"Where is the Line to See Jesus" is a touching song. The young boy calls to each of us through the singer, with his angelic message, asking what our priorities are this Christmas season. May it touch your heart and encourage the best Christmas season yet for you...in your heart, because that is truly where Christmas is celebrated, and if we do it right it will show in our words and actions. I believe that we can stand in each line--one for Christ, and one for Santa Clause--and live consistently in this Christmas season. The key is to have our priorities in order.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton once said, "The best and most clear indicator that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat other people." I believe this is true, and is a good measure of how we celebrate the birth of The Savior of all mankind. There is no "...during Christmas time" at the end of this statement, but I think that if we treat people how The Savior of all mankind would--all year round--then we would really know what the Spirit of Christmas truly is...the Spirit of Christ.
I hope you enjoy this music...and realize that we each have a direct 'line' in front of our Savior. He is ever there, for each of us, and it is our opportunity to seek him. Wise men still do. He is not far away, only as far as your desire to reach him.
With love.
06 December 2010
17 November 2010
My Thanksgiving ABC's
Since Thanksgiving is so close (I am so looking forward to a week from tomorrow!!!), I would like to share a list of some of the things for which I am so very grateful.
Art
Breath
Challenges
Dancing
Education
Family
Generosity
Hugs
Intelligence
Journals
Kites
Laughter
Music
Naps
Order
Pictures
Quotations
Righteous Examples
Sweetheart
Truth
Universe
Vision
Words
Xenophanes
Yarn
Zero
Breath
Challenges
Dancing
Education
Family
Generosity
Hugs
Intelligence
Journals
Kites
Laughter
Music
Naps
Order
Pictures
Quotations
Righteous Examples
Sweetheart
Truth
Universe
Vision
Words
Xenophanes
Yarn
Zero
So if you choose to accept it the challenge is now yours...what are your Thanksgiving ABC's?
HERE is a great TOP 10 Thankful List which I also agree with and think it is worth sharing.
With love.
HERE is a great TOP 10 Thankful List which I also agree with and think it is worth sharing.
With love.
26 October 2010
Roses Bloom Best...
...when we let the Creator handle things that we truly do not understand...
Here is the essence* of a thoughtful email I recently received from my mother. I hope it adds some measure of hope, light and/or peace to your day.
A new minister was walking with an older, more seasoned minister in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.
The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact.
It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do, and noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem...
I was just studying D&C 58: 26-29 this morning. I have read and reread, pondering these verses throughout my life and find them empowering and humbling at the same time. There is a tricky balance in life of acting in faith--including obedience to God's law--and acting as a Free Will Agent, able to make decisions in virtue of our own free will. To choose our actions, but not any inevitable consequences, is such an amazing gift which should not be wasted. At least as important is the power we have to (choose to) live in faith. When we believe in Greater Power it shows in our actions. Faith and choice are not in competition with each other, but can have an incredibly powerful, complementary reality in each of our lives. I have come to realize that it is when I am doing my best to balance these elements of life that the 'roses' unfold in the greatest beauty.
Thank you to the many people in my life that have shared this ilk of counsel with me, and let me see their great examples in quiet, simple ways.
May you find peace in your life as you strive to find the balance of your faith and actions.
With love.
*A lot of editing occurred between my email in box and this post, no offense to the original author intended, whoever you may be. I thank you for sharing your thoughts, though with the way emails travel you may never see this note to you!
Here is the essence* of a thoughtful email I recently received from my mother. I hope it adds some measure of hope, light and/or peace to your day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new minister was walking with an older, more seasoned minister in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.
The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact.
It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do, and noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem...
"It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine."
"The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens flowers so easily,
But in my hands they die."
"If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?"
"So I'll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way."
"The path that lies before me,
Only my Lord knows.
I'll trust God to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine."
"The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens flowers so easily,
But in my hands they die."
"If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?"
"So I'll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way."
"The path that lies before me,
Only my Lord knows.
I'll trust God to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was just studying D&C 58: 26-29 this morning. I have read and reread, pondering these verses throughout my life and find them empowering and humbling at the same time. There is a tricky balance in life of acting in faith--including obedience to God's law--and acting as a Free Will Agent, able to make decisions in virtue of our own free will. To choose our actions, but not any inevitable consequences, is such an amazing gift which should not be wasted. At least as important is the power we have to (choose to) live in faith. When we believe in Greater Power it shows in our actions. Faith and choice are not in competition with each other, but can have an incredibly powerful, complementary reality in each of our lives. I have come to realize that it is when I am doing my best to balance these elements of life that the 'roses' unfold in the greatest beauty.
Thank you to the many people in my life that have shared this ilk of counsel with me, and let me see their great examples in quiet, simple ways.
May you find peace in your life as you strive to find the balance of your faith and actions.
With love.
*A lot of editing occurred between my email in box and this post, no offense to the original author intended, whoever you may be. I thank you for sharing your thoughts, though with the way emails travel you may never see this note to you!
18 August 2010
Life is interesting...
...in so many ways.
If you are reading this you probably know the /interesting/ situation David & I are in at this point in our lives. We are college graduates looking for a career job so we can lay down roots and move on in the great & spectacular experience that is mortality. Is this what purgatory is supposed to be like--suspenseful waiting in between opportunities? We are not at university anymore, but we haven't gotten into the next stage either, so I guess we're like monkeys swinging from branch to branch and the swing between seems to be going in slow motion. Interesting because I have found myself--many times--wishing time would go a little or a lot slower than I was experiencing it, so that it could be enjoyed and relished more. Now with some things in life having slowed down, I'm finding that I need to take the time to learn what I need to learn, and take advantage of how time is behaving during this period of our lives. Please don't get me wrong, time still seems to fly too fast as it chases lightning, but time in between opportunities is lengthened. So it has not only slowed down in a way, it also manages to fly by. Such is time.
Well, the best parts of being in this slow-mo swing is having time to be together at hours that are typically spent in offices, and having time to spend with family, whom we rarely got to spend much quality time with in our hectic student lives. We are grateful for the love, time and space generously offered and given by our family and friends. So, we are grateful and we are striving to move forward on a path that will bring the greatest benefit and joy to all that we know and love, and those we have yet to meet.
In the meantime I think we are in a way learning more about each other now than during our first year of marriage. While we adjusted quickly to being married students, and I didn't see how that could be our 'hardest' year, there are things we are still learning about each other and I am grateful for the chance. My husband is a wonderful man and person as a whole, and the more I come to understand him the more I come to love him. Interesting, because my love does increase as well as grow deeper than I could have imagined earlier in our life together--when we got married, for example. My mind is boggled at how great our love can be in the years to come.
Additionally, I feel that we are learning--or have the opportunity to learn--important lessons about life, the gospel and priorities as we strive to move forward at this point, hopefully gaining wisdom along life's piquant journey.
With love.
If you are reading this you probably know the /interesting/ situation David & I are in at this point in our lives. We are college graduates looking for a career job so we can lay down roots and move on in the great & spectacular experience that is mortality. Is this what purgatory is supposed to be like--suspenseful waiting in between opportunities? We are not at university anymore, but we haven't gotten into the next stage either, so I guess we're like monkeys swinging from branch to branch and the swing between seems to be going in slow motion. Interesting because I have found myself--many times--wishing time would go a little or a lot slower than I was experiencing it, so that it could be enjoyed and relished more. Now with some things in life having slowed down, I'm finding that I need to take the time to learn what I need to learn, and take advantage of how time is behaving during this period of our lives. Please don't get me wrong, time still seems to fly too fast as it chases lightning, but time in between opportunities is lengthened. So it has not only slowed down in a way, it also manages to fly by. Such is time.
Well, the best parts of being in this slow-mo swing is having time to be together at hours that are typically spent in offices, and having time to spend with family, whom we rarely got to spend much quality time with in our hectic student lives. We are grateful for the love, time and space generously offered and given by our family and friends. So, we are grateful and we are striving to move forward on a path that will bring the greatest benefit and joy to all that we know and love, and those we have yet to meet.
In the meantime I think we are in a way learning more about each other now than during our first year of marriage. While we adjusted quickly to being married students, and I didn't see how that could be our 'hardest' year, there are things we are still learning about each other and I am grateful for the chance. My husband is a wonderful man and person as a whole, and the more I come to understand him the more I come to love him. Interesting, because my love does increase as well as grow deeper than I could have imagined earlier in our life together--when we got married, for example. My mind is boggled at how great our love can be in the years to come.
Additionally, I feel that we are learning--or have the opportunity to learn--important lessons about life, the gospel and priorities as we strive to move forward at this point, hopefully gaining wisdom along life's piquant journey.
With love.
13 August 2010
What's your letter?
My letter is:"T".
This link has some interesting information on the use frequency of the letters of the alphabet. My first initial has always been my favorite letter, so I checked it out. "T" has some fun stats--how about your letter?
Enjoy.
This link has some interesting information on the use frequency of the letters of the alphabet. My first initial has always been my favorite letter, so I checked it out. "T" has some fun stats--how about your letter?
Enjoy.
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