Celebrating Life

It's been over a year now! Wow... sometimes everything seems like it just happened yesterday and other times it seems a lifetime away. A lot of people have been asking me lately how I have been doing being that we have crossed the year mark, so I decided to share a few of my thoughts and experiences that wrapped up a very eventful year. After going through an experience where you sit on deaths doorstep and then get up to walk away you tend have a different perspective on life. Hopefully we don't all need to go through such intense experiences to figure this out. We all have experiences that teach us these principles in our daily lives whether we realize it or not. I'm not very eloquent with words, but I will try to explain what I mean. It starts with perspective... How do you look at your life? What is your purpose everyday? Often times we busy ourselves with things that really will have no impact in our lives or anyone else's. Why? Because we haven't sat down and thought about it. It's actually quite simple. What moments in life make you smile? What makes you laugh? I love the quote.."Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that leave you breathless." For example, I love when my children laugh. Corbin will laugh uncontrollably and it fills me with happiness. I love the feeling of warm rain on my face. I love how bubbles or glitter are so magical in Kayla's eyes. I love when JP gently will hold me and tell me he loves me. For me, these are the moments. I enjoy every moment one at a time. TIME is the key. Our perspective of time could help us really live our lives more fully. Our lives may not be turning out the way we envisioned as little children, but have patience that it will unfold to far greater things than you could have imagined. If I could tell you anything that I have learned in the last year it would be to live one moment at a time. Own your time! Life will be everything you make of it. Sit down and find out what means the most to you and what makes you smile and make sure you do those things often. I feel so blessed to be alive. . I can't lie and tell you that it has been easy. The road has been tricky at times, but possible. I look back at my life experiences and am extremely grateful for all that I have learned, for the friends I have found along the way, for the love of family, and for my faith.

I want to share a quick experience that happened at the end of September. JP, my Dad, and his Dad planned a trip last year to take their women to Hawaii. They wanted to go somewhere to "Celebrate Life" with the women they love. JP's mother beat cancer, and my Mom had a full knee replacement that challenged her greatly. After a long year of recovery for all three of us we were anxious to go. On our flight from SLC to LA we had an incredible experience. A woman ended up sitting next to JP and I who had been born and raised in Maui. She saw us reviewing our Maui guide book and was was excited to hear that we were going to her home. She was very kind and gave us the the Maui secrets: best restaurants, sites to see, hikes, and the don't do's. Already we were grateful for her advice and kindness. When we landed at the LA airport, JP received a voice mail saying our flight into Honolulu was delayed three hours, therefore making us miss our connecting flight into Maui. This woman had heard our dilemma and gave us some suggestions of what to do. I'm sure JP and I looked discouraged because this was going to change the beginning of our trip to paradise. Seeing our faces she offered her assistance and took us up to the American Airlines Admiral Club... I'll be honest, I didn't know that even existed. She spoke with American Airlines and got us onto the next flight directly into Maui. We actually wouldn't have even made that flight, but it had been delayed an hour as well. Allowing us the time to make the change. She also took the time to get our bag switched over to the new plane. Upon arrival in Maui (two hours early than planned) our bag made it safely, and we had a taxi ride ready for us to go directly to the condo to meet our parents. An experience that could have been miserable, changed entirely because of the kindness of one person. In my opinion she displayed a true act of service! I'm sure she had somewhere to be or was tired of traveling herself, but she took the TIME to help people that she had just barely met. Because of this experience JP and I knew that God was aware of us. Some people say things happen by chance, but I don't. I believe that our Heavenly Father is in the details.

A few months ago a friend of JP's family called us and asked if she could come over and share a song she had written for us. She had an incredible story of her own and found strength from the situation that I and my family had been going through. She wrote an inspired song from the things that she read on this blog. I am so grateful that our experience has given strength to so many and feel that this song was inspired to do the same. I asked her to write a little something about the song. At the end of this post you can watch a slide show and hear the song.

These are her words:

"At the time I heard that Amber was in a coma I was experiencing some challenging trials in my own life. I was recently diagnosed with celiac disease and unable to function at my normal level. Among other nagging symptoms my energy level was very low. It became impossible to keep up with my four small children. My burdens seemed so heavy and my trials seemed too difficult. But as I followed the serious journey that Amber was on, my trials began to seem so small. As I read about Amber’s strength and her fight for life, I prayed for her recovery along with so many others. My own faith grew through her fight for life. I decided I wanted to write a song for Amber and her family, hoping that it could maybe help in some way. I started writing the song while Amber was still in the coma but waited and waited to finish it until she finally woke up. It was such a great day. I was inspired by the words on the blog and the wonderful people who shared comments about Amber. The song is titled "Heart of Gold.""

I tried for hours to fix the audio in this video and could not find a solution. I created it in another program but it wasn't compatible with my blog so to hear the song on iTunes search for: Bree 100% Original, or go to www.imagineforever.com