Forgiveness<br />
• Praying for Help<br />
• Precious in His Sight<br />
• Angels Round About You<br />
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You Are Worth It is the perfect gift for any Latter-day Saint young woman.JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-88875994861941685122017-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:002018-01-11T21:37:05.415-08:00Inspired by My LDS Life: A NewsletterYou might have noticed my posts on social media about joining my mailing list for my author newsletter, <i>Inspired by My LDS Life</i>. Wondering why you might want to do that? Here's a few details about what to expect if you sign up for my newsletter.<br />
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1. Are you looking for FHE lessons, girls camp crafts, young women activities, or cub scout ideas? My newsletter will include ideas, suggestions, and tips.<br />
2. Do you enjoy inspiring stories? The newsletter will include true short stories to re-motivate you and help you see the positive side of life.<br />
3. You can be the first to get updates on my books and writing. This is one of the best ways to be sure not to miss important news like new releases, special promotions, book signing events, and other public appearances.<br />
4. Free downloads. I'll be including free downloads occasionally, including FHE lessons, helpful print-outs, and extra scenes featuring characters in my LDS teen fiction.<br />
5. Win free stuff. I'll be doing some giveaways that will be exclusive to my newsletter readers.<br />
6. Want a good book recommendation? My newsletter will have some recommended reads.<br />
7. You will also find links to my blog posts in case you missed them, along with previous blog posts that might be of interest.<br />
8. I won't spam you or give out any of your personal information.You will receive an average of one newsletter a month.<br />
9. Signing up for the newsletter is a double opt in process. That means you have to verify you really want to be a part of the mailing list by clicking a link in an email that is sent to your inbox. If you can't find the email after signing up, check your spam folder and then be sure to add me to your contacts. If you still have problems, please contact me and I'll help you out.<br />
10. If you sign up before February 5th, you will receive a free download for my goal setting family night lesson, called 1 for 30. It's a simple goal setting plan with tracking sheets and a full family night plan. It can be adapted to any family size!<br />
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That's the basic idea of the newsletter. You can sign up using the link below or the one in the left side bar of the blog.<br />
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-17696833847462048562016-11-16T07:00:00.000-08:002018-01-11T21:37:34.968-08:00WIP: Two New Books Coming in 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chloeloe/3175512024/in/photolist-5QBk6j-bTHkBn-eRHk1d-oi6UnQ-7ygC4-7i3R7t-7acJMF-7dBC1Z-9gzymp-9mWtBt-5aWrA9-6owbY9-cZhQJ-oEbJm6-6owcpY-jJmiX-57s4HN-7i7KLN-9ggca5-dH4uVE-nzCkHy-97Am4U-4YBw9M-cZhQH-iozRM6-cErGbj-2jCnV7-7i7Ky9-7i7Kth-7dEb2J-cCq3d9-7i3R3P-5Tfugj-6GnXZH-dV423B-rCymL-hAEdJL-5f8sTY-6sRpEA-mmgwkx-GRzo-8DLMFQ-7A7W2K-7xbrF1-dEfS52-b99zPH-7WgBCp-JiSSTg-amTbwg-nYXgPv/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="stacked"><img alt="stacked" height="266" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3083/3175512024_1d6bcafcf5_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacked by Christa Lohman</td></tr>
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I've been pretty silent on here about the writing projects I've got going on. I wasn't sure how things would work out, but I'm excited to announce that I've got two projects in the works that will be coming out in 2017 (unless something unexpected happens.)</div>
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First of all, I've been asked to write another Young Women book. This is will a improvement book for Young Women with 52 weeks of different motivational and goal setting ideas based on the theme of "You are Worth it." This will be coming out sometime around April.</div>
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The second project that I've got in the works is called <i>Break</i>. (For readers of <i>Run</i>, this is a stand alone novel that features characters from that book.) Told from the view point of seventeen-year-old Preston, this book follows his journey as he deals with the death of his friend and his mother's remarriage. </div>
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This book is in the editing stage. (Which is great since it takes me forever to write first drafts. I'm so glad that part is over.) If all goes according to plan, it will be coming out before the end of 2017, hopefully in the fall. I'm especially excited about some projects I hope to do in connection with <i>Break</i>. I'll keep posting as things move forward. </div>
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In other news, I'm working on updating my blog. Things maybe a little weird with it for a while as I'm teaching myself how to use HTML coding to get the layout I want. It's a big learning curve, and I have to do it in stages. So if the blog is different every time you come by that's why. Lots of fun. I'm looking forward to some of the stuff that should be on the blog soon, including resources for BOOK CLUBS! (Until I get this page put together, you can contact me using my email brown.jolyn@yahoo.com if you are interested in knowing more about what I can do for your book club, including special discount prices, book club discussion questions, or author visits.)</div>
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JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-18320149033388227162016-11-14T14:46:00.000-08:002018-01-11T21:37:57.022-08:00Values-Centered Activities for Young Women<div style="background-color: white;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY_JbBmrQgIIKO0M0Xsr-aC4gn9TVcRETRK83luDyrc5VKB777kBauQktH8imACiIUzZjgoavvu2f31bSv7Kr6nsUSr8OKqUhHIpMY1oaTRWpaWAwMci42uXKdyyHkdQkAugZoxgXcq8/s1600/ValuesActivities_Final_Front_RGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY_JbBmrQgIIKO0M0Xsr-aC4gn9TVcRETRK83luDyrc5VKB777kBauQktH8imACiIUzZjgoavvu2f31bSv7Kr6nsUSr8OKqUhHIpMY1oaTRWpaWAwMci42uXKdyyHkdQkAugZoxgXcq8/s320/ValuesActivities_Final_Front_RGB.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "adobe garamond pro"; text-align: justify;"><i>This helpful book features forty-eight activities centered on the eight values: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, and virtue. Along with the main activities, the book provides alternate ideas, additional resources, charts, cutouts, recipes, and a short play for a group to perform. From easy, last-minute planning, to coordinating bigger projects, each value section contains ideas to fit a variety of needs. Leaders can use this book to connect the values to activity nights in purposeful, fun, and engaging ways.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "adobe garamond pro"; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Purchase Links:</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://deseretbook.com/p/leaders-guide-to-activities-for-young-women?variant_id=130755-paperback"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Deseret Book</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Values-Centered-Activities-Young-Women-JoLyn/dp/1599929988/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1474658550&sr=8-2-fkmr0">Amazon</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Values-Centered-Activities-Young-Women-JoLyn-ebook/dp/B01G2KZND0/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1474658550&sr=8-2-fkmr0"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Amazon eBook</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Pinterest Board for Activity Tutorials:</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "adobe garamond pro"; text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/jolyndbrown/yw-value-based-activity-tutorials/" style="font-family: 'adobe garamond pro'; text-align: justify;">www.pinterest.com/jolyndbrown/yw-value-based-activity-tutorials/</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reviews:</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865661129/Book-review-Value-Centered-Activities-for-Young-Women-shares-value-based-ideas.html?pg=all">Bookreview: 'Value-Centered Activities for Young Women' shares value-based ideas(by Tequitia Andrews)</a></span><br />
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JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-30727857505091955772016-10-03T15:12:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:39:02.513-08:00Finding My Religious Heritage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I went to BYU's education week on Tuesday this year. Only a week or so after my miscarriage, I was looking for new direction and peace in my life. Almost at once, I recognized a theme. Press Forward. I felt it sinking into my heart, but my mind still questioned how. How could I press forward? What was it that God wanted me to do with my time, with my life, with this unexpected change in my plan? My second class was with Scott Anderson, one of my favorite speakers. The part of his message that stuck with me was a promise that I would learn what I needed to do at the devotional address by Elder Holland.<br />
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I sought out a seat as close to Elder Holland as I could get. It was directly behind him, and I was only ten rows or so back. This was close! I could see the hairs on the back of his head! Hope burned inside me. Here. Here I would find my answer to how I was to press on and press forward.<br />
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His talk, <a href="https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/bound-by-loving-ties?lang=eng">Bound by Loving Ties</a>, was about religious ties and their threads through our lives and our history. It was a powerful talk. But what did religious freedom have to do with losing a baby? The one section that stuck out to me most was a list of books he'd read while at BYU. Some I had read, but most I had not. I made a mental note that I should one day read those books.<br />
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And then it was over. I left the Marriott Center and made my way back to campus. I attended other classes, met other people, learned other things. I wrote notes down, came home, and left them on my nightstand.<br />
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In the last weeks, I've felt an almost Divine pull to learn more about social media, how to post powerful, sincere, and spiritual insights, and how to become part of putting a little good back into the world. One particularly frustrating day, I pulled out that notebook and reread over some of my notes. There, standing out on the page, was Scott Anderson's promise.<br />
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What was it that I was supposed to do? I'd missed it in Elder Holland's talk, hadn't I? I pulled up the talk to reread it. When I got to the part that had touch my mind before, the list of books he'd read, I realized what God wanted me to do.<br />
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He wanted me to undertake a journey, my own path of discovery and awakening. He wanted me to find <i>my</i> religious heritage, the heritage that Elder Holland spoke of with so much love. And He wanted me to share my journey on social media.<br />
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So many of the great writers of the world were deeply spiritual men and women. We, in our supposedly "enlightened" times, often diminish their religious faith as a product of their culture and an attempt to explain the stuff science had not yet discovered; a weakness in their otherwise intelligent minds and lives.<br />
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But what if their faith wasn't just a product of cultural norms and superstitions? What if it was the very thing that made them great? What if I read those books with the intention of finding the religious heritage they left in them? Could faith like their's change <i>me </i>for better somehow?<br />
<br />
I'm a fraction of the way through the first book on Elder Holland's list, <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>. Written in the 1600's, this book has some how lasted through centuries of changing ideals, governments, and social structures. Maybe there is something in there I should know, something bigger, more profound, or truer than anything I can find on my Facebook feed, than any scientist can prove, than all the voices around me can shout.<br />
<br />
What will I find on my search for my religious heritage?<br />
<br />
Answers, it seems. For in the beginning of <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, I found the quote I posted above. My road as I press forward may be hard, but, oh, how worth it to ascend the difficult way to find it was God's way, God's will, and <i>God's</i> plan for me.<br />
<br />
<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-25944623940589922442016-09-30T13:22:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:39:42.971-08:00I Made a Motivational Quote Poster!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3sNR8wzXWRXSpHBwo1GEbrokqenGvkkcHp3IXPQTnh0qetfUgbPtS3yAjXmKlf_2w7WJsUWW_51k0zk1m1QBzZHyphIUxhum16MZDCvjgrAymuUt1_Pb6Tq3tJI9hmRUi8xK09wVSRY/s1600/You-Are-GBHweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3sNR8wzXWRXSpHBwo1GEbrokqenGvkkcHp3IXPQTnh0qetfUgbPtS3yAjXmKlf_2w7WJsUWW_51k0zk1m1QBzZHyphIUxhum16MZDCvjgrAymuUt1_Pb6Tq3tJI9hmRUi8xK09wVSRY/s400/You-Are-GBHweb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
So, I've been reintroducing myself to Photoshop Elements and after a beautiful walk this morning with my son and daughter, I came across this quote while reading a talk by President Hinckley. How perfect! With General Conference coming this weekend, it seemed fitting that my first attempt at making one of these should be with a quote from a prophet.<br />
<br />
Click here for links to the talk this quote is from and to find a link for General Conference:<br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/stay-on-the-high-road?lang=eng&_r=1">Stay on the High Road</a><br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/live-viewing-times-and-options?lang=eng">General Conference</a>JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-72369114125928721122016-08-29T13:42:00.001-07:002018-01-11T21:40:25.692-08:00Opposites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHo42UJHX1I4ByqgO3Z4ce4TkrZzZqv7ACQAjQC4ST10OWEkQnpRsrJKLAmp53R0yd_u5NT0_UAcax6TtMkdj-DIGPZroGnZvhRa-GnyoRoD7pkwijtSCMQ9lTkQoSdHhSzSYysqiKddg/s1600/water.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHo42UJHX1I4ByqgO3Z4ce4TkrZzZqv7ACQAjQC4ST10OWEkQnpRsrJKLAmp53R0yd_u5NT0_UAcax6TtMkdj-DIGPZroGnZvhRa-GnyoRoD7pkwijtSCMQ9lTkQoSdHhSzSYysqiKddg/s400/water.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
To feel the stretch of opposites,<br />
the bitterness of death,<br />
and the joy of life,<br />
I came here.<br />
<br />
But in this place<br />
I make mistakes.<br />
I don't write for three weeks straight,<br />
lock myself out of things<br />
and forget appointments.<br />
<br />
My body,<br />
the very thing I wanted more than anything,<br />
sometimes cannot carry a baby past five weeks.<br />
<br />
My soul touches things so bitter,<br />
cold and lonely<br />
It cannot help but bare a scar.<br />
<br />
Depression is my shadowed companion,<br />
Anxiety, my inner mind.<br />
I've descended from a place on high,<br />
and lost myself here in the dark.<br />
<br />
So when I think of that,<br />
how unsave-able, unfix-able my weaknesses are,<br />
I finally start to understand in part,<br />
how utterly unmatch-able His rescue is.<br />
<br />
He, unlost, unfallen, Divine,<br />
comes through filth, crosses chasms,<br />
descends into this dark<br />
baring scars upon His palms.<br />
<br />
To find me.<br />
<br />
So I can have this.<br />
The hurt, the pain, the sorrow.<br />
But also that.<br />
Saving, light, redemption.<br />
<br />
The sound of songs, and voice, and rushing water.<br />
The touch of child fingers in my own.<br />
The smell of strawberry jam simmering on the stove.<br />
A paint brush on a canvas.<br />
My fingers on the keyboard.<br />
<br />
The warm encircling embrace<br />
of my forever<br />
reflected in my husband's arms.<br />
<br />
And the pains of life turn into victories<br />
every loss is treasure to my soul.<br />
<br />
This I take for that.<br />
Ever and ever chosen again.<br />
Death and sorrow for life and joy.<br />
Opposites as teacher.JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-87242034441336335732016-08-01T13:51:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:42:07.024-08:00Politics of Fear and a Culture of Heroes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGz07aeSRAbrG3aWEHS4coercFxfqBdM7xdC7JNrAlozmKIT_Tc3HruUI16TvbxiTqiTY-fF6qvkeeG-s3lReLgw2xPOS8cllkCNcWTDcJaxG-ewqpMjvwa4VSZqcI_7UpjEIDcjzQeI/s1600/DSCF1171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGz07aeSRAbrG3aWEHS4coercFxfqBdM7xdC7JNrAlozmKIT_Tc3HruUI16TvbxiTqiTY-fF6qvkeeG-s3lReLgw2xPOS8cllkCNcWTDcJaxG-ewqpMjvwa4VSZqcI_7UpjEIDcjzQeI/s320/DSCF1171.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Imagine my hesitation when I realized I was gearing up to write a political post. Me. A thirty-year-old woman in a tiny rental house with no credentials to my name. My job is stay-at-home-mom. I write books as a hobby. I teach 3 and 4-year-old kids every other Sunday and walk the same trail most mornings in a never ending loop.<br />
I've never traveled outside of the US.<br />
I've only been on a plane once.<br />
I haven't even got a degree yet. There's no reason to listen to me.<br />
But.<br />
None of that invalidates me. I may be small in the way of worldly sizing, but maybe, just maybe, that's what this post is going to be about. Size. Perhaps this little blog is where it needs to be said.<br />
<br />
The heroes in our culture all started out small.<br />
Luke Skywalker pit himself against the entire Empire with nothing on his side but a few rebels, an old spaceship, a smuggler, and a wookie.<br />
Frodo set out to save Middle Earth with a group of nine that slowly dwindled down to two.<br />
Harry Potter ultimately walked out to meet Lord Voldemort all alone.<br />
<br />
We revere the courage of our heroes, admire their faith in the idea that good will prevail, and cheer them when they get back up after falling and keep going.<br />
Is this only a thing of stories?<br />
<br />
Maybe.<br />
<br />
But the founding fathers were small in numbers when they wrote The Declaration of Independence.<br />
Rosa Parks was just one woman on a bus.<br />
And Miep Gies along with a few others who hid Anne Franks and her family weren't safe from the German government when they decided to do it anyway.<br />
<br />
Every time I look, in stories everywhere, God is saving people, healing nations and making change in small ways with small numbers and small people. What a wonderful thing to be small!<br />
<br />
When Israel was freed from Egypt, God sent one man with a staff.<br />
When Haman conspired to have all the Jews killed, God sent a single woman before the king.<br />
When our Heavenly Father wanted to save all His children, He sent a baby in a manger.<br />
<br />
Do you believe in God's power? Do you believe in good? Do you really, really believe?<br />
Do I?<br />
<br />
One thing our heroes often have in common is courage in the face of fear. They do the right thing despite being afraid. If this is the common thread among our heroes, isn't it strange that I'm seeing the opposite preached in so many places? There are voices telling me that being small and out numbered are a good enough reasons to abandon truth, honesty, kindness, humanity, and my own integrity.<br />
<br />
Since when did the founding fathers add to the constitution "The President of the United States is first and foremost to serve their party and all who vote are really voting for a party not the man or woman?" My loyalty isn't to the party. Why can't my loyalty be to America? And the principles of compromise, logical discussion, and courage that our forefathers exemplified?<br />
<br />
Our heroes often faced great evils but they didn't become heroes by becoming like their enemies, refusing to talk or understand each other, or by never compromising. We need to start listening to each other. We need to stop being afraid of each other.<br />
<br />
I grew up on heroes.<br />
My teachers, my parents, my friends, maybe even you, fed me stories of one hero pitted against thousands.<br />
But when the time comes to stand up.<br />
When it's time to be that hero.<br />
I'm told by some to fall in line.<br />
Comply with the best chance numbers.<br />
Act on fear.<br />
<br />
No.<br />
I won't do it.<br />
I don't care if who I do vote for ends up losing. I don't care if the dreaded "other" party takes over as a result. I'm not going to fail prey to fear.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
Because I want to look in my children's eyes and tell them I didn't back down when things got murky, confusing and hard. I want them to know I stood for kindness, compassion, honesty, and accountability and I did my best to find someone like that to vote for, even if it meant learning to compromise in healthy ways or understand another's view point.<br />
<br />
I never want them ask me why I voted for someone I didn't believe in or feel good about and have to say it was because I was afraid, outnumbered, or that I simply gave up and joined the crowd.<br />
<br />
I'm raising my children on heroes.<br />
And I'm not going to be the person that lets them down. I won't be the hero that gave up, walked out or cowered in fear.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)</i></div>
<br />
Do you remember singing this song?<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"We will not retreat, though our numbers may be few </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>when compared with the opposite host in view; </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>But an unseen pow'r will aid me and you </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>in the glorious cause of truth. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Fear not though the enemy deride; </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>courage, for the Lord is on our side. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>We will heed not what the wicked may say, </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>but the Lord alone we will obey." </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(Let Us All Press On, Hymns, 243)</i></div>
<br />
Do you believe <i>that</i>? I do!<br />
<br />
No matter who you or I vote for, I hope you don't pick out of fear. Pick because you felt in your heart that it was the best choice. Do it with hope in a better tomorrow. Do it with gratitude for the founding fathers and for America.<br />
<br />
And then. No matter who wins, no matter how dark things get, keep being the sort of hero that you want your children to admire. Still be kind. Still seek for truth before believing a rumor. Think and wait before passing judgment. Still stand for love, kindness, and humanity.<br />
<br />
Think of this as our time to rise, our time to be heroes, to face our own incredible odds. Think of God and refuse to be guided by fear. To Him, numbers don't matter. Ever. Ask any bible hero; Daniel, Deborah, David. Ask the Nephites form the Book of Mormon. Ask Alma, Ammon, and Moroni.<br />
<br />
And then go and be the your own sort of Luke, Frodo, or Harry. Because it's the right thing to do. Not because you'll always win, but because you are the sort of hero that believes in good and reaching for something better. Do it because you know that God will prevail in the end and that is the side you must know in your heart that you are on. <i>Always.</i>JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-65338084097653483912016-06-17T12:25:00.001-07:002018-01-11T21:42:36.203-08:00My Life: Couponing Gone Wrong<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14575095169/in/photolist-osoBwm-of1UUg-ocQeuC-ocXcpF-odn6Vg-owtWPw-od8WZL-ou8PWs-owh3ef-oeVqbe-oyb1eH-osqnnq-ow7x6k-oeVay9-owkv6r-ouiCEb-ouf34w-oeXs3B-of1k6p-oeQocV-ownux5-ouoZ4X-oun3nm-ouavit-owb4qA-odmuiJ-ocEy2X-ocXb1i-oeYtEo-owq2nR-oubUcW-ouoSoU-ouqbSL-rpkhbx-ouHUE5-odxoRQ-otcdRq-oeWnmc-ourJ9R-vsQUJE-owdFRX-r7YGZX-oub4Ey-ou25NT-ouP65y-ouszi2-owaHia-oud14y-oeTPdS-outUqE/lightbox/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Image from page 534 of "Baltimore and Ohio employees magazine" (1912)"><img alt="Image from page 534 of "Baltimore and Ohio employees magazine" (1912)" height="221" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3848/14575095169_aa9ce00455_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought this old coupon photo was funny, considering my own coupon problems.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
One of the things I find most frustrating about myself is my good intentions that don't work out. For what ever reason, stuff is always forgotten, left behind, unplanned, or just late. I don't want to be that person. But my brain doesn't always process as fast as life demands.<br />
<br />
This probably why I've got such a love hate relationship with coupons. I feel good about myself when I save money and get a good deal. But coupons also add stress and pile up in annoying places. I always seem to end up at the store intending to use them only to discover they aren't in my purse, but are still in that pile on the counter. Or I discover they expired or aren't good until the next day.<br />
<br />
Couponing is the tired mom-brain's worst enemy. I swear.<br />
<br />
I got a coupon to Target at the first of the month. It was one of those kinds that you have to spend a certain amount to get the discount. In this case, I'd save fifteen whole dollars. Target is close and I shop there pretty often so I kept the coupon. Yesterday, I decided to use it. I have some other reward program things going with Target. I do the red card stuff (getting five percent off every purchase) and cartwheel (their coupon app that eliminates that piling up paper problem I mentioned.) I decided to think of things we might need in the next few weeks and see if I could pair them up with my cartwheel offers. Then I'd be getting the best discounts on products I would have to buy in the future anyway. I'd spend a little more today, but would save money in the long run.<br />
<br />
I had to take my children. Which isn't so bad, I only have two, but they were bored and my son was crawling on the bottom of the basket area when he wasn't begging to push the cart. He also wanted to scan all the prices on our items on the price checker he found. My daughter announced she had to go to the bathroom and we had to race across the store, my son pushing the cart and my daughter yelling, "Go faster, she's catching up!" Meaning me. Catching up to <i>my</i> children.<br />
<br />
Lovely.<br />
<br />
At the checkout line, I remembered I needed batteries. The battery station is right by the checkout so I slipped over and tried to make a quick decision. I don't do well with quick decisions. The batteries had coupons on them. Yeah. I didn't know what to do. Get one package of batteries and ignore the coupon that said I had to purchase two packs to use it? AHHHH!<br />
<br />
Meantime it's our turn in the line and my son has loaded everything on the belt while my daughter yells that she wants to help. I picked a package that had no coupons on it and raced over to the checkout. The cashier had already rung up most my items. It was more than I expected. Frazzled, I dug out my wallet, and my phone with the cartwheel app. I remembered I had a gift card for 5 dollars from the last time I was at Target. I pulled it out too.<br />
<br />
I handed her the gift card and she scanned it in. When I offered my phone to be scanned to use cartwheel, she informed me it was too late and I couldn't use cartwheel since we'd already progressed to the payment stage, meaning, I'd used that gift card at the wrong part of the checkout process.<br />
<br />
I don't usually loose it with cashiers, but as she casually told me "Sorry, maybe next time," my heart dropped to that place were you fill a little sick.<br />
<br />
My voice held a borderline panicked tone. "What? No. I'm not buying these things, then. I only got them because there were coupons on cartwheel for them." I really was ready to put everything back but the stuff I needed for that day.<br />
<br />
She decided to help me out. She back tracked and scanned cartwheel.<br />
<br />
I knew it was all my fault. <i>I'd</i> handed her that gift card too soon. I felt bad for making more work for her and bad for nearly losing my temper. Now anxious, frazzled, and guilty, I apologized too many times and then put in the wrong pin number on my debit card. When I finally loaded my purchases and headed out, something was nagging at me. I looked over the receipt. Two of my items hadn't rung up their discounts, although the other identical items had rung up as expected. It totaled about a dollar, and I didn't care at that point to go stand in a customer service line for a buck, so I headed out.<br />
<br />
At least I got to use cartwheel and the cashier had figured out how to make my gift card work.<br />
<br />
I got home, carried my tired two-year-old inside, and started unpacking.<br />
<br />
At that point I realized I had never used the original coupon. The one that came in the mail that required a certain amount spent to get fifteen dollars off. The one that was the reason I even went to Target today.<br />
<br />
Cue Mommy Overload reaction.<br />
<br />
I threatened to return everything to Target, curse their coupon system, and walk out with my money back. Let them keep their stupid items and the stupid coupon. I'd planned this all out! It was supposed to be a feat of superpower-like awesomeness when I couponed like a pro.<br />
<br />
I spent ten minutes wondering if there was anything I could do or even if there was, if it was worth it.<br />
<br />
I finally came to my senses and realized I'd better not do anything until I ate some lunch. I'm a grumpy sort of person when I haven't eaten and I clearly was not thinking straight. I found my son in his room, apologized for upsetting him (he didn't want me to take everything back) and made everyone peanut-butter and honey sandwiches for lunch. By the time I finished eating, I realized I didn't care about the coupon enough to drag everyone back to the store. All I wanted was to tell someone else about how incredibly frustrated I was with myself and the stupid, complicated system called couponing.<br />
<br />
So I wrote a Facebook post in my head were I ranted about it all. Then I realized my rant was turning into book. So I put my daughter to bed and blogged about it.<br />
<br />
Seeing my plans come from my head into real life in such a completely scattered, forgetful way is so painful sometimes. Now I feel a little like laughing at myself. Life's okay. I'm going to throw that coupon away and add this experience to my file of couponing disasters. It's a story at least.JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-60661861559723167322016-05-23T21:17:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:43:36.141-08:00Enter Harry Potter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoK2ZOIUW2Otv8MpsOGyxkLcQdnJ7tZ4nHqHo753g1XBNLtU5K0Gj5VqMouxQzKwmdWt6hMJ40JnCmDjt_C4oVwYYJTxfIFJjFZd8HaG6XhvvYTDlTvzTJpOWbQ7dmo6BA-25xavq19E/s1600/Quidditch+Practice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoK2ZOIUW2Otv8MpsOGyxkLcQdnJ7tZ4nHqHo753g1XBNLtU5K0Gj5VqMouxQzKwmdWt6hMJ40JnCmDjt_C4oVwYYJTxfIFJjFZd8HaG6XhvvYTDlTvzTJpOWbQ7dmo6BA-25xavq19E/s320/Quidditch+Practice.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I met Harry Potter in my impressionable early teen years and, like many of you, grew up with him. I read the last book in the series right after the birth of my first child, a son. I remember this clearly for one reason. I had my son in a bassinet right next to me. He was doing nothing but sleeping or breast feeding, but I still felt guilty for not giving that poor sleepy baby my undivided attention. <i>Sorry, baby H. Mommy has got a previous engagement with a wizard named Harry. You will have to eat without me staring at you the whole time. </i><br />
<br />
I don't do books, any books, in small chunks. I'm a read it to the end sort of person.<br />
<br />
But somehow, my son survived me reading Harry Potter in the first few weeks of his innocent life.<br />
<br />
And I had never been more satisfied, more thrilled, with the ending of any book or series. It was brilliant.<br />
<br />
From that moment on, I became somewhat of a crazy person, trying to create the perfect set of circumstances and timing for my son's eventual introduction to Harry Potter.<br />
<br />
When he was three and four, his daddy was telling him the condensed, mostly child-appropriate versions of <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>.<br />
<br />
<i>Sorry Luke my kid already knew Darth Vader was your father BEFORE he saw the movie.</i><br />
<br />
I looked at Harry Potter, set it aside and pulled out The Mouse and The Motorcycle, Ramona, and Charlotte's Web.<br />
<br />
He loved them. But he played Star Wars and talked about hobbits.<br />
<br />
My mom got a Harry Potter Lego game on her phone. I told her and him it was too hard for him to play and did that until he didn't beg to play it whenever we were with her.<br />
<br />
But he's played Lego Star Wars a million times.<br />
<br />
I didn't let him watch the movies. I kept the exploding cultural movement, including amusement parks and fan art, away from him.<br />
<br />
But he had Star Wars action figures.<br />
<br />
He did watch Harry Potter Puppet Pals. (<i>I'm Harry Potter, Harry, Harry Potter.</i>) I relented. But, hey, no spoilers! And I think he was under three at the time.<br />
<br />
Then something happened. It's called Third Grade. And my little boy started swallowing books whole. We read all five Fable Haven books together, but meanwhile he read the Percy Jackson series by himself. And the Hobbit. We read at least four Redwall books, and still ended up scouring the book shelves. He brought home dragon books, monster books, wizard books, and books about mythical creatures.<br />
<br />
In December, I knew it was time.<br />
<br />
I'd planned this with precision, but I still hesitated. I wanted the perfect time, and I knew the last books would have more moments of the dark, sad, and deep. I wanted to make sure he was ready to face that. I put it off until spring. But I knew if I didn't open that door with him soon, he'd open it on his own. I was literally telling him to wait.<br />
<br />
<i>Wait and read it with me.</i><br />
<br />
Because I'm crazy like that. I wanted to be there when he first heard the story, when he first discovered Harry was a wizard, that owls can bring letters, that wands pick the wizard and flying on brooms can be a sport. I wanted to gift wrap all that wonder, give it to him as undiluted and unsoiled as it came to me, and I wanted to be there for the opening.<br />
<br />
And so it began. After years of training him not to ask for more chapters when our bedtime reading was done, I read late, pass bedtimes, and often in the middle of the day to him. The kid is smarter than me. He picks out parts of the book and predicts endings I never saw coming. But I guess he's had training in the form of Tolkien and Brandon Mull, among others.<br />
<br />
We finished the first book in record time. And I wanted to savor things. I'd waited years for this. We could read a different book between one and two, couldn't we?<br />
<br />
Sure.<br />
<br />
Unless he finds book two in the school library and sneaks it out and starts reading it on his own.<br />
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Yes. He did that.<br />
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And yes, I made him stop and reread the part he already read with me. Remember that I'm crazy?<br />
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We are now almost through book two of Harry Potter and our wizard friend has come to stay. BOOM. Like that.<br />
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Yesterday, he repeated <i>wingardium leviosa</i> so many times it got stuck in my head. Then he started singing it. I had to tell him to stop. He found another spell to sing about.<br />
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Enter Harry Potter.<br />
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No closing that door again. And my two year old daughter will never get the pure, unspoiled version.<br />
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Because he's already taught her to ride brooms in the backyard.<br />
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They say you're less crazy with the second child.<br />
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Maybe that's because we don't get a choice.<br />
<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-494165839832070562016-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:44:01.412-08:00WIP: Values-Centered Activities for Young WomenI've been working on a new non-fiction book the last six months, Values-Based Activities for Young Women. Ask for it in LDS bookstores at the end of May/beginning of June.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "adobe garamond pro"; text-align: justify;"><i>This helpful book features forty-eight activities centered on the eight values: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, and virtue. Along with the main activities, the book provides alternate ideas, additional resources, charts, cutouts, recipes, and a short play for a group to perform. From easy, last-minute planning, to coordinating bigger projects, each value section contains ideas to fit a variety of needs. Leaders can use this book to connect the values to activity nights in purposeful, fun, and engaging ways.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro";"><span style="background-color: white;">As part of this project, I've set up a Pinterest page with links to tutorials that might be helpful for some of the activity ideas. I'll be adding to it as I find things that would be helpful. Follow it at </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/jolyndbrown/yw-value-based-activity-tutorials/">www.pinterest.com/jolyndbrown/yw-value-based-activity-tutorials/</a></span></div>
JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-53567773093305164072016-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:002018-01-11T21:44:26.511-08:00Reading Corner: Finding Sleeping Beauty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Sleeping-Beauty-Tarrah-Montgomery/dp/1599929813" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=" Amazon LInk" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/910vzGi37KL.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Sleeping-Beauty-Tarrah-Montgomery/dp/1599929813">Amazon Link</a></td></tr>
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If you like modern spins on fairy tales, check out this book by Tarrah Motgomery. When Princess Danielle learns the true nature of the curse she's had since she was a child, everything changes. Literally. With a walk through a strange door in an old house, she finds herself in none other than Shelby, Idaho. </div>
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But Shelby has plenty of adventure of it's own. From high school to cute farm boys to spud festivals, Danielle is in for a slew of unexpected changes, all while struggling to avoid the curse that has somehow followed her to Idaho. </div>
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With plenty of fairy tale references and twists, readers will enjoy trying to figure out which character is from which well-known story. I'd recommend this book to preteen girls and any one who wants a fun, romantic, slightly cowboy flavored twist on a fairy tale. This is a clean read and the second book in The Princess Chronicles. </div>
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<br />JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4018095332967013182.post-38021432653789991912016-02-09T12:40:00.000-08:002016-02-09T12:40:23.363-08:00Love One Another Days 4-8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I knew posting everyday wasn't going to last. Oh well, that's life. Here are a few thoughts from the last few days:<br />
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<i>Resist the impulse to categorize others.</i><br />
I do this so much more than I realized.<br />
<i>See a situation through the other person's eyes.</i><br />
Does it count that I spent this day rewriting a scene in another character's perspective?<br />
<i>Forgive somebody who has wronged you.</i><br />
Went to the temple. Put a specific name on the prayer roll. I think that helps.<br />
<i>Don't criticize actions or circumstances.</i><br />
Spent the day trying to apply this to my sunbeam class. They are lots of fun.<br />
<i>Show mercy to someone.</i><br />
Tried not to get too worked up when my daughter got bbq sauce on the carpet.<br />
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I've been thinking about love. Not just regular love, but the divine kind of love. Charity. I read with my family from Moroni 7. Verse 48 reads:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love . . ."</span><br />
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And it hit me, that kind of love, the best kind of love, is a gift Heavenly Father gives to us. To see others as He does, to start to understand how important every person is, how incredibly valuable, we have to ask for His help. We can't just get there on our own. I sure have been trying, but most of these things have only reminded me how short I fall, how far I have to go still. Each day, each step is leading me there, but I can't do it without Him.JoLyn Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04955836826124221435noreply@blogger.com0