Poem - A Different Point of View

Our sons participated in the scouting program while growing up.  They endured cold, fatigue and food prepared by other scouts.  One hike was particularly grueling. (Bill also went on this hike.) The trail was overgrown and they found themselves backtracking from impassable cliffs and ended up bushwhacking through miles of scrub oak brush.  It tested them individually and bonded them as a group.  They often look back on this experience and the lessons they learned together.

A Different Point of View

United in purpose, their goal barely in sight

   Test of will, endurance, the scouts stayed out another night

Lifting, encouraging, sharing the load

   A prayer in each heart, a brief call to home

Struggling, straining, grabbing a hand

   Both young and old, all brothers, all men

Beyond the trial of mountain, now, testing the soul

   Realizing someone far greater was in control

With faith, hope and courage, maintaining the pace

   Finally, arriving homeward to loved ones embrace

The purpose magnified, lessons not soon forgotten

   Knowing leaders both seen, and unseen, had taught them

The journey once began as small to a few

   Now, seen through all eyes with a different point of view

Trust in the creator, brotherly love understood

   And the protective practice of His priesthood

By Janice Harten
Copyright © 2013 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Fasting - Portal Into Heaven

Every first Sunday of each month is set apart as a day to fast, pray and give.  Like the Savior, who went into the mountains to pray and draw close to his father for guidance and strength, I am seeking today for blessings for myself and blessings for others who are both near and far from me.

It is early morning and my heart is filled with concern for family members who are battling for their lives in many different ways.  Some are facing life threatening cancers and illness.  Others struggle against addictions and spiritual disease.  Some face financial uncertainty or others depression and loneliness.  Seeing all these things together is quite overwhelming and I ask myself, what can I do to help or can I only look on?

For instance, my husband's niece has a 22 year old daughter with advanced brain cancer.  She has undergone two surgeries and a third was recommended this past week.  A large cyst has filled the cavity where the mass was removed in her last surgery.  Her parents have asked us to pray that this cyst would reduce on its own.  

Sitting here, I asked myself, what is the purpose of these experiences?  And immediately the answer came in the form of another question, "If we did not experience these trials would we feel the need to call on God?"

And so I pray for my own faith to grow and for blessings of health, comfort and relief to come to those I care about.  Perhaps each prayer opens a small portal into heaven where the angels sit to do God's bidding.  And one by one these ministering angels or special guardians deliver power and healing or understanding to our hands and hearts.

Trials - Marking Stones

Some of the most meaningful times of my life are those when I was experiencing times of greatest trial.  My mind returns to those moments again and again to review how I felt and to see how I grew and was blessed to overcome and find my way through.  They are moments when I can see with clarity where I turned for help, or I look in amazement and gratitude on those who came to my rescue.  My personal trials have become marking stones that line my pathway and as someone once said, they are the experiences that have taught me the most about myself and helped me become acquainted with God.

Twenty three years ago, today, I was in the midst of such a trial.  Our youngest child was born three months premature.  He was a tiny 2lb 3oz and spent his first two months in an incubator.  His body was a dark purple when he was born and his undeveloped lungs hushed his first cries.  The first time I touched him through the incubator window, he grew calm, and I knew he knew I was there.  The first time I held him I could see the struggle and determination in his eyes.  I knew he was on earth for a purpose and he would fight to live.  Most of all, I remember the feelings of peace and reassurance that came from God, that he had a plan and he knew each one of us.

Life's lessons occur every day, which cause my heart to be stretched with compassion for others as I see them also going through difficult experiences.  Most recently, I comforted my daughter after she experienced the loss of a much wanted pregnancy.  After wiping away the tears, I reminded myself that the Lord is in the details of our lives and he feels and knows our innermost tender thoughts and feelings.  And he gently nurtures those feelings within us.

Anticipation - Poem

Anticipation -

I move with anticipation

To see what miracle lies

On trial's other side

Janice Harten

Apr 18, 2010


Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Lifelong Friendship - Horse ride

Just north of LA lives a couple, who have been our life-long friends.  Bill first became friends with them in college, and when we were married, this man served as his best man at our wedding.  And even though we have lived many miles apart most of our lives, we shared our family’s joys, pains, hopes and dreams. 

It was great fun to experience their home, and observe them helping their daughter care for her three-and-a-half year old and a set of seventeen-month-old triplets.  Their daughter has been visiting for a couple of months, and experiencing a brief respite from her and her husband's tiny New York apartment.  How great to see their redheaded mini-me’s! As you can imagine, even with all the hours of help she has received from family and friends, raising these children has taken her to her very limits.  

The challenges don’t seem to end, but life has a way of propelling us forward, regardless.   It’s like we need to congratulate ourselves, just for staying tied to the saddle of a runaway horse!  Somehow the horse knows his way home to the safety of the corral.  Occasionally we stop screaming and look up to see the vista, as it whizzes past.  And in the end, we get a few oats to eat and plop down on a bed of hay, in satisfied exhaustion.

Counseling and Comforting

I am astonished sometimes, by the ideas and thoughts that come to my mind, as I have discussions with my husband, or one of our children.  There are just moments when the right idea makes sense, and the direction seems clear, of what to do.

Tonight, we were talking about a business decision and discussion that needs to take place with one of the  company members.  I felt to suggest, he should focus on the plan and the way forward, rather than talking in circles about all that has happened in the past.  I also suggested that my husband remain perfectly steady and unflappable, and other people and things would eventually become steady, around him.  He is CEO, so it is essential that he maintain the course for the company and himself.  Other members need reassurance of the value they are to the company, and then they are happy and willing to contribute in the areas where their real talents lay.

I reminded him of the strength he has given me throughout our marriage.  When I thanked him for this, he quickly pointed out that I have done the same for him.  We reflected together on the time when our youngest son was born 3 months premature.  He was in intensive care for the first two months of his life.  I cried the first time I saw him in the incubator, and as I spoke to him he recognized my voice and quieted down.  I cried many times, when I saw the tiny marks on his skin, where the nurses searched for a place to move the life-saving IV needle, or the revised bandaid covers on his heels from where they pricked him again and again. His skin was so tender and new it was raw.  I cried to witness his battling spirit, in his tiny 2 lb body.  My husband was reassuring and devoted to me and our other four children at home.  The battle was on multiple fronts, as we dealt with financial decisions as well.  I reassured my husband, that we would make it.  We held each other and quietly sobbed on our pillows at night.  Each of us grieved at different moments and in different ways; when one was down the other was usually up, and vice versa.  It is a carefully choreographed existence, and the essence of the definition of "helpmeet".