Category Archives: A Perky Mormon

Share The Truths You See In Others

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Build Up Those Around You With Words Of Truth

By Christie Perkins

Germany 6-12 072Gasp.   My little guy drew in his breath.

I was trying to listen to the speaker at church amid an acrobatic stunt.  You see, I was working on crushing my 4 year olds dreams of pursuing his talents… well, at least here on the church bench anyway.

I wasn’t even sure he was listening to the speaker because usually when the jaw’s flapping the ears are slacking.  I was anticipating that the lions and bears would be arriving any time soon. Continue reading →

The Cancer Whisperer

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Family History Helped Me Find My Lump

by Christie Perkins

004You know that telephone game?  The one where you whisper in someone’s ear and by the end it gets all messed up.

Yeah, well… that happened to me.

Although it wasn’t a mixed up message but some fabulous tumor instead.  It was passed from generation to generation, until it got to me all mixed up and messed up.  Some static message ended up clunking out 2 types of cancer and 7 tumors (thankfully, only five were malignant).

Oh, the cancer whisperer messed that one up. Continue reading →

Maximize Your Time

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The Power of 20 Minutes

by Christie Perkins

Copy of Germany 6-12 177Alright, we’ve all said this lame excuse: “I just don’t have time.”  In fact even I’ve said it a lot this week.  But as we know, the truth of the matter is that we don’t “make time.”

Blah, blah, blah.  I know you’ve heard it a million times.

“Having time” relies on the day being blind to the journey that leads it; never getting to what you really wanted.  “Making time” is prioritizing, planning, and squeezing.

If you’re a chronic lame excuse user- you’re going to like this tip to power up your day.  So, you want 24 hours and 20 minutes out of your day?  I’ll fabricate how you can.  Yes, fabricate.  You know, as in trick your mind into thinking that you actually created more time in your day.

I have used this tip for years to accomplish the things I dread.  And it all started with a dresser top.

Continue reading →

Understanding the Purpose of Death

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In Love and Death

by Christie Perkins

December 2014 011I pass my Grandma’s house one last time.

A brief vision of days past flash through my mind.  A wave of emotion overcomes me.  I remember Grandma standing at the edge of her yard in her curled hair and up curled lips.  Grandpa in his navy blue pocketed shirt is waving with those knobby knuckles.  I watch out the back window of the van as we turn the corner.  Until next time.

It is just a vision, for Grandpa’s been gone for years.  Grandma’s only been gone a few days.

I fight the stinging of hot tears brimming in my eyes as I realize that today will be the last time I visit Grandma.  No more aqua rainforest soap, aloe vera plants for bee stings, or Tang coupled with amazing breakfast eggs edged with that secret ingredient.  (Seriously!  How could she not like her own eggs?)

All is gone.  But not forgotten.

I touch the corner of each eye to drain the tear and I take a breath.

“Bye Grandma, love ya.”  My thoughts cradle my memories.  Good byes are never easy but today I say my final good bye.

I believe the wave of emotion I feel is from Grandma whispering back one last good bye. The emotion I feel is not in the doom of her death but in the power of her love.  Until next time… as for now Grandma and Grandpa will stand at the edge of heaven and earth and watch over us until we see each other again.

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6 Tips to Overcoming Overwhelming Tasks

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Crayon Peelings and Feelings

By Christie Perkins

All is quiet on the home front.2014 Blog 007

That concerns me.

So, I go looking for the reason for the silence.  I quickly scan each room.  Nothing.  Nothing. Nothing.  Then…

A pile of crayon peelings is staring me down.  We exchange glances- me and the pile of crayon peelings.  Actually, I’m glaring and it’s singing and dancing in cutesy little curls.  It’s oblivious to my frustrations.

It’s having a party after all. Continue reading →

Testimonies of the Saviors Birth

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The Nativity

by Christie Perkins

December 2014 035Over 2,000 years ago a babe born in a manger changes our lives today.  This babe who knew and followed the will of his Father in Heaven is the example that we must follow.  Only He was the perfect example.

Heavenly Father, of course, knew this.

But, did the Savior know who he was?  I believe that he had to come to understand who he was with each perfect step towards our Father in Heaven.  He surely did not know it all at once but as the scriptures say “line upon line, precept on precept.”  At what point did he fully understand his role for all mankind?  I’ll never know.

I marvel at the testimonies of those who did know.  How they must have strengthened him and helped him understand his divine role.  And how the record of their testimony strengthens our own.  Each person in the Christmas story also had their own divine appointed roles.  As each of us do.

The message is simple but I have found insight into how to strengthen my own testimony.

Continue reading →

Share the Gift

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Gifts that Lift

By Christie Perkins

A message of hopeToday I’m joining the #ShareTheGift movement through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website.  I want to share a message about how I know that through the gift of Jesus Christ one of my most difficult moments were made light.  I want to bear my testimony of the atonement and it’s great power.

In Alma 7:12 it reads “…and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” 

I felt as if I was carried in His hands through my cancer trial.  I could not have done it without the Savior taking upon Him my infirmities.

His is the gift that lifts.

 

My Most Difficult Day

Early one morning, just before sunrise I sat at the kitchen table, eating oatmeal that I couldn’t taste.  I didn’t feel well.  Big warm tears dropped from my cheeks.  It splashed on the table below me.

I couldn’t do this anymore.  I had only done 4 of the 8 chemo treatments (which I refer to lovingly as 5 hours of nuclear waste dumping) but each one was progressively worse.  And each treatment had a new complication I had to muddle through.

I was tired of feeling sick.  Nights were restless and my anxiety was escalated so that I couldn’t even crawl into bed for a good rest.  My legs were antsy.  I buzzed around, wearing circles in my carpet, which alleviated my anxiety but complicated my need for rest.

My chemo fog was extreme.  I couldn’t read or concentrate. I existed in a muffled brain state.  It’s as if someone had shoved a blanket in my head cutting off all circulation, numbing my brain and it’s functions.

I was ugly, bald, and cold.   My eyelashes and eyebrows were dropping.  And I felt like I was dropping out of everyone’s life… circumstances made it so.

My fast track moment in life began with diagnosis, total mastectomy, painful reconstruction, and now chemo.  My body had taken all it could.  Mentally, physically, and emotionally I was exhausted.

I couldn’t fight any more.

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