Becoming Like Him - Day 12 - Rest

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

START

The Savior said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
"And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest".  (Exodus 33:14) 

Many of us are carrying burdens that seem too hard to bear.  Many are lost.  Many have stumbled.  Many have fallen away.  There are heartaches and heartbreaks.  There are trials of every kind.  Often, we feel alone and overwhelmed, and just plain tired.  It is times like these when I remember that the Savior did not promise that we would feel like this forever.  He actually promised us rest from our labour.  All we have to do is "Come unto Him".  
The scriptures contain many accounts of how the Savior helped those who were heavy laden.  He caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the lame to walk.  He healed the sick and raised the dead.  He fed the thousands and comforted the weary.  He taught of peace.  He taught of love.  He taught of kindness to both friends and strangers.  
He endured His own trials during His mortal ministry.  He was called names and beaten.  He was spit upon and mocked.  He was hung on a cross while a murderer went free.
Life is not, and never has been fair.  But I believe in Him and in His promise of rest.  The time will come when our burdens will be less sore and our hearts will be healed and our eyes shall see Him.  

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 11 - Teach

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

START

I have been teaching since I was 14 years old.  I love to teach.  I love to help others to learn the things that matter the most to me.  I haven't always been a good teacher, I had to learn what worked and what did not.  I believe that teaching is one of the most wonderful things that we are called to do.  Not all of us teach school, not all of us are mothers or fathers, not all of us teach in church, but we all come in contact with people.  We all have an opportunity to touch the lives of others.
There is a scripture in Matthew that describes teaching really well.  It says:

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven".  Matthew 5:19

Think about it for a minute.  We are accountable for what we teach others to do.  If we set the example of doing wrong, and encourage others to go along with us, that we are not good teachers.  But if we do what is right and teach others to do those things, than we become the teachers that God need us to be.  I think we all have chances in life to teach.  What makes a teacher truly great is that they teach by the Spirit.  They teach with compassion and kindness and love.  They teach with stories and humility.  I think they teach like the Savior.
Some of the very best teachers that I have ever had, were not rich or learned.  They were humble.  They were kind.  They were Christ-like.
It didn't even matter what religion they were, they were the ones who loved everyone, even if you weren't popular or didn't understand.  Even if you asked lots of questions and had lots of comments.  They were kind and caring.  They believed in me and taught me to believe in myself.  They taught me to be more than I thought I could every become.

Teach your children that strength 

doesn't come from what you can do,

but from overcoming the things 

you thought you couldn't.

Becoming Like Him - Day 9 - Join

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

It takes nothing to join the crowd. 

It takes everything to stand alone.

START

When I was young, I wanted so much to be like everyone else.  Especially because I was never a part of the crowd.  I thought I wanted to be, I even tried to join them once or twice, but the things they were doing just weren't the things that I felt right about.  I had to make a stand, and I must admit, it was sometimes a lonely one.  It didn't help that I wasn't much of a leader.  I was someone who would much rather follow.  It was safer that way and didn't make people call me names.  The problem was, that they did not like the things I was doing (I suppose they weren't fun), and I didn't like the choices they were making.  

I walked to class alone.  I worked on my grades.  I wished for friends.  Then something rather miraculous happened.  I found a group with the same standards as I lived.  I learned to get along in a group setting.  I still wasn't comfortable being the one that came up with the ideas, but I was happy to be included.  

As I have gotten older, I have learned more about myself.  I am not someone who makes friends easily.  I do however, make friends that last a lifetime.  I have learned that I don't need to join a group just to join.  I make friends that have the same interests and love of ideas that I do.  We walk together, we talk together, we are there for each other.  The best part is that I no longer have to stand alone.  The more I work at becoming like Him, the more I find people who need me.  The more I am like Him, the happier I am.  

As time passes, I realize that I have never had to stand alone.  He was always, always by my side and that makes me part of His crowd.  That is enough.

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 8 - Say

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

START

When I was a child, I heard many cruel and awful things directed at me.  I decided long ago, that I would not call others names like that.  I learned that the things that are said, sometimes hurt much more than the things that are done to you.  The words live on in my head.  Sometimes, I hear them still when I am having a bad day.  I never wanted to do that to my own children.  But often, I haven't known what to say instead.  I have really struggled with how to handle anger and what to do when I have those feelings.
I have wondered what a faithful saying really sounds like.  And then I read this scripture the other day when I was thumbing through the Bible.  I love the idea that a faithful saying is something you affirm constantly.  It is not a sometimes thing.  It is not something that hurts those who are listening.  I also love that part of a faithful saying is really Good Works.  So often, I meet people who wonder where God is in their lives.  They don't believe or even try to believe.  They forget that part of faith is really doing something.  It is more than a belief.  It is action in it's purest form.  I think that is why faith comes one simple step at a time.  Each step brings us a little closer to God.  Each thing we think and say and do, matters.  Especially when it is uplifting.
I wonder as I read this if all the things I am doing could be affirmed constantly.  I am sure the answer to that would be "no".  So as I continue on this 31 day journey, I am seeking to do the things that I can be happy about.  Things for myself as well as things for others.  Things that are good.  I want to remember to watch the words that I say.  Often, it is not the words themselves that hurt, it is the tone I use when I am upset or angry.  I want to make the things I say mean something good to those whose hearts I might touch.

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 7 - Go

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

Maybe you have to

Let go of who you were,

To become

Who you will be.

START

One of my favorite Scriptures is found in 1Nephi 3:7

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

I will go and do.  It does not say that he had to think about it first.  It does not say that he had to see what his friends were doing.  It simply says that "I will go and do".  I think those words are amazing.  

We can't let go of anything in our past if we don't go and do something different.  We have all sinned. We have all made mistakes.  We all have excuses from time to time, but if we don't go and do something else, we will just keep going in the same circle over and over.  

Letting go of the person that I used to be has been hard for me.  It has taken all my life to get to this one point.  I still don't always do things right.  I make mistakes every single day and need to ask for forgiveness.  My past was often hard, but it was familiar to me, and I find myself identifying my strengths by the things I have overcome.  Sometimes, I find myself excusing my decisions because of the past that I have had to live through.

Really, I am learning that I need to let go of the past instead of dragging the weight around like a burden to continue bearing.  I need to let go of the bad habits I learned, the bad examples I saw, the names I was called and everything else that happened.  

The atonement was for me, not just my sins.  Christ suffered for my infirmities as well as my weaknesses and my pains and my sorrows.  He truly knows exactly how I felt.  He was bullied, beaten, and spit upon too.  

When I remember the things that He had to endure, I am so very grateful for His mercy in my life.  His example reminds me to continually, "Go and Do". 

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 6 - Know

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

Today the prompt is:

KNOW

START

In my deepest, darkest moments, what has really helped me through the day is prayer. Sometimes the prayers are said with tears upon my cheeks, sometimes they are burdened with sorrow, Sometimes they are pleading and sometimes they are full of gratitude and sometimes they are full of peace and contentment. 
 I have discovered that communication with my Heavenly Father will always get me through my day because I know who my support is. I know who brings help. I know that peace is just a prayer away. 

Today I want to share just a few of the things that I know.

I know that my Redeemer lives.
I know that He suffered and died for my sins.

I know that God hears my prayers.

I know that He knows my name.

I know that I matter to Him.

I know that He surrounds me with blessings, even if I don't always take the time to look for them.

I know that the Gospel is here upon the earth today.

I know that the scriptures are true and are His words to us.

I know that I am a child of God.

I know that I can do anything He asks of me.

I know that I don't know everything.

I know that I am learning to become like Him

I know that He loves me more than I can ever imagine.

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 5 - Stuck

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

Everyday is a new beginning

Take a deep breath

And start again.

Todays prompt is:  STUCK

START

I have found that it is easy to feel stuck. Stuck in a job, stuck in a life, stuck in depression, stuck in chores, and housework, and just trying to do too many things. Sometimes, I get stuck because of someone else, sometimes it is my own fault. But it always seems to happen at the very worst time. It always seems to happen when I need to be somewhere important, or when my family needs me, or even when I need a little time to myself.

I have learned that it is not if I get stuck, it is simply when, and what I do about it when it happens.  

Take yesterday, I ended up working all day, on a Saturday, when it should have been my day off.  Funny thing was, I had a feeling in the morning and got up and drove an hour to the office that I am watching out for right now.  I was planning on doing stock counts and only working a couple of hours until they were completed.  Instead, I had a clerk go to the hospital and have to have surgery, I needed to try and find someone to come help, and I stayed all day just trying to get things done.  It was a crazy and exhausting day.

I was stuck at work and I really could have been grouchy about it.  It was conference and I wanted to listen.  Instead, I laughed.  I called my clerk and told her not to worry about the office, just get well.  We will be fine.  I called other Post Masters to try and get some help in for Monday.  I did not get my counts done.  But you know what, I took a deep breath and remembered that tomorrow is a new day and we will survive.  

I am learning that getting stuck usually means figuring out how to get unstuck.  It requires more work and effort.  It requires prayer to receive the help I need to fix things.  I have learned that the Lord rarely fixes something for me that I haven't tried to fix myself first.  He rarely gets me unstuck without a little sweat and effort from myself.  I love a quote from Conference:

"When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration. President Thomas S. Monson put it this way: “It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we’ll make the effort. … It’s in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals. If we constantly put our goals off, we will never see them fulfilled.”

The Lord is there for me, but He wants me to try and help myself too.  He wants me to learn from the experience of being stuck.  

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 4 - Learn

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him.  My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

Today the prompt is:

LEARN

START

"Learning is the only thing 

the mind never exhausts, 

never fears, 

and never regrets."  

Leonardo Da Vinci

I was a youth, I learned a scripture that has stayed with me my whole life.  It is simply this:

Mosiah 2:17  "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God". 

Learning for me has become more than knowledge.  It is more than finding out something new.  It is so much more than books or lectures or talks or even the internet.  As much as I love all those things (especially reading), I love learning more about my Heavenly Father.  I love getting to know Him through the scriptures and through prayer.  As I struggle to know Him better, I feel peace in my heart and soul.  I find comfort in the simple things that surround me.  I start to see Him in the beauty of a sunset, the love of my children, the helpfulness and compassion of my husband.  

As I continue to learn about my Heavenly Father, I find myself working harder to become more like Him in every way.  There is also a beautiful scripture in Psalms.  (Is there anyone that doesn't love Psalms?)  It says:

"Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments".  Psalms 119:73

This one teaches me that I need understanding so that I can learn the commandments.  It is not enough to read them.  It is not enough to memorize them.  We need to absorb them into our hearts and our minds so that we can truly live the spirit of the law and not just focus on the letter of the law.

How many of us can truly say that we never bear false witness?  How many of us don't covent what our neighbors have?  I am as guilty as anyone.  So today, I want to learn wisdom.  I want to learn of Him.  I want to become like Him in my heart and my soul.  I want to make His commandments a part of my everyday life.  

Today, I want to become just a little more like Him.  Today I am learning His ways. 

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 3 - New

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester.   There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing.  You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

As I write about Becoming More Like Him, I will try and share my journey with you.  I have decided to read Proverbs during this journey.  I have read it before, but usually when I read the Bible, it is cover to cover, chapter by chapter and I usually feel like it is all or nothing.  So this time, I remember how wise Solomon was, and I want to read some of his wisdom and hope that I remember it in my own journey.
Today is Five minute Friday for real.  Remember that this is where we link up over at Heading Home and write for five minutes whether it is just right or not.  Don't forget to link up with the person ahead of you and share in their words too.

Today the prompt is:

NEW

START

Ezekiel 18:31  Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

I can not think of new without thinking of this scripture.  I have lived a life of sin.  Sometimes, (okay, always) everyday, sometimes every hour and even more often, it seems like every minute.  My thoughts don't run in the way I would like them too.  I am angry.  I am depressed.  I forget my blessings.  I have transgressed.  

I love this simple scripture.  It reminds me that we have all transgressed.  But, in spite of ourselves, we need to make a new heart and a new spirit.  Our Heavenly Father loves us so very much.  He has provided a way for us to return safely to Him.  We are human and we fail, but He is God and He will welcome us home.  

I also love the scripture in Isaiah that tells us though our sins be as scarlet, they can become white as snow.  I have never thought that He made a mistake with that description.  Red is nearly impossible to get out.  I will never forget the day that I washed a red shirt with my husband's underwear.  Needless to say, pink is NOT his color.  But he wore them.  I tried bleaching, I tried hanging them in the sun, I tried everything I could think of.  Those underwear were pink until they finally wore out.  

Isn't it wonderful that our sins aren't like that.  The Lord never said they would still be pink after they were red.  Our sins are washed in the blood of the lamb of God and they are white as snow.  

We can have a new heart and a new spirit.  We can be made whole once again.  

We have been blessed with a God who gives us unconditional love.  He is not waiting for us to be perfect, He is only waiting for us to turn to Him.

STOP

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in your own short five minutes?

Becoming like Him - Day 2 View

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing.  You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

As I write about Becoming More Like Him, I will try and share my journey with you.  I have decided to read Proverbs during this journey.  I have read it before, but usually when I read the Bible, it is cover to cover, chapter by chapter and I usually feel like it is all or nothing.  So this time, I remember how wise Solomon was, and I want to read some of his wisdom and hope that I remember it in my own journey.  

Today the prompt is:

VIEW

START

I often wonder what the Lord must view when He looks at me.  Depending on my state of mind, I wonder if, when He sees me, He sees my sins, my pain, and my lack of dependance on Him.  I wonder if He sees what I am right now, with all that I lack.  Or, I wonder if He sees the potential that is hiding within.  

I am not the same person that I used to be.  

I grew up abused and very much alone.  Then I discovered God, or rather, He let me know that HE knew me.  He was there when I needed Him most and like the story of the loaves and the fishes, I discovered that what He had for me was enough.  I think maybe the Lord makes whatever I am right now enough, then He helps me to become exactly who He needs me to be.  

I am pretty sure that His view of me is the only one that matters.  It has changed over the years as I have learned and grown and worked hard to remember Him.  As I start to believe that His view is becoming good, I realize that my own view of myself is changing too.  If I can believe that God views my good, it becomes possible to see a little of it myself.  

One of my favorite apostles is Peter.  He was a simple fisherman.  He mending the nets and cast them in the water and made a meager living along the shores of the sea.  I love How Jesus stepped into His boat and invited Peter back in with his mended nets and told him to go out to the deep.  I love how the Savior asked him to casts his nets over the edge and so many fish came that the nets started to break and Peter had to ask another boat to come help them.  They hauled in net after net of fish.  So many that the boats actually started to sink.  They were sinking with blessings from God.

Sometimes, my own blessings come discussed as fish and I am not sure that they are really blessings at all.  It feels like my nets are breaking and my boat is sinking and for a moment, I forget that the blessings are overwhelming.  Then I change my view and see HIS hand in the work and that I am surrounded with His goodness.  It is about the way I see the view.

STOP

Becoming Like Him - Day 1 Moving

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester.  There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge.  Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing, The Nester lets you write about anything you would like, you just need to write.  I like that idea, as I really have enjoyed Five Minute Fridays.  For my 31 days, I wanted to write about become more like Him.  I am planning on using the prompts everyday, but tailoring them to be along the lines of Becoming more like Jesus.  I want to keep my mind focused on those things that matter most.  Today the prompt is:

Move

START

We all have to start somewhere.  Life happens.  It can be quite an adjustment at times.  It is easy to get lost in the shuffle if we just stand there.  We have to keep moving onward.  Moving forward.
Some mornings it is all I can do to put one foot in front of another.  I need to get out of bed.  Then, I need to start my day.  Lately, my day has not been going so well.  I think that moving for me needs to start by moving in the right direction toward Him.  I am going to start and end my days this month by reading the scriptures.  I am not going set an assigned amount of time, because I really want to study.  I want to feel the spirit surround my soul.  I want to feel the peace that happens when I am moving in the way I should go.  I think it is time to quit expecting Him to meet me, and to strive a little bit harder to move toward Him.
So, today, I am starting the process.  I heard once that life is like a down escalator that we are all trying to move up on.  If we stop trying, we will be carried downward.  If we walk, we will stay in the same place.  We have to put some real effort into moving forward and upward in our lives.  I think I need to put a little more effort into the moving part.
So my moving today is reading.  Reading His word.  Feeling His spirit, and partaking of His love.  Moving toward Him.

STOP

Now it is your turn.  Are you going to join us over at Kate's place and at The Nester's for your own 31 day journey?  I hope you do!

Five Minute Friday - Because

Today is a day I really look forward to.  It is a day to just write without worrying whether it is just right or not.  It is a day when we can say the words that need saying in just five minutes.  I hope that you take a few moments of your own time to join the rest of us over at Heading Home.  Kate writes good words.  Don't forget to leave a comment for the person who left their own words before yours.

Today, the prompt is:

BECAUSE

START

Because we sin,
We needed a Savior.
Because we aren't perfect,
God sent His Son.
Because He sent His Son,
We know that He loves us.
Because that Son bleed and died,
We can have eternal life.
Because He was resurrected,
We can be resurrected like Him.
Because He atoned for our sins,
We can repent and become clean.
Because He loves us,
He wants us to love each other.
Because we try and be like Him,
We are kinder and more tender.
Because we try and do good,
other hearts are touched.
Because we care,
lives are changed.
Because He is the son of God,
my life has been blessed.
Because of His life and love and gifts,
All that I have is enough.

STOP

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in your own five minutes?  Don't forget to join us over at Kate's Place and share!

A Bruise

Failure is a Bruise

Not a tattoo.

I know some pretty wonderful people who have made a few mistakes.  As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that not a single one of us has the right to judge anyone else for their sins.  I believe that we don't have to love the sin, but we do need to love the sinner.  After all, we can't help them turn back to a loving Heavenly Father if we don't teach them that they are lovable and have worth in His eyes.  

I live in a small town.  It can be a hard place.  Every once in a while, something will happen and the entire town can't seem to gossip enough about it.  It breaks my heart to hear the judging and the condemning that goes on.  Especially when the mistake is one by a teen or a child.

It can be very hard to live down a sin.  In a larger town, you can escape the gossip sometimes.  In our small one, if follows you every where.  Do you remember the song "Mary had a little lamb"?  Sometimes I wonder if that lamb was her sin.  "It followed her to school one day.  It made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school".  That is so much like sin.  Others laugh and make fun over a situation that they only think they know about.  They point fingers and ridicule and tease.  All in the name of fun, of course.

My point is simply that we never know when the words we speak will hurt another.  We can take a pretty good guess though that if we are busy pointing out their weaknesses, they are probably not done in a Christ like spirit.  Sin does not last forever.  It only lasts as long as we continue to give it power over us.

Let us all take a moment today to be just a little kinder to those that we might believe don't deserve our kindness.  Someone whom our hearts tells us Christ loves, but our minds keep telling us differently.  Maybe someone a little like me.  A sinner, but someone who is trying the best she knows how to be closer to Him.  

Wordless Wednesday - Crazy Dog!

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.

The Dance

When you dance,

your purpose is not

to get to a certain place on the floor,

It's to enjoy each step

along the way.  

It is easy to get caught up in where you should be, or where you want to be, or even where you might think everyone else is.  Sometimes, we get so focused on the destination that we forget to enjoy the journey.  We keep missing the things around us because we are looking ahead to the next phase.  Like, when they laugh, when they crawl, when they walk, when they run, when they play sports, when they go to school, when they are in middle school, when they are teenagers, when they leave home.  

Our goal as parents is to raise children that are independent, self supporting and happy adults.  But if we become so focused on getting them there, we will forget to enjoy the small everyday moments that have become the breath of fresh air in my own world.  We forget to enjoy all the steps.  We forget to leave the "if only" behind.  

All of us would change things if we could about the past.  But those things we would change are not about hurrying faster, or doing more.  Most of the things I would change would be the time I didn't get to spend with them.  I think that I would choose to laugh more, to play more, to show them how much I loved them more.  I would want them to know how beautiful they are, how grateful I am for them everyday.  I would hold them more and scold them less.  I would want them to believe in themselves more, to know that I believed in them always.  

I would want to introduce them to the God that I have come to love.  I would teach them that He is always there, in the hard times and the sad times and the hopeless feeling times.  I would teach them to reach out to Him no matter what the sin, no matter how lost you feel, or how forgotten you think you might be.

If I could go back, the things that I would do more of are always those things that matter the most.  As I grow older, my eyes are opened more and I can see that each step we take should be cherished, enjoyed and lived in.  Our loving Heavenly Father does not expect us to always look toward the future.  He wants us to live in the present.  To be a part of our families and our friends.  He wants us to forget about where we are going, and focus on the movement along the way.  

I believe that He wants us to enjoy the dance.  

Memoir Monday - Called to Do a Work

Rescue a story about an event or action you felt called to do. This story will be a valuable addition to your legacy stories collection.

I would say that one of the greatest things that I have been called to do happened back in the summer of 1976.  I was in Rexburg Idaho with a friend and the Teton Dam broke.  We were both 16 years old and wanted to help.  We were able to sandbag along the river in Idaho Falls to try and keep the flooding to a minimum.  We were also called upon to help clean up the basements of those in the Rexburg area.  We helped in bucket brigades that hauled mud and muck out of basements.  It was smelly, hot work.  We were transported by bus every morning to somewhere new.  We would help people clean out their basements and houses.  The floods had done so much damage. 

As I traveled around, I saw dead animals on top of roofs, along with couches and even TV sets.  I saw bloating, dead pigs and cows along the road.  It took all summer to even begin to get things cleaned up.  I would help bring up two year supplies of food from the muddy recesses of basements, only to have the State and Government tell the people that all of it was bad.  I watched families cry over pictures that were completely ruined.  So many things were lost and could not be replaced.  

I loved helping.  I didn't mind the mud or the smell.  It felt so good to be making a difference in the lives of those people.  I watched the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, put all the homeless up in the dorms of the college.  They fed us in the cafeteria and they even trucked clothes through Deseret Industries.   I was amazed at the organization and the ability to keep everyone safe.  

Only a few people lost their lives.  They were either right under the dam when it burst, or they refused to leave their homes.  It was such an amazing experience to be a part of.  To see an entire community come together, work together, help each other, and start to pull themselves out of an awful situation.  

It was a summer of hard work.  It was even harder to watch those who lost everything.  Most of the homes ended up being torn down and rebuilt.  There was agony, strength and miracles to behold.  The church building only had a little damage in the chapel.  We tore the carpet out and took out the pews.  The damage was repaired.  But right across the street, the flood waters washed the houses right off their foundations.  

I will never forget the summer of my 17th year.  I saw more in that one place than I have ever seen in my life.  I saw love and grief and sorry and great joy.  I met a Prophet of God in the hallway of the Manwaring Center.  I even got to talk with him and felt like I stood in the presence of the Lord's anointed.  The experience touched my heart in ways that were never the same.  I grew so much with those opportunities.  

Now it is your turn.  What can you write for your Memoir Monday.  Come back and link up your own story.  

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Patience

Patience is not the ability to wait. 

Waiting is a fact of life. 

Patience is the ability to keep 

a good attitude while waiting. 

Joyce Meyers

I really love this quote.  I think there are times that we all struggle with the ability to wait.  Either the ability to wait for good things to happen, or the ability to wait for the bad things to go away.  Waiting truly is a fact of life.   We wait for everything.  I have customers that come into the Post Office and they are not good at waiting.  They get frustrated if the wait is more than 30 seconds.  I find it interesting that they have such a hard time waiting for the people in front of them and then such a hard time leaving when it is their turn.  

I am going to work on my own attitude while I am waiting.  A smile, a kind word, or even letting someone go first in line just might remind me how blessed I am.  Patience is hard to cultivate.  I realize now that it is even harder than I thought.  It is not about the waiting at all, it is all about how we wait and what we do while we are waiting.  

Isn't it interesting how Christlike our behavior needs to become, even or especially when it is not what we are thinking about.  We live in a world that is always in a hurry.  We drive fast from here to there and we have drive throughs and Quick Trips.  We don't even always cook our own dinner or take leftovers for lunch.  Life is a hurry to live and we forget to savor the moments.  Perhaps waiting is the time when we can spend savoring our opportunities to do better and to remember Him.  

Five Minute Friday - Hold

Today is Friday, at last.  I am so glad it is here.  This is the day that I join with a bunch of other writers and write whether it is just right or not.  I hope that you all join in over at Kate's Place with the rest of us.  Don't forget to read and comment on the person who linked up before you did.
Today, the prompt is

HOLD

START

One of my all time, favorite quotes is:  "I am sure our Heavenly Father is displeased when we call ourselves, "nobody", as children of God, we are somebody.  He will build us, lift us and magnify us if we will but hold our heads up, our arms out, and walk with Him.  

I have been guilty of feeling like a "nobody".  I have been guilty of letting my head hang down.  I have been guilty of forgetting that I am also His.  
Sometimes, the hardest thing we do is to simply hold on.  To keep moving forward when everything seems to conspire against us to pull us down and back.  Sometimes, we just need to reach out for Him and hold on with everything we've got left.  He never lets go of us.  It is always us who let go of Him.
I remember when my girls were very young, one of them was very stubborn, and wanted everything to be her way.  She wanted to run ahead and leave the rest of us far behind. She wanted to be wherever we currently weren't.  No matter what we did, it was not the outcome that she wanted for herself.  
I was holding her hand and we were in a very crowded place.  She pulled with all her might and took off running.  I did not let go, she did.  She made it impossible for me to hold on.  She got lost.  It took us awhile to find her.  As I wiped her tear-streaked face and held her trembling body close, she asked me why I let go.  I told her that I did not.  She pulled away and slipped off into the crowds where I couldn't see her.  She told me that I was lost and she was afraid.  
"I know", I said to her, "I know.  Tell you what, you hold onto my hand and don't let go and I will promise you that I will never be lost again."  She thought about that for a moment and said, "OK, mom.  I don't like it when you get lost, it scareded me.  Don't do it again".  
So, she held my big hand in her little one and we were both not lost that day.
As children of God, we are all Somebodies.  Hold your arms out to Him and remember that He never, ever will let you go.  

STOP

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in only five short minutes?  Don't forget to join the rest of us over at Heading Home.  I can't wait to hold on to your words today.  

The Argument

You don't have to attend

Every argument

You are invited to.

It really does take at least two people to argue.  Or, in our family, more like six.  Not too long ago, I had an argument with one of my adult children.  It doesn't happen very often.  I love them so much, and I think that most of the time, I am willing to forgo the argument for the relationship.  But every once in awhile, my world is rocked by something that is said.  

Interestingly enough, for all the times that my children have seen and been around depression, they don't handle it well when it is me that is depressed.  Somehow it is easy to get caught up in the "how could you say that" and the "how could you even think that".  They have been through a lot in their lives and I realize that they don't want to see their mother struggle inside a black place.  However, I really felt at the time that I had heard enough.  It was hurtful to me.  Not because I misunderstood, but because it threw me back into the chaos of the past.  

Sometimes I think that the past will never let me escape it's dark clutches.  I feel like I have to keep paying the price for sins that were not my own.  It is bad enough when you make mistakes as a parent, but when someone else makes them for you, well, let's just say that you never quite get over the guilt and anguish for not fixing it.  

My one strong ability is to love those around me, no matter what they have done.  I genuinely care for each one of my children, no matter their age or their choices.  That does not mean that it doesn't hurt.  That does not mean that I don't feel.  It does mean, that I need to be loving enough not to attend the argument.  Something for me to work on next time.  

Wordless Wednesday - Monsoon

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.