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The following poem was sent to us by Linda Garner. We wish you a great summer weekend.

Summer Witness 

Ah,summer. Backyard barbecues. Fresh veggies from the garden. Colorful days and starlit nights. Children's laughter. Tangy lemonade. Rhubarb pie.

We spent a summer in Arkansas, where forest was everywhere. Even in the city we were surrounded by gracious trees. We walked daily near a friendly stream where fireflies and locusts entertained us and shy forest creatures sometimes said hello. It was a magic place, and one magic summer day I created this poem.

Summer Witness

What could be so pleasant as a peaceful summer day,
When life slows down a little bit and troubles melt away.
The sun’s a ball of butter and the earth is dressed in green,
While overhead the sky’s the bluest sea you’ve ever seen.
Now and then a puffy cloud floats across the sky,
And all around are buzzing things and things that flutter by.
The stream is just a trickle as it gurgles in its play.
The sleepy river lazily meanders on its way.
The heady smell of blossoms comes softly on the breeze
And all the woodland creatures take refuge in the trees.
Surrounded by this beauty and the joy that’s in the air,
Why do some folks wonder if God is really there?

What could be so pleasant as a starlit summer night,
Watching fireflies dance and flicker underneath the moon so bright,
Stepping in and out of shadows made by giants dressed in green,
Watching for the bashful creatures which by day are seldom seen,
Listening to the chicka chicka of the locust’s rhythmic song,
And the chirping of the crickets, as night birds sing along.
Though the earth is far from quiet, there’s a stillness in the air.
My heart is filled with gratitude. I bow my head in prayer.
I listen for the answer. It comes soft as summer rain.
It warms me and it softens me and fills my heart again.
As summer’s warmth enfolds me, I’m surrounded by His love,
And I know that He cares for me from His heavenly home above.

Linda Garner

To go to Linda's website, click here.

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We welcome your comments. Post by clicking the link below.

Unearthing Treasures

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We have been counseled to grow gardens by one of our prophets. Life started in the garden of Eden. Jesus shed blood through His pores in the garden of Gethsemane. Gardens appear to be important.

In the April 1978 Ensign, Richard M. Romney published his article ‘Grow YourOwn Soup.’ In it he says:

"In a Bohemian folk tale, a vagrant soldier surprises an entire town when he plunks two polished rocks into a caldron and says he’s going to make “stone soup.” The curious villagers are eager to have a taste, so they gladly bring a few carrots, onions, turnips, and other vegetables to spice up the broth, and everyone ends up with a good meal, even the soldier.

Church members, heeding President Spencer W. Kimball’s call to plant gardens, won’t likely be contributing their vegetables to someone’s stone soup. But they may, in cultivating their gardens, discover a delightful secret—they can grow many of the ingredients of a hearty soup, including spices, right in their own backyards." 

We welcome your comments, wish you a great weekend, and remind you to take advantage of our Free Download Friday. 

 To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday 29 April, click here.

Battling Depression

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I didn't know my mother had it. I think a lot of women don't know their mothers had it; that's the sad thing about depression. You know, you don't function anymore. You shut down.

You feel like you are in a void.

~Marie Osmond

Sometimes we may be depressed, and we don't even know it. I feel it in the winter months, it's known as SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I think I have it because I was born in a temperate climate and was transplanted to an area that has cold and snow six months out of the year. I feel the sadness settling in, and there's nothing I can do about it, until spring comes. Exercise helps a lot and I'm thankful for a modern luxury like a treadmill.

In the April 2002 Ensign, Shanna Ghaznavi wrote the article "Rising Above the Blues." The following is a short excerpt from it:

"Some of the symptoms of depression are persistent sadness, lack of energy, and suicidal thoughts. You might not enjoy many of the things you used to, and daily tasks might seem overwhelming. Although the same factors cause depression in both sexes, boys and girls tend to react differently to the same problems. Boys often act out in many cases, through violence, substance abuse, or getting into other kinds of trouble. Girls tend to become sad and withdraw socially, emotionally, or both. Each person will have a different combination of symptoms."

We see people who are depressed and have no actual skills to help them. Anybody can be depressed: children (it's so sad to see them like that-no pun intended), teenagers, new moms, adults and the aging.

Another excerpt from the same article:

"When people told Melissa to snap out of it, it only made her feel worse. She would try but would still wake up the next day feeling awful. ‘I didn’t even realize I was depressed,’ she says, ‘I didn’t even think to turn to my Heavenly Father for help.’ She also didn’t want to talk to her mom about what she was feeling. ‘But once I talked to her she was really supportive, and I needed that.’

 When Melissa was 14, her mom took her to a doctor. ‘At first I thought, No way! I don’t need a counselor. I’m fine! But I guess I wasn’t fine. When you’re depressed you don’t really realize there’s something wrong with you. And when you finally do recognize it, you’re so immune to it that it’s hard to deal with.’

Melissa has been in counseling for more than a year, and she looks forward to her once-a-week therapy sessions now. She’s glad she decided to get help. ‘I didn’t think I would ever need help. After a while I finally realized I needed to get down on my knees and ask for help. And that help came. I turned to my scriptures more often, and there would always be something there I needed to hear.”

With charity in our hearts and actions, even if we’re not qualified to aid someone with depression, we should still be able to be of help.

As always we welcome your comments.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Monday 25 April, click here

Personal Touch

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Today, in our Personal Touch with Rebecca Cressman segment, she interviews Ryan Allred. Ryan is the 18-year-old founder of the Ryan’s Lion Organization, a non-profit corporation that distributes plush “courage” lions, called “Ryan’s Lions” to hospital Newborn Intensive Care Units and Pediatric Intensive Care Units where they are given to families of premature and stillborn babies, and to critically ill children. Lion recipients are encouraged to “take him, hold him and use all of his courage, and if someday you find someone who needs him worse than you do, pass him on.” A Ryan’s Lion becomes a unique expression of sympathy for someone who is struggling. Ryan maintains a website, http://www.ryanslion.org/ where lion recipients and other visitors can read stories of hope and courage from those who have received lions and passed them on to others.

Our friend and contributor Barbara Salsbury, from 'Three P's in a Pod' brings to us her article "You Need a Binkie in your Cupboard." She makes a good point, which is: "what we can do is resolve to do something, to create our own safe haven in attitude and action in our own preparedness program. Even if you are in a small apartment there has to be one corner that you can set aside to hold a few things that will benefit you. If you can’t create a 'safe room', plan and create a comforting 'safe corner.'"

The next article comes from Chris Pearson at "The Survival, Emergency Preparedness and Self Reliance Blog." His article is entitled "The Survivalist’s Instant Garden" and is a very simple reminder that we can garden anywhere, with what's in top soil bags. He explains his method of gardening, and I'm telling you, it's as simple as cutting up a bag of top soil and dumping your seeds in it. Check it out.
 

Our last entry is from Kaydee at "Food Storage Recipes." Have you ever made tin foil dinners? Well, her article is aptly named "Sum Sum Summertime" and it's got a few ideas on how to prepare this kind of meals. As an extra, I think they're also perfect for when you go camping, scouting, or for family reunions.

We hope you're having a great 4th of July weekend!
 
To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Monday, 5 July's, please click here.

Personal Touch

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"...families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Sound familiar? These principles do not go away when a marriage ends in divorce. In this week's Personal Touch, Rebecca Cressman discusses the continuation of the family after divorce with marriage mediators, Guy Galli and David Pruden. Galli and Pruden co-authored When Forever Doesn't Happen, an encouraging look at how everyone in the family should still work together to help the kids feel like they are still a part of a family...a loving mother and father regardless of whether mom and day stay married. With the frequency of divorce, this is an issue we all need to take time to learn more about to help loved ones who may face this situation.

 To list or not to list, what are we to do? Whether you are a ‘list’ person or not, you’ll realize, after reading Marie Ricks’ post, that making lists makes total sense. In her article “It's Never Too Early for a List,” Marie shows us, picture by picture, how to make a list, and what subjects are important to add to the list. She teaches us to “Stop, Evaluate, and Plan." I think we should be more dutiful about organizing our lives, and lists are an important part of that process.

We get a few gardening tips from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. They’re insightful and thorough in their report on how to garden in the spring. About our time of the year, they say: “As for Vegetable Gardening, it is time to plant those seeds and transplants once the threat of a late season frost has passed, this is usually mid April but can vary from year to year.”


Aren’t we all ready for spring, and nice fragrances coming from outside? In this article written by Susan Zevon for the Deseret News entitled “Transforming your Home for Spring“, she says: “Today, few households boast a full set of summer slipcovers, but there are easy and inexpensive ways to refresh your home for spring.” She grew up with a mom that would update, change and redecorate every spring.


To view a copy of Wednesday, 7 April's Neighborhood News, click here.