Another Spiritual Thought

I got this in an email and I thought it would be nice to share.

The smell of rain
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughte r, Dana Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.
"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one" Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.
"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw', the>lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did sl owly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.
Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story. One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent . Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain." Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children. Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

A Talk in Church

Today I gave a talk in church and I was not very excited for it. Dad (since he is the 1st counciler in the bishopric) assigned the topic: where our heart is. I would just like to share the talk with you because I really felt the spirit writing and giving it.

Michaela’s Talk for Sacrament Meeting September 16, 2007

This summer I spent 2 ½ months in Great Britain. My time there was amazing. We did everything from horseback riding in Ireland, to sitting in libraries doing family history. One of my favorite parts was the Church History. We went to all of the Church History sites and at the tail end of the trip I had my first temple excursion. We traveled to Preston England where the prophet served his mission and went to the Preston, England Temple. The landscaping was beautiful as we walked up the sidewalk and into the automatic doors that led into this sacred place. Right when I entered I felt this calm, warm feeling and I felt as if I could burst out crying. Everything was so perfect. A woman led us down many flights of stairs paved with soft, cream colored carpet until we got to the baptismal font. I marveled at the light and glory of this place. The whole place was lit up and I counted the 12 oxen that held the font so sturdily. The ceiling was a dome shape with tiny lights that looked like stars and we viewed a man baptizing a girl for a person long gone. After receiving our temple clothes and changing into them we all met outside the changing rooms and decided to do confirmations first. Even though the clothes were a bit big, I felt pure and clean in them. My Dad blessed me 15 times for many people I had no idea who were, but I knew I was doing the right thing. Entering into the baptismal font area with my Mom and sister I felt like joy in what I was doing. First went Mariah and then me so my Mom could watch me do it for the first time. I carefully walked down the stairs into the warm, clear water and took my Dad’s hand. He baptized me so many times I couldn’t even count and I could just imagine each person I was being baptized for clap their hands for joy as I came up out of the water. The whole experience felt like a dream. After changing back into our normal clothes we met an older man who was a temple worker and he told us a story from when he was young. He was in the army and every year Queen Elizabeth would set a wreath on the memorial of soldiers who had lost their lives. At the time, he had thought that this was very significant, but when he thought about it, he realized that that didn’t do anything for the souls that had been lost. He told us that we had done something the Queen of England couldn’t have done, and that is be baptized for someone who didn’t get the chance in this life.
I thought this was a very special temple to be my first because this is where President Hinckley served his mission. We visited one of his residences where he lived in at the first of his mission. At that time he felt very discouraged and wrote home saying that he was wasting his time and his parent’s money. His father wrote a short note back saying, “Forget yourself and go to work”. After that, his heart was turned and he worked diligently on his mission work the rest of his time in England.
I am so glad for my membership in this church. The weekend before school started the youth in this ward went down to the Dougherty’s lake house. We all had so much fun swimming and skiing and playing games inside. On the Sunday we were there we had a full 3-hour meeting and I know that we all felt the spirit. Each and every person attending the meeting got up and bore their testimony and it really touched me to be there together in such a small group, but still feel the love of the savior.
I am so grateful that all of you are here today and that your hearts are where they are supposed to be. I am so thankful for the gospel and the prophets in these latter-days and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

My tribute to Lockers

I love my locker because it is decorated and pretty as well as saves my back from breaking. It is fun to go to my locker in between every class and relieve my arms to find my new books. My new best friend, Kelly Morgan, has her locker near mine and almost all of our classes are together. My electives are Drama and Orchestra and I am having the funnest time in those classes. My first impression of Junior High is: AMAZINGLY FUN!!!

My First Day of Junior High!!!!!

Sorry they are side ways. These are picture from the first day of 7th grade for me and the first day of Senior-ness for Mariah. I am going to start doing more blogging so you will get a lot more of this!

I Have Had an Inspiration!

I think I am going to try to blog at least 3 times a week so you guys can hear what is happening. That is all! Inspiring post isn't it?

This time I am not a slacker!!

I haven't had Internet....that is my excuse. Right now I am in a little B&B called the Robert Burns Hotel in Edinburgh Scotland. I am lovin it! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Don't ask why they are so out of order. They are from the Lake District (we stayed there a week), Ireland (we stayed there three days) and Hemingford Gray near Cambrige (stayed there about four days). I will post some more of Scotland later.

Mom and Mariah hiking Easedale Tarn in the Lake District.
Mom at the hotel in Hemingford Grey.
Pretty flower in the Lake District.
Mom and Dad are cute!
classic thatched roof

"tarn"
Reading poetry on the lake or "tarn"
Mariah in Ireland. Isn't that a cute picture of her?
This is another cute picture of Mariah in the Lake District crossing a stream on the rocks.
In Hemmingford Grey. I took this picture really quickly so it looks like Mom and Dad are flirting or something:-)!

Our cute cottage in the Lake District.
The sign to Easedale Tarn. Easedale was the street it was off of and Tarn is a lake in England.
On the way to the lake. There were beautiful mountains and waterfalls.
Beautiful counrtyside. BEAUTIFUL is all I can say.
The "tarn"

Scary Rope bridge in Ireland!! It was over rocky water and like 100 feet up. SCARY!!

My feet are on Ireland!
Beautiful Ireland 001
Beautiful Ireland 002 That is on the way to a huge rope bridge called Carrick-a-rede. I know it is hard to say!
Taking a quick picture from the rope bridge.
Vibrant Ireland

On the shores of Ireland.

Taking a picture of myself in Hemingford Grey.
I was waiting for Mom and Mariah in the bathroom. This is a picture of the knob in the hand dryer. Don't ask!
Funny sign!
another funny sign. This is the court the friend we met lives on (look down)
This is our friend's house (look down to see the friend)

You have already seen this picture on an older post but Mariah edited it so only the blue things show. I think it looks pretty cool.
This is a picture from Ireland where we were visiting the ruins of a castle. I think this picture captures the dog so well with the sign in the background!
This is a puppy we met hiking Easedale Tarn in the Lake District.
on the shores of Ireland!

Our charming hotel in Hemingford Grey near an archives library where we were doing family history.
More of the hotel. It was very charming and bright.
On the way to our new friend's house (look down) there was an amazing sunset with that hot air balloon.
This is Chris Stephens who we met fishing in Hemingford Grey. He invited us to his house and we talked. He gave us a book, dinner, and later a tour of Cambridge (university).
On the way to his house there was a fox knocker that knocked with the fox head. I think that is one of the coolest knockers I have ever seen!

More pictures...this is when the family was here

Pretty Flower
Aunt Peggy...caught her with her eyes closed!

Uncle Paul

Oxford

Oxford again

Oxford yet again
Mom
Mariah pretending to preach at the obylisc (church history site)
Marha running down this alley way and jumping up clicking her heals. Doesn't she look like Mary Poppins with her feet turned out like that?!?!?
Every single house has a slot for letters and this one was labled
Grandma's a trooper!
Gadfield Elm (oldest LDS church)
Outside of Gadfield Elm
Fooling around with my camera. I think that is kinda a bad picture but o well. I never get good picture of myself.
Family including Mom, Dad, Mariah, Uncle Paul, Aunt Peggy, Emily (cousin). Not me. I am the one taking the picture. This is at the Benbo Farm (another church history site)
Emily
Dad posing for the camera. I think that is a first!
Cute kitten I saw walking around.
Another cute kitten I saw walking around.
In that square we were walking around near the obylisc ther were a lot of pigeons. I thought this picture was cool because only the bird is in focus and then everything else is blurry. It really captures the movement.
Benbo Farm
River Ribble. Pretty eh?
The light hit the side of the hill right as I took the picture. Beautiful country side!
More beautiful country side.
Awesome pattern in the sand as the sunset
I don't know why this is out of focus because it isn't on my computer...just on the blog but if it was in focus it is any enourmouse cloud with a pretty beach and sunset.

Hope you like these pics. I haven't been on in a while because Internet is sparse where we have been staying. Love ya!