We Never Know Who is Watching

First I have to thank everyone who participated in the 'giveaway'. It was so much fun.

Today I'd would like to tell you something that touched me more than I could imagine. Last night when I got home from a meeting, my husband presented me with a plate of cookies wrapped in decortive cellophane. He said that the Young Women's Presidency and several young women came to our home with a very special treat. Then he handed me a card that read:

Virtue - JoAnn Arnold
"Sister Arnold is the mother of 4 successful boys and is a great example to her 4 daughters-in-law. She is a talented artist and musician. She is also an author of several LDS Fiction novels. She paints and has done some beautiful paintings of her grandchildren. She sings with the Heritage Choir in St. George. She has been a Relief Society President in this ward. She is always sweet and gracious. She has a great attitude with her many health problems. You are always uplifted when you are in her presence. She is very courageous. She is very kind to her mother and sister. She has a testimony and definitely has Christ's image in her countenance. Her life is an example of being a virtuous woman."

I'm not putting this in my blog for any other reason than to say that I didn't know that they were aware of what I was doing in my life, I didn't know they were aware of my health problems. I didn't know what they were seeing when they looked at me, this older woman of 66. I didn't know that they were watching.

It made me realize that none of us never know who might be watching. I think of those I watched as I was growing up. I think of the friends I graduated from high school with, who touched my life with their strength, their humor, their desire to achieve. I wanted to be like them. I watched the strength of my father the last years of his life. He died at the age of 58, and he swore he would die with his boots on and he did. He is my hero.

I watch those of you who take the time to read my manuscripts and help me make them better, and I am grateful for your willingness and your friendship. I watch you, my author friends. I read your books and I learn from you. All the friends I've make through the years, I've watched them and I've learned from them.

I used to go to the Nursing home in Ferron, once a month and sing to those who lived there, and I learned so much from them. I would come away knowing they had given me more than I could ever give them. From them I learned a kind of strength and courage I couldn't have learned anywhere else. I learned patience, endurance, and faith. Some of them couldn't communicate. Some had Alzeimers, Some were confined to wheel chairs. But they were all so beautiful.

Okay, now I'm all weepy and teary eyed but I don't care. It's good to get emotional once in a while over the beautiful things in your life.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.