He Chose

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sabbath Day Scribblings- Risen Hope

This painting is entitled, “Risen Hope,” by Joseph Brickey  

“The light reinforces that idea of overcoming death and darkness, of rising above despair, of finding hope,” Brickey said. “Not only is Christ risen, but also Mary’s hope rises when she hears her name from His lips. She represents each of us—this very personal interaction typifies Christ’s role in our lives. He knows us. He watches over us when we weep. His voice overcomes darkness and brings resplendent hope.”

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".  Romans 8:39 

Accidental Believers

 

I have found this one to be more true than I ever imagined.  Belief is a personal matter, but if you don't study and learn and grow, your beliefs will change.  If you don't have a personal testimony, there will come a time when it will be easier to not believe.  There will be times when others will sway you with their arguments or opinions. 

All my life, I have had a testimony that God loves me.  I can't even begin to explain why I felt so strongly about that.  Perhaps it is because of the fear I had as a child,  seeing a face in the window that terrified me and praying so hard for it to go away.  Feeling the comfort and knowledge that is was gone and I was safe.  It never seemed to matter what church I was going to either.  My testimony at that time was not built upon a church.  It was built upon a Savior.  It seemed to me that I could find Him anywhere if I looked hard enough. 

I think that might be why my testimony today is so strong.  It is because I have looked for Him and believed in Him no matter where I was or what I was doing.  When I searched for Him, I found others who taught me of His love.  When I needed Him, He was there.  He didn't take away the bad things in my life, but He was always there so that I did not walk the path alone. 

I have learned that I have to look for His influence in my life.  He does not shout out to me.  He does not appear beside me to save the day.  Mostly, He is just there.  Comforting my journey, lighting my way, reminding me that I am loved and needed and enough. 

The world would have us believe there is no Savior, that He is a great myth.  That there is no righteousness or unrighteousness.  That we don't need a God in our lives anymore.  I have even heard that we have outgrown our need for Him.  But I say, He is there waiting for you to hear the still small voice.  He is there to carry you forward when your footsteps falter with fatigue and weariness.  He is there to heal your heart and make you whole. 

We never outgrow our need for acceptance and love.  We never outgrow our need for understanding and peace.  We never could possibly outgrow our need for Him. 

Be Patient With Yourself

 Be patient with yourself!
Those words have become a mantra to me.  I am the person who doesn't care about the sins of another.  It is easy to forgive in most instances.  It is easy for me to believe in the Atonement and sacrifice of the Savior for someone else.   It becomes much harder to believe that it will happen for me.  I really don't understand why I separate myself from others.  Maybe it is because when I look back, I see the person that I Should Have been.  I see the decisions that I Could Have made.  Maybe it is because I look at myself through eyes that want to see perfection, and I always come up short. 
So, I am going to work hard on finding patience for myself and my own short comings.  I know that I am not a very patient person, and perhaps that is the thing that I need most to discover. 

James 1:3 
"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience". 

President Uchtdorf, in a talk given to women back in 2011, reminded women that everyone has strengths and weaknesses—that no one is perfect, even those who may seem so.
“God wants to help us eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal,” President Uchtdorf said. “It is OK that you are not quite there yet. Keep working on it but stop punishing yourself. “
“Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others,” he added. “Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.”

So, as I seek to make positive changes in my life, I am seeking to have patience with myself.  I am seeking to forgive myself.  I am seeking to have compassion for the person who has made so many mistakes.  Perhaps the problem is that I want so much to be perfect.  I want to change.  I want the storms to cease and the waves to ebb.  I want to like the person that I have become. 
Satan is so good at telling us partial truths and lies.
He would say, Why try, you will never be enough. 
Lie, we might not be enough now, but with God all things are possible.  And with His sacrifice, we can be enough exactly as we are.
He would say, You have made too many mistakes to ever be loved.
Lie, Lie, Lie.  Jesus Christ Atoned for our sins.  Yours and Mine.  He knows what mistakes we have made.  He knows how badly we want to change.  He knows our minds and our hearts and our doubts and our fears.  He loves us in spite of all those things. 
You are enough.  You are loved.  You are wanted.  You are needed.  You are His. 

Sabbath Day Scribblings - The Refiner's Fire

Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the scriptures and make them the subject of conversation. While reading the third chapter of Malachi they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse. “And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

One lady's opinion was that it was intended to convey the view of the sanctifying influence of the ...grace of Christ. Then she proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them what he said on the subject. She went accordingly and without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her.

“But Sir,” she said, “do you sit while the work of refining is going on?” “Oh, yes madam,” replied the silversmith, “I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured.”

The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

Christ sees it needful to put His children into a furnace. His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called her back, and said he had still further to mention, that he only knows when the process of purifying was complete, by seeing his own image reflected in the silver.

Beautiful example! When Christ shall see His own image in His people, His work of purifying will be accomplished.

Author Unknown

What I learned - Drawing Closer to Him

That I might draw all me unto me.

This talk is from Saturdays morning session of General conference and given by Elder Dale G. Renlund

As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives.

I have been thinking a lot about the atonement lately.  I am reading about it in the book titled,  The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister.  So, this talk struck home to me.  He spoke about how the further we are from Jesus Christ, the more we murmur, feel contentious and feel entitled.  The closer we draw to Jesus Christ, the more we appreciate his suffering.  The more we are grateful for His grace and forgiveness.  I think also, the more we want to be like Him.   Elder Renlund also talks about how our distance from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is important, but it is even more important the direction we are heading in our lives.  He reminds us that Heavenly Father loves the repentant sinner who is working on being closer to Him.  I loved the folk song that He shared with us. 

When Christmas morning gleams

I want to go to the stable,

Where God in the nighttime hours

Already rests upon the straw.

How good Thou wast to desire

To come down to the earth!

Now, I do not wish to waste

My childhood days in sin anymore!

Jesus, we need Thee,

Thou dear children’s friend.

I no longer wish to grieve Thee

With my sins again.¹

I too, want to be one of the "Stable few".  I want to make sure that my heart is ever turned to the Stable and the babe who was born there.  I want to make sure that I don't grieve the Savior with my continued sins.  I want to be more like Him. 

“And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.

“But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall.”

I love how Elder Renlund points out that Christ does not say IF the rains descend and IF the floods come and IF the winds blow.  He says when.  No one is immune from life's challenges.  These things happen in all our lives and we have to be ready for the trials that we will surely face by drawing closer to Him.  I know that the Savior is standing ever near to us waiting for our hearts to turn to Him. 

The Best Things

I really hate the bad things.  Sometimes they feel so overwhelming.  Sometimes I feel like they are going to last forever and that things will never be the same again.  Sometimes, I can't imagine that they could ever lead to something good. 

Life can be so very hard.  And there are terrible things that happen.  I have had to learn to trust through them.  People sin, they make mistakes, either on accident or on purpose.  It can be impossible to tell which.  But I know that I have made mistakes myself, and the more I read about the atonement of Jesus Christ, the more that I am aware of how much I need it in my own life.  For me, not just for anyone else.  I can honestly say, that as the years pass, I realize that the really bad things have brought me strength and blessings that I never could have realized without them.  I believe that there are always blessings that we gain after the trial is over.  We continue to be blessed by a very loving Heavenly Father.  He doesn't take away the trials, but He does provide the blessings.  I am learning to trust that He will give me the things I need to make it through. 

I have had some hard times, but those things have made me who I am today.  They have given me the strength and love and perserverence that I need to make it through yet more trials.  My dreams have ended up coming true, just not the way I planned.  Today's life is so much better than my own visions of the future. 

I have learned to weather the storms of life.  I wish I could say that I always did it cheerfully and graciously, but sometimes I go kicking and screaming through the trials.  Nevertheless, I am grateful to stand here today and to acknowledge the blessings. 

I know that some of the very worst things in life, lead us eventually to some of the greatest blessings that we will ever experience.  I am not saying that it is easy, as a matter of fact, it is really, really hard.  But I am saying to hold on.  To know that the light will come.  To have faith in tomorrow.  And most of all, the know that your Heavenly Father wants you to know joy.  He wants you to be blessed.  He wants you to be happy. 

And so, today, in the midst of trials, I await the blessings, and I know that they will come. 

Sabbath Day Scribblings - You are Worth It!

#Hallelujah—An Easter Message about Jesus Christ

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

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Carest thou not that we perish?

"They (the Disciples) set sail upon the Sea of Galilee. The scriptures tell us that Jesus was weary, and He went to the back of the ship and fell asleep on a pillow. ² Soon the skies darkened, and “there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves.” ³The storm raged. The disciples panicked. It seemed as though the boat would capsize, yet the Savior still slept. At last, they could wait no longer and they awakened Jesus. You can almost hear the anguish and despair in their voices as they pled with their Master, “Carest thou not that we perish?” ⁴Many today feel troubled and distressed; many feel that, at any moment, the ships of their lives could capsize or sink. It is to you who are looking for a safe harbor that I wish to speak today, you whose hearts are breaking, you who are worried or afraid, you who bear grief or the burdens of sin, you who feel no one is listening to your cries, you whose hearts are pleading, “Master, carest thou not that I perish?” To you I offer a few words of comfort and of counsel.
Be assured that there is a safe harbor. You can find peace amidst the storms that threaten you. Your Heavenly Father—who knows when even a sparrow falls—knows of your heartache and suffering. He loves you and wants the best for you. Never doubt this. While He allows all of us to make choices that may not always be for our own or even others’ well-being, and while He does not always intervene in the course of events, He has promised the faithful peace even in their trials and tribulations".
In our own storms in life the Savior is our solace and our sanctuary. If we seek peace, we must come unto Him. He Himself spoke this eternal truth when He said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” ¹⁷ When our souls are anchored in the safe harbor of the Savior, we can proclaim as did Paul: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed".                    Finding a Safe Harbor, Joseph B. Wirthlin

Building Faith

If the blessings were immediate,

Choosing the right,

Would not build faith.  

This was my daughter last summer learning to boulder.  I can't tell you how many times she fell in the pool.  It was trail and error all evening.  But she tried.  The goal was to climb out of the water and, using her hands and feet, make it over to the other side.  It was so much harder than she thought it would be.  It looked easy, but it really wasn't.  She did not give up, and she actually made it pretty far before the evening was over.   

Now, she believed when she started that it was an easy task.  The blessing of making it to the other side would be immediate.  She wanted to show us that she was strong enough to do something that was that "easy".  She found out that what appeared easy was not easy at all.  The blessing that she was looking for was not to be found.  Yet, she found the tenacity to keep trying.  She had to struggle to get out of the water.  She had to use strength she did not know that she had in order to move fingertip by fingertip across the rock.  

She might not have succeeded quite the way she imagined, but she learned that she could try hard things.  She learned not to give up.  I love that she had the faith in herself to try.

One of my very favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Mormon.  I love it because it reminds me that faith is not knowledge.  It is hope and belief.  It is being willing to do our best even when it is hard.  It is being willing to keep trying even when we fail.  The blessings come after the trials and often in ways we never imagined.  

Ether 12:6   And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

Easter Blessings

"There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power".

Elder David A Bednar

“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).

Littering Negativity

 

You can't litter negativity everywhere 

and then wonder why 

you've got a trashy life.

 Yep, negativity, my nemesis.  It is so easy to get sucked into that aspect of life.  Take yesterday for example, I got up early and went for an hour walk.  I came home to take a shower only to discover that our septic had overflowed.  So yes, it started out to be a slightly negative day.  No shower.  That is so not my favorite way to go to work.

My husband was sick all night, now one of the girls are sick.  It is so not a good time to be without our septic.  Who would ever have imagined such a small seeming thing could cause so many problems.  

We had to call someone to pump it, check the leach lines, check the pipes and get us up and running once again.  A shower never felt so good!  

Seriously though, all that, well, negative stuff, in the septic, reminds me that we can't allow the negative to overwhelm us.  We can't allow it to fill us up and leave no room for anything else.  At some point, we have to dump the negative and move on with our lives. 

Just like my shower felt so very fresh and clean, so can we feel that way through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We were not sent here to be negative.   We were not sent here to fail.  Our Heavenly Father wants us to be able to come back to Him.  So, lets all work on getting rid of the trash in our lives and Come Unto Him.  

The Devil

The devil doesn't come to you

With his red face and horns.

He comes to you disguised

As everything you've ever wanted.

I found this one on pinterest of all places and I loved it.  I have learned that it is so true.  We imagine that the devil is responsible for our problems.  We imagine that we can recognize him and so avoid him.  We imagine that we can recognize evil easily.  The problem is that the devil does not come to us a pure evil.  Normally, at least in my life, he comes as something that I wish for.  He comes as something that I want.  He comes with a portion of the truth, but not the whole truth.  He adds to the truth with a little lie here and a little lie there, until at last, we swallow it all, hook, line and sinker.  

The other thing that I have discovered is that the closer I am to my Heavenly Father, the easier it is for me to recognize those things which are not of God.  It become easier to discern between what is right, and what is merely wanted.  Our wants are not always the things that we need.  They are not the things that help us to remain in our Heavenly Fathers presence.  They are never the things that invite us to come closer to Christ.

I love reading the scriptures.  They invite us to come unto Christ.  

Come, for he stands “with open arms to receive you”  (Mormon 6:17). 

Come, for “he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause”  (Jacob 3:1)

“Come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him”.  (Omni 1:26)

As Moroni closed the record of the Jaredite civilization, he wrote, “I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written”  (Ether 12:41). 

In Moroni’s closing words written toward the end of the Book of Mormon when the Nephite civilization was nearly destroyed, he said, “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, … and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you”.  Moroni 10:32 

I love the old poem that says:

All the water in the world

However hard it tries,

Can never sink the smallest ship,

Unless in gets inside.

All the evil in the world

The blackest kind of sin,

Can never hurt you one least bit,

Unless you let it in.

What You Get

Sometimes, What you get

Is better than

What you wanted. 

Somewhere, in the midst of all those tiny people, are a couple of my grand children and my three younger girls.  Grammy and Papa took them all to the museum.  It was amazing.  Climbing, running, looking, crawling, sliding, searching and even getting lost once or twice was all part of our exhausting day.  Now, you should know that the girls did not want to go to the museum.  No matter what I told them, they thought it was going to be dumb.  The only thing they wanted to do was go ice skating and swimming.  

Sad to say, they have the meanest mom and grammy ever.  We went to the museum because I wanted to go.  Then they proceeded to have one of the very best days ever!  

I could post a hundred pictures here to show you how much fun they had, but I will stop with these few.  Suffice it to say, that I learned something from my kids.  We never know what is in store for us in this life.  We don't know if we will like it, or not.  We don't know if we will learn something, or not.  We don't know if it is going to be fun, or not.  But we do need to learn to trust.  To believe that God knows what we need.  He wants us to return to Him.  He loves us more than we can possibly imagine.   He knows each one of our names and what we like and what we need.  I love the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that says:  

"Pray always, and I will pour out my spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing - yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth."  D&C 19:38)

He wants to pour His spirit upon us.  He wants us to succeed here.  He truly knows our hearts and our minds and has sacrificed that we might also return to Him.  The scriptures are filled with stories of those He loved; the woman at the well; the lepers; the blind; the crippled; the sinners; those He raised from the dead; the five thousand that He fed; the children that He blessed.  We read of his desire to rescue the "one" lost sheep, the lost lambs, He has said that He would gather us together, "as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings"  (Matt. 23:27).  The Saviors example is indeed the light which shines over our path.  He is always willing to light our way in the darkest of circumstances.  Sometimes, what we get, ends up being so much more than we ever thought we wanted or deserved.  

Negativity, I am so, NOT, doing it!

It is easy to be negative.  It is easy to find everything wrong around it.  It is easy to focus on those things.  But then, I have discovered, that becomes you LIFE'S focus.  Everywhere you gaze becomes something that is wrong.  I am learning to find the blessings instead of the trials.  The trials are still there, but along with every one, comes a blessing that I didn't expect.  When I shift my focus to the blessings, I find even more surrounding me than I realized.  The good begins to outweigh the bad.  My attitude changes.  I start to realize that I have a really good life, instead of the not so good one that I imagined. 

We become what we focus on.  If we want to be happy, we need to shift our focus to the happy things.  We need to look for the blessings under the rock or the water or even the ground.  This year, the Young Women's theme is: Come Unto Christ.  I find myself realizing that the first way we start to come unto Him is to see the wonderful blessings that He has given us.  To experience the power of the atonement, we need to first admit that we have need of the atonement and then realize that it does, indeed, apply to all of us.  

None of us are without sin.  None of us can make it back to Heaven on our own.  Nothing we have ever done cannot be forgiven, even if it is hard, but first, we have to know that it is possible.

My own negativity is often because of my feelings about myself.  So on this journey this year, as I work on Coming unto Christ, I am also going to work on recognizing His Hands in every part of my life.  I am going to search for my blessings.  I want to become closer to him, and I believe that the more I seek to become like Him, the more my journey will lead me toward Him.  I will become who He needs me to be.

The scriptures tell us:

Moroni 10:32 "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

 

Finding the Good in Others.

 

 "Recognize the good in others, not their stains. 

At times a stain needs appropriate attention to be cleansed, 

                      but always build on his or her virtues."
                  ~Richard G. Scott~, "For Peace at Home"

I am learning that it can be a hard road, to find the good in others, especially when they are working so hard to hide it.  It can be hard to recognize them as a child of our loving Heavenly Father.  It can even be hard to recognize myself that way.  I continue to struggle with it.  Especially when all my buttons are not only pushed, but stomped on with abundant joy. 
I can't control what others say to me, or to my children.  I can't control their own choices in their behavior. I can't control what they do or don't do.  But I can control myself and the way that I react.  I can control what I choose.  I can control what I say.  I don't always do that, but I can.
Today, I am grateful that the Lord has cleansed my stains.  I am grateful for His abundant mercies and love.  I am grateful that He cares for me in spite of myself.  Today, I want to be just a little more like Him and a little less like the person that I am.  Today, I want to choose how I act and not just react to a bad moment.  Today I want to become who He needs me to be.  
In this world of strife and pain, today I want to spread just a little more joy.  I want to share with you how very much you are loved.  We all make mistakes.  We all make bad choices.  We all sin.  But there is nothing we have done that He doesn't already know about.  There are no secrets in your life.  He is just waiting for you to bring all your burdens to Him and to release them into His keeping.  He will help us through the hard times.  We just have to have a little bit of faith in His Sacrifice and a little trust in His timing.  
Life is good.  Life is amazing.  Life is full of blessings and abundance if we will only take the time to see them.  
In this joyous season, today, may you be blessed with His peace and love.  May you find it within your hearts to overlook the stains of others, and also of yourself.  His forgiveness is not for the perfect, but for the imperfect that surround Him.  He will help us become who we are seeking to be if we will just walk with Him.  
 

In Thy Way

In Thy Way

by Patricia A. Pitterle

Lord, stay thou nearby

The world is closing in,

My heart is anguished,

My life filled with sin.

I seek thy mercy,

I plead for thy Grace,

Reach out thy hand

Lift me from this place.

Thou hast atoned

For my worldly sins, 

Enter into my heart,

Cleanse me once again.

Change thou my soul,

Bring me to thee.

Open thou mine eyes,

Help me to see,

Repentance is possible

Even for me.

Make me more holy

As I look to thee.  

Thy Grace rich in mercy

Thy love with me stays

Oh, how my heart sings

As I follow in Thy way.

The Liahona

  

I bought my husband a tie for Easter.  It has small pictures of something called the Liahona on the grey of the tie.  I love the story of the Liahona.  It has a very special meaning for me.  For those of you who don't know what the Liahona is, it is a ball that helped to lead Lehi and his family out of Jerusalem and into the promised land.  The ball was round and had two spindles that worked like a compass.  However, there was one big difference between the Liahona and the compasses of our day; the ball only worked if the family was righteous.  If they wavered in doubt, or fought among each other, or didn't listen to the Lord's guidance, the ball would cease to work and the family would be left on their own, lost and uncertain of the way to go.  The direction from the Lord was contingent upon their faith. 

“And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.
“For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.
“And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.
“O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way” (Alma 37:43–46).

So we see, when we look closely, that the words of Christ can be a personal Liahona for each of us, showing us the way back Home to our Heavenly Father. Let us not be slothful because of the easiness of the way of the world around us. For the world will not lead us Home.  Let us take the faith of the words of Jesus Christ into our hearts as we read and study the scriptures.  Let us feast upon His words that they might become our own personnel Liahona, our compass if you will, and light our way in the darkness that surrounds us.  

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.