Sung by Perry Como

For when your troubles start multiplyin’

And they just might

It’s easy to forget them without tryin’

With just a pocketful of starlight

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket

Never let it fade away

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket

Save it for a rainy day

Save it for a rainy day

Shooting stars.

You have to be paying attention.

How many times are we caught walking around not paying attention. You will never see a shooting star unless your looking at the sky. Likewise, if your awareness of the world around you, you’ll never catch the bounty of life’s lessons around you.

High Hopes

Next time your found, with your chin on the ground

There a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant, can’t

Move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time you’re getting low

stead of letting go

Just remember that ant

Oops there goes another rubber tree plant!

When troubles call, and your backs to the wall

There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall

Once there was a silly old ram

Thought he’d punch a hole in a dam

No one could make that ram, scram

He kept buttin’ that dam

Cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes

He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your feelin bad

stead of feelin sad

Just remember that ram

Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam

All problems are just a toy balloon

They’ll be bursted soon

They’re just bound to go pop

Oops! There goes another problem kerplop!

Found myself chugging along puffing, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

Last Winter we drove from AZ to Utah. While driving passed over the Hoover Dam. Since we had time, we stopped and took the tour. For someone afraid of heights it was terrifying looking down the sides of massive cement wall. We were so puny in comparison. Sometimes our problems certainly do seem like massive walls and we tiny rams butting our heads against them.

But all problems are toy balloons. They’ll be bursting soon.

Don’t find that my problems burst, more like a small leak, they slowly deflate. Sometimes really feels like we are pounding our head against dam.

Don’t worry Be Happy…

These were most awful words to hear when you are miserable and worried. Don’t worry. You mean just whistle a merry tune while the food dwindles out of our cupboards and bills go unpaid? Be happy, How? I see nothing bright or happy on the horizon. I’ve done all I can do. I’ve sent my messages to heaven asking for help, I find comfort nowhere, I am alone. I am a rock. I keep knocking on doors and no one answers.

I am a rock

Decide what side are you on. Then you have to roll with the punches. Not going to receive special treatment because you made the right choice. In fact, you may receive harder obstacle course because you’ve heretofore made it through the other challenges easily.

1 Nephi 2:15

I had a wonderful childhood. Things went well for me. But then I grew up and realized life is awful and hard and challenging and there are times when nearly every day is a challenge to just get through.

1 Corinthians 13, Paul describes for us the challenging nature of personal growth. He begins in verse 11 by saying:

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Sometimes I look at myself and am ashamed of the way I have reacted to the challenges life puts before me. Even though I know they are a part of life everyone’s life, I am the cattle fighting against the prick. However I have too much starlight in my pocket to go too far into the darkness. I made the decision a long time ago to follow the gospel path, while I may never see in my lifetime the success I yearn for, I must remain faithful to the way.

I recently heard on Christian radio a man talking about his mission call to China. For many reasons he had negative feelings about the Chinese. He felt that he could not be a missionary to these people because he did not love the people. A wise friend said, no you will be a missionary because God sent you and you need to believe that he will help you learn to love and understand the people.

Make sure we are in God’s path and he will help us to meet the challenges. Do you believe that?

I reached low point in life when moneyless, my husband was unsupportive, my children were wildly out of control, I was physically exhausted from working nights and coming home and working days, the mental strain of figuring out how to feed my family on my meager income was huge. I prayed, I studied my scripture, I attended the temple, I was faithful as a visiting teacher, in my calling and in church attendance. I prayed for comfort. I prayed for direction, but the heavens were closed to me. Night after night I was met with emptiness, darkness a vacuum.

Why? Why would God not help me? I thought the scriptures say if we knock, he will answer. Don’t we believe that God wants us to be happy. He waits for us to ask so that he can bless us, prosper us, enlarge our tents?

If God is our father and loves us, why would he reject his daughter’s wish for comfort? Why must I pray for years and years to find a way to provide for my family?

I couldn’t imagine one of my children coming to me in pain and tears asking for a hug, and ignoring them. Yet, that is the treatment I received. What’s more, to have a child come to you after they had struggled to do everything you had asked them and then deny them comfort was unfathomable to my mind.

I wanted help. I received nothing. I met with the bishop and counsel was given. My husband’s family wrote letters and encouraged us to stay together. Against advice of many, I followed husband one last time. It was a difficult decision. I had covenanted to obey and follow my husband in the temple. However, I had covenanted to follow as long as he harkens to word of the Lord. The bishop had presented us with a copy of the Proclamation on the Family. With me he counseled that a husband’s primary responsibility is to provide for his family. We had been married for 12 years and not a single year had passed where my husband had provided for us. He’d been in school and then was dragging on the completion of his degree.

During year 12, I told my husband that I was moving to Arizona to live near my family, because I could no longer live so far away and work so hard without help. He joined us and after much encouragement began applying for some jobs. He took one working for an internet company. He spent his first paychecks on upgrading his wardrobe and computer and cell-phone, then the company’s money dried up and pay checks stopped coming. My husband spent every day working, the dissertation put to the side now, but he was a good employee, especially since he was working for free. One can only live without income so long. My husband had no fortitude to talk to his boss and insist that he needed money. He was too afraid how he would look in front of his boss. So he continued on. Finally the situation became so intense, I had to decide do I stay or go? I did not want to be a single mom, but I don’t want to mother my husband either. I was ready to separate for a while. But my husband’s father wrote and urged us to stay together. So, after thought, and my husband’s promises that he would do anything to keep family together, I followed him one more time.

We will see how it turns out. He still hasn’t applied for a second job, and we have no secure income for one more month. I was told I need to decided if we want to be eternal family or not. That is a very tough question when the person you married to constantly disappoints. I’m not sure I want to be with him for eternity. Not sure he is the type of person I want to be yoked with. He often falls short. H can’t finish projects, doesn’t care enough about me to provide for me, doesn’t see his responsibilities around the home, expects food on the table, clothes clean but unwilling to provide for us. I don’t want to spend my life clipping coupons and hoping to have enough money to pay rent and pay for Hayden’s medication. 

So now I pray that God will help me to love my husband despite his weaknesses. To give me confirmation that husband is the type of person I want to be with. But each night I hear him yelling at the kids, he yells now more than he used to, I don’t like it. His priorities are different and he is a bit more wordly than I would want. He wants to eat good food, have nice looking clothes, cars, gadget and the like but he doesn’t come up with the funds. Has no qualms about accepting handouts from my family, but won’t take them from his own – Does he even have the same desire to be self-sufficient? He says so, but his actions do not correlate with his words. Will he ever finish his degree? 

There was a time when I was so depressed I couldn’t do anything. Well actually, I had done everything I could think to do and nothing had worked. So I lay around in bed. I no longer could apply for jobs, because I knew not whether I would be here or there. Besides, I didn’t feel it was my job to be looking for work, it was my husband’s. Even now , we are plagued. Unable to find work and health insurance, we don’t qualify for assistance because my husband is suppose to make a certain income, and we can’t afford private. Can’t seem to budget ourselves to live on husband’s salary. We are living above ourselves again, and I hate it. 

I want to be able to fix the window on my car, pay for horse-riding and piano lessons, purchase items from the school fundraiser, go to dinner, get glasses for myself, braces for the kids. I want Hayden to have good medical care. I hope to take classes and advance myself, start a business, go to the doctor, but can’t do any of this without money. And each time I save a little, I end up using it for household expenses, to cover the months David doesn’t get paid.

So I need to earn my money I want to earn money. I refuse to spend my time working and still have to clip coupons and search for sales. Might as well get a degree where I can work and then come home and relax and be with and a part of the family instead of working myself to the bone to scrimp and save so we can pay our bills.