It is the night of our dear saviours birth

It's Christmas Eve!!!! Tonight children ( and some adults!!) will struggle to sleep with all the excitement of santas imminent arrival!!! 

Families will be gathering together to swap gifts, share cracker jokes and eat their body weight in Turkey and chocolate! 

Christmas is a time for family, fun, giving and most importantly remembering the birth of our saviour. He is the gift! The greatest gift. 

Wishing everyone a merry Christmas filled with love peace happiness and chocolate ️xxx 

12 days of kindness ...

It's the 12th of December... In jade world that can only mean one thing.... It's time to start the 12 days of Christmas kindness!! 

I started Doing the 12 days of Christmas kindness a couple of years ago and I love it! I do an act of kindness for someone everyday between now and Christmas! I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be well enough to do it this year but thankfully I am! 

I normally plan my Christmas kindness acts in advance but this year I haven't been as well prepared so I'm having to wing it a little ..(anyone who has ever had to work with me will know that I spend a large amount of my life just winging it!) 

So today I wrapped up a box of malteasers .. I originally bought two boxes but I ate one!! .. And posted them through the door of one of my elderly neighbours. The couple that live there are just so sweet and lovely and the way they care for each other after like 70 years of marriage just warms my heart!! I stuck a cute label on the box too :) 

The twelve days of Christmas kindness always helps me feel super Christmassy and it reminds me of what Christmas is all about... Giving. ... Jesus Christ was the gift to the world .. He was the greatest gift and for that I am truly thankful. 12 days of Christmas kindness helps me to kept the CHRIST in Christmas. 

Speaking of kindness this week I left the school where I have worked for the past two and a half years... It was a pretty emotional experience. It is a wonderful school and it has been a wonderful place to work! I made some great friends there some of whom I know will remain my friends for years to come! Saying goodbye to them was very sad and it made me cry ..(thankfully not enough to ruin my makeup!!) .. In an act of super kindness they bought me a leaving gift ... A giraffe charm for my pandora bracelet... I LOVE giraffes!!! They were the best and kindest team I have ever had the opportunity to work with!! They were deffo the dream team!!!

The world is full of opportunities to do good and to make someone's day... Just like a giraffe charm!!!! 

 

I don't know much but I know enough

This is one of my favourite quotes by President Monson. Faith and doubt cannot exist in your mind at the same time. True faith dispels all doubt. While I may not know where I am going or where this path will lead me I trust in The Lord and his plan for me. One of my favourite sayings is it's all part of the plan and I know that's true. My future may be different to the one I had originally planned but I know it will be the one I am supposed to have. I don't have all the answers but there are some things that I do know 

I know little babies come from heaven 

I know God made those tiny hands and hearts

I know rainbows and roses are no accident 

Neither are the sun the moon and stars

I know that death is not the end of my soul

I know something divine lives in us all 

I know there is someone watching over me 

I know my prayers are heard beyond these walls

So when I doubt when there are things in life I just can't figure out 

I trust that God is in control and I hold on to the things I know

Whatever path I walk down I know that I don't walk down it alone. I have no doubts or fears about my future just excitement and faith that The Lord knows what he is doing and I am in safe hands. 

THE BOOK IS BLUE THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! 

All my peeps will be conforming .... Because it's cool to be a mormon

The other day I was sat in the doctors waiting room rocking my mormon and proud hoodie when a woman asked me why I was a mormon. At first I was just impressed that she hadn't asked me if I was waiting to see a doctor .... This always seems to be the question most people ask in doctors waiting rooms and I've never understood why?? Why else would I be sat there???!!! Anyway, after I had gotten over the shock of the question I had to think of an answer and the only one I could think of was "because it's true and it's awesome" she didn't really know what to say after that!!!!

Part of me wished I had been a little bit more prepared for the question and could have maybe whipped out a BOM from my bag for her as a little bit of waiting room reading.. Unfortunately the only things in my handbag were my purse, keys and a lip gloss, none of which would have helped her understand the gospel Andy more than my original answer did!

After thinking about it however, I decided that I answered the question quite well. She didn't ask me what being a mormon was all about she asked me why I was one and my answer summed it up perfectly. I am a mormon because it is true and I know it is. I have no doubts about that. That is the main reason why I am a member of the church. The second part of my statement is also true. It is awesome. Being a mormon has given me so many blessing and special moments in my life, more than I can count. It has allowed me to really get to know my Heavenly Father and also myself. My membership works as a guide and a moral compass and it has provided me with some of the best friends I could ask for.

Being a mormon is by far the coolest thing you can be... The rest of the world just doesn't know it yet!!!! 

Making ripples

"It only takes one true believer to believe you can still beat the odds" 

I heard this line in a song three years ago and it has left a lasting impression on me. It only takes one true believer to believe you can still beat the odds, it only takes one person to truly believe in something, to believe in change in order for change to happen. Someone somewhere needs to have the idea of change, someone needs to plant the seed. 

I have already mentioned before that I LOVE Christmas! I am the bauble queen, I love the sparkle and the excitement. I find Christmas to be a very magical time and Iove it like a fat kid loves cake! ..apart from the glitter! ... Christmas seems to include an awful lot of glitter. It gets everywhere, into your clothes and carpets and you can never quite get rid of it all no matter how many times you vacuum!! I but on a whole the Christmas season is great and is my favourite time of year. 

Today, however, someone reminded me that Christmas is not a joyful time for everyone. For some people Christmas is a sad and lonely time of the year. A huge number of people, particularly the elderly, will spend Christmas alone, they will have no visitors and see no one over the Christmas season! Other people find Christmas a sad time of year because it reminds them of a loved one they have lost and they no longer wish to join in with the festivities and some people face Christmas not only on their own but out on the streets, homeless cold and hungry. 

Over the past few years things have been a little bit tough in this country and many of us have had to tighten the purse strings a little bit, but most of us are blessed with the basics, we have a home to live in, we have clothes to wear and we have food on our table. Most of us have friends or family who we can spend time with, laugh with and get comfort and support from. I don't have millions of pounds in the bank, I don't live in a massive house and I don't drive a fancy car (mainly because I'm an awesome epileptic) but none of those things matter. I have a wonderful network of friends and family who love me, i have a nice home, i have nice clothes and food to eat. I am incredibly blessed. There are so many people who go without those basic needs! 

I have noticed over the years that while we all complain about the state of the country, we all watch children in need or the charity adverts on the TV and we all talk about how we want things to change, that we want to help those people on the TV and yet how many of us actually do???

How many of us walk past the homeless guy on the street, making a judgement in our heads about how they ended up in their current situation and deciding that they don't deserve our help or that we don't have enough to spare. How many of us see that old lady going about her daily business every day and feel a pang of sadness in our hearts because we know she is lonely and yet we walk past her without speaking? 

Change only comes when one person takes that first step towards it. You don't need to be a millionaire to help those in need you just need to be kind, thoughtful and less judgemental. I had a wonderful experience recently of talking with a homeless man. I sat next to him and we chatted for about 20 minutes. He was a nice guy who had fallen on hard times. Afterwards he thanked me for talking to him and treating him like a human being something which nobody had done in months. Imagine that!!! Imagine not only being homeless, hungry and incredibly sad but then having people treat you like you are worthless and some kind of sub human!! To me that is so incredibly sad!!! 

If this Christmas season everyone made one change, if everyone carried out one act of kindness towards someone else then a change will come! It won't change the world but it will change the lives of those around us! So let's talk to the homeless, visit the old lady who is lonely, take cookies to our neighbours , smile at a stranger in the street. You never know who's life you are changing!!!

Every act of kindness has a ripple effect, you never know how far reaching each ripple may be....  

It's the season to be jolly ,it's also the season to be kind!!!!! 

Bring on the sparkles, mince pies, glitter and that little bit of kindness that will make Christmas truly magical this year!!!!