Small Step: Celebrate!

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So bona my friends, welcome to the

creative, spiritual journey podcast.

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I'm Judy Cooley.

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I'm your host for small steps where I

share with you small steps to help you

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move forward in this journey of life.

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With Christ by your side.

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Today, small step celebrate.

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Do you celebrate?

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Do you take the time to celebrate?

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Not just the big, an obvious

days and accomplishments, but

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what about those small steps?

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Those tiny little wins.

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So I'll tell you lately.

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We've been doing a lot of

celebrating here in our mission.

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I celebrated my 60th birthday.

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We just celebrated our 40th

wedding anniversary and had

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an amazing celebration trip.

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It was mother's day.

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We celebrated Eric's birthday yesterday.

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And one beautiful celebration

is who we just welcomed our 12th

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grandchild, a grandson Into our family.

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And these have been beautiful.

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celebrations.

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I've also received some texts

with some amazing pictures.

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Of the Aurora Borealis,

the Northern lights.

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Have been.

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On display.

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At my home in Utah, of course,

because this is something I've

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wanted to see all my life.

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And here I am down in the

Southern hemisphere, South Africa.

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So the Northern lights, I'm not going

to bore you with the scientific.

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Reason why there are the Northern

lights or where they got their name.

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But what I want to talk about

is the native American Indians,

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the ancient people What they

thought the Northern lights were.

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They believed that the lights were

the spirits of their departed friends

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and family dancing in the sky.

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And when they shone brightly, it meant

that their deceased family and friends.

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We're very happy.

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They were celebrating.

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They were dancing, playing games,

riding horses, and having fun.

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I believe that this birth of our grandson.

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That he was.

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Ushered in brought down escorted,

whatever you want to call it.

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Dancing with our ancestors.

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Because my mother and father and

Eric's mother and father loved.

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To dance.

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They crew up in that era of the big

band Some of my earliest memories are

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dancing with my grandma In her kitchen.

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And twirling.

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My dad was an amazing dancer

and I was a daddy's girl.

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And so I love to dance with my dad.

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Even up into high school.

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I remember dancing with him at

the, , high school homecomings

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that he would help escort.

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And then of course, at my wedding day,

my daddy dance with my father just.

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Uh, great memory.

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I miss him.

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And Erica and I, before we got

married, we took a dancing class.

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So we could waltz at our wedding

and what a beautiful memory that is.

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I danced with each one of our

children when they were babes

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and older, even some of them.

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At high school dances.

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just.

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Like my father had.

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And my course, my favorite is

dancing with my grandchildren.

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I love whisking them around

the kitchen and twirling and

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laughing down the hallway.

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And dancing in the Moonlight.

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Dancing.

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On holidays.

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dancing around the kitchen I love

to dance here in South Africa.

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A lot of the children don't speak.

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English and the ones

that do not very well.

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And so dance has become a language.

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I dance with the children

here in South Africa.

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And I think.

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Dancing is , a language of, celebration

a beautiful language of I love you.

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So you think about these beautiful

Northern lights dancing in the sky?

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And we would not be able to see them.

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If it wasn't for the darkness.

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It is the darkness.

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That allows us to see the Milky way,

the stars, the shooting stars, the moon.

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And the dancing lights I love

looking up the definition of words.

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And what's really fun is to

look up the Hebrew definition.

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I am not a Hebrew scholar.

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Let's just make that very clear

and I might pronounce these wrong.

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But in the Hebrew language, there

are two words that define darkness.

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The first being chosoque.

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Which is the absence of light.

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This is what we think of.

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In the creation.

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When.

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Darkness.

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Came before light.

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And the light was divided

into day and night.

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We need both day and night.

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We need light and dark for this

planet to function for us to function.

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And as part of this opposition in all

things, It helps us see the contrast.

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So the word.

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Koshik.

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Of darkness is needed.

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This is the darkness that God.

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Is in it is good.

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Then there is a definition

of darkness that is era fail.

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Which is a spiritual darkness.

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This is to be separated from the glory

of God, by our words and our actions.

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This is the darkness that we think of as.

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Evil.

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And that is the absence.

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Of the light of Christ.

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In doctrine, covenants 50, 24 and 25.

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Is my very favorite scripture.

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That which is of God is light

and he, that receives light.

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And continues in God receives more light.

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And that light grows brighter and

brighter and tell that perfect day.

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Tap dancing celebration day.

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And again, verily I say unto you.

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That I say it, that you

may know this truth.

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That you may chase.

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Darkness from among you.

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You may chase the era, fell darkness,

the spiritual darkness from among you.

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So it's easy to celebrate the big things.

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The birthdays, the holidays

anniversaries are big achievements.

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But what about celebrating

the daily little things?

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The little steps, the little wins.

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Like you remember to say

your morning prayers.

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Yay.

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Do a happy dance.

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You hug someone and told them, thank you.

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Yay.

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Happy dance.

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You forgave someone.

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Yay.

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Do a happy dance.

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You smiled.

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You'd serve someone in need Yay.

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Do a happy dance.

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you repented and changed

your direction here.

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Yay.

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Do a happy dance.

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In the 12 step program.

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The first three steps.

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Are sometimes referred to.

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as the three step dance.

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First step.

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Admit that you yourself are powerless.

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And that your life has become.

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Unmanageable the second step, believe

that God has all power and wisdom and

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in his strength, we can do all things.

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And the third step.

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Decide.

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Choose to turn your will

and your life over to God.

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And into the care of your savior.

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Jesus Christ.

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There you go.

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1, 2, 3, like a waltz,

the three step dance.

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So.

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Two's to repent and change course.

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One two.

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Three twirl.

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Jesus Christ is the light

and the life of the world.

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Shine his light.

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And dance.

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So our little granddaughter Sage, who is.

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Megan's oldest and the big sister, Of.

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our new little grandson.

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Megan caught her on video, sane.

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I'm so glad.

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Heavenly father chose him.

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To be ours.

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And I want to leave you with that.

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I am so grateful that heavenly parents.

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Chose they're only

begotten son to be ours.

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So that we can dance.

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And celebrate.

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In the darkness.

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Choosing.

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To turn our steps, like a dance

step 1, 2, 3, twirl around.

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. I invite you to grab hold of his hand.

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Our savior and allow him to pull you

out of the darkness, into his light.

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it's time.

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To celebrate And dance in the light.

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And I will see you on the trail.

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Dancing.

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And if you have enjoyed this podcast, yay.

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Celebrate it and share it with a friend.

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It's always better to have a friend.

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to dance with.