#sunrisegoal

[sunrisegoal]

One of the most incredible events in the history of the world took place, surprisingly, in 2020. It happened at an apartment in a small farm & college town located in the west. There was a man interacting with a young boy. The boy had noticed a mechanical object protruding from the middle of the wall centrally located inside the building. His curiosity was awoken and he approached it without any awareness of its function or purpose nor how to engage with it effectively. The man showed the young boy a way in which to take advantage of its utility. The boy didn’t seem to understand, despite the best efforts of the man to convince him of its usefulness. The man met often with the young boy. Many attempts were made at revealing the purpose and function of the simple mechanical object to the young boy. He made little progress as time went on, but the man was persistent. Finally, like a light switch, the young boy made the connection the man had been hoping for...he turned on the light. He didn’t learn it right away, but eventually through my consistent effort and time with him, my 1 year old son finally made the connection that he can turn on a light switch. Ultimately my goal is to teach this boy every way that I know of for adding light into your own life through choice and action. 
 The reason I share this is because one of my greatest negative beliefs about myself is that I will not do anything important or meaningful to ripple throughout the eternities. This story is a reminder to illustrate that I already have. I know that I’m not the only person has had this fear creep into their mind. We have to realize there is so much power even when we influence a single person. Especially if it’s our own children. Shout out to all the stay at home Moms and Dads out there wondering if they are making a difference!!! One ripple of light in one meaningful life! #sunrise #sunrisegoal #wholehearted #lovestrong #proudpapa #oneyearold #sunrisewithmyson #onerippleonelife #chooselight @love.strong.organization (at Logan, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE4bSiBlcbu/?igshid=k00lvxpfscly

[sunrisegoal]

The air in our valley has been incredibly smoky for much of the summer. While Utah has had some wildfires throughout the state, we've had our skies filled with even more smoke from California. It's amazing how connected this world is whether we want it to be or not. The wildfires taking place in California are a scourge to their enviroment creating a ripple effect for every surrounding state and further on. An event hundreds of miles away can lay a blanket of haze and darkness in your own life. We are all connected. This statement feels truer to me everyday that I live. I believe our actions for good or bad create a ripple effect that carries on eternally in all directions. That's why it is so important to choose light, to choose to be a force for good. Even doing that on a small level for just one person can make our world a better place. “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” - Mother Teresa #itsnotjustyourworld #theworldisconnected #sunrisegoal #sunrise #wildfiresseason #californiawildfires #addonemoredropofkindness @love.strong.organization #chooselightandlove #lovecreatesripples (at Logan, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE2pN8QlLMq/?igshid=zkojrlxs1vxx

[sunrisegoal]

There was a Siamese kitten that appeared out of the tall grass this morning. It was playful and curious. It explored, jumped, and bounded all around (super fun to watch). At some point I noticed it kept going back to one specific place next to the tall grass. It looked like there was something dark on the ground near it. On my way out I approached the spot to see what the dark object was. From what I could tell, it was a carcass of another Siamese cat. Without speculating too much on what could have taken place in this scenario, my mind was fixed on the idea that these 2 cats were related and the surviving kitten was at a loss as to what to do now being alone. It made my heart yearn for anyone who had experienced that type of loss. Whether from death, divorce or any other type of separation. I love and believe so fully in connection that separation in any form stings my heart. I’m reminded of my grandmother who passed away last year after surviving the love of her life by 18+ years. I remember her saying to me at different points that she missed him badly. While I miss her and feel the pain of the divide between her and me, I am grateful that it came with the blessing of her being with my grandpa once more. That is another type of sunrise in a way. I miss you Grandma French! #loveyourgrandparents #sunrise #connectionisthegreatest #sunrisegoal #solosunrise #lossofalovedone #itshardtoletgosometimes (at Logan, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEu1o4pF6ZY/?igshid=qby0px5ytd1d

[sunrisegoal]

“It's the ability to see. Light is a form of warmth and security...In darkness, I feel confusion and frustration and loss or feeling lost. Especially this morning [hiking to the top of a mountain] ]as we started out at 4 o'clock and it was dark and there was no ability to see, stumbling over rocks and the struggles in the way. And yet once we turned on a flashlight, once the sun started to come up, there was a degree of confidence in comfortability that, ‘OK now I can see where I'm at. In this process I feel comfortable and confident that I'm moving in the right direction’. So, I don't have a definition. I just know it when I see it and the way that it makes me feel. I have experienced sunrises mostly in moving from darkness to a sense of light and an understanding. Looking back, when Bri and I were dating it was nice. It was enjoyable. I enjoyed being with her and I enjoyed our conversations but it wasn't until, much like when the sun crests and there's that ability to see everything, until I committed that I was going to marry her... It was kind of dusk. That pre dawn light. There was a degree of uncertainty, but once I committed to her and I'm talking about proposing, staying engaged to the point of getting married...And even throughout all of these challenges that we have faced over these 18 years it has felt as a sunrise, a new dawn, a new experience has provided light and warmth and comfort and confidence that I have made the right decision. I have had times when I have committed to God, committed to Bri, committed to a job... That is when it feels like there is an outpouring of comfort and confidence and I'm moving in the right direction. And I think that Heavenly Father waits to give that to us until we have made that decision. The light is just on the other side of the horizon.” #sunrise #sunrisegoal #sunriseinterview #wholehearted #lovestrong #tablerockhiketetons #makethecommitment #lightanddarkness #lightisontheothersideofthehorizon @love.strong.organization (at Table Rock, Wyoming) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEmjW7-l2GP/?igshid=132ik72jdaz1a

[sunrisegoal]

“If you’re depressed, you've got to bring yourself back into the lightness to remember why you're here and no matter how many stresses are put on you in a day. I've been really positive lately and I'm becoming a different person. I really like myself this way and I’m happier. I laugh more. I visit with more people and I'm not as hesitant to keep my mouth shut. I open my mouth and I talk. Yesterday, I had a hard day. It's going to happen. My best friend's father passed away on Monday. She's been very not happy. She's not the same religion. She doesn't understand death like I do. Dark can be the trials that are put on us and how we respond and react and instead of saying, ‘It was a bad day’, I'm trying to say, ‘It was a challenging day’, or, ‘It was a learning day’. Today I learned something because I don't want to make it bad. Everyone says ‘bad’. It's not a bad day ever as I see it. Cory [my husband] has always been such a positive force and a positive influence. He's always been even kiltered, but me, I've been up and down.” Why do you choose positivity? “I have to say it, it's North Dakota. The people up here are just so positive. They never complain about anything and if it's a complaint they always say, ‘It's been unfortunate but we've been blessed’. Everyone says that up here. I've been having friends that have actually been going through trials in their life but they don't post negative things, they post positive words. And it's been so then that's why I started by capturing comments and I’m able to read through them, praying. I read the scriptures. That brought me out of a lot of my sadness that I have felt. But looking at the worldly things and getting onto more positive feeds and getting rid of everything negative has helped me turn myself around. And then, I think the older you get the more wisdom you get and those[trials] are trivial things. I wish I would've learned that earlier in life. I think that with getting older, those things don't matter as much.” #sunrisegoal #sunriseinterview #sunrise #auntsareawesome #neverabadday #choosehope #learnfromyourexperiences #choosethelight #wholeheartedliving @love.strong.organization (at Williston, North Dakota) https://www.instagram.com/p/CECRVDGjEot/?igshid=1f8zggnarnu0k

[sunrisegoal]

“If you’re depressed, you've got to bring yourself back into the lightness to remember why you're here and no matter how many stresses are put on you in a day. I've been really positive lately and I'm becoming a different person. I really like myself this way and I’m happier. I laugh more. I visit with more people and I'm not as hesitant to keep my mouth shut. I open my mouth and I talk. Yesterday, I had a hard day. It's going to happen. My best friend's father passed away on Monday. She's been very not happy. She's not the same religion. She doesn't understand death like I do. Dark can be the trials that are put on us and how we respond and react and instead of saying, ‘It was a bad day’, I'm trying to say, ‘It was a challenging day’, or, ‘It was a learning day’. Today I learned something because I don't want to make it bad. Everyone says ‘bad’. It's not a bad day ever as I see it. Cory [my husband] has always been such a positive force and a positive influence. He's always been even kiltered, but me, I've been up and down.” Why do you choose positivity? “I have to say it, it's North Dakota. The people up here are just so positive. They never complain about anything and if it's a complaint they always say, ‘It's been unfortunate but we've been blessed’. Everyone says that up here. I've been having friends that have actually been going through trials in their life but they don't post negative things, they post positive words. That's why I started by capturing comments and I’m able to read through them, praying. I read the scriptures. That brought me out of a lot of my sadness that I have felt. But looking at the worldly things and getting onto more positive feeds and getting rid of everything negative has helped me turn myself around. And then, I think the older you get the more wisdom you get and those[trials] are trivial things. I wish I would've learned that earlier in life. I think that with getting older, those things don't matter as much.” #sunrisegoal #sunriseinterview #sunrise #auntsareawesome #neverabadday #choosehope #learnfromyourexperiences #choosethelight #wholeheartedliving @love.strong.organization (at Williston, North Dakota) https://www.instagram.com/p/CECP0e4jSod/?igshid=15vc42ilm519r

[sunrisegoal]

“I lost a really good friend about a year after Russ and I got married. Growing up we were kind of like brother and sister and super close in high school. He was probably one of my best friends. He found himself through God and became super faithful. He became very serious about it in college. This is just me being a butt hole, haha, but I had a hard time believing he was that happy and that joyful. It came across as fake to me at first because I had always known him and it was a different side of him that I hadn't seen before. We had a conversation that made me uncomfortable before he passed away...One of the questions he asked was if Russell and I had found God together. I took it the wrong way. I was like, ‘I know you, I love you, but I'm really having a hard time understanding where you're coming from’. I hate that, now, because he died suddenly...one of the last conversations I had with him was one of those heart to heart talks that could have been amazing...and I was completely closed off. When he died, I was confused, ’why would he be somebody who died?’. That just didn't seem right because it was tragic. That was hard. I spent time after that trying to understand what I was supposed to take from it. I feel strongly that he was trying to teach me something and I wasn’t open to it at the time. There were years that I couldn't go to church without crying,I couldn't even step foot in there. I mean that's not what I thought would have come from him passing away. That's where I felt overwhelmed. For a long time he was kind of my link to my faith. I'm still mourning him in many ways. But I feel like he’s taught me so much about being open. I truly believe, now, that he was being real, that he was really that joyful and really had found that much love, peace and joy. That opened me up a lot to trying not to assume that I know what's going on with people. I try to understand and patient, meet people where they're at, be curious and open instead of suspicious and disbelieving.” #sunrise #sunrisegoal #sunriseinterview #reconnectingwithfriends #haveanopenheart #lifelessons #losingafriend #growinginfaith #meetpeoplewheretheyareat @love.strong.organization (at Tallahassee, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzRw3ul4hm/?igshid=p83gxzhiya54

[sunrisegoal]

“I lost a really good friend about a year after Russ and I got married. Growing up we were kind of like brother and sister and super close in high school. He was probably one of my best friends. He found himself through God and became super faithful. He became very serious about it in college. This is just me being a butt hole, haha, but I had a hard time believing he was that happy and that joyful. It came across as fake to me at first because I had always known him and it was a different side of him that I hadn't seen before. We had a conversation that made me uncomfortable before he passed away...One of the questions he asked was if Russell and I had found God together. I took it the wrong way. I was like, ‘I know you, I love you, but I'm really having a hard time understanding where you're coming from’. I hate that, now, because he died suddenly...one of the last conversations I had with him was one of those heart to heart talks that could have been amazing...and I was completely closed off. When he died, I was confused, ’why would he be somebody who died?’. That just didn't seem right because it was tragic. That was hard. I spent time after that trying to understand what I was supposed to take from it. I feel strongly that he was trying to teach me something and I wasn’t open to it at the time. There were years that I couldn't go to church without crying,I couldn't even step foot in there. I mean that's not what I thought would have come from him passing away. That's where I felt overwhelmed. For a long time he was kind of my link to my faith. I'm still mourning him in many ways. But I feel like he’s taught me so much about being open. I truly believe, now, that he was being real, that he was really that joyful and really had found that much love, peace and joy. That opened me up a lot to trying not to assume that I know what's going on with people. I try to understand and be patient and come to people where they're at, just be curious and open instead of suspicious and disbelieving.” #sunrise #sunrisegoal #sunriseinterview #reconnectingwithfriends #haveanopenheart #lifelessons #losingafriend #growinginfaith #meetpeoplewheretheyareat @love.strong.organization (at Tallahassee, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzM7ukl1kQ/?igshid=1b7j647eo7rqa