Some days you just get the blues

In past blogs I have promised, a roller coaster ride. My life, of coarse, is not all down hill coasting. All my life I have had to fight depression and today, depression is winning.

I only hope that what I have to say will help others who fight depression.

I am not a perfect man. Please don't take anything I say to heart before you take it to the Lord, in prayer, first.

If you ask me, depression is a sin, or rather it is a sin not to fight it. Depression does come in many forms, some that can not be fought alone. Most of the time it is not like any other sin, that we fall into, after giving into temptation. Many doctors will tell you that it can only be fixed with drugs. I think that in some cases, that is very true. I'm not talking about those people who because of chemical imbalance, never seem to be happy. I'm talking about people, like myself, who because of the things that happen around them, can go months without smiling.

Please allow me to use myself as an example, so that I can make a few points, that I hope will help others. I have been out of work, for about a month and a half. I really hate being out of work.

Here in Utah we have had some great weather but today and tomorrow, snow.

Because I am not working full time, there is no money to do anything fun.

The list goes on and on, with the many reasons why I should be depressed. Or, should I be? The number one reason I get depressed is because of my pride. Like I said, I'm not a perfect man.

I can tell that I don't like being out of work because of how I look at myself and my self worth, when I am not the provider of the home. Its just a pride thing.

Every reason that I have for feeling low, comes right back to my pride. And that is were depression turns from a problem to a sin. I can come up with a lot more reasons to feel down in the dumps, but the truth is there are infinite reasons to pull myself out of the dumps. If I don't let my pride get in the way, I can see all that my father in Heaven has given me and how much more he is trying to give me, if only I will stop whining.

This blog may have been more for myself there for anyone willing to read it, but if you look real hard, you may just find a little bit of wisdom.

In life, it don't matter what road you go down, there is always clouds. Time for me to go back to looking for the beauty in the clouds and not just that they block the sun. The sun will be out soon enough.

Pictures say a thousand words

Justin and Mellisa. I know what you are thinkin', you can't see Justin. Well this is how we always see Justin. >>>>>>



Here is a picture of my lovely bride and I. As you can see, I am a very lucky guy. >>>








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And the grandson to be named later. AKA Jackson, Byron, Noah, Benjamen Smith. The jury is still out on his name so email all suggestions to me, at boyando@msn.com

An invitation to meet my family

I have decided that the hard part to blogging is to get started. I have done that. Now I must think of new things that are important to me to talk about. That's easy. I love to talk about my family. In fact, it is a lot easier for me to talk about my family than myself.

Let's do the hard stuff first. Let's start with me. I would tell you how old I am, but it would give away to many clues, as to how old my wife is. I was born in Inglewood, California and lived in Santa Ana, California until I was fifteen. I served a mission in Roanoke, Virginia. Soon after coming home from my mission, I married the most beautiful girl in the world, Sharlene.

Together, Shar and I have four great kids. Michelle, Amy, Justin and Matthew. Over the years, these four have been a source of heartache and joy. I'm gonna say a lot more joy than heartache. But not too loud, so it doesn't go to there heads (just kidding).

We have one more addition to our little group, Justin's wife Melissa. And she will be adding one more in July. A grandson who I have nicked named the" Grandson to be named, later".

If live is a roller coaster, mine is a wild ride. And you are just getting a peak at the ups and downs. Stick around and you might just find that it is an e-ticket ride {(there I go showing my age again) years ago, an e-ticket was what it took to get on the best rides at Disney Land}.

Now if I could just figure out why my picture are not down loading............. Have a great day, Boyd

Some Thing New

Hows this for doing some thing new? Imagine me, a blogger. It doesn't hurt-------to much. I have wanted to blog for a while, and just ran out of excuses.

Thanks to my sister, Stacey Tate for showing my were and giving me encouragement too let the world know about my great family. I highly recommend her blog - Luscious Chaos.

Please don't judge me by my first post. I will work hard to make my blog worth reading. Still, it may take a little time to figure out how too put the picture in the right place, etc...

There are many reasons to blog. I think my reason is two fold. One, to ease my guilt about not keeping a journal and two, to let everyone know how much I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and what that means to my family.

Later, I will explain the name of my blog and other details, of what makes me, me (as if there is any way to explain, me). Thanks for reading - Boyd