Category Archives: Stories

“Let It Go”

Spiritual Vitality Tip of the Day:  Learn to FORGIVE

“On a cold February night in 2007, a devoted father of four and a seventeen-year-old drunk driver both received life sentences.  In one violent, devastating instant, both faced a drastically different–and uncertain–future.  But as Chris Williams sat in his demolished vehicle, staring at the car that had just caused the death of his wife, his unborn baby, his eleven-year-old son, and his nine-year-old daughter, he committed to do something extraordinary:  he would forgive.”

Let It Go, A True Story of Tragedy and Forgiveness, by Chris Williams, is an amazing book about a healing journey.  If you are seeking healing or are working on forgiving others, this book is for you!  We highly recommend it.

Chris Williams states, “I had no idea who had just hit us, and my mind didn’t think to consider if they were all right or not, or what circumstances might have caused them to cross the median and strike us.  I simply looked at the car in silence.  Then I heard a voice that was not my own in my mind as clearly as if it had come from someone seated next to me.  It was straightforward and filled with power, and the voice said, ‘Let it go!'”

At the end of his book, Chris Williams asks a powerful question, “What burden could you lay at the Lord’s feet, today, that He might be allowed to work miracles in your life?”

Need help learning to think and act with positive intent in spite of the circumstances you encounter?  CLICK HERE to see what’s available to you.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Some links in this post are affiliate links.

The information contained on this website is educational in nature and is provided only as general information. The information presented on this website is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or psychological disorder. The information herein is not a substitute for medical or psychological treatment. Any stories or testimonials presented on this website do not constitute a warranty, guarantee, or prediction regarding outcomes for any particular issue. While all materials and links to other resources are posted in good faith, the accuracy, validity, effectiveness, completeness, or usefulness of any information herein or from an affiliate cannot be guaranteed. The founders of healingyourfamily.com accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the use or misuse of information contained on this website. We strongly advise that you seek professional advice, as appropriate, before making any health decision.

About Family Tree Gal, Carolyn Calton

Life’s Journey Prompts-What’s Your Story?

In my opinion, there’s nothing better than journal prompts to use while recording one’s personal history.  An overwhelming task, broken down into bite-sized chunks, becomes totally manageable.

This year I am participating in the #52Stories Project from FamilySearch.org. in order to become a positive INfluence on my family’s inter-generational narrative. Will you join me?

Follow a weekly prompt to write down just one story every week for a year.  By the end of a year, you will be 52 steps and 52 stories closer to having written your personal history.

Don’t worry about missing some prompts.  Start wherever you are.

I use Personal Historian 2 Software to record and organize my personal history by topic as well as my daily journal entries.

Challenge:  Write down the details of your life to “define the dash” that exists between your birth date and death date.

Here are the #52Stories life journey prompts for January through March:

January Theme: Goals and Achievements.  Click here for questions to answer for January.

February Theme: Love and Friendship.  Click here for questions to answer for February.

March Theme: Occupations and Hobbies.  Click here for questions to answer for March.

As you write your Life’s Journey experiences  as TODAY’s ChangeMaker™

  • It will help you see and evaluate your own life more clearly.
  • It will provide INcouragement and awareness for your loved ones who come after you.
  • Family members, including your posterity, will be able to become acquainted with who you really are, not just with who you seem to be, because your thoughts and feelings will be accurate since they come straight from you
  • Some of your loved ones may be able to avoid some pitfalls because of the lessons you’ve learned and passed to them through your written words and through your experiences.
  • You are helping to light the path and lead the way for them to follow, as you gain and maintain physical, emotional and spiritual security for yourself in this topsy-turvy world.

Do not be afraid of your imperfections.  You are not your history.  You may be the catalyst for positive change your family line is waiting for.

Heal the heartbreak of dysfunction and stress in yourself and your family line.
End the isolation of feeling alone in your journey to create positive change with these helpful classes, coaching and small group connections.
Check out our ReNEW YOU Classes and Joyful Breakthrough Membership Circles.

Personal History Tool Tips for Spring and Summer:

Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner –  Portable, easy flip-and-scan-technology.  You can even scan pictures in the frame or while they remain in their photo albums!  I sit on the sofa in comfort and scan to my hearts delight.  My grandson’s love to help.  This is a great summer project that connects the whole family to their positive memories.

Legacy Family Tree Softwareis the software I use to easily preserve my genealogical information.  It is important to have a software on your computer for your records.  Don’t rely on online record-keeping alone.

Family ChartMastersCreate a beautiful, Family Tree Chart for your home to strengthen your posterity. Remember your roots and also your one-and-only, unique and vital place on your family tree.

JOURNALriffic– Use the journaling method—the 4 Steps of Discovery—in the ebook I authored.  It was written specifically for TODAY’s ChangeMakers like you. It will you how to put an end to negative thinking and destructive tendencies in yourself or your family line in order to enjoy more peace-of-mind and happiness.

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Note:  TODAY’s ChangeMakers™ are sincere, determined men and women who do not give up on creating positive change—in spite of obstacles.  If you haven’t already done so, I invite you to officially JOIN THE QUEST at Family Tree Quest.com.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” I am disclosing that I am the owner or a compensated affiliate of the hyperlinked companies, websites, ebooks, classes and membership circles mentioned in this post.

About Family Tree Gal, Carolyn Calton Carolyn Calton

Serving people who have hidden heartaches and unresolved personal struggles, Carolyn Calton is the founder of FamilyTreeQuest.com and HealingYourFamily.com. As a ReNEW YOU Self Worth and Relationship Revitalization educator and coach, Carolyn teaches individuals and families how to turn from heartache to happiness in themselves, their families and family lines by understanding how to live true to who they really are as TODAY’s ChangeMakers. Those who join her ReNEW YOU Classes and Joyful Breakthrough Membership Circles learn how to turn stress, anxious-thinking, anger and dysfunction to hope, direction, happiness and peace. She is a teacher and facilitator of principles that can set the hearts of men and women free from the pain and chains of guilt, toxic shame and the effects of oppression. Her students are then empowered to walk forward with courage and confidence as they fill their highest priorities with stability and full purpose of heart.

God did hear our cries and answer our prayers.

Vector background with grass

TIP:  Learn from the faith-promoting experiences of others–especially from those who are a member of your own family line.

I was reading this morning about a people who were living a fairly ordinary life, and then they were attacked. (Interesting how life sometimes goes when all is going well, and we are slow to remember the Lord.) These people remembered that they could be delivered “out of the hands of their enemies” because of THIS. They said, “for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers. And God did hear our cries and did answer our prayers; and we did go forth in his might.”*

Even though these people lived thousands of years ago, the records they kept and the stories passed down from their forefathers helped them awaken to the source of strength and INsight and deliverance from their enemies that could help them beyond their own capacity.  How many of us, when times get tough, remember something we may have forgotten about the strength, fortitude, resilience amid great obstacles or trials, that a family member of our own went through and rose above.  There are countless stories of faith and fortitude waiting to be discovered within our own family history.

Last night I was watching the show 17 Miracles. Among my heritage are many Mormon Pioneers.  The particular company of pioneers depicted in this movie left for their destination late in the season, and they endured hardships beyond comprehension.  They were all just mortal men, women and children who were trying to do the best they could for their families.  They faced extreme and severe circumstances with hunger, fatigue, death, deprivation, equipment failure, and so much more that called for extraordinary faith and endurance.  Amidst it all, there were miracles.

During a time of extreme hunger, one woman obtained beef jerky in a miraculous way.  She returned to the camp and shared with her children and others.  No doubt this saved lives.  At the end of the show, it tells of how one of her family members did not believe this story–even though she had sacrificed so much and endured much hardship. Later, thankfully, someone else from the company mentioned it in the presence of the one who did not believe it.

After watching the show, it seemed so sad to me that her own family member wouldn’t understand or believe which must have been life-saving and such a blessing to her. I think many faithful parents in today’s world may somehow relate to this–even though our times and unique challenges are very different.   In my own way, I identify with the feeling of sacrificing your all for the sake of your family members, only to be often misunderstood or criticized for the very thing that kept you and them alive–physically, emotionally or spiritually.

It was encouraging to remember that the awareness of the value of our faith in God and fortitude amid trials and obstacles may even jump a generation or two before being rediscovered, yet our sacrifices are not lost.  It may be the very thing that helps one of our posterity to be strong and encouraged amidst their own trials with faith, family, friends or circumstances.

Whose story in your family line is waiting to be known or rediscovered?

Gordon B Hinckley shared this account of the rescue of those spoken of in the movie 17 Miracles.

“It was in … desperate and terrible circumstances—hungry, exhausted, their clothes thin and ragged—that [the handcart companies] were found by the rescue party. As the rescuers appeared on the western horizon breaking a trail through the snow, they seemed as angels of mercy. And indeed they were. The beleaguered emigrants shouted for joy, some of them. Others, too weak to shout, simply wept and wept and wept.

“There was now food to eat and some warmer clothing. But the suffering was not over, nor would it ever end in mortality. Limbs had been frozen, and the gangrenous flesh sloughed off from the bones.

“The carts were abandoned, and the survivors were crowded into the wagons of the rescuers. The long rough journey of three hundred, four hundred, even five hundred miles between them and this valley was especially slow and tedious because of the storms. On November 30, 104 wagons, loaded with suffering human cargo, came into the Salt Lake Valley. Word of their expected arrival had preceded them. It was Sunday, and again the Saints were gathered in the Tabernacle. Brigham Young stood before the congregation and said:

“‘As soon as this meeting is dismissed I want the brethren and sisters to repair to their homes. …

“‘The afternoon meeting will be omitted, for I wish the sisters to … prepare to give those who have just arrived a mouthful of something to eat, and to wash them and nurse them. …

“‘Some you will find with their feet frozen to their ankles; some are frozen to their knees and some have their hands frosted … ; we want you to receive them as your own children, and to have the same feeling for them’ (quoted in Hafen, Handcarts to Zion, p. 139)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1991, 76–77; or Ensign, Nov. 1991, 54).

Francis Webster, a member of the Martin Handcart Company said, “Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes! But I was in that company and my wife was in it….We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities!”

In 1996, Gordon B. Hinckley, referring to the suffering of the Martin and Willie handcart companies,  said:

“I am grateful that those days of pioneering are behind us. I am thankful that we do not have brethren and sisters stranded in the snow, freezing and dying… But there are people, not a few, whose circumstances are desperate and who cry out for help and relief.

“There are so many who are hungry and destitute across this world who need help. … Ours is a great and solemn duty to reach out and help them, to lift them, to feed them if they are hungry, to nurture their spirits if they thirst for truth and righteousness.

“There are so many young people who wander aimlessly and walk the tragic trail of drugs, gangs, immorality, and the whole brood of ills that accompany these things. There are widows who long for friendly voices and that spirit of anxious concern which speaks of love. There are those who were once warm in the faith, but whose faith has grown cold. Many of them wish to come back but do not know quite how to do it. They need friendly hands reaching out to them. With a little effort, many of them can be brought back to feast again at the table of the Lord.

“… I would hope, I would pray that each of us … would resolve to seek those who need help, who are in desperate and difficult circumstances, and lift them in the spirit of love … (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 118; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 86).

INspired Action Steps:  It’s now your turn on earth.  Who will you lift and serve?  What will be your story of faithful obedience to God?  There are those in your family line who follow you.  Rejoice that we live in a day of opportunity.  Rejoice that we have the opportunity to choose living a life with faith in Christ being fully planted in our hearts.  There are and will always be miracles.  I INcourage you to faithfully use your INfluence for good, and, in doing so, you will see the hand of God unfold in your life and in the lives of others in unlimited miraculous ways.

If you’d like to comment, please visit my Family Tree Gal Facebook Page and comment under the reference to this post there.

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* Mosiah 9: 14-19
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Notice of material connection:  I am an affiliate of Amazon.com

About Family Tree Gal, Carolyn Calton Carolyn Calton

Serving people who have hidden heartaches and unresolved personal struggles, Carolyn Calton is the founder of FamilyTreeQuest.com and HealingYourFamily.com. As a ReNEW YOU Self Worth and Relationship Revitalization educator and coach, Carolyn teaches individuals and families how to turn from heartache to happiness in themselves, their families and family lines by understanding how to live true to who they really are as TODAY’s ChangeMakers. Those who join her ReNEW YOU Classes and Joyful Breakthrough Membership Circles learn how to turn stress, anxious-thinking, anger and dysfunction to hope, direction, happiness and peace. She is a teacher and facilitator of principles that can set the hearts of men and women free from the pain and chains of guilt, toxic shame and the effects of oppression. Her students are then empowered to walk forward with courage and confidence as they fill their highest priorities with stability and full purpose of heart.

The power of personal story is INcredible!

Story- understand. 300 x 300

The Power of personal STORY is INcredible!

This Family Memories Spotlight by Greg McMurdie is worth reading.

He says, “Wherever your ancestors come from, you’ve no doubt speculated on their journey
to this land – and the land left behind. …

Take time to read the genealogy breakthroughs in his spotlight
“then take time to preserve your family memories so future generations
can know the journeys, loves, and lives of ancestors.”

In the story McMurdie relates from the history of Carol Rice,
“Family folklore told of three German brothers who came to America.
One of them “jumped ship.” We knew of two of brothers, but we could
never find proof that the third brother who “jumped ship” actually existed.

But the story, passed down through generations, kept us looking.”

See what happens all “because of what hung upon a Virginia wall.”

What clues will help you solve your ancestry mysteries and
what family artifacts help you preserve family memories?

Click here to read Family Memories Spotlight: Genealogists Share Family History Documents.

Let’s stay connected!
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About Family Tree Gal, Carolyn Calton Carolyn Calton

Serving people who have hidden heartaches and unresolved personal struggles, Carolyn Calton is the founder of FamilyTreeQuest.com and HealingYourFamily.com. As a ReNEW YOU Self Worth and Relationship Revitalization educator and coach, Carolyn teaches individuals and families how to turn from heartache to happiness in themselves, their families and family lines by understanding how to live true to who they really are as TODAY’s ChangeMakers. Those who join her ReNEW YOU Classes and Joyful Breakthrough Membership Circles learn how to turn stress, anxious-thinking, anger and dysfunction to hope, direction, happiness and peace. She is a teacher and facilitator of principles that can set the hearts of men and women free from the pain and chains of guilt, toxic shame and the effects of oppression. Her students are then empowered to walk forward with courage and confidence as they fill their highest priorities with stability and full purpose of heart.