Sabbath Day Scribblings - Be of Good Cheer

In the Lord's time, solutions will come, peace will prevail, and happiness will be yours. 

Richard G. Scott

Hypocrites

I really believe this one.  Why is it that we want to be forgiven for our own sins, but somehow we also want to judge?  To say someone else's sin is worse than our own?  To say who or who should not be forgiven.  I don't mean that we have to continually allow others to hurt us or be in abusive relationships.  We have every right to protect ourselves.  But we also have to allow others the chance to repent and change their lives.  We need to allow them the opportunity to get to know the Savior for themselves, repent and change.
I have had amazing experiences in my own life for the change that can happen.  One of the most amazing experiences that I had involved and family who was newly baptized. 
They had a special needs son, whom the father did not like or want to be around.  He did not hold him or hug him or want to be with him at all.  They also had a younger, healthy son whom the father doted on and gave all the attention to.  The man had made a lot of mistakes in his life.  He had been a biker, and involved in gangs.  He was covered in tattoos.  He was very gruff around the edges.  The parents were seriously talking divorce.
I watched the gospel and the love of God change this entire family.  I especially watched the father change as his changes were visible to all of us.  He went from being gruff around the edges to one of the most concerned individuals I have ever met.  He treated his wife like she was his world and started treating his older son the same.  They became inseparable and nearly everywhere the father went the young boy was with him, riding on his shoulders.  I watched them bring so many others to the Savior with their love and acceptance and especially their believe that anyone could change. 
There is so much more I could add about them, but they touched my heart in so many ways.  I knew them for over two years before they were transferred.  His wife and I became good friends and we did many things together.  I saw those changes for myself and it taught me that we can never judge someone else by their past, perceived or known.  Every single one of us is capable of repentance and forgiveness.  It takes and willing heart and a true desire for change. 
I am grateful to have been able to call myself their friend. 

Born with Potential

 

It was interesting to me that it takes courage to practice any virtue.  Sometimes, I think it is easy to take goodness for granted.  After all, that is the way that we are supposed to be.  However, if you think about it, it can be hard to be good.  It is so much easier to follow the crowd. 

I have been blessed (or unblessed) to see so many examples of "group think".  Where the popular person makes a bad decision and everyone else in the group follows along because they want to be popular too.  They want to be accepted.  They want to fit in.  And, as a person who has been there, I can't blame them.  But, as a mother who has had to watch her children be bullied and left out, I do blame them for that.

Kindness is hard.  It is so hard for kids to stand up and be kind when the "popular" kids don't want them too.  It is so hard to realize that ignoring, making fun of, gossiping, and judging are all forms of bullying.  And if they hear or see their parents doing it, it is even worse.  I am pretty sure that most of them don't even realize how harmful it is for them to do.  And many adults excuse the behavior as "just being kids".  However, I have sat of the side of the parent whose children are being bullied.  I have seen the hurt in their eyes.  I have had them not want to go to church or school to deal with the other children. 

Maybe if we start teaching children that it is courageous to be kind and generous.  Maybe if we teach them that they can be proud of having courage.  Maybe then we can start to change our own little corner of the world. 

Lessons for the Weary - Even as Christ Forgives

 

Even as Christ Forgives You, So Also Do Ye

by Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk

 

"Today, I want to focus on forgiveness, an essential and precious gift offered to us from our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

On a December night in 1982, my wife, Terry, and I were awakened by a phone call to our home in Pocatello, Idaho. As I answered the phone, I heard only sobbing. Finally, my sister’s struggling voice said, “Tommy is dead.”

A 20-year-old drunk driver, speeding at more than 85 miles (135 km) per hour, recklessly ran a stoplight in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. He crashed violently into the car driven by my youngest brother, Tommy, instantly killing him and his wife, Joan. They were returning home to a young daughter after a Christmas party.

My wife and I immediately flew to Denver and made our way to the mortuary. We gathered with my parents and siblings and grieved the loss of our beloved Tommy and Joan. We had lost them to a senseless criminal act. Our hearts were broken, and anger toward the young offender began to well up inside me.

Tommy had served as a lawyer in the United States Department of Justice and was on a course to be a strong advocate for protection of Native American lands and natural resources for years to come.

After some time had passed, a court sentencing hearing was held for the young man found responsible for vehicular manslaughter. In their ongoing grief and sorrow, my parents and oldest sister, Katy, attended the hearing. The drunk driver’s parents were also there, and after the hearing concluded, they sat on a bench and wept. My parents and sister were sitting nearby as they sought to gain control of their own emotions. After a moment, my parents and sister stood up and walked to the driver’s parents and offered them words of comfort and forgiveness. The men shook hands; the women held hands; there was deep sorrow and tears for all and a recognition that both families had suffered immensely. Mom, Dad, and Katy led the way with their quiet strength and courage and showed our family what forgiveness looks like.

That outreach of forgiveness in those moments caused my own heart to soften and opened a pathway to healing. Over time I learned how to have a forgiving heart. Only with the help of the Prince of Peace was my painful burden lifted. My heart will always miss Tommy and Joan, but forgiveness now allows me to remember them with unfettered joy. And I know we will be together again as a family.

I am not suggesting that we condone unlawful conduct. We know full well that individuals are to be held accountable for their criminal acts and civil wrongdoings. However, we also know that, as sons and daughters of God, we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. We are to be forgiving even when it seems others may not warrant our forgiveness."

 

I wanted to quote that story directly from his talk.  I too, have had terrible things happen to me in my life.  Forgiveness can be so hard.  I have been able to forgive most others without a lot of difficulty, even when they might not deserve it, there is a part of me that really feels judgment is not up to me and I can trust Heavenly Father to judge righteously in all things.  I have been given to understand that if they do not truly repent, they will suffer even as I have suffered and that makes me feel so much better than just thinking they will get away with it.  It also allows me to grow in faith and trust and allows me peace.  

Up until the past two years, I would have said that I was good at forgiving others and loving them anyway.  Than something happened which was way more difficult than I ever imagined.  Suddenly I found myself in a place where I did not WANT to forgive.  I could not even begin to understand what happened and why.  I have banged my head against the wall, been severely depressed and anxious and not been able to think with clarity.  My every waking moment was spent in the "what if" phase of life. 

I have prayed and fasted and read scriptures to no avail.  Finally, I have been lead to believe that all will be made right, probably not in this life, but later on.  I know that it doesn't matter what people think, it only matters what God thinks and knows.  

Finally, I am learning to let go.  I wish I could say it was easy, and that it is all behind me, but I can't.  It is a daily struggle.  

I did love this talk.  I pricked at my consciousness and made me want to change.  I hope that you have a chance to learn from this talk as I did.   

 

  “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”        

Wordless Wednesday - Fun with Grammy

A single photo 

– no words –
 

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Faith

 Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?

Mormon 5:23

Lessons for the Weary - Conference 2018 - Am I a Child of God

 

Romans 8: 16 -  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God

 

Am I a Child of God

by Elder Brian Taylor

 

President Boyd K. Packer’s words are plain and precious: “You are a child of God. He is the father of your spirit. Spiritually, you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!”

“When you … see our Father,” Brigham Young described, “you will see a being with whom you have long been acquainted, and he will receive you into his arms, and you will be ready to fall into his embrace and kiss him.”

 

This talk reached out to my heart and reminded me that no matter what you DNA says, you are identified as a Son or Daughter of God.  You have worth in His eyes, and He loves you.

 

The one who seeks to confuse us, wants our identities to be confused also.  He wants us to embrace our differences and to allow them to divide us, not bring us together.  You have only to look around you at the world today and you can see the evidence of confusion and anger.  You can see that we are challenged always in a world that doesn't want to acknowledge our spiritual identity. 

 

I invite each of us to seek God and His Beloved Son. “Nowhere,” President Nelson directed, “are those truths taught more clearly and powerfully than in the Book of Mormon.”²⁷ Open its pages and learn that God does “all things for [our] welfare and happiness”;²⁸ that He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness”;²⁹ and that “all are alike unto [Him].”³⁰ When you feel hurt, lost, scared, upset, sad, hungry, or hopelessly abandoned in life’s extremities³¹—open the Book of Mormon, and you will come to know that “[God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character [to do so].”³²

Coming to know our Father changes everything, especially our hearts, as His gentle Spirit confirms our true identity and great worth in His sight.³³ God walks with us along the covenant path as we seek Him through prayerful pleadings, scriptural searchings, and obedient strivings.

 

The message of this talk to me is so clear.  We need to turn our hearts to Him, to seek to know Him, to know how very much we are loved by Him.  His hands are reaching toward each one of us.  It is up to you and me if we will reach out to take those hands, and the comfort and hope that they offer.  We are truly children of God. 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Good Day!

A single photo 

– no words –
 

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

Notice the Miracles

 

I have been the receiver of so many tiny miracles in my life.  Things that have surrounded me that I try and make sure I take the time to notice.  They can be as simple as a sunset, or the nest of a pair of eagles.  They can be kind words and even kinder voices.  They can be the way someone notices something I have done or said.  There are so many miracles in each of our lives.  So many time that Heavenly Father reaches out to remind each one of us that we are loved and wanted and needed, right where we are. 

Occasionally, I forget that.  Occasionally I struggle to remember that I have worth.  Life can be hard.  It can be downright awful sometimes.  I am learning that if we forget to look for the miracles, it is too easy to get swallowed up in the storms. 

I have spent way too much of my life focusing on the rain, instead of the beauty of the rainbows.  Too much time remembering every single negative in life, without acknowledging the many positives.  Too much time focusing on the impossibilities rather than on the miracles that already surround me.

So, remember the miracles.  They are a testament of His love.  They remind us of His caring.  They remind us of who we are, and who we are meant to become. 
They are all around us if we will just take a moment to look and see. 

This Moment is Your LIFE

It has been an interesting couple of weeks in our home.  My husband was diagnosed with skin cancer.  We weren't sure how bad it was, or what getting rid of it would entail.  To be honest, we weren't even sure how bad it could possibly be.
So, he made the appointments, got the biopsy, received the results of the biopsy and made the appointment to have it removed.  That happened this Saturday.  Neither of us was ready for how much they would take off his face, or what type of scar he would have at the end.
To be honest, he was probably just a little more upset about cutting his beard than the scar.
I have spent a lot of time thinking this week and being grateful.  Thinking about how it could have been and being grateful for the medical care that came up on the mountain to take care of him.  I have also been grateful for all the thoughts and prayers and well wishes from so many around us.
We had no idea how aggressive skin Cancer could be.  We really had no idea what to expect at all.  So, it was a little disconcerting to find that he had two types of cancer.  One a slow growing kind, and one very aggressive type.  I am so grateful that they could get all the cancer and that the scar won't be too bad after it is healed.  I had time to reflect on what this man means to me and how very blessed I really am.
I have a husband who never goes to doctors.  He doesn't take any medication and he is very healthy.  He found a small sore on his face, it did not heal or get better and started to turn dark.  He called the doctor himself and went in to have it checked out.
I am so blessed that he knew something wasn't right and went in to have it looked at.
I realize how much he means to me and to our family.  This crazy, messy, chaotic life we live is really filled with pretty amazing moments in spite of it.  We have children who love us and care about us.  We have the opportunity to serve them and help them and be there for them.  We have them mostly raised and are blessed to see them grow and learn and develop.  We get to experience the joy of grandchildren and the love and blessings they bring into our lives.
I have lived too much of my life waiting for moments to pass.  Waiting for things to change. Waiting for something to be different.  Today, I am learning to just enjoy the moment I am in.  Each step of the way brings it own trials and blessings, but also so much joy.
My husband has always told me that I need to stop and smell the roses a little more often.  Today, I can see just how much he might be right.  This moment, right here and now, is worth everything to me.  And so I move forward, one small, tender mercy at a time.
This moment is life.

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

 

I ask myself, How does the Savior see my faith?

and I ask you,

How does the Savior see your faith?

What are you doing to strengthen your faith?

Turn On the Light

 

 

 

I am afraid of the dark.  My imagination gets going and I can dream up any wickedness you can imagine.  When I was a child, I watched one, single, horror movie.  I have nightmares of drowning and bodies to this day.  My imagination needs no help!

I remember one night when I saw a face in the window.  It seemed to my child's mind to be very evil.  I saw dark hair and blue eyes.  I felt sure that he could see me too and that he wanted me. 

For the first time in my very young life, I got to my knees under the covers and prayed.  I prayed with all the sincerity of my 5 year old self.  I prayed that Heavenly Father would keep the man away and that he could not hurt me.  I didn't dare look at the window until much later, but I prayed until I was comforted.

During that prayer, I felt the knowledge come into my mind to know where a flash light was.  Tiptoeing silently through the small apartment, I went to he right drawer and pulled the flashlight that I found there, I also pulled some extra batteries.  I ran back to bed with that small light and kept it under the covers to protect me from the darkness.

I don't know what my mother thought happened to that small light, but I kept it for many years.  I put it carefully between the wall and the bed.  As a teenager, it was my reading light and my babysitting light.  I used it when I needed to see something and when I needed to feel secure.  I also used it when I needed to see my way home in the darkness. 

Not only can happiness be found when you remember to turn on the light, but I learned that safety and security could be found also.  I learned the God answers prayers, even for very young insecure children, and I learned that I really was loved and watched over.

I learned how to turn on the light. 

   



Stop Comparing

 

I am so guilty of this.  It is easier to fall into this trap than any other that I am tempted with.  It is so easy to look around at other women and see all the ways that they are better than I am.  It is easy to believe that they are more righteous, more willing, more happy, more holy.  More of just about anything I can imagine. 

The problem with that is that as long as I continue to believe it, I do not change.  I do not recognize my own strengths and use them to help others.  I just keep telling myself that "Sister So-and-So" can do it so much better than me.  I hold myself back and don't serve, when I really want to and need to be there for someone else. 

The problem with comparisons, is that they are NEVER true!  We are standing at the outside trying to look inside somebody else, and we are looking at our inside and comparing it to our own perception of someone else.  We can never win.  We either believe erroneously that we are better, or worse. 

We start to believe that we are not the same in God's eyes.  That He sees us with the harshness that we see ourselves.  We forget that He looks upon the heart and not the deeds.  He looks at what we are becoming and overcoming and not so much on the where we have been. 

He forgives when our own selves can't. 

Happiness is found when we stop trying to see ourselves through the eyes of others, and start trying to see ourselves through our Heavenly Father's eyes.  He loves us, exactly where we are right now, and who we are this minute.  He loves us in all our imperfect weakness as well as the attempts at becoming stronger than we are and more like Him. 

True happiness lies when we can accept ourselves, with all our mistakes and failures, while no longer judging ourselves against the world,

and working at becoming more like Him.

Happiness is looking at each other through the eyes of God. 

Lessons for the Weary- Conference 2018

 

Precious Gifts from God

by President M. Russell Ballard

 

 

How I love conference every six months.  I find myself enjoying it more and more the older that I get.  I find myself focusing on the words and how they apply to me.  This talk was wonderful.  He brought up so many good points.  I love taking the chance to review his words.  

“For verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

If we have faith as small as a mustard seed, the Lord can help us remove the mountains of discouragement and doubt in the tasks ahead of us as we serve with God’s children, including family members, Church members, and those who are not yet members of the Church.

Brothers and sisters, life can be filled with faith, joy, happiness, hope, and love when we exercise the smallest amount of real faith in Christ—even a mustard seed of faith.

 

I also loved how he talked about technology and how we spend so much time with it.  How it has good things about it, but also there are bad.  It can be addicting and influence people to never have a real conversation with each other.  Everything is online.  Everything is posted.  Everything is there waiting for someone to find it.  I love how he counseled us to unplug so that we may find the time to hear the still small voice. 

I also enjoyed reading about service.  How important that is for us and how Peter tells us in the scriptures tell us that Jesus, "went about doing much good". 

What a wonderful tribute to our Savior.  His ministry was one not only of teaching, but of serving others. 

Perhaps the words that mean the most to me, are simply,

In our discipleship, we have many demands, concerns, and assignments. However, some activities must always be at the heart of our Church membership. “Wherefore,” the Lord commands, “be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”

 

May we all be responsible for serving those who need us most. 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Love this face!

 

 

 

A single photo 

– no words –
 

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

What it is.

I found this one and it resonated with me.  I think I am guilty of being a person who has definite ideas of how things "should" be.  I know for a fact that when I live too much with the "would have's", "could have's" and "should have's" I am most certainly not happy.  I have decided that that lack of happiness is because I focus too much on how things should be, I am not living in the present, but more in the past or even the future. 
It has been hard for me to find my own "happy" place.  I have to focus constantly on living in the here and now, not next week or next month or even next year.  Raising so many children, it seems as if all the good was just around the corner.  When they are potty trained, when they are in school, when they graduate. 
Too often, I find myself not enjoying the spot right where I am.  I find myself waiting to see what else might happen.  I find myself not living right here.  I find myself in living the "What next" phase of life.  
I am learning that things are never the way I dreamed they would be.  People make their own choices, bad things happen to good people, promises are broken, and sometimes, it is as simple as illness that changes the way you always looked at the world around you.  
I am learning that we each look at life according to our own experiences, our own heartaches, trials, misadventures, and fears.  We look at life the way that we expect it to be based on our past.
As I read the above quote, I am reminded that I survived the past.   It is not longer here to disappoint me.  It is no longer part of my life to hurt me.  I can  hurt from it forever, or learn from it now.  The choice to be happy has always been mine.       

Don't let it be you!

It is very easy for me not to judge others most of the time.  There are few people that I can't forgive.  I am they type of person that when I get hurt by someone else, I always try and look at both sides.  Somehow, I come up lacking and it is easier to forgive than to judge.  However, when it comes to judging myself, I take all the things I know about me, and compare myself to everyone else at their Sunday best.  I don't come out on top. 
I work in retail and there are days it feels like nearly everyone is against me.  I have been yelled at, sworn at, called names, criticized and condemned for things I didn't even do.  I love having the customers that have real problems come in and actually talk to me instead of yelling at me, or calling my boss to complain.  I find myself more eager and willing to help them then the ones who only want to criticize. 
I think most of that is because I am harder on myself than anyone else could ever be.  I see everything that I do wrong and I don't like myself when I make bad choices.  This quote touched me today, because I find it easy to come down hard on myself when others are hard on me.  I believe I have failed even when only one person feels that way.  I look at the things I do and dislike myself for making any mistakes.  I want so much to be perfect, but I am not.
We all have struggles in life.  We all have trials and make mistakes.  We all choose wrong over right once in a while.  But He atoned for every sin that we have ever done or will ever do.  The price has already been paid.  He loved you so much that He did not want to spend eternity without you.  No matter who criticizes you, no matter who condemns you, no matter who judges you, don't ever let it be you!        

He Chose

This one hit me hard today.  I sometimes still struggle with feeling good about myself.  I struggle with feeling doubts and fears.  I struggle with feeling good enough, or righteous enough, or even worthy enough.  Lately, my struggle has been even more personal.  I am struggling with forgiving enough. 

It is easy to feel like I am not what I should be.  It is easy to let myself get swallowed up in thoughts of depression and anxiety.  It is easy to doubt myself.  It is even easier to look at my own sins and doubt that there is any forgiveness for one such as I.  

I have to remember that He already paid the price and that I am included in that.  I have to quit condemning myself for things I have already repented of.  I have to learn to let go and trust His mercy and His love.  

Something happened yesterday that really made me think.  I was talking to someone about forgiveness and the difficulty that I am having forgiving one person.  He asked me if I could forgive the fact that they were ill and not in their right mind.  He wondered if I could allow myself to not look at them as if they are whole, but to look at them as if they are mentally challenged.  (they are, and hopefully I can).  

Looking at sin as a result of an illness is slightly easier for me to accept and might allow me to have the peace in my heart that my Heavenly Father has always intended for me to have.   Peace doesn't mean I have to give anyone permission to hurt me.  It doesn't mean that I can't be sad it happened and that I have to trust someone who has never gotten any help for their illness.  It just means that I can put my trust in Heavenly Father and let Him judge.  

Jesus chose the nails, for you, for me and even for people we don't like very much.  He chose the nails so that we would all have the chance to repent and live with Him again.  We could not and can not ever do it alone.  He loved us enough to choose the suffering and the nails.