Embrace Belief

 

Sometimes, it is so easy to doubt.  It is a choice that we all succumb to now and then.  We live in a world of instant gratification.  We want something, and we want it right now.  We get instant TV, instant entertainment, instant meals, instant shipping.  We can order something today and have it later today or tomorrow, just as if we went to the store for it, but without all the bother of actually doing it.  In all of this crazy mixed up world of instantness, we also have our own fears and doubts. 

I think that Heavenly Father is not an instant God.  He doesn't give us what we are praying for right this minute.  He usually makes us exercise a little faith first.  Think about waiting for baptism, waiting for the Priesthood, waiting to go to the temple.  Waiting, constantly waiting.

I love the story of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego in the Old Testament.  Three Hebrew men thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, when they refuse to bow down to the king's image; the three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, "the fourth ... like a son of God".   

I love that God did not ask them to go through this alone.  That He was there with them all through their trials.  I love that it mattered to Him that they felt His love for them.  Because they did not doubt, but instead embraced their belief, they were blessed to see God.  They were blessed to come out of their trials stronger than before.  They were blessed to bring change to the world around them. 

There are times when we all doubt, when we fear, when we questions, when we don't know the answers to the problems.  There are times when life is hard, when it is not fair, when their seems to be no justice or mercy or even love.   But I have learned that doubting is a choice.  I have learned that sometimes we have to wait for the answers to the questions.  Sometimes those answers take even longer to come than we ever imagined. 

In spite of the doubts, we can still find hope and belief and even joy.  We can choose to embrace the good and let go of whatever it is that is holding us back. 

We choose to embrace the light instead of the darkness. 

We choose hope.

We choose belief.

We choose joy.

We choose Him.

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Hiking

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.

Lifting the hands that hang down

I am loving the new changes from visiting teaching to ministering.  I don't know why exactly, but there is just something about the work "ministering" that makes a difference to me.  It is a chance to lift another.  To help those who need help.  To watch over those who are ill or injured or just need a little extra help.  I think I might like it because it is my chance to really help others.  To keep them safe and go the extra mile in service.  For some reason, serving sounds so much better than teaching.  

I love having the opportunity to find ways to serve.  

This week, we had a fire in our area.  Actually, it is still burning and destroying part of my beloved forest.  However, when I found out where it was burning, the first thing I though of was to call those nearest the fire and see if I could help them in any way.  I wanted to make sure they were safe and secure and far away from danger.  

I make a lot of mistakes.  I can't fix everything that I wish I could.  I can't put out a fire that is burning over 22 miles of forest.  I can drive an ambulance and take care of others.  I can offer to help those who need to evacuate.  I can minister to those who need me.  I can lift up the hands that hang down.  

One of the things I have learned is that when I am busy helping others, I am also busy forgetting my own problems and issues.  I also feel better about myself when I can take the time to help those around me.  

I might not be a great teacher, but I can love those who need loving.  I can care for those who need caring.  I can make a difference.  

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Service

I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

Revelation 2:19

Sabbath Day Scribblings - We all need a Sabbath

Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-11

9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;

11 Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Sin

Remember, the worth of souls is great
in the sight of God. 

D&C 18:10

Sabbath Day Scribblings - His Hands

The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,

that we are the children of God.

Romans 8:16

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Be of Good Cheer

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

Richard G. Scott

Hypocrites

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

Born with Potential

 

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

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

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

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

Lessons for the Weary - Even as Christ Forgives

 

Even as Christ Forgives You, So Also Do Ye

by Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Wordless Wednesday - Fun with Grammy

A single photo 

– no words –
 

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Faith

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

Mormon 5:23

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

 

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

 

Am I a Child of God

by Elder Brian Taylor

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

Wordless Wednesday - Good Day!

A single photo 

– no words –
 

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

Notice the Miracles

 

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

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

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

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

This Moment is Your LIFE

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

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Faith

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

Hebrews 11:1

 

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

and I ask you,

How does the Savior see your faith?

What are you doing to strengthen your faith?

Turn On the Light

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

I learned how to turn on the light. 

   



Stop Comparing

 

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

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

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

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

He forgives when our own selves can't. 

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

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

and working at becoming more like Him.

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