Sabbath Day Scribblings - John 14:1

"In the crucible of earthly trials, patiently move forward, and the Savior’s healing power will bring you light, understanding, peace, and hope."  Elder Neil L. Andersen

He didn't bring you this far

 

This is a good one for me to remember.  I battle with both anxiety and depression on a daily basis.  One of the things that causes me to do, is to worry about everything and everyone.  I can end up feeling so alone, so lost and so very broken.  I worry about things that have happened, are happening and even might or might not come to pass.  I constantly battle to silence my mind and my thoughts.  It helps me if I can focus on the Love of a Heavenly Father and remember that He has never left me.  I might turn my back, but His back never turns away and His arms are always reaching out.  Today, I hope you remember how very valuable you are!  He loves each and every one of us and wants us to return to live with Him again. 

Let the Roots Stretch

Seems to me, like there has been a lot of wind in my life!  I don't always feel like I have stood as firm as I might wish.  Sometimes, I am pretty sure that I have wavered and bent and maybe even broke a few branches.  It is true though, that we will all have to face difficulties and trials.  Life is hard.  It is full of pitfalls, sin and choices.  I have learned though, that we never face a heartache of a lesson where there is not also a reward.  It might come soon, or it might come later, but it always comes. 
This year, I am learning how not to yield to all the winds that blow me from one side to the other.  I am learning how to stand tall and bend in the wind.  I am learning to let my roots sink deep within the soil of His love and resist the temptation to yield. 
I am learning to let my soul seek Him. 

What I learned - Lift up your Head and Rejoice

As we face hard things in the Lord’s way,

may we lift up our heads and rejoice.

by M. Joseph Brough

I love General Conference.  I love the spirit and the message of the talks there.  I love listening and learning and partaking of the good words. 
In the talk, Lift Up Your Head and Rejoice he tells the story about going to Alaska for a camp out and boxing up all their supplies so that they would not have to carry them.  They dropped them out the airplane and then landed in another part of the wilderness and hiked to where they dropped their supplies.  He says they never did find all the supplies and he learned two very valuable lessons from this experience;  one is don't throw your food out the window, and the second is that sometimes we have to face hard things.  Isn't that the truth!
He gave many examples of hard things that others have endured, including himself and his family.  We are all asked to do hard things.  We all get to choose how we face them.  I think that one of the hardest things we might do is to learn to face them with joy and thanksgiving. 

He ended with these words:

In President Russell M. Nelson’s worldwide devotional for youth, he requested some hard things of the youth. President Nelson said: “My fifth invitation is for you to stand out; be different from the world. … The Lord needs you to look like, sound like, act like, and dress like a true disciple of Jesus Christ.”  That can be a hard thing, yet I know you can do it—with joy.

 

Remember that “men are, that they might have joy.”  With all that Lehi faced, he still found joy. Remember when Alma was “weighed down with sorrow”  because of the people of Ammonihah? The angel told him, “Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, … for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God.”  Alma learned a great truth: we can always rejoice when we keep the commandments.

 

Remember that during the wars and challenges faced during the time of Captain Moroni, “there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi.”  We can and should find joy when we face hard things.The Savior faced hard things: “The world … shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”

 

Because of that loving-kindness, Jesus Christ suffered the Atonement. As a result, He says to each one of us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”   Because of Christ, we too can overcome the world.

 

May we all strive to face our own hard things with rejoicing. 

Wordless Wednesday - Babies

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.

Enjoy the Simple Things

I am trying so much to live this way right now.  I am constantly focused on work.  I am focused on what needs to be done.  I like to be in control of what I need in my life.  The hardest thing for me, is to realize that I am not ever completely in control. 
I had to give up some of the things that I enjoy a lot to try and simplify my life.  I am no longer an EMT.  I have lived for years without sleeping and with overworking myself.  When I married my husband, I worked three different jobs.  It has always been a crazy schedule that I have kept.  We moved up to the mountains, and I really thought that I would slow down; somehow, that did not happen.  Instead, I looked for a volunteer job to get involved with the community, and discovered a love of helping people. 
I have loved being an EMT and providing a service to my community.  I am grateful for the many things it has taught me and for the opportunity to serve that it has given me.  I am actually trying to do just one job now, and maybe manage to take care of my home and family at the same time. 
I am trying in every way that I know to slow down.
I have been very blessed to have people that I love in my life.  I have my family (bigger and crazier than every) and I have my friends.  I live in a small community, where people know each other by name or at least, by sight.  I love that most of the time.  However, as the past couple of years have happened, I have discovered myself becoming more and more exhausted.  I am always tired.  I have no energy, and I recognize in myself the need to slow down. 
I also recognize the need to remember how very blessed I am.
So, this is me, slowing down and recognizing the simple blessings that I am the recipient of.  This is me, trying to breath through the chaos of ordinary life.  This is me, taking joy in this moment, this day and this week. 
This is me, finding simple in the messiness of living and learning to enjoy the daily simple things. 

Compassion for Sinners

Every single one of us have made mistakes.  Things we wish had never happened.  Things we wish we could change.  Things we are ashamed of.  For some, the sins are visible, for others they fester deep inside.  One thing that is most important is that we realize that we can not sin so far that the love and mercy of God cannot reach us. 
Our Heavenly Father loves us.  Today, tomorrow and always.  We are His Children, no matter out past.  He wants us to return home and partake of His love. 
He is full of compassion and love for each one of us.  Remember that you are worth all that love. 
Remember Him. 

Do it with Feeling

Such a wonderful quote for me today.  It reminds me that, no matter how I feel, it is ok.  No matter if I am sad, happy, depressed or anxious, as long as I am feeling, I am alive and living.  I am in the moment even if it hurts.  Hopefully, living right here in this moment will help me to realize even greater joy.   I really need to learn to trust my Heavenly Father with all the feelings of my heart. 

The past few years have been hard.  One thing seemingly after another and most of them bad.  My heart hurts, I am exhausted, I want to be numb.  I don't want to feel anymore pain.  But right now, I am trying my very best to live in the moment, no matter how it feels.  I am finding that there are little joys that surround me if I focus on finding them.   There is kindness, there is love, there are moments of satisfaction and healing.  There is heartfelt prayer.  There is grief and gratitude and happiness.

When we shut ourselves off from feeling, we might shut out some of the pain, but we also shut off a great amount of the joy.  We shut out friendship and love.  We shutout fellowship and service.  We betray that nature within our selves that feels compassion and love.

No matter what we are feeling, we are in the right place for this time in our lives.  Our Savior Jesus Christ, who suffered for each one of us, loves us in spite of ourselves and we can not run far enough of fast enough to escape His love and mercy. 

My you feel, really feel, that love in your life and in your mind and in our heart.  May you remember, no matter what has happened, that He knows your pain and stands ready to walk with you through your deepest trials.  You are so very loved.