Snow and Ice

For the past couple of weeks, we have had snow.  All the roads have been covered, the roofs covered in white, the driveways are slick and icy, and the trees wear a shimmering crown high up in the boughs.  I love the way that snow changes the landscape, the way it glissens, and the way it changes my perspective.  I love and appreciate seeing all the different seasons throughout the year.  (Something that I never had when we lived in the desert).   But, along with all the beautiful white stuff, comes the cold, the ice, the fog, and even more of that bone chilling, windy cold air.  It has seemed to me like I just can not get warm enough this year.  We have the fireplace, heaters, and blankets, but somehow, I am still cold. 
One of the things that I have really had to learn with this winter season is that, if I can change my focus to something else, (and wear a sweater or a sweatshirt), I can forget about the cold and find the beauty in each day.  I can forget about my longing for spring and color blooming everywhere, and instead appreciate the here and now. 

I have learned that it is easy to get complacent in our own lives.  We see the same things day in and day out.  We have the same family living under our roof, the same child who listens and picks up, the same husband who fixes lunch (or maybe doesn't fix lunch), the same house to live in, clothes to wear, and food to eat.  Sadly, the same old things cease to look like blessings in our eyes, and instead start being something we expect to have instead of a blessing to have. 
Take the snow for example.  When it is fresh and new, it looks magical.  It makes everything around us look like a wonderland.  I love to see the faces on my girls when we all go play in the snow together.  It brings joy to my heart and to their eyes.  What a blessing for us to spend time having fun together, instead of doing our normal, everyday, living together things.  However, that same snowfall, also means that we have to make several trips to the woodpile each day, we have to shovel the driveway, and sometimes even walk to work because of the ice in the road.  It can take away the magic that I found earlier in the morning if I do not keep my focus on the good instead of on the perceived bad that comes from snow.  The snow has not changed, instead the way that I am looking at it has changed. 
I have learned that blessings are a lot like snow.  When they are new and fresh in our eyes, we see them and recognize the Lord's hand in them.  We know He has answered our prayers to bring us to this point.  But when the blessings become a common, everyday occurance, we start to forget the magic.  The blessing is still there, but we are focusing our attention on the perceived negative, instead of being grateful for that which we really do have. 
I have discovered that, for me, changing my heart to one of gratitude, profoundly affects the world around me.  When I approach my life as something to be truly thankful for, I find more and more things that really are blessings in my life.  I have found God's hand in the world around me in so many more ways than I ever thought possible.
So today, my challenge to you is to simply look around you.  List the things in your heart and mind that you are grateful for.  Write them in your journal, or even on a notebook page and hang them where you can see them often.  When you start to doubt that you are blessed, go back and look at your list.  In my life, I have found that some of my greatest trials are responsible for bringing me some of my richest blessings.    

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."  ~Melodie Beattie

Music In My Life

My parents love to sing and play different instruments. My father plays the saw, the bones, the spoons, the scrubbing board, and a few other odds and ends that were once something else in the house besides a musical instrument. (Somewhere I am sure I have a picture of him in his crazy saw hat).  My mother plays the guitar and the banjo, and several other old fashioned instruments as well, all things that she has played and practiced at for years.
That is the real secret. She has played and practiced for years.  She has been working hard at her instruments since she was very young.  She has had lessons, practiced, taught, belonged to music groups, and incorporated music into nearly every part of her life.  When she married my father, she took him along with her and he had to learn to play something.  He likes to play the things that get the most attention and that are the most fun.  My mom often says that she spent years learning to play and people will not even notice what she is playing once my dad gets started with his ordinary non-instruments that have become instruments.  I love the fact that she has found a way to take something she loves and make it part of what she does daily.

How totally amazing is that???  

It is such an example to me, that we can live those things that we love.  It is a part of who I am.  And it is part of the reason that I blog.  I too, love music, and I love quotes and thoughts and writing and scriptures.  So, those are the things that I put in my blog.  I love finding things the Lord has said and making them a part of me.  I love bringing those thoughts and feelings to life through the things I write and the things I do.  I have learned through practice, that if I want to feel the spirit stronger in my day to day living, I have to look for it, find it, and cherish it.  I have learned that in the small, simple, ordinary, everyday things, there is often a message.  Heavenly Father doesn't shout it from the roof tops.  He doesn't speak with a loud voice.  His message is often soft and quiet.  It is sent to heal my heart and clear my mind and brighten my life.  I, like my mom and dad, have learned to find the music of the Lord in the most ordinary places.  

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." -Psalm 119:105

"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." -John 1:5

This song is one of my favorites that my mom and dad sing and perform.  It is a very old song from the 1800's.  I love the message of the words and I love the tune when it is sung. The message that I learn from this is that we each have the responsibility of being a light along the shores of life.  We never know when what we do, or say,  will have an influence upon others around us.  We never know how we might be able to reach out and change someone's life for the better.  We never know how our simple example can influence others and help them on their journey.  

Let the Lower Lights Be Burning
Philip P. Bliss 1838 - 1876

Brightly beams our Father's mercy
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.

Chorus:  Let the lower lights be burning!
               Send a gleam across the wave!
               Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
               You may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore

Chorus:  Let the lower lights be burning!
               Send a gleam across the wave!
               Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
               You may rescue, you may save.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother!
Some poor sailor tempest tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.

Chorus:  Let the lower lights be burning!
               Send a gleam across the wave!
               Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
               You may rescue, you may save.

Wordless Wednesday - Slipping and Sliding!

Today, I am linking up over at MMB for Wordless Wednesday.  

Hope to see you there!

He Holds My Hand

Today, (well actually yesterday) I am posting over at MMB.  I hope you enjoy reading it today.  I will be back here tomorrow with another posting.  Have a wonderful day!!
Patty

The Nursing Home

Last year for Christmas, our small community choir went to the local (40 minutes away) nursing home to sing to the residents.  We had about 20 elderly people in the room that the nurses pushed and lead there for the program.  When we started singing, I noticed that five or six of the guests, were already asleep, several others were singing their own songs, off key and loudly out of tune.  But they all seemed to be having a good time, even if they were doing something else!  There were just a few that actually seemed to be listening and smiling.  The funny thing was, after we were done, even the ones who had been sleeping wanted to hug us and hold onto our hands.  They wanted the contact with other human beings.  They wanted the joy that comes when we feel appreciated and loved.
Do you ever feel as if no one appreciates you or loves you?  The wonderful thing about Heavenly Father is that He sees every part of  your life.  He knows exactly who you are and loves you in spite of yourself.  He doesn't miss a single part of our lives.  If everyone around you seems to have "dozed off" or is singing to a different tune, you might want to check again.  If you look deep into your heart, I think you will find your Heavenly Father sitting there watching and waiting.  He knows the songs of your heart. He knows the ones you long to sing.  He knows the person you are to be.  He loves you unconditionally.

Sunday Devotional - A Widow's Mite

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living".  Mark 12:41-44 In the time of Jesus, a mite was a copper coin worth only about one-eighth of a cent.  Rabbinic law specified that the smallest amount a person could cast into the treasury was two mites.  This poor widow gave the least that was permitted, but it was probably the most she could afford. When you look at this from a spiritual perspective, that little bit was worth more than all of the others who put in much more money. Too often, in this world, we judge others by their income or possessions.  We judge by what they can contribute.  But Christ sees things differently.  When we give what we can, it will somehow be enough.  He judges our hearts and our intents, not our pocketbooks.

A Simple Moment - Warming up to Grammy

This Moment

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment that brings a smile to my lips, and joy to my heart.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Closer than your breath!

I heard that term today, used to describe a feeling.  I loved it.  Think about it for just a moment, "Closer than your breath".
 I have learned in my life that there are times when I experience Heavenly Father's nearness to me. I feel His welcoming presence.  I feel His love.  I know that He is watching out for me.
There are other times, when He seems so far away.  When I come to know the loneliness of feeling alone.  I have come to realize, that the Lord has not changed locations.  He is still there, still close, still waiting for me.  I might have changed my distance from Him.  I might have my own agendas and purposes that take me away from His spirit.  I might forget what it feels like to be near to Him.  I might even forget that I want to be near to Him.  
I have found that it helps me to spend time looking for Him in my everyday life.  It helps to acknowledge His guiding hand in my many blessings.  I spend time everyday trying to decide what is in His plan for me, what I need to do, and how I should be doing it.
I have also found that I can find Him even more often when I sit back and am quiet.  I find Him in the silence of the scriptures, in my meditations, even in my reading.  I find Him as I find the beauty that surrounds me in photography.  I find Him in my prayers each night and morning, I find Him in the songs I sing, I find Him in the quiet of a peaceful walk, or even in my heart when I take the time to reflect, relax, and just breath.
I have come to see, that sometimes I am reaching so hard to find the miraculous that I totally miss all the miracles that surround me.  All the simple, ordinary, everyday miracles that make life worth living.  I have found that when I count my blessings, I can find Him in all of them.  When my trials have been worse than I believed I could ever bear, He has always been there, closer than my breath, waiting for me to reach out to Him.

The Shrek Principle

I love movies.  We generally don't go to them, we usually buy them when they come out in DVD because it is cheaper for us to buy the movie than it is for us to go to the movie in the theatre.  Oh well.  This past weekend, we all sat around and watched Shrek.  Now, I know that some of you like it, and some of you don't.  I am not trying to get in a discussion about the good, the bad, and the inappropriate.  Although, if you want to, that is perfectly find with me.  I actually enjoyed this final episode a lot.  Probably because it reminded me of some great principles to point out to my kids.  In the last episode of Shrek, I found so many things that reminded me of life.  Only in cartoon form.  In this movie, there is a brand new and very wicked villian.  His name is Rumpelstiltskin.  This character misleads Shrek into signing away a day of his life.  Consequently, he ended up unknowing signing away the day he was born.  For lack of a better way to describe it, this character sends Shrek to an alternate dimension where the ogre never met Fiona, and all the major characters have a slightly different personality.  Shrek was tired of family life and wishing for things to be different.  He wanted things to go back to the way they were before he ever had children.  He wants to be a "real ogre". 
Shrek makes a terrible decision and signs a contract that takes away one day from his past.  A day that he won't even remember, in exchange for one day of being a "real ogre".  The entire movie is about Shrek's quest to get back the one thing that was most important and he had never even realized it before.  That one thing was true love.  It was Shrek's happily ever after.  The movie continues with Shrek trying to get back everything that he had so casually thrown away.  He might have been tricked, but he realized that it was his own fault.  The movie ends with Shrek embracing his friends and family and holding a new found appreciation for everything he has.  He starts living truly, his own "happily ever after". 

I hope, if you do not appreciate this type of cartoon humor, that you will listen to the lesson of the movie. I have come to see the value in this tale.  Life happens to all of us.  It has it' ups and downs, gives and takes, joys and sorrows.  Sometimes, it can be so hard!  Sometimes, we can get so involved with the existing in it, that we forget to be involved in the living of it.  We forget to look and find our own "happily ever afters".  There was a time in my life, when I dreamed a different dream.  I saw happily ever after as having a perfect family, all doing the correct things, serving in the perfect callings, having a husband who supported me and loved me, having a clean house, well-behaved kids who worshipped the ground I walked on (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration!), having people look up to me, being the very best friend, and never making any mistakes. 
Times have changed.  I have had to change my dreams into something a little more realistic.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to have all those things, but I have realized that my "happily ever after" doesn't contain only dreams.  It contains people that I love, who love me back and need me in their lives.  It contains messy, busy, happy, working, bickering, arguing, and loving people.  I did end up with a husband who supports me and loves me, and sometimes my kids even like me too.  But when I think about a life without any of those hard things, I think that I would be missing out on the greatest blessings of all. 
To me, the Shrek principle is looking around you and realizing what you HAVE.  It is seeing your blessings for what they are. It is dealing with the mountain of diapers and laundry and realizing that you are not going to be in exactly this place forever.  It is realizing that our greatest blessings can sometimes be our most difficult trials.  Each of our "Happily Ever After's" will be unlike anyone else's.  It doesn't do us any good to compare our own lives with those around us.
So, today, I am making a vow to appreciate my own life.  To realize what I really have.  To see all around me, those marvelous gifts that God has given me.  My "Happily Ever After" has always been here.  It was just up to me to open my eyes and see.

Love One Another

I can't help but be sorry and upset over the things that happened in Tucson Arizona on Saturday.  No matter what your political views, no matter what you believe or don't believe, it is so sad to think that a human being is capable of doing something of this magnitude to anyone else.  
I try never to be political on my blog.  I am not a very forceful person when it comes to what others believe and preach.  I have my own beliefs, but I completely support the ability of each of us to choose for ourselves.  
I love and support many in my own family who choose to believe differently than I do.  We live in a country that is supposed to support a variety of different opinions and beliefs.  That is what makes this nation such a wonderful place to live.  It is the diversity, the struggle, the opinions, the support, the freedom to choose.  It shouldn't matter what your political views are, what your religious views are, what issues you support or what party you belong to.  It only matters that people died and were injured through no fault of there own.  
So today, I want to post something simple to remind us that love for all of Heavenly Father's children is what is most important.  Be kind.  Life is often hard enough without us being responsible for injuring anyone else.  
May each of us make one simple decision today that make life just a little bit easier for someone else.  My we smile a little more, hug a little more, be slow to anger, be more tolerant, be kinder in our doings with our fellow men.  May we grieve just a little for the loss of innocence and dreams. May we spend a moment and mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.  May we remember for a moment that we are all Americans.  We are all mothers, fathers, daughters and sons.  We are friends, neighbors and concerned citizens.  We are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father.  


"Love is the only force that can erase the differences between people" ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

"In this life we cannot do great things.  

We can only do small things

with great love."  Mother Teresa

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Robert F. Kennedy 

USA Senator (New York) & 1968 Presidential Candidate (1925-1968)

 

Sunday Devotional - The Lord Knew Joseph Millett

"Joseph Millett, with his large family, was suffering through very, very difficult times. He wrote in his journal:

" 'One of my children came in and said that Brother Newton Hall's folks was out of bread, had none that day.

" 'I divided our flour in a sack to send up to Brother Hall. Just then Brother Hall came.

" 'Says I, "Brother Hall, are you out of flour?"

" ' "Brother Millett, we have none."

" ' "Well, Brother Hall, there is some in that sack. I have divided and was going to send it to you. Your children told mine that you was out."

" 'Brother Hall began to cry. He said he had tried others, but could not get any. He went to the cedars and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him to go to Joseph Millett.

" ' "Well Brother Hall, you needn't bring this back. If the Lord sent you for it you don't owe me for it." '

"That night Joseph Millett recorded a remarkable sentence in his journal:

" 'You can't tell me how good it made me feel to know that the Lord knew there was such a person as Joseph Millett' (Diary of Joseph Millett, holograph, Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City).

"The Lord knew Joseph Millett. And He knows all those men and women like him, and they are many. Theirs are the lives that are most worth recording.

"This rank and file of the Church—150 years of them—have brought the truth to this generation. It is planted where it is most likely to bear an abundant harvest—in the hearts of the ordinary people."

Boyd K. Packer, "A Tribute to the Rank and File of the Church," Ensign, May 1980, 63

A Simple Moment - Family Heart to Heart

This Moment

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment that brings a smile to my lips, and joy to my heart.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The Gift of the Atonement

I would be so remiss in speaking about gifts if I did not speak about the atonement.  It is certainly the most amazing gift I have ever been given.  I have become so grateful for the Atonement and for it's ability to, not only clean me from my sins, but also to heal my heart.
I would have thought, much earlier in my youth, that cleaning me from my sins was impossible.  I know that I thought that I could never be good, pure, clean and forgiven.  No matter who we are, we have burdens and baggage that come from living, from making mistakes, from misunderstanding, from sin, from failure.  We each have things in our lives that have happened to us that we feel we are responsible for and that we can never be forgiven of.  Surely, I have told myself way too often that I am not good enough, smart enough, repentant enough, or perfect enough.  No matter how hard I try, I now know that I will never be enough - by myself.  It is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that I can have hope and joy and peace and forgiveness.  
The older I become, the more I realize that I need to depend on Him.  And the more grateful I am for the gift He has given each of us.  There are many who are discouraged with the trials of their lives.  There are many whose hearts are aching, who are crying out for strength, healing, love, and compassion.  There are many who struggle under the burdens of depression and despair.  Sometimes, I find myself in exactly that place.
To each of us our Savior gives this loving invitation:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:  and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

May we each remember the healing power of the Atonement.  He loved us so much that He sent His Son to suffer, bleed, and die for us.  When I hold my own child and think of that kind of love, I am completely overwhelmed with the utter magnitude of His blessings.  

He knows our heartaches.  He knows our anguish.  He is there for each one of us, and like the good Samaritan in His parable, when He finds us wounded and beaten by the wayside; when others have walked on by and ignored our pain, He binds up our wounds and cares for us.  The healing power of the Atonement is there for each one of us.   

"If any has stumbled in his journey, there is a way back. The process is called repentance. Our Savior died to provide you and me that blessed gift. Though the path is difficult, the promise is real: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18)."  Thomas S. Monson, "Preparation Brings Blessings," Ensign, May 2010, 66

“Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said, ‘I will not leave you comfortless. [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].’ ”  Jeffrey R. Holland, “None Were with Him,” Ensign, May 2009, 88

  

Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of life, from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment. But the atonement of Christ can lift us up in beauty from our ashes on the wings of a sure promise of immortality and eternal life. He will thus lift us up, not only at the end of life, but in each day of our lives.

“Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God … giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. … They that wait upon the Lord shall … mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa. 40:28–31.)  Bruce C. Hafen, "Beauty For Ashes", Ensign, April 1990, 7.

The Gift of Talents

When I stand before God at the end of my life,
I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, 

and I could say,

'I used everything you gave me'. 

Erma Bombeck

Talents

by Patricia A Pitterle

My book room

is filled with books.

Many are like

old and well worn

friends, that I have

visited with

and enjoyed

throughout my childhood.

Each one

testifying of hands

which have lovingly

picked them up,

to be read again

and again.

Some are more recently read

and their pages

have been creased

only once or twice.

Still others

are used simply

as points of reference.

And there are yet a few

whose covers still creak

when they are opened

for they haven't been used at all.

their lessons and enjoyments

are still hidden

from my view.

Each person

is a little

like my book room

and the books within

are individual talents.

Some are old and well worn

testifying of much use.

They have brought joy

to those around us.

Some are more recently developed

and have only been used

a few times

we have not yet found confidence

 in our ability to use them.

Others are used

simply as a point of reference,

Sitting on the shelf

of our existence.

We look for them

in ways

few and far between,

their depths are still,

as yet, unexplored.

Still others

have never been used at all

the benefits and knowledge

to be found in them

are still hidden from view.

Each one of us

are just a little

like a book room.

Within the pages of our lives

are written

the gifts that we have been given.

Presents from Him who lives above.

Those gifts are talents

developed,

slightly used,

unexplored,

and hidden.

What are you doing

to find them within yourself today?

The Gift of Faith

"Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism".  Bishop Richard C. Edgley

"When you have come to the edge of all light that you know

and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: 

There will be something solid to stand on

or you will be taught how to fly". 

Many of the things that I believe in, are challenged and often dismissed in today's world.  The reality of the Savior, His atonment, the gospel, the commandments, obedience, and service are all critized and ridiculed.  As I look around at the messages that the world has for us today, I worry about what my children are faced with.  I worry about their testimonies in the world that we currenly live in.  I worry that the confusing, doubt and fear will be too much for them to deal with.  I worry that it is too much even for many in my generation. 

I have learned, that although is might be the way of our world today, we can still choose how we react to it. When our beliefs are challenged, we can develop and strengthen our knowledge of God.  We can learn His will for us.  We can come to know Him.  This is our opportunity to choose.
Because of all the conflicts around us today, I have made a choice.  It is a choice of peace and protection.  It is a choice of faith. Even in the midst of adversity,  I can choose to believe and live my life just a little better.  I have a very good friend who is a professed atheist.  He does not believe in God at all.  He has often told me that he doesn't understand how someone as smart as I am can fall for organized religion.  I used to get in many "discussions" with him over all of this.  Finally, one day, the answer was given to me.  I looked at him and said, "Friend, if you are right and I am wrong, if there really is no God, no life after death, no eternity, than who have I hurt with my life?  What decisions have I made that would matter?  If you are right and I am wrong, there will be no regrets, so it won't matter how I chose to live my life.  On the other hand, if I am right and you are wrong, you will have some explaining to do when I see you again". 

Faith requires each of us to "act as if" we have knowledge.  We have to act "as if" we know that it is possible.  I love the fact that the Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs; come, knock, seek, find. They are choices that we each have to make.  So, I have decided to choose faith.  I will choose faith over fear, doubt, and unbelief. 
Because of faith, I have personally witnessed pain replaced with peace; sin replaced with repentace; grief replaced with joy; and trials replaced with hope. 

• Because of my faith, I can work through the trials of my life with peace and assurance that He is in control and knows what I need. 
• Because of my faith, I can turn my doubts and fears into hope for a better tomorrow.  
• Because of my faith, I can be obedient in the things I do not understand. 
• Because of my faith, I can choose to live the principles that I know are true.  No matter how hard they sometimes are.  
• Because of my faith, I can know that I have a loving Heavenly Father who wants me to return to Him. 

 We each of the opportunity to choose how we will live, what we will do, and who we will follow. 

As for me, I choose faith.   

 

 The Faith of A Child

- Author unknown-

 

The father, a well digger,

Strong was he,

And as loving and kind

As a father could be.

And Mary his daughter,

Just five years old,

Was very much dearer

Than millions in gold.

 

To Mary her father

Was big, grand and nice,

So each had a treasure,

Beyond any price.

One day to the well,

Little Mary was sent

To take daddy’s lunch,

How gladly she went.

 

But when she looked down,

Not a thing could be seen.

The well, like a pocket,

Was dark as could be.

The father saw Mary

And heard her voice, too,

But made not a sound,

Just to see what she’d do.

 

She dropped to her knees,

The dear little soul,

And called down, “Oh, Daddy,

Are you down this hole?”

“Why, yes Mary darling,

I’m here at your feet,

Just drop my lunch

For I’m ready to eat.

 

Just let it go easy,

I’ll catch it all right.”

She did and she saw

It fall out of sight.

“Why Mary,” said father,

“There’s enough here for two,

Now this is the thing

I would like you to do.

 

You jump down here to me

And we’ll eat it together,

Down here in the cool

and away from the weather.”

“Oh, daddy, I’m afraid,

I can’t see you at all,

Be sure now you catch me

And don’t let me fall.”

 

‘Twas just for a moment

She wavered in doubt,

Then closing her dear

Little eyes she jumped out.

In the darkness, yes,

That was the test,

She trusted in faith

To her father’s request.

 

And both were so happy

He kissed her and smiled

Because of the sweet

Trusting faith of his child.

“Oh, sweet little Mary,

You put me to shame,

How often my Father

Has called me the same,

 

But because it was dark

I turned back in doubt.

Refusing the call,

Though his arms were stretched out

 

The Gift of Charity

Charity is the pure love which our Savior Jesus Christ felt for all men.  He has commanded us to love one another as he loves us. We start to develop this trait in our lives when, from the heart, we show genuine concern and compassion for all of those around us.

I came across Moroni 7:45-47 this morning.

45  And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47  But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

The Savior gave us the complete example of His life to follow.  He showed us how to love.  He showed us how to treat each other.  By His example, we learn that the physical and spiritual needs of those around us are important.  One of my very favorite scripture verses is found in the New Testament.  Before Christ gave His life for us, He said:

"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:12-13

He loved us so much that He laid down His life for us.  There was no other way that we could ever get back home  He was our example of how to feel and treat others.  He did not like wickedness, but He loved the sinner.  He had compassion for the elderly, the children, the sick, the poor, and the needy.  There was no one that He turned away.  He had such great love that He was able to forgive the soldiers who pounded the nails in His hands and feet.  He taught us that we also need to forgive others.  We need to learn to love others the way that He did.  He said:

"I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you...For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?"  Matthew 5:44, 46

This gift is one that I struggle with on a daily basis.  I want to be more charitable.  I want to be better to my friends, my family and to those around me.  I know that one of the most important things to do is to learn to love myself.  It means to understand my worth as a child of God.  The Savior taught that we must love others as we love ourselves, I think that unless you learn to love yourself, you are never able to completely love others.  In order for this to happen, we must trust and respect ourselves.  We need to obey the commandments, try a little harder to be a little better, we need to forgive ourselves and repent.  We can love ourselves better as we learn to feel the comforting assurance that our Heavenly Father loves us.  I think that charity is all about love.  Love is an action word.  It is not a passive word. It requires work and effort on our part.  It requires us to look with compassion on those around us.  Not because we think we are better, but because we truly care for those around us.
Charity is the pure love of Christ.  Charity cannot be developed in the abstract.  It must be experienced.   C. Max Caldwell said:

"Charity is not just a precept or a principle, nor is it just a word to describe actions or attitudes  Rather, it is an internal condition that must be developed and experienced in order to be understood."  

And Sister Bonnie D. Parkin said:

"I invite you to not only love each other more but love each other better."

This wonderful gift is available to each of us should we desire to have it in our own lives.  We have to be willing to put aside all of the old attitudes and pick up a new one.  One that requires work, one that requires perseverance, one that requires temperance, tenacity, patience, faith, and hope.  One that will, in the end, be the one that matters most of all.    For it is the one attribute that is most like Him.

The Gift of Another Chance

"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones,

there is always another chance for you.

What we call failure is not the falling down

but the staying down". 

Mary Pickford

It would be so nice to get a chance to do things over again, wouldn't it?  Well, some things anyway.  We might want to relive a cherished birthday, or a favorite happy memory, or we might want a chance to change our most embarrassing moment or our biggest regret.  We have all wished for the chance to do something over in our lives.  To change a past wrong, make a different decision, fix a mistake, or even begin a new life.  I know that there have been so many things that I have done that I wish I could go back and change.  I wonder why (in the wisdom of experience) I had to make those particular choices.
All throughout time, man has wished for the opportunity to have a "do over"or a "second chance".  One of my favorite stories is the story of Jonah in the Old Testament.  His story can teach us about obedience, willingness of spirit, gratitude and compassion as well as that of a second chance.  
You remember Jonah.  He was a great prophet and missionary for the Lord, he called all the people to repentance.  The Lord wanted him to go to Nineveh to teach the people there.  Nineveh was capital of Assyria.  That nation was one of Israel's worst enemies.  Jonah did not want to go.  He did not believe that the people would repent and he thought it was a waste of his time to go there.   
So, instead of obeying the Lord, he decided to go to Tarshish.  We are not told what his motives were, only that he made that decision and got on a boat heading to Tarshish.  At night, a huge storm came up and tossed the boat wildly in the sea.  The sailors were all afraid and they prayed to their gods while Jonah slept.  The captain went down to Jonah's cabin and brought him up to the deck.  

"And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil [is] upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah".  (Jonah 1:7 KJV)

The sailors all question Jonah about what he’s done to bring this storm on them. He confesses that he is running away from the Lord’s will and tells the sailors to throw him overboard to spare their lives. This they do. (Jonah 1:8-15)

As Jonah is sinking into the sea, a big fish swallows him. (Jonah 1:17) Here we see the mercy of God. He could have let Jonah drown in the waters.  He could have let him suffer the consequences for his disobedience.  Yet, instead, God intervenes, spares Jonah’s life, and gives him a second chance. 

Jonah sat in the belly of that whale for three days and nights.  But he doesn’t complain. He is sincere in his prayer and the Lord tells the whale to spit Jonah out on shore. (Jonah 2:1-10)

Then, the Lord tells Jonah, again, to go to Nineveh and preach repentance. This time, Jonah does as he’s told and the people repent. The king orders all to fast, put on sackcloth and beg for forgiveness. (Jonah 2:1-10)

The most amazing part of this story for me is the next part.  Nineveh is spared and instead of being grateful to the Lord for His mercy, Jonah walks away from the situation mad at God. He builds himself a little shelter outside of town and sits there.  He thinks that God should have destroyed the Ninevites rather than spare them. So angry is Jonah that he says he’d rather die than live!

He wanted those people of Nineveh to suffer.  Instead, the Ninevites received the gift of "A Second Chance".  They received a Do Over.  They received The Lord's mercy and grace and a chance to change their lives for the better.  

God’s Love, His mercy and salvation are for everyone.  Not just for those who have never made mistakes.  (none of us would be able to qualify if that were the case).  You see, Heavenly Father knew that none of us would be perfect.  He knew that we would each need second chances.  That we would each sin and make mistakes.  
Thankfully, God can work miracles in our hearts and spare us in spite of ourselves. 

So, the next time you think that you aren't good enough, that there is no use trying, that God doesn't care or doesn't listen, I hope that you will remember the story of Jonah and the lessons that it teaches us.  I hope that you will remember the Ninevites and their wickedness.  A wickedness that was so overwhelming, even the prophet did not want to try and save them.  But Heavenly Father knew that they could change.  He knew that they deserved  a chance to try again. 
The gift of  "a second chance" is available to every one of us.  Although the gift won't take away that original choice, it does let you learn the lesson and put aside the regrets.  It gives each of us the chance to repent, to change, and to become more like Him.  


"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start,
anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending". -Carl Bard

Sunday Devotional - New Life

Red to White

by Patricia A Pitterle

Snow white, 

glistening, gleaming, floating, fleeting

softly falling down.

Covering the world 

In a blanket of freezing whiteness.

All traces of the world as we know it

brushed away

In a coat of sparkling white.

Each time I see a snowfall

I stop to pause 

and remember

How we have been promised

that our sins

though red as scarlet

can be changed 

to be white as snow

A Father sent a Son

to be the way

that would bring us safely home.

He came to be the sacrifice

And with His blood

All traces of worldly scarlet

bathed away

In a coat of sparkling love

A Simple Moment - Besties

This Moment

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment that brings a smile to my lips, and joy to my heart.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.