hello there!
… and welcome to My Upside-down Umbrella! I’m Aretta and I’m so happy that you’ve stopped by.
I believe that we were created to have JOY in this life (2 Nephi 2:25 tells us so!) God sends blessings our way to help us realize that joy, but all too often we overlook those blessings.
I believe God sent us each here with a unique purpose and a divine potential. And I believe we reach our truest joy when we strive to fulfill that purpose.
But how do we fulfill that purpose – and reach our divine potential? We do it one little drop at a time – each day – as we live the gospel and follow His plan for us.
Here at My Upside-down Umbrella, I find joy in creating resources that will help you joyfully and intentionally live the gospel – to help YOU find and fulfill your divine purpose.
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the story …
The Story Behind My Upside Down Umbrella
When my kids were younger one of our favorite books was the Farmyard Tales Alphabet Book by Usborne Books. Seriously – we love to read and have read dozens of ABC books. This book, though, was the one my kids would come back to again and again. Each letter is presented with adorable artwork and the cutest sentences full of the corresponding letter. When we would come to the letter U we would read – Upside down umbrellas are useless in the rain. I realize that the letter U has limited words to work with but for some reason this one sentence always gave me pause. Is that cute little umbrella really useless? I love to be resourceful and generally feel nothing is really “useless.” We only need to find it’s purpose and a way to bring out the best in it!
Years later, at the 2014 Women’s session of General Conference, President Utchdorf shared an analogy about how God rains blessings down on us, and yet in our doubts and fears we block out His blessings – like holding up an umbrella to block us from the rain. My mind immediately went back to our adorable little alphabet book with it’s useless umbrella, turned upside down, gathering a puddle of water. And suddenly I realized – that’s it! It’s really not useless after all! Instead of holding up an umbrella of fear and doubt, blocking God’s joy, I could simply turn it upside down and let those blessings rain down on me. And I could use that upside down umbrella to gather all those blessings up and create more joy in my life. And in the life of others.
I believe those joys come as we work to reach our divine potential. They come drop by drop in the little moments. When we take a little time out to connect with those we love. When we simplify and focus on the things that are most important in life. When we hear Him and act on our promptings. When we serve and uplift others.
So, come and join me in turning your umbrella upside-down! Let’s gather up all those drops of joy that life is sending our way and fulfill the divine purpose we each were sent here for.
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