Only a phone call away

      I'm not quite sure what to say today or what is even really on my heart. But I know I learned two things this week (well hopefully more than just two, but these two stood out the most). First was in Sunday School today when I felt prompted to ask the question "what motivates you?" As I pondered on that question I wondered what motivates me. Do I do what I do because I fear a consequence, because I want to avoid painful situations or do I act a certain way because I am seeking something better in my life. Do I follow the Spirit from habit, fear, or trust in love? Obedience is good no matter why we do it, but I posit a theory that following promptings and doing what we are commanded to do can perhaps help us become more worthy to have the Spirit as a companion and to feel the love of the Lord more fully in our lives and perhaps that is the best gift of all.
   The second thing that stood out to me were the words of Pres Packer from the last General Conference.

        "I bear witness that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God. The Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, He has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that. There are so many of us who are thrashing around, as it were, with feelings of guilt, not knowing quite how to escape. You escape by accepting the Atonement of Christ, and all that was heartache can turn to beauty and love and eternity.

I am so grateful for the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the power of procreation, for the power of redemption, for the Atonement—the Atonement which can wash clean every stain no matter how difficult or how long or how many times repeated. The Atonement can put you free again to move forward, cleanly and worthily, to pursue that path that you have chosen in life."

I know that the Atonement can heal any and every hurt. I testify that our Savior Jesus Christ loves us. The Atonement heals and mends and sanctifies every scar so that we are a new creature in Christ.

Sometimes this life takes us in unexpected directions, usually so we can learn and improve. Our Savior understands the discomfort this can bring and he wants so much to help us, He is only a plea away.

We are bought with a Price

Life is so precious, special and important, but it most definitely isn't priceless. This life is paid with by a price, whether the life we know was paid for by parents who have worked so hard everyday of their adult life to provide for your needs, or paid for by soldiers who protect your liberty and freedom from the evil in the world. I promise you there is evil in the world, there are those who desire to make us miserable, who crave for power and money. The soldiers who fight for us provide for a way of life that many take much too lightly.
   My heart aches when I think of the many peers in my generation who are stepping on the flag, not realizing that the very right of wanting to step upon the flag and spit upon the values of freedom and protection are guaranteed by that flag. What do the colors on the flag mean you might ask, here is the answer:

"The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice."

These colors are something to fight for, not to trample on. Please be part of the group who teach your children what principles the Founders fought for and how many have died seeking to stop tyranny throughout the world. I'm not saying that every conflict the U.S has taken part in was just based on the reasons given, but I know fighting tyranny, greed and evil does bring peace. I'm so grateful for the many who have fought that I might have that peace and liberty, I can't imagine a life without choice. and the opportunity to learn and follow my heart. Thank you to all those who have fought to keep me safe.

I'm so thankful for those who have stood with the Savior in giving life for me. Please honor them this Memorial Day, in remembering we are all bought with a price.

Lyrics

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench an old man was sitting there
I said, "Your old courthouse is kinda run down"
He said, "No, it'll do for our little town"
I said, "Your old flagpole has leaned a little bit
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it"
He said, "Have a seat, " and I sat down
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is" He said, "I don't like to brag
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when
Washington took it across the Delaware
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it, writing 'Say Can You See'
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag
On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time it was through
She was in Korea and Vietnam
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home
In her own good land here she's been abused
She's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused
And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land
And she's getting threadbare and she's wearing thin
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more
So we raise her up every morning, we take her down every night
We don't let her touch the ground and we fold her up right
On second thought, I do like to brag
'Cause I'm mighty proud of the Ragged Old Flag

Facing tomorrow

Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Have you ever woken from a deep sleep fearing the future and having no idea what to do to meet it? Have you ever feared for your job or wondered how to find one? Or perhaps felt so overwhelmed with responsibilities or wondered how in the world you could become the person you know you can be, but feel so burdened you just coast?
    I would hazard a guess that these feelings or ones similar have all plagued us at one time or another and speaking from experience these feelings aren't fun and they are not easy to kick. I had one such experience this week when I went from deep sleep to wide awake in 1.2 seconds and pretty much had a mini freak out session. I started freaking out that we are half way through May, which means I am half way through my guaranteed paid work for the summer. In beginning this adventure I felt such peace and excitement I knew it was the right thing to do and I knew I would be provided for, now facing the what ifs I'm allowing myself to forget that assurance.
    Last week I was reminded of a very important lesson when asked the question: what is obedience? As a group we came up with really good answer, doing what we are asked, obeying because of love or just doing what we should. Yet the foremost answer to that question is rooted in trust. We do what the Lord asks of us because we trust Him to ask of us what will bring the best. We obey because we trust in a loving Heavenly Father. And thus the moment of truth...do I trust in my loving Heavenly Father? The only peace I could find that morning was to wait on the Lord. Sometimes I get so focused on what I think I need to be doing that I forget timing is key. It is very true that Heavenly Father can't direct a parked car, but He also can't direct us if we are focused on where we thing we should go. I think waiting upon the Lord's timing is one of the hardest things I'm learning in this life, but I'm never without peace when I do so. When I finally returned it to the hands of my Father, remembering He had placed the job before me, and simply asked that I will have an open heart to act when needed I could go back to sleep.
      I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and I know that those moments of panic, though painful and exhausting, are also opportunities to go to Him and let my Savior take the burden. Our weaknesses can show us just how mortal we are.



Jacob 4:6-7
         6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

 7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

I believe that as we hold to hope and truly trust the Lord we will have faith to move mountains and split seas.

Mothers make the world go round

Today is the day that some women look forward to most of the year and other women dread. They fear inadequacy and comparison. First I want to say thank you to my mother who always says she has no idea how she raised such great kids, my answer she was always an amazing example of unconditional love, listening to the Spirit and always, always forgiving. I'm so thankful for her love and support in my sometimes rocky adventures. In honour of this day I found some quotes that seemed to fit. But I also want to say, Mother's Day isn't just about celebrating and showing gratitude to our mothers, it is always a day to cherish those qualities our mothers seemed to possess so abundantly. No matter where we are in life's journeys I hope we can gain these same attributes we appreciate so much in them.

"The art of motherhood involves much silent unobtrusive self-denial, an hourly devotion which finds no detail too minute." (Honore de Balzac) How many times have we seen our parents give up the things they desire to help us in a passing need or want.

"All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother." - Abraham Lincoln
Mothers truly are the builders of nations, what we learn at their knee shapes our future and how we will raise our children.

Motherhood or parenthood for that matter isn't about perfection, it is about getting up every morning trying to do just a bit better than we did the day before.

"I have since realized a mother is more than just giving birth to a live baby. Motherhood is loving unconditionally. It is sacrifice, caring, kindness, nurturing, and providing. Motherhood is loving others more than yourself and seeking their well being before your own. It is doing the hard stuff and taking care of the unpleasant things. You don't have to have a child in your arms to do those things."
I took this quote from my sister, she constantly amazes me with her patience and tender care for her three lovable, "busy" kids. She teaches me daily how to go beyound yourself in service to others.

We don't have to be a mother to have these gifts or to bless the lives of others. Our nation needs more people willing to teach children from their very birth to be full of love, to take responsibility for actions, to reach out to others in need and to be examples of righteous principles. Our world embraces values we don't like, then we must instil in the next generation things that will help them not only survive, but to thrive. May we each on this sacred day for mothers commit to ourselves to try a little harder to show their nurturing love for us, to those in need.

Life is Precious

 

 
    Life is so precious and our influence in the lives of others can make so much of a difference. I fear that much too often we buy into Satan's lie that we can't make a difference, that "how can I help? I'm just a no nothing busy student and I wouldn't know what to say or what to do." We believe that because we aren't a trained psychologist, psychiatrist, Relief Society president, bishop or best friend that we don't have a right to meddle in anyone else's life, this is true, we don't have a right to meddle, but we have the privilege to be God's hands and to just be there.
      We don't know what someone else is going through and we certainly can't fix it, but I know that our Saviuor does and that if we will listen to the Spirit and seek to do no harm, He will help us know how to succour those in need, how to strengthen those who stand in need of comfort.
    Pres. Henry B. Eyring stated:
            "I give my witness that the living Christ sends the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, to those we are pledged to help Him comfort."


I know we can't fix every hurt nor cure every broken heart, often we feel so overwhelmed by our own foibles and hurts that we feel hopeless to reach out. But I know we can make a difference, we can offer love and comfort and often in offering those blessings to others we find them more deeply rooted in our own lives. And I think this world could do with a little more love and comfort as well as peace to go around.

We can't know nor understand all the varieties of pains nor understand the challenges that others face in this life, but I know as God's children and the help of the Comforter we can learn how to reach out in compassion, a smile and a hug go a long way to a better world. What a blessing it is for each of us to be the Lord's hands and become more like him as we learn to love God's children as they love them.

I know our Saviour lives and Loves us, we are known and numbered. If you are one barely holding on, you are loved, you are important and you do have a purpose. We can never understand just how important our life is to someone else, yet our lives are a tapestry, interwoven and inter connected so that each can play a role for good. Life is precious.

 We don't accomplish anything in this life alone...and whatever happens
is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.

Sandra Day O'Connor