The Living Christ

This season we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  While in this mortal realm, Christ taught of forgiveness, faith, His Father, and love.  He continues teach us through His Spirit and through His prophets.  Because He suffered in Gethsemane and was crucified on the cross for us, we are able to return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father in Their eternal glory.  His birth was of divine design to save us all.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  What better reason is there to celebrate!

The Living Christ is a testimony from leaders of the Mormon church and apostles of Christ.  It is what Latter-Day Saints believe about Christ. Stayed tuned for a coordinating printable of The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

I made this printable a little bigger (11x14) so as to be able to read it when hung on the wall.  There are also a few colors to choose from...hopefully one will look good on your wall.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

   download free 11x14 printable of The Living Christ - grey here

 download free 11x14 printable of The Living Christ - navy here

download free 11x14 printable of The Living Christ - turquoise here

*edited 1/17/17

Happy New Year

As a New Year tradition my family spends a little time writing down our best parts of the year and make some goals for the upcoming one.  We put what we wrote in a time capsule and bring it out the next New Year to compare our years.  It's fun to see what my kids will write down and see how they've grown over the past year.  This is a great way for kids to start becoming goal oriented, and as we all know...the best way to start a goal, is to write it down!

Have a wonderful New Year!  I hope 2014 is your best year yet!

download your free .pdf here

*found a spelling error in the document...doh!  It should be fixed now.

Christmas is Christ Challenge: Christmas Song Printables

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Christmas really is my favorite time of the year.  I know it sounds cliche, but everything is just a little merrier.  People are a little nicer, unimportant things seem to nag at us a little less, and the air is thick with graciousness and gratitude.  It is the Christmas Spirit that makes this holiday so wonderful...and the Christmas Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.

I would like to propose a challenge to you this holiday: make the Savior your focus of the season.  You can decide exactly what that means for you.  Maybe it will entail worrying a little less about parties and activities, spending beneath your means for gifts and food, and/or loving our fellow men through service and gratitude. Whatever you may do to make Christ the center of your holiday, remember that feeling of love and peace and share it with those around you.

For the printables this week, I chose lines from Christmas songs I love to sing that remind me that this season is about the Savior.   

I hope your holiday season is filled with love and the Spirit of Christ!  

free 8x10 for Joy to the World here

free 8x10 for The First Noel here

free 8x10 for Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains here

Remember the Little Things

A goal of mine this year was to slow down a little and enjoy everyday life.  I think if we can enjoy our everyday life we can be so much happier.  Even things that seem mundane that need to be done like cleaning can bring us joy.  Or maybe we need to stress less about keeping it so tidy so we can play LEGO's with our kids. (Can you tell my house is a mess at the moment!)

photo from Stephanie's blog: nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

Someone who is an example to me about how to enjoy everyday is Stephanie Nielson, a well known mommy blogger.  Her book, "Heaven Is Here," is about her life and focuses a lot on how her family is the most important thing to her.  She cherishes things like Friday night pizza, laying beside her babies at night and just being alive.  In 2008 Stephanie and her husband were in a horrible plane crash that Stephanie barely survived.  She was burned so badly she was put into a sleep induced coma for three months. When she awoke her children didn't recognize her; her baby didn't even remember her.  She had to go through months of surgery and years of rehabilitation and will never fully recover from her physical scars.  Her soul however, is stronger than ever.  Before the accident she was already a happy person, but after being stripped of many physical abilities, she learned to appreciate the little things even more.  Some of her temporary setbacks were the ability to speak, see, and walk;  she and her family celebrated the day she was able to hike her favorite trail. She is a monumental example of how to enjoy the little things!  She blogs about her every day life in nieniedialogues.blogspot.com.

download free 8x10 printable here

Gratitude is like a present

My grandfather once told me that a good intention is just that...unless you follow through.  He had found a letter of mine that was expressing gratitude to someone that hadn't been sent yet.  Unless I actually sent that letter it wouldn't have benefited anyone...not even myself. 

When we feel grateful, one of the best things we can do is express that gratitude.  I know that will make us experience even more happiness than we had just from feeling grateful.  That's why feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.  Wise word from Willam Arthur Ward.

I also changed a few of the printables I had made for earlier this month.  I wanted them to coordinate so you could have a nice Thanksgiving display of quotes about being thankful.  Enjoy!

for free 8x10 printable click here

click here for "it is thankful people who are happy" printable

click here for "enjoy the little things" (blog entry to come soon)

click here for "gratitude is a present" printable

click here for "gratitude turns what we have into enough" printable

Gratitude Turns What We Have Into Enough

I often find myself saying, "If only I had (fill in the blank), life would be so much better."   But we all know that pining after what we don't have never made anyone happy.  Even wishing for worthwhile things such as more patience, friends, or love disturbs our efforts to be happy.  Yes patience, friends and love will bring us great joy, but when we are hoping for anything we do not have, it becomes too easy to forget what we do have.   That's where gratitude comes in.  Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

When I get discouraged and feel like I was dealt an unfair hand in life, I think about individuals what have suffered so much more that I.  Lately I have been thinking about Elizabeth Smart.  I can't imagine going through even a fraction of what she endured.  But after nine months of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, Elizabeth remains grateful for the things she has and realized that things could have been worse for her.  I am in awe of her courage and perspective on life.  She doesn't show signs of a victim but a person who is truly happy.

download your free 8x10 printable here

download this 8x10 printable here

Gratitude

November is the month of thanksgiving, so SURPRISE...this month I will be focusing on quotes about gratitude.  I love this time of year!  It forces me to reflect on all the wonderful blessings in my life.

My sister sent me this video from Soul Pancake about how expressing our gratitude makes us happier. Apparently it has been scientifically proven by psychologists!  Who knew!

I believe it to be true.  After expressing my gratitude, I become more aware of all the blessing I do have.  The past few months I have been keeping a gratitude journal.  I try to write down anything big or small in my life that I am grateful for.  The more I do it, the easier it is to recognize even the small blessings I receive daily.  The printable for this week focuses on just that.  Thanks for reading!

download 8x10 printable here

download this 8x10 printable here

One Drop at a Time

Do you ever wonder if your efforts to serve make any difference at all?  There is a book by M. Russell Ballard, an apostle of the LDS church, entitled One Drop at a Time that addresses this very topic.  He compares our efforts to serve with that of a tiny honey bee: (The book is based from a talk given by M. Russel Ballard that can be read here.)

"It is estimated that to produce just one pound of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world.

Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee's contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth a teaspoon.

Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee's one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other.  Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part."

Our service efforts are never in vain, even if it will take a million "flowers" to make any difference.  We may be aware or unaware of all the individuals that will do service for a particular need, but if we do our part, a difference will be made.  Even if the difference is to soften our own hearts.

My husband and I like to watch E:60 on ESPN.  It is a show that highlights unique stories from athletes; sometimes they are quite touching.  One we watched lately was on a minor league ball player named Matt Szczur.  It is about how one unselfish act saved the life of someone he didn't ever know.  It is a little long but worth the time.  You can watch it here.

This week I made two printable because I couldn't decided which I liked better.

download free 8x10 printable here

download free 8x10 printable here

Fill Your Life With Service

Having a science wired brain, I love step by step instructions and formulas to find solutions to what I need or want out of life.  This quote comes from a talk by President Thomas S. Monson, current prophet and president of the LDS church.  He gives us a three-part formula to guide our lives.

1. Fill your mind with truth
2. Fill your heart with love
3. Fill your life with service

I love how he says we do not just stumble upon truth, it is something we must search for.  Truth for me comes through my faith, by studying scripture and reading words from good and true people...like the quotes I collect!  

As for love, I think love is the answer for most everything.  If we all had more love for our neighbor and for ourselves would we have many of the problems we face today?  I think not.  

Service is just a form of love.  If you love someone, you would do anything for them, right?  We are often so  willing to serve those we love, but we also serve those we don't love or don't even know because we love God.  When we serve others, we serve our God.

You can read all of President Monson's talk here.

download 8x10 printable here

Everybody can Serve

This is a great quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It is from his sermon "The Drum Major Instinct,"  his last sermon given before his death.  In his sermon, Dr. King encourages us to seek greatness through serving others.

He says:  "If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great,  because everybody can serve.  You don't have to have a college degree to serve.  You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. (Amen) You only need a heart full of grace,  a soul generated by love.  And you can be that servant."

I can't say it any better than that.  

download free 8x10 printable here

Service in October

The theme for this month is service.  Service is one of the best ways to make yourself feel better.  Why?  Helping others gives us true happiness and lasting satisfaction that gratifying our self-interests can never duplicate.  I believe this is true because this what the Savior does for us.  "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).  And isn't that what we all are want...LOVE?

Service can range from the grand self-sacrificing to the simple smile.  You'd be surprised how much a genuine smile can brighten someone's day...I know because I have been on the receiving end.  So if you are feeling down, give someone else a lift and see how your mood soars!

 download free printable here

Attitude Is Everything

Welcome to A Beam of Sunshine: a blog that encourages a positive attitude by sharing uplifting stories and posting free printables of encouraging quotes!

The first freebie I wanted to post is something I live by...ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!  I believe we have the power to choose happiness or despair.  By choosing to have a good attitude about what is going on all around us, we decide to have a happy life.  Even if life seems grim at the moment, having a positive attitude ultimately leads to fulfilling and joyous life.  This quote encompasses what this blog is all about.

ENJOY!

download free printable here