One Step

I have been thinking a lot about fog lately. Not because much fog actually exists in Utah, because it's a rarity. Maybe it's because fog always makes me think of the dark, wintery nights of my childhood in the valley where fog was our version of a white Christmas.

Fog is an interesting phenomenon. Basically it's the equivalent of being inside a cloud. It's completely traversable, but often it looks completely solid. I have a memory of riding in the car one particularly foggy night when we truly could not see more that ten feet in front of the front bumper of our station wagon. We could see so little that my mom had my brother get out of the car and walk in front of it as a reference point. By doing so, we doubled our visibility distance. As we crawled along, hoping there was nothing dangerous ahead, the fog dissipated foot by foot with each bit we moved forward, and the world behind that wall of mist was revealed. We couldn't see the entire road, but enough landmarks emerged from the nothingness that we were able to keep going. Finally, the shadowy outline of our house appeared and we were safe at home again.

As I was remembering this story today, a verse from the hymn "Lead Kindly Light" came to mind:

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

So often in life, we want to see the whole picture, but one step at a time is all we get. We have to take that step and hold on in faith that we will be able to see enough to take another one after.

Sometimes, if we could see the whole scene, we wouldn't want to take even that first step, like in the story of a woman who told her mother, "I can't stand having sixteen more of those [radiation] treatments."

Her wise mother responded, "Can you go today?"

"Yes."

"Well, honey, that's all you have to do today."

One day. One step. One moment at a time. That's all we have to do. Life has an uncanny ability to become overwhelming, but when we take a piece at a time, it becomes manageable.

I feel hugely blessed in life right now, but I know that trials will surely come my way again. Life isn't always (or even often) easy. As I prepare to become a mother in the next few months, I've begun to think about the massive undertaking that this is. I'm thrilled about it, but I'm also sure there will be days that will overwhelm me as I try to figure out how to raise this little boy that is being sent to me. I may not know how he'll turn out as an adult, and I may not even know how I'm going to get dinner on the table with everything else going on, but I can still enjoy the moment I'm in. My goal for this year is to take one step, one day, one moment at a time. By doing that, I hope to savor the present more and look to the Savior for guidance about where and how to move forward.

How to Spread a Smile Across the World

Have you ever had a day where the cosmos just don't seem to be aligning in your favor and you need someone to help you notice that the sun is still shining?

Meet the world's newest source of sunshine...Grandma Harr as the "Party Rock Grandma":



Here's the story of how her smile (and rockin' dance moves) spread to 195 countries across the world:

Our cousin, Adam, lives with Grandma and helps care for her. She is ninety years old, legally blind, and mostly deaf, so she sometimes gets frustrated with the limitations she deals with daily. But, riding in the car home from dinner one night in December with Adam, she started dancing in her seat to the music he was playing (apparently this happens frequently). When they got home, she wanted to dance more, so he put on LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem and videoed her because (clearly) it's hilarious. You have to admit, she actually has some pretty good moves, especially for being ninety.

He posted it on YouTube, and that was the end...until about a week ago. Last Thursday, the band LMFAO got wind of the video and posted it on their Facebook page. From there, it went viral. It's been viewed over a million times, been shown on multiple news websites, and now Adam and Grandma are being approached to appear on TV! Yesterday, they were on Good Things Utah (ABC), and now the Today show wants to have them on next week. Crazy!

Graham and I went to see grandma on Sunday, and we asked her about her dancing. She told us that she just couldn't resist "that hot beat music" Adam plays; she has to dance! I love it. She fully recognizes that this is just her fifteen minutes of fame, but I love seeing her with something special to look forward to, even if only for the next fifteen minutes.

Even more, I love how much attention she's getting because it proves that people want to see and hear about things that make them happy. So much of the news around us is sad; it's nice to be reminded of the beauty and joy in simple daily events.

I can't resist smiling when I watch Grandma's videos...I bet you can't either. Her joy in a simple dance party for one is truly contagious...and I hope the virus keeps spreading smiles around the world...for at least another fifteen minutes or so.

May we all find the simple-joys-of-life-loving side of ourselves and rock out! And, if you ever need a boost on one of those days when the world seems against you, you know where to look for a small dose of sunshine.