#sunrisegoalinterview

[sunrisegoal]

“I’ve had trials in my life that could have led to really long periods of darkness and misdirection. When I was in high school I lost a family member that was really young and that really affected me. Then my parents divorced about the same time James and I got married. And a few years ago our home was flooded. We had like four feet of water in our home and it was kind of devastating. And I think to some people those might seem really small but like those trials could have led to big periods of darkness in my life. And it's like somehow in each of those there was someone or something or just some act of God that helped me not give in to those periods of darkness. That could have been really challenging and kind of helps me gain perspective like, ‘This is going to be okay. Learn from this, grow from this. Don't let it shadow out the good things in your life.’ Hurricane Florence in 2018 You never really know how big a natural disaster like that can be like until it happens to you. You know you always hear about these mass destructive things on the news but in life that never happens to you. I don't think you feel the full effects of it. We went downstairs at 2:00 a.m. and the doors cracked open and water just flooded and it took us a year to recuperate fully. And you know it was one of those things where we just there's absolutely nothing you could do about it. It was a period of rebuilding and like, ‘why would this happen to us?’, and things like that. And you have to push those dark thoughts aside and say, ‘How is this going to make us better? How is this going to teach us?’ It's an experience that made me stronger. I think just because it was such a huge deal. I think that it made my relationship with my husband stronger just because we had to get through it together. His family supported us a lot through that and gave us a lot of help. We had to rely on Heavenly Father like, ‘Why am I going through this? What's going to happen?’ You know. It was just like mass destruction in our area. #sunrise #sunrisegoalinterview #sunrisegoal #connectiontofriends #northcarolina #hurricaneflooding #familyiseverything #mountainstoclimb @love.strong.organization (at Trent River) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDw6cwyFlbI/?igshid=1a144x30twnvf

[sunrisegoal]

“Light is really hope and warmth. The sun rises every day and I think that is a metaphor for hope for when we feel down or when we wonder if things are gonna be OK. There will always be hope within light and there will always be a new day and the sun will rise again. I love that in the scriptures where it says “a perfect brightness of hope”. There's been so many times in my life where I've thought, ‘If I can just get through this day’, or, ‘if I can just get through this week’, or, ‘If I can just get through this year’. (Right now it's like, ‘if I get through this year!”) There's definitely been times where I felt that I'm saddled with this lot and this is just how it's going to be. Then I realize that there is hope, there is a new day. I've had people in my life that I've tried to hold on to for the sake of sentiment and past friendship. And then I realized like I'm holding onto something that's not there anymore. They've moved on, I've moved on or, I think, ‘I really shouldn't be with this person’. It's taken a little bit of time to realize that you don't need to wallow or try to hold onto things that aren't bringing you light. I've always had a strained relationship with my one of my sister in laws and it’s one of those things where it's like, ‘well she's my sister like I just have to deal with it’. She was very mean to our family especially to me and my mom. It was like we were always walking eggshells around her. She would use her kids as bargaining chips and it was hard to deal with. I've always tried my best to get along with her.I know that we have to love and forgive everyone... which is hard to do. She was very controlling. But it turns out they're getting a divorce. It's kind of embarrassing, but I have felt so much lighter and relieved because of it. So that's that's brought me a lot of hope. Since she asked for the divorce it's been very peaceful and it's just been fun. I feel like I've gotten my brother back!" #sunrise #sunrisegoal #sunrisegoalinterview #reconnectingwithfriends #beautifulmorning #newhampshiresunrise #divorcecanbegood #tryingtobefriends #familyishard @love.strong.organization (at Kingston, New Hampshire) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDul1nVlvcx/?igshid=ramypjpmtilh

[sunrisegoal]

"I played a lot of sports growing up. When I got to the high school level, I decided that I didn't want to anymore. That was hard to walk away from. I quit playing sports my sophomore year and joined show choir. It was a lot of fun. I recognized that it was hard for me to not play sports anymore, but It was the first time that I was able to branch off and do my own thing and do something different than what my family was doing or expecting me to do. I think that it has coming full circle in my life because my daughter just found out she didn’t make the high school soccer team and she is in this kind of funk right now. I can see that this is a potentially pivotal time in her life because I look back and see that it was for me. I got cut my 9th grade year and That gave me an opportunity to try something else and grow in a different direction. I see her in that same space." "It’s caused me to reflect on my own growth. It’s important to do your own thing and branch out, to find your passions, your place in the world. It’s important for people to be passionate about what they’re doing, whether is with your job or raising your family. If you’re not passionate about it, you’re not going to do as well. I’ve really enjoyed getting into computer programming. When I build something at work, I get excited about it. I go home and show my wife or I'll tell my boss about it, "Hey, look at this thing I just made!". I think having that passion is important. Rather than dealing with your job just because it’s a paycheck and going home and only seeing stress there. If you can find passion in it, it just brings so much more enrichment to your life." #sunrisegoal #sunrisecompanion #sunrisegoalinterview #lovestrong #findpassioninyourpurpose #makechangesnotexcuses #dosomethingtoday #emblemengravingyouridentity #enrichyourlife #wholehearted @love.strong.organization (at Mantua Resoviour) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDg8xH6FE_r/?igshid=sppecc72znre

[sunrisegoal]

“When I was growing up I was pretty strong in the LDS church. My parents were both really strong members, we went to church every Sunday. I went to young men's activities, I did the Boy Scouts and all that. And I feel like I progressed all the way through going to the priesthood and getting somewhat of my own testimony but at the same time after I moved out, the progression just stopped. I turned 18. At that point it was just me, technically an adult and I had to do things for myself but I didn't take those same stepping stones that church has set up for you and you have to do it yourself. And I didn't. And so I stopped and there wasn't any kind of interaction between me and God. I wasn't praying. I wasn't reading my scriptures. I was just “doing me”, you know. And I kind of put that as Darkness. I wasn't trying. I wasn't trying to become better or learn more. And it wasn't until I got really honest with myself with my bishop about an issue of mine that I realized that I had to change otherwise it was just going to be that way my whole life. there wasn't progression, there wasn't going to be enlightenment or furthering of knowledge. I decided to go on a mission. On a mission you're still progressing, you're trying to learn the language and the gospel. but I got to a point where I had to know for myself, and so I eventually got my own personal confirmation on my mission that the church was true that the gospel was true and this is where I need to be. Yeah and that was when light came back into my life. I think that was nearly a month into my mission. I just think it's interesting that it took a little over a year for me to get back into the light. And to actually want to become a part of it. Conversely, darkness is that lack of progression. I feel like if you're not progressing in the Gospel that's exactly what the adversary wants. Yeah. And that is the definition of his darkness. He cannot progress. The gospel is a gospel of progression. So that's kind of where I stand in my understanding of it.” #sunrisegoal #sunrisegoalinterview #makeconnections #sunrise #lovestrong #sharedexperiences #breakthescript #makeafriend @lovestrong (at Provo, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDWtF_Al2vU/?igshid=mesn6x3exrv