Estimated Reading Time 31 Minutes
Hey You! Welcome back to The Vibrant Life Podcast. My name is Emily Romrell and I am stoked. We made it to episode twenty, Peeps! Time is flying and I’ve got to tell ya, doing the podcast is the highlight of my week. It gives me an extra push to be my best and I hope you feel encouraged as well. If you have listened to the last twenty episodes and you feel they’ve been helpful to you, can you do me a favor? Will you please take sixty seconds and leave a review on iTunes? Will you tell your friends about the podcast so they can enjoy it too? I’m working hard to get this community growing and every little bit helps.
I am so excited about this episode, my friends. Every tenth episode I’m going to interview someone special about their take on a vibrant life. Today we get to hear from one of my dearest friends and someone who makes a difference in the lives of all who know her. I met April Moody when her family moved into the house next door to us and I was around 13. That’s a pretty awkward age for most people, but she always made me feel loved and seen. April has been a friend and mentor to me ever since.
April says loving people is her favorite. She loves sunshine, children’s literature, having adventures with her family, and she can’t pass up a warm chocolate chip cookie. She loves the saying, “Be of good cheer.” And one of her favorite quotes is:
“There are two ways to live your life, one is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~Albert Einstein.
April Moody is a personal example in my life of someone who chooses to live vibrantly. I think after listening to our interview today, you’ll understand why.
Emily (00:01):
All right. Well, I’m so glad that you’re here. Thank you so much for taking time out to be with me today. Uh, April.
April (00:07):
I’m so happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
Emily (00:10):
Yeah. I mean, I’ve known you a long time. We were talking about it before we got on the podcast, it’s been, I think around 20 years that we’ve known each other, and you are truly, like, one of the most special friends in my life. And I hope that you know that, cause I don’t know, I’ve known you since I was a teenager. And I just feel like I connected with you, like on a mentor level. Like, you’ve been like a mentor to me in my life, but also just like as a friend, like just as someone that I can talk to and share my heart with and be safe with. And that means a lot to me. So…
April (00:38):
That’s how I feel too. Emily, you have just been a light and a blessing to me from the moment that I met you. So thank you for your friendship and for your insight and for your willingness to want to visit today.
Emily (00:48):
No Problem. Well, and you know, the, the main focus of my podcast is living a vibrant life. And so every 10 episodes, I just wanted to interview someone and kind of get their perspective on what a vibrant life means to them. So that’s kind of what our conversation is going to be about today, but just kind of to get into the swing of things. Um, can you think of something that maybe people don’t know about you that you would like to share?
April (01:12):
Sure. So I am, I think, uh, quite a naturally optimistic buoyant, um, person. Um, and I really enjoy life and I feel a lot of happiness in my heart most of the time. I think most people because I’m a cheerful person might not always know that sometimes I feel sad. Or that sometimes there are heartaches in life. Um, and that I feel those things deeply too. Um, but I think one of the things that life has taught me is that you can have heartache, you can be sad and also still be a happy and a joyful person, even at the same time.
Emily (01:48):
Yeah. I love that so much. And I think you’re a really good example of that because I mean, I was talking to you earlier, uh, you are just a naturally cheerful person. You’re just bright and sunny and cheerful. And when I think of you, I just smile naturally thinking about that. And I think that is partly just who you are, but I also think it’s a choice. And so like, do you have any like things that you think help you choose to be cheerful?
April (02:13):
Um, I think that quite often, the way that we view the world helps to kind of shape, um, just the way that we’re seeing things, right? And so sometimes I like to envision myself kind of being like a detective looking for evidence. And um, I feel like if I’m a detective and I’m looking for reasons why life is bad or I’m looking for reasons why God doesn’t love me or I’m looking for reasons why I’m picked on, then I’m going to find those things if that’s what I’m looking for. Right?
Emily (02:44):
Yeah.
April (02:45):
But if I’m a detective and I’m looking for evidence that God is aware of me and that God loves me. If I’m looking for evidence that the world is a beautiful place to be. If I’m looking for evidence that there is joy all around me and people to love, then that creates a really joyful, vibrant life. And so I really do think that when you make the conscious effort to be gathering evidence, to show that life is beautiful, that you’ll find it.
Emily (03:12):
Yeah. I love that. That’s so true. And I think it’s like where your attention is. That’s what is in your life. So if you are, like you said, looking for those evidences, that things are good. That’s what you’re going to find. I love that so much. And um, I know you’ve had your share of trials in your life. Um, I wanted to just touch on maybe one of the biggest ones. I know you’re a mom, you have four boys and they’re wonderful. I have known all of your kids. You moved into a house next door when your oldest boy was just a little baby and now he’s in college, so it’s crazy. Um, but uh, one of your sons had some challenges, Caleb. And can you just kind of explain like what his condition was when he was born and kind of like how you responded to that when you found out like what was going on with him?
April (04:03):
Sure. So our third son, Caleb, um, very early on in our pregnancy, we found out that he had significant challenges and we didn’t, um, we didn’t fully know how significant his challenges were until he was born, but we knew that even the chances of him being born alive, um, weren’t a guarantee. And so he had a condition called hydranencephaly, which means that his brain didn’t fully develop and that he had a lot of fluid on his brain. So if you were to look at a MRI of Caleb’s, um, skull, um, you would see some brain tissue and a lot of fluid. And so his brain largely didn’t develop. And so he stayed like a newborn baby for his whole life and had some significant challenges associated with that.
April (04:45):
Um, one of his challenges that was associated with his brain development also meant that his eyes didn’t fully develop. So he had one eye, um, that developed fully and one eye that did not develop at all. And so he was born with only one eye. And I remember when we were expecting him and we had told our other two little boys a little bit about what to expect. Um, they didn’t fully understand all of his medical conditions, but they did understand that one eye was different. And I remember we were on a drive and my oldest son, Josh, just started to cry out of nowhere. And I said, “What’s the matter?”
April (05:18):
And he said, “I’m worried what Caleb will look like with only having one eye.”
April (05:22):
And so I pulled the car over and this was before we had him. And I just said, “You don’t need to worry one bit. It will just be like, Caleb is winking at us every day.” And so then Caleb, when he was born, um, did have the cutest little winking eye, with these cute little, um, this cute little closed eyelid, with these sweet little eyelashes on it. And he really did just look like he just had a sweet little permanent wink on his face. And so I was able to explain to my kids, even though Caleb can’t talk to us, this is the way that he gets to tell us that he loves us every day is with his little wink. And so his wink kind of became our mission and a big part of Caleb’s mission, even though he wasn’t able to physically develop like other children and stayed, uh, developmentally like a newborn baby, his little wink just lit up our house and lit up our hearts and reminded us how important that it was to show people that we love them.
Emily (06:15):
Yeah. I Love that so much. Thank you. And I can attest to that. He had such a special spirit, like you walked into the room and you could just feel his spirit radiate through. And, um, I, I would try to wink at people since then… I am not a good Winker. I’ll be like, Hey…I can’t wink, but you have the knack. Like you just have that way of like winking at someone and making them feel special, which is awesome.
April (06:40):
Yeah. It’s a great way that we can keep Caleb with us is just sharing a little wink and trying our best to show the people around them. That we love them, that we see them, that we believe in them. And I remember my mom, even as a teenager, even when I was kind of embarrassed to have like my parents around that she would still wink at me when she was sitting in a congregation when I was giving a talk or singing in a choir concert. And that was her way as a mother to show me that she saw me that she loved me, that she believed in me. And so it was really sweet to have my son, um, have that sweet little permanent wink that showed us every day that he loved us, that he believed in us that he was grateful to be here. And I’m really grateful for that sweet little reminder from heaven that we love each other and that we believe in each other.
Emily (07:25):
And you just carried it through for your whole family. And I think that’s a great, like if you were going to have a motto or like something to share with the world, I think linking to show people that you love them is just so special and cool. Like not everyone would maybe think of that, but like you said, it like makes people think that they’re seen, they feel special. They know that you know who they are and that they’re important. So that’s awesome. And then, um, can you just talk a little bit about, you were telling me before how, even though Caleb did have a lot of challenges, it didn’t really matter so much about what he could accomplish, but like what his mission in life was?
April (07:56):
Oh, sure. So I think one of the sweetest things that I learned from Caleb was, um, the importance of being true to our mission on the earth. And, um, Caleb, even though he wasn’t able to, uh, develop like a normal child was. And truly, if you were to pull up a medical sheet on Caleb and see a list of the things that he was capable of doing, it was very small. Um, he needed help breathing and he needed help eating. He needed help sitting up. And so the things that he was physically able to do was very limited. And I think we live in a world where it’s so easy to define ourselves by what we can do by what others see us doing. Right? And I think that, of course we know how important our actions are and that the things that we do are important.
April (08:44):
Um, but Caleb really taught me that it’s not always just about what we can do, but it’s about who we are. And even though Caleb was in a body that was very physically limited, he still was able to radiate with love. And with light, he was able to fill our home with warmth. He was able to remind us what heaven felt like. And it was really touching to see the way that he was able to in his own way, quietly minister, to people that were coming into our home just by being him.
Emily (09:13):
Yeah.
April (09:14):
And I think that if we, when we can remember that when we start feeling down on, I’m not doing enough, or I’m not able to do this, or I’m not able to accomplish that, that it’s important that we can remember that being true to our mission on the earth is going to look a little different for everyone.
April (09:32):
And if we’ve solely focused on the things that we can outwardly do, or even the things that other people can see, then we might be missing the boat a little bit on who we’re becoming. And so Caleb really taught me that and I loved watching the way that he was able to be true to his mission, um, on the earth and that he was able to love people in his way, and that we all can love people in our own way. And that might look just a little bit different for everyone. But I love that reminder, um, from Caleb, that it’s more important who we’re becoming and who we’re able to love.
Emily (10:03):
I love that so much and it can look different for, cause we’re all different people. We all have our different hearts and we can love each other in different ways, but…
April (10:10):
Exactly.
Emily (10:11):
It all matters. And then I never really felt, I don’t know, awkward about people with special needs, but I always, maybe felt a little nervous. So one of the blessings I thought about having a neighbor with a kid with special needs is I just totally got rid of those fears.
April (10:26):
Awsome!
Emily (10:26):
Because, uh, I don’t know. I mean, I babysat him a couple of times and I was around him a little bit and he was so sweet and I was like, oh, well there’s machines. Am I going to be able to take care of him? And you know, and I don’t know, just as a parent or just as someone who’s dealt with kids with special needs, do you have any advice for people who might feel uncomfortable or not know how to respond to people who have challenges like that?
April (10:49):
Oh, that’s a really good question. Actually, Emily. I haven’t thought about that a lot, but, and I really appreciated you even as a teenager recognizing the needs that we had in our home. And I’ll always remember, um, there was a time when Caleb needed to be in the hospital quite a bit, and we had a young little one-year-old, um, that was so hard for me to leave at home while I went to the hospital to take care of Caleb and you recognized that need and you stepped in and offered to come and watch him for free and to just spend time with him and to help him into love him while you knew that my heart was torn, wanting to be in two places. And so I loved that example that you showed me as a teenager and a young adult in recognizing a need in a family and stepping in and helping, um, that really, that just really touched my heart.
April (11:34):
And so I think that’s one thing that I would suggest is just to kind of look at the situation and see where you can help. There might be some things that you can’t do because they’re a little bit medically complex. But looking at the situation for what you can do. And that I know is so appreciated.
April (11:49):
Um, but also I think even just in meeting, um, whether it’s children or adults with special needs or families that are dealing with, uh, various special needs, just to not be afraid to ask questions, I feel like most or most families and parents and siblings are anxious to share a little bit about their, their sibling or their loved one that is experiencing life in a different way. And so you don’t need to feel nervous or shy about asking questions, um, and also, um, expressing love, I think, and even to the individual that you’re not quite sure if they can understand you or to comprehend you. Um, I loved seeing, um, those around me express love to Caleb, not knowing how, how much he could understand, but even as a, as a parent and a loved one, seeing others express love to my loved one, it just filled my heart up.
Emily (12:36):
That’s great.
April (12:36):
I think just looking for ways that you can help not being afraid to ask questions and, um, taking the opportunity to express love are awesome ways.
Emily (12:45):
Little kids are so great at that. Right? I was Just thinking like little kids are not afraid to ask questions, so maybe be more like that. Cause I sometimes see kids will run up and ask questions and maybe the parents will say, oh, well you gotta be polite or whatever. So don’t worry about that.
April (12:59):
Oh, my husband, my husband, he’s a tease and kids would run up and say, what happened to your son or what happened to his eye? And he would say a bear ate it. I was like, Yikes! That’s not the right story. But the kids thought it was so funny. Right? So, Yeah. So I think just being willing to ask questions. And I find that quite often, if I’m not quite sure, but I’m in a situation where there’s, um, you know, a child or a loved one with special needs, sometimes I’ll just say, tell me a little bit about your son. Tell me a little bit about your daughter or teach me, teach me what you’re doing. And so those are, I think, are, are, um, questions that don’t feel too invasive, but that just show interest in the person.
Emily (13:35):
Yeah. It goes kind of back to that being seen thing. Right? We all want to feel like we are seen and that we’re valuable. So that’s great.
Emily (13:43):
And um, so when you think about a vibrant life, uh, I just kinda want to thinking back, I know this is a really big question. Um, but can you think of like maybe a big lesson that you’ve learned about like what it means to live a vibrant life and what was your life before you had learned this and how it’s changed your life since you’ve learned it?
April (13:59):
Oh Sure. Um, so I think we’ve talked a little bit about some of those things. I think I’ve learned a lot in my life about the importance of becoming. Um, I love that it helps me to be gentle with myself as I’m learning lessons, as I, as I make mistakes as I bumble through life, um, to focus on becoming, not being perfect. Um, I feel like that’s something that really helps me to live a vibrant life so that I’m not getting hung up on perfection, but I’m focusing on becoming my best self.
April (14:27):
Um, and I remember, and this has kind of been something that’s been on my mind, um, often is just wanting to understand what my gifts are and what my talents are and how to use those to bless the lives of others in my sphere. And, and I remember recently even just wondering, I don’t really know if I have a lot of talents, I’m kind of one of those people that’s like pretty good at stuff, but, but you wouldn’t look at me and go, oh, she is the one that does this really well. Or does that really well, or is it an accomplished this or that? I’m kind of just regular at most things.
April (15:04):
But I think that as I’ve made that a matter of prayer and what really are my talents and how can I use my talents to be a blessing in the lives of other people. Um, the thing that really has come into my heart is just to love.
Emily (15:16):
Yeah.
April (15:16):
And maybe I don’t have a lot of great outward talents that are, um, noteworthy, but I think that God has helped me to recognize that I love to love. And so…
Emily (15:30):
You do.
April (15:31):
And, and so that’s what I can do. That’s what I can do is I can love those that he puts in my path. I can love those in my sphere of influence and that that can be maybe one of the gifts that he can use to help me to make a difference in the world. Even if I’m not a very accomplished person.
Emily (15:50):
Well, I think you are accomplished, but I think that is one of your major talents is you do love people that are around you and as someone who has benefited from your love, I think that is so special because you are someone that I think makes others feel safe to be who they are, and that loves them no matter what. So that is a huge talent.
April (16:07):
Well, you have a talent for seeing the best in me.
Emily (16:10):
And also music. Like you’re a really good piano player. And I remember like my little brothers would take piano lessons from you and they still remember that and talk about it.
April (16:18):
Well, all of my children are better piano players than me. So I’m glad I got, I got to fake it with your brothers for a while.
Emily (16:25):
But yeah, I think it’s important to remember. Like sometimes we think we don’t have talents that are necessarily like on paper. Like we were talking about like, I don’t know, like accomplished or whatever, but, um, we all have talents that we all have. And loving is definitely a talent.
Emily (16:40):
So, um, and then can you think of a time maybe recently, or in the past that you’ve had a challenge and that how you overcome what you’ve done to overcome those challenges?
April (16:53):
Sure. So, um, our little boy that we talked about, um, Caleb just a few minutes ago, he lived until he was seven, which was just a miracle. We knew that every day we were living a miracle to have him with us and to feel of his sweet spirit. Um, and then he passed away when he was seven years old. And, um, and that was, uh, that was a hard time. That was a challenging time. And we’re so grateful for the love and the support and the angels that surrounded us, um, during that time.
April (17:21):
Um, and then in the following years, we, we always thought that our family would grow a little more. And, um, instead of growing, we actually had a few pregnancy losses and things. Andour last pregnancy loss that we had just felt, um, particularly devastating because Caleb was in heaven and we had had some pregnancy losses since then.
April (17:41):
And so when we found out we were expecting, we were so excited and we had gotten to the point in our pregnancy where things just look good and that the pregnancy will continue. And we found out that the sweet little baby girl was not alive anymore. And so, um, I remember when we went to the hospital to deliver her, just feeling those tender feelings in my heart about it just sort of seemed like we were due for the blessing, right? That we were missing our sweet little Caleb and that we, um, had some pregnancies that didn’t turn out the way that we had hoped. And so it kind of felt like this was the time that it was going to work. Right? It almost felt like this is the chance, um, God, that you can compensate us for those losses. Right.
Emily (18:26):
Yeah. Yeah.
April (18:27):
Um, and that, and it didn’t happen the way that we had expected. And I’m, I’m really grateful, um, for those sweet whisperings of the spirit from heaven that helped my perspective to enlarge a bit and to recognize that God knew the desires of my heart. And that he loved the desires of my heart. And that God is never trying to pick on us. Um, sometimes the blessings that we desire just require a little more patience. And so I’m really grateful for those moments, those quiet moments, when the spirit can teach you that God, isn’t a God that picks on us. God, um, is a God that desires to own and to bless us. And sometimes the blessings that we desire require some patience and that’s okay. And sometimes they won’t come in the timing that we hoped for, or even in the ways that make sense to us, but the, those blessings will come. And whether it’s now, or whether it’s later on in our development, that, that’s okay.
April (19:26):
And I’m so grateful that God allows us the opportunities that we need to develop patience and to develop trust in him and in his timing and trusting that the experiences that we’re allowed to have really help us to become who he knows that we can become. It helps our hearts to grow and deepen in ways that we wouldn’t have expected. Um, or even in ways that we wouldn’t have experienced if we hadn’t experienced some challenges and some disappointments in life. And I’m really grateful for the undercurrent of peace that we can feel in our lives, even when we have the ups and downs in our challenges and our trials and our disappointments and our heartaches. That even when we have some sadness in our lives, we can have a constant undercurrent of peace, an undercurrent that that is always flowing of joy and happiness, because we can believe him. We can trust him and that he’s allowing us to become more like him.
Emily (20:26):
I love that so much. I think it takes a lot of faith to realize that, cause I know um, in my own personal struggles, I’ve talked to you before. Like I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety. And there was a time where like, I got so mad, cause it’s been like years and years and I’m like, why am I still dealing with this? And I’ve kind of had that same kind of realization where like, it’s okay. Like we have to, like life is being refined and becoming who we are, but it takes a lot of effort and faith to get to that point where you can have that peace inside of you. And so do you have any like tips or tools or things that you’ve used to like maybe help you realize that?
April (21:03):
Yes. I think truly for me personally, one of my greatest tools and sources for comfort and inspiration is turning to the scriptures. Um, I feel like, um, sometimes you can have challenges in your life where you might even feel like even those that love you the most in your life might not fully understand how you’re feeling. Right? Um, as much as they love you, you might, you may feel, um, that that journey that you’re on with anxiety or depression may feel lonely at times. Right? And I love when I open up my scriptures, I feel like it’s a place where I can turn where there are friends that are there to, um, offer their words of wisdom. Even though they’ve been, those words have existed for generations and generations, but those words are somehow so personal. Um, and touching in the times when we, when we really need some personal guidance, it’s also, I feel like a place where we can go, um, to visit with the savior and a place where we can feel his comfort and a place where we can feel peace in him because as we learn about him and as we strive to be like him, and as we listen to the feelings that we have in our heart about him, um, I feel like it gives us the peace and the perspective and the realization that there is someone who knows perfectly how we feel in every situation. And that when you’re having those feelings of feeling sad or mad, even about having anxiety or depression or I’m having feelings of grief or disappointment, um, that there is someone who knows perfectly how we feel.
April (22:37):
There is someone who knows perfectly how to teach us and how to comfort us because he had those moments for us in the garden and on the cross where he could feel perfectly how we feel so that he knows perfectly how to walk with us, how to be with us, how to have his angels, roundabout, us to bear us up. When we think that we can’t do it on our own. So for me, that is my greatest source of inspiration, that my greatest source of hope, my greatest source of peace is turning to the scriptures and the things that I can learn in the scriptures. I love that so much. And I would add to that, I guess, to that visiting the scriptures is a way to feel close to heaven, but also those personal moments in kneeling in prayer, um, really can help have it not feel so far away where we can feel the love of a heavenly father who loves us perfectly.
Emily (23:24):
What would you say to someone who might be, uh, feeling maybe afraid to pray? Or like they don’t want to pray, or they’re scared about what…cause they’re, I don’t know how to phrase that question. Cause I feel like you have a very meaningful relationship with Heavenly Father, but like maybe some people might be struggling because they’ve had a hard time. Or they don’t know how like maybe reach out in prayer. Like, do you have any advice for those kinds of people who might be struggling with that?
April (23:50):
Yeah. And I think that we all have times like that. Right? There’s times when I sometimes don’t feel like praying because I don’t even know if I’m ready for an answer yet, or maybe I still want to be mad a little longer.
Emily (24:01):
Yeah. Yeah.
April (24:02):
You know, and I think sometimes that can be hard. And I think sometimes we have times in our lives where we do feel a little more distant than we want to feel. Right. I remember a good friend of mine in my neighborhood. Um, suggesting one time in a lesson. Um, when you kneel down to pray, um, instead of just like putting your arms, you know, on your bed or wherever you’re kneeling down to pray to maybe imagine that you’re at the lap of a loving Heavenly Father and resting your arms on him. And for me, that image makes him feel so much closer to me than, than someone that’s so far away. And in a heaven that’s hard to comprehend. Right?
Emily (24:40):
Right.
April (24:41):
Um, and I know we received some recent counsel too. Um, from, uh, Russell M. Nelson who challenged us to pray to heavenly father about how he feels about you and then listen. And so I feel like that is a really good starting point when we’re not sure how we feel, or we’re not sure where to start, or maybe we’re feeling a little more distant than we want to feel that that could be a really great prayer to start with, to ask God how he feels about you. And then to really take the time to listen to the feelings that come into your heart and the thoughts that come into your mind and allow him that opportunity to show you that he’s close and that he loves you. And that he’s dear to you.
Emily (25:29):
I love that so much. Thank you. And I mean, one thing we’ve also talked about just in conversations, is tender mercies, which I think is a good way to kind of feel how Heavenly Father feels about you. And we were just talking a little bit earlier, you went on this walk and you were seeing how the light was perfect. And then the trees were glistening. And it was kind of like a rainy slash sunny day. And then all of a sudden you saw a rainbow and it was amazing. Like I just think, I mean, those are the little moments I think that we have where you really can feel God’s love for you is just those little tender mercies that could be on a walk, or it could be just read something that you read in the scriptures, or it could be someone like a friend that calls you or I don’t know. But, um, do you have any comments on that?
April (26:16):
Yeah, it’s so true. I think it kind of almost goes back to looking for evidence, right? If you have your heart open to seeing the ways that God is showing us that he loves us, then we’ll see them. Right? And so when we’re outside and we see the tulips bursting, or we see the blossom opening up on a tree, or we see a beautiful sunset or, uh, hear a kind word from a friend or, um, all of those things. I think that surround us that if we’re, I think if we’re looking through the lens of, God’s love. That he’ll help us to recognize all the ways that he showing us that he loves us. All around us. Right? And so that could maybe even be something else that we can include in our thoughts or in our prayers are in our lives. Is practicing, looking through the lens of: how does God love me?
April (27:07):
And then it becomes a wonderful experience to look in the world around you and see all of the little ways that he is sending us a little wink, right. He’s sending us a little wink. He’s sending us a little hug, he’s sending us a little reassurance. Um, and that can happen in so many different ways. Um, but if we even just paying a little closer attention to the world around us, the people around us, the little experiences that we have, are those ways that he’s showing us I’m here. I love you. I’m allowing you to experience things, but I’m not far. And I’m proud of you, right?
Emily (27:38):
Yeah. I love that. I’ll never forget. I don’t even know who this lady was, but she was a senior missionary that had come home and they were giving a talk or something. And, uh, she just said, I know Heavenly Father loves me because in the hot summer heat, when I was knocking on doors or visiting people, all of a sudden a breeze would come up on my face. And I would feel the cool breeze. And I’d be like, okay, I can do this again. And I was like something so little simple. Like some people might take that for granted, but to her, it was like, No, this is a tender mercy. Like Heavenly Father sent a little puff of breeze so I could keep on going. So I think about that every once in a little while. About that kind of little thing.
April (28:16):
I believe that. I think, uh, I think I told you one of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein. And I’m not saying this perfectly, but he says, there’s two ways to view the world. One is that nothing is a miracle. And the other is that everything is a miracle. And so if we’re looking at the world through the lens, that everything around me is God showing me that he’s real. And he loves me. That I can be happy that I can feel joy, that I’ll be supported in my trials. Um, then we’ll see that right. Or we can look at it on the flip side that nothing’s a miracle that God isn’t present in our lives. That life isn’t a joyful place to be. So I love that. And I love that reminder, Emily, that there are those tender mercies all around us that can give us the reassurance and the hope that we need.
Emily (28:56):
Yeah. I love that too. And what makes you feel inspired or just like you’re who you are, what makes you feel like your best self?
April (29:06):
Oh gosh, that’s a great question too. So things that inspire me, um, I know we’ve talked about quite a few spiritual things that inspire me. Um, but maybe even things in addition to that, I love going on walks! I love going wrong and why they make me so happy. Um, it’s so good for my mental health to get in the sunshine and the fresh air. Sunshine just fills me up. It just makes me want to explode. I just, I just love being in the sunshine and in the fresh air. It just makes me so happy. Um, I love inspiring music and sometimes that is religious calm, beautiful music. Other times it’s music that puts a pep in my step. Right? So I love, um, inspiring music. I always love to have a book on my nightstand.
Emily (29:52):
Oh yeah.
April (29:52):
I usually like to have a book that’s teaching me something and I love to have a book that is just purely for fun because that’s inspiring. And it makes me happy to have that, um, to surround myself with books and literature that fill my heart up and make me happy and teach me things.
Emily (30:08):
Yeah.
April (30:08):
Um, and I also love things that smell and taste good. So I love it. If there’s a fresh bread cooking in my oven or like warm chocolate chip cookies coming out because it smells good and it makes my home smell so yummy. And it’s also great in my tummy.
Emily (30:24):
Yeah, me too. I know we’ve connected on books a lot. Uh, we’re both readers and, um, what’s on your nightstand right now. Are you reading something good?
April (30:32):
Oh, I just, right now I have Elder Anderson’s book about forgiveness on my nightstand and I just finished a book called I think the title is the Fountains of Silence, which was a historical, a young adult novel that was really engaging and taught me a lot about Spain in a turbulent time.
Emily (30:54):
Cool. I know if I ever need to find a good read, I always like, look at I’ll either see what you’ve recommended or like, look at your GoodReads. Cause I know that you’ve, you’ve always been reading good things.
April (31:04):
Yeah. I do. I love literature and children’s literature is one of my favorite things. I know I said I just finished a young adult book, but I love to be engaged in the latest and greatest in children’s fiction and children’s literature because it just inspires me. And I think there are so many amazing writers out there that are able to put into words what’s in my heart. And I love to see that craft and the way that words can just fill our hearts up and teach us and inspire us and just add sparkle to life.
Emily (31:32):
For sure. I agree. And there’s something about kids books too, that they’re, I don’t know if innocent is the right word. Cause some of them can be kind of gritty, but just like, I don’t know, like we learn through stories, right? Like we just learn naturally when we talk to someone we tell about our day in the story format and like there’s something about a story, especially children’s stories that I think just connects us. So…
April (31:54):
I agree. There’s so many great writers that are putting. Yeah. Just like I said, into words, things that are so beautiful and even complex, but being able to express it in words, I think is a wonderful gift.
Emily (32:05):
Yeah. Totally agree. Um, think we’re kind of coming up towards the end. Uh, if you could step into my shoes, is there any questions that I didn’t ask that you wish I had asked? Oh gosh, you asked some great questions.
April (32:19):
You got me thinking, I can’t think of any questions that I feel like that you would have asked. I’m just grateful for the chance that I’ve had to visit with you and just to share some tender things in my heart. And I’m just really grateful for your example and the way that you are sharing your light and the way that you’re sharing the insights and things that you’ve learned in your life. So thanks for being an inspiration to me.
Emily (32:40):
Oh.Thanks. Shucks. Um, and then I guess, I don’t know if this goes along with that, but is there anything else that you’ve always wanted to tell me, but haven’t, I don’t know if I feel like we tell each other whatever we want.
April (32:51):
Yeah, for sure. Um, I think that, I know we talked a little bit about this, but, um, one of the things that I think can be challenging in life is maybe feeling like if you’re feeling sad or having heartache that you can feel happy too.
Emily (33:04):
Yeah.
April (33:05):
And so, so that’s something I know we talked a little bit about earlier that that heartache or sadness or disappointment doesn’t have to cancel out happiness and joy and optimism and that that’s still living an authentic life. It doesn’t mean we’re faking it through life. If we’re being happy in heartache. And it doesn’t mean that we’re hypocritical if we are broken-hearted, but we’re still being buoyant. Right. And so that’s something I know we were talking about earlier, but something that I think I, I contemplate a lot is that those emotions don’t need to cancel each other out, that we can live a vibrant, happy, joyful life, even while experiencing the emotions that can be a little bit more heavy with heartache or disappointment or, or those things that we all face in life. And so I’m really grateful for your vibrant life podcasts that I feel like is really showing ways that we can live a vibrant life, even though no life is perfect and or without challenges.
Emily (34:02):
I love. And you can’t really joy without sorrow.
April (34:04):
Right? Exactly. You have to have the contrast. Um, what does the vibrant life, I guess you kind of maybe have already said this, but just kind of in like one sentence, what does a vibrant life mean to you?
April (34:16):
Um, to me, my, one of my most favorite phrases is to be of good cheer. But I think that be of good cheer for me encompasses trusting in God, I’m looking for the good trying our best to be the good, right? So be of good cheer, I think is one of my life’s model. Yeah.
Emily (34:33):
I think you embody that really well. You’re definitely full of cheer and you bring that to others and um, I don’t know, like, do you have anything that you would want to like promote to people who are listening to the podcast online, um, are anything that you’d like want to say to the listeners as they kind of go to one last message?
April (34:54):
I would just say, if you ever, if you’re ever finding yourself in a situation, especially with special needs, or if you’re in a situation with pregnancy loss or even just need a friend, always I’m somebody that you could reach out to. So As I said earlier, I’m not an accomplished person, but I love to love. And so if you, any of your listeners, um, need some extra love, send them my way
Emily (35:16):
Okay. Well, you definitely have that talent. You can. You’re one of those people who also just like Caleb, when you walk into the room, you can feel your happy spirit. So, all right. Well, thanks so much for being with me today. I love you so much.
April (35:27):
I love you too.
