CHRISTMAS HAS FINALLY BEGUN! I HAVE HEARD TONS OF CHRISTMAS STUFF ALREADY, BUT CHRISTMAS NEVER “STARTS”’ UNTIL I LISTEN 2 MICHAEL McCLEAN’S FORGOTTEN CAROLS, & I TURNED THEM ON AS I WRITE THIS POST:

I HAVE BEEN REMINDED HOW GOD CARES ABOUT & PROTECTS ME…I JUST HAVE 2 LISTEN! IN THE BOOK CALLED Hearing The Voice of the Lord, Elder Boyd K. Packer (of the LDS church) said: “The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all. . . . Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed..”

LONG STORY SHORT, I HAVE HAD COMPUTER TROUBLES THIS LAST WEEK, & HAVE HAD 2 RESTORE A LOT. AS I HAVE DONE THINGS, I KEEP GETTING THESE THOUGHTS (WHICH ARE MORE LIKE REMINDERS) OF THINGS I WAS PROMPTED 2 DO DURING THE PREVIOUS WEEKS. THESE THINGS HAVE ASSISTED ME IN MY RESTORATION PROCESS.

4 EX., I HAVE BEEN DABBLING FOR YEARS IN WRITING A BOOK. THEN, I JUST STOPPED, NOT SURE OF THE DIRECTION 2 TAKE IT…UNTIL RECENTLY, WHEN I’VE HAD SOME IDEAS THROWN MY WAY, THAT RESULTED IN SOME PRETTY BIG CHANGES, GIVING ME THE DIRECTION I NEEDED, SO I COULD RETURN TO WORKING ON IT! I WOULD’VE BEEN SICK IF I HAD LOST THAT WHEN I HAD MY COMPUTER TROUBLES THIS WEEK! BUT A WHILE AGO, FOR NO REASON AT ALL, I PUT A COPY OF IT ON MY LAPTOP. SO, WHEN MY COMPUTER HAD TROUBLE, I WAS REMINDED OF THAT COPY, & THAT I WAS FINE!

THIS IS JUST 1 EX. OF MANY. BUT SOME THINGS WERE NOT RESTORED, & I CAN SEE HOW EVEN THOSE ARE A BLESSING!

HERE’S AN EX. OF 1 OF THOSE: I KEEP A SORT OF “TO DO” LIST FOR MY CAREGIVER/“HELPER”/PERSONAL ASSISSTANT. ACTUALLY, I HAVE 2 LISTS. THEY SEE 1 LIST—THE LIST OF CURRENT JOBS & THERAPY I WANT 2 DO THAT WEEK.
THE JOBS ON THE 2ND LIST, THEY NEVER SEE UNTIL THE JOBS GET DONE ON THE 1ST LIST. I ADD JOB TO THE 2ND LIST ALL THE TIME, BUT OFTEN IT IS THINGS I’D LIKE 2 DO AT THE MOMENT, BUT OTHER JOBS “TRUMP” IT—IN FACT, I HAVE HAD SOME JOBS STAY ON THE 2ND LIST FOR YEARS. (I USED 2 BE BOTHERED BY IT, BUT NOW I AM OK W/IT—IT’S JUST HOW IT IS). ANYWAY, RIGHT B4 MY OLD CAREGIVER/“HELPER”/PERSONAL ASSISSTANT, CARA, LEFT, I WAS GETTING SO BAD AT DOING THE NEEDED THERAPY, BECUZ I PUT MORE STOCK INTO FINISHING MY LISTS THAN DOING MY THERAPY.

WHEN I GOT MY NEW CAREGIVER/“HELPER”/PERSONAL ASSISSTANT, ANGIE, I SEEMED 2 GET A NEW DESIRE 2 DO MORE THERAPY, BUT AS THE 2ND LIST HAS GROWN, I HAVE STARTED DOING LESS THERAPY. HOWEVER, THIS WEEK, I HAVE BEEN TRYING 2 FIGURE OUT HOW 2 PUT MORE THERAPY BACK INTO MY SCHEDULE. WHEN I LOST A MORE RECENT COPY OF THE 2ND LIST, AT 1ST, I WAS FRUSTRATED, BECUZ THERE WAS NO REASON THE RECENT LIST COULDN’T BE RESTORED…IT SHOULD’VE BEEN BACKED-UP! BUT, NOT HAVING IT HAS TURNED MY FOCUS BACK 2 THERAPY…& SUDDENLY I SAW A DOOR OPEN! THIS IS WHERE I THINK THE LORD WANTS ME 2 FOCUS RT. NOW, BECUZ I’VE HAD SO MANY SMALL MIRACLES IN MY LIFE SINCE MY FALL (THIS SUMMER), LEADING ME 2 SITUATIONS & DOCTORS THAT HAVE INVITED MORE PHYSICAL THERAPY INTO MY LIFE! SO LOSING IT APPEARS UNFORTUNATE, BUT IS ACTUALLY A SMALL BLESSING! HOW DOES GOD DO THAT: HE KEEPS MANAGING 2 TURN THE BAD INTO GOOD! I HAVE WITNESSED THIS SO MUCH RECENTLY, I CAN’T RECORD IT EVERYTIME! BUT 2 DO IT W/SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS MY LIST, REMINDS ME HOW GOD KNOWS & CARES ABOUT ME PERSONALLY.