I just love reading through the emails when I get them back. I like to tell myself that I do these to help others remember that every life matters, including their own! But if I am being totally honest.... I am just selfish and I love them for my own personal gain. Each and every one has been so great and has helped me so much. I am thankful I get to know these women (and maybe one day men because this isn't just for women) that have taken the time and effort to answer these questions and help by sharing their thoughts, experiences & feelings. They rock!
So with that being said I would like to introduce my next guest in my Every Life Matters Q&A series... I met Bonnie a few years ago soon after moving to Cedar. One thing you may not know about me is that I am not that outgoing in some social situations. When I am new and alone I tend to stay hidden in the corner and not put myself out there. And because of that I don't always make friends easily. Well when I started attending my new ward in church I just new I would have a hard time making any friends because of my social weirdness. But Bonnie had to ruin it all and be her amazing friendly self. She was so friendly and talked to me like we were already friends. I loved her energy. She forced me out of my shell and helped me to open up to others and make friends. After getting to know her more I found out that she was pretty much AMAZING! She is talented, creative, friendly, kind, funny, and has awesome taste! I pretty have a friend crush on her.
We have both ended up moving away from Cedar City but because of the blessing of social media we have been able to keep in touch. And I pray one day I get to actually see her in person and give her a great big hug!
I am excited for you all to get to know her through her Q&A! She's awesome!!! But I will let you find out for yourself...
Take it away Bonnie!
Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello there! My name is Bonnie. I am a mother of 5 delightfully active, bright minded, energetic, and exhausting children. I have been married for almost 15 years. I am completely in love with life and all it has to offer. I love to thrift and refurbish thrift finds and have my own DIY blog called Drab to Fab. I also love to photograph beautiful places and things. And I own my own photography business, Photography by Bon.
Who matters to you? And how do you show them that they matter to you?
Nothing matters to me more in this life than my husband, my children, and of course my faith and belief in God. I get to show my love to my hubby each day. I get to serve him and be served by him and most importantly I get to have him as my best friend! I love to shower my kids with an ample amount of hugs and kisses, to the point that they are slightly embarrassed of me. {haha} But that is the fun part of being "in charge".
What matters to you most?
What matters most to me in life is happiness. If I can achieve levels of happiness in my marriage, in my family, in my home, and help others around me than I in turn feel happy. Life is so difficult. No one is exempt to challenges and struggles, but taking a little bit of time each day to "pause" and see all the ways I am blessed, instead of focus on all the struggles of life I may face, helps me to find joy and happiness everyday!
Tell us about a time in your life when someone has made you feel like you mattered.
I could give many instances where someone has gone out of their way to show love towards me or make me feel special. That is the beautiful thing about life, there are oodles of gloriously beautiful people. But if I had to pick just one I would choose a Young Women's leader I had when I was around 13 years old. She always went out of her way to compliment me and make me feel loved. I will never forget a moment when she approached me and said, "You are always happy. Your smile is contagious and can make so many people happy." That has always stuck with me. It helps me in times of my life when I don't feel like smiling, to remember her kind words.
Tell us about a time in your life when you haven't felt like you mattered. How do you overcome that?
I think the down side of life is that we WILL fail sometimes and struggle. It is easy in those moments of weakness to feel unimportant and be so hard on ourselves. I have found that when I think others are tearing me down, or Satan is trying to place doubt in my mind, that it is usually my own self that holds me back. I have the ability to choose whether or not to react to something. I have the ability to be Christlike, no matter what. So I would have to say those times in life that I feel I don't matter are from my own doings. I know I have a Heavenly Father that loves me, no matter what- but sometimes my "natural women" gets the best of me.
Life can get pretty crazy and there are a lot of distractions and things to get us off track. How do you keep focus on what matters most to you in your life?
In order for me to keep focused on the things that matter most in life I have to constantly pray to my Heavenly Father. I sometimes feel like the yappy annoying puppy that is constantly at His heels. But I have come to realize that having a "prayer in our heart" like the scriptures say is truly a great way to keep an open communication with my Father in Heaven. Which in turns helps me to feel closer to the spirit and know what He would have me do!
If you could give one message to those reading this what would it be?
If I could give anyone one bit of advice it is that GOD truly does love you and knows you. There is so much good all around us! Find those good things in your life. Cherish your relationships and don't be afraid to let people in!
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