Happy New Year!

I just wanted to share a quote from a talk I gave today on staying on the covenant path and

focusing on the Lord in all we do and say:

“Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual privilege and blessing available to men, women, and children everywhere.” ~President Russell M. Nelson

We all need the blessings of the Lord. No matter what Christian religion you espouse to, you make covenants with the Lord, to love and strive to obey Him. I pray that this new year, we will all be diligent in increasing our obedience and devotion to Him, and our dependence upon Him. I pray that we will all do everything we can to strengthen our relationship with Christ and never stray from Him.

May we all become - and stay - strong disciples of the Savior and never turn away from His teachings. And may we all pray to see the big picture and know His individual plan for us.

Christmas Wishes

I pray that this Christmas will be our best yet, full of joy, happiness and gratitude as we remember the Savior and all He has done - and continues to do for us!

It's About Giving as Christ Gives

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and it is even more so now. Anytime we get to celebrate the birth, life, and sacrifice of the Savior is awesome, and Christmas is the time of warm fuzzies. It is the time when hearts are open and love for our fellow man seems to be the greatest . . . but it is also the time when commercialization takes over and we become so absorbed with

GETTING and giving gifts that the true reason for the season escapes many.
The past couple of years, we have simplified Christmas in our family and the stress of the holidays is all but gone. We have always tried to concentrate on the Savior, and striven to emulate Him a little more, and now, since simplifying, the getting is far less important than GIVING.

Christmas is about Jesus Christ and all He gave in this mortal life - and continues to give - expecting nothing in return. When He healed, comforted and counseled, He never asked for anything except our obedience to the Father. His heart and very being were so consumed with love that His every thought and deed were focused outward, serving the people until His last breath and beyond. He still serves us today, and that will never stop.
This Christmas and every day after, I pray that we will all hold on to the warm feelings that the season invokes and dedicate our lives to following the Savior's example with everything in us. Only by doing this can we truly come to know Him.

He Has a Reason

God is all-knowing and He does not short-change us - if anything, we do that to ourselves with our choices. He has a reason for every request He grants, as well as the ones that He doesn't. When each of us finally gets to a point in our life when we allow God's will to reign over our own, that is the

time we will truly be prepped and ready to witness His mighty wonders.

Changing Your Circumstances

There is so much that God wants for us, and He will give us our wants and righteous desires according to His will and in His own time. But He also wants us to put forth great effort and not just wait for our righteous wants to be granted. He wants the best for us - usually a far better life than we can imagine for ourselves. Sometimes God will even give us things that are not good for us,

especially when our hearts are fixed on those things instead of Him. With that granting comes lessons and learning experiences, and many times those lessons are brutal. Still, with the Lord's help, each of us can grow into the person we are meant to me. It is not about material possessions or status. It is about adopting a righteous and holy mindset. If we can just hold to the knowledge of all we can be and then act upon it, little by little, the Lord will bring us there. Life can and should be joyful, regardless of our circumstances, and change is always a beautiful thing when the Lord is in it.

Gratitude

I absolutely love this quote, because it is nothing but truth.

Despite the upheaval in the world, there are  many, many, many things I am grateful for, but I will only list five:
1. The gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. The healing power of the Atonement.
3. My amazing family.
4. The knowledge that my Father in Heaven and my Savior love me and are always aware of me.
5. For the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, to be another witness that He is the Savior of the World.

So, what are you grateful for?

Happy Sabbath, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratitude in Sickness and Health

Dealing with an illness over the past couple of years has brought me many moments of humility and gratitude during the good days and the bad. However, over the past six months or so, I have learned many things.

First: The Lord is ALWAYS aware of us, each and every one, and His comfort is ALWAYS available and ours for the taking.

Second: We can - and should - pray for healing, because we are meant to. But I have also come to understand and accept that God has a plan for each of us, and sometimes health trials are a part of that plan; they are refining, purifying, and testimony-growing when we allow them to be. I understand fully that healing will come in the Lord's time and according to His will. Until then, I will continue on in faith and pray for the strength to endure well.

Third: None of us ever suffer alone. Our Heavenly Father and our Savior love us too much to leave us alone. But . . . we have to allow Them to be there and eagerly embrace the comfort They are so willing to give. I know, I know, it sounds like it is easier said than done, and for many it may be, but I have found that in my case, it can and must be done to the best of my cognizant ability. I always ask for the Savior's help in this because He has been through it all and He knows exactly how I feel.

No matter how much I struggle and how much pain is present on any given day, life is such a beautiful thing to me, and I am truly grateful for the comfort I receive from the Savior, from my family, and caring friends.
Life is meant to be lived fully and each day is to be savored and celebrated. And every time we look for the good in each new day, we express our gratitude to God. A heart full of gratitude brings Him joy.
And that is definitely something to celebrate:-)

In the Lord's Eyes

In a church message I received by email this morning, it talked about listening to the voice of the Lord instead of the alternate voices of the world, and not letting the world decide if we are good

enough - if we are attractive enough, spiritual enough, smart enough, talented enough, and basically, just plain good enough. Those same voices also try to coax us into blending in with the rest of the world instead of standing out like we were born to, and being a light of the Lord.

I ask you, what is more important, how the world sees us or how God sees us? Will we bend to emulate the standards of others or will we seek after the standards of the Lord? After all, the world can't save us from sin, nor cleanse us spiritually. But the Lord can. So, it stands to reason that the Lord's opinion and the way He sees us is far more important than the opinion of man.
We must remember that the natural man/woman is an enemy to God, and unless we are striving to be true men and women of God, there is rarely any importance in the natural man's words as pertaining to the things of God.

The voices of the world are extremely loud, but the whispering of the Spirit of God is far more powerful, and if we let it, His voice can, and will, silence the others.
May we all have ears to hear and listen to His voice always, then internalize the Savior's view of us instead of seeing ourselves through the blurry, unclean lenses of the world.

A New Heart

Despite my blatant imperfections, I pray for a renewed heart daily. The Lord blessed me with a new

heart years ago, and because of the sinner that I am, and because of the natural man (woman) in me, I now seek for a daily renewal. Striving to turn a life over to the Lord completely is no small thing. We are all weak and it takes constant effort. And because of this, I am always asking Heavenly Father to make my heart His, to align it with His, to change my ways to His ways. I pray to become so in tune with the spirit that all I do, say, and think will be in accordance to His will for me, and that I won’t seek after anything that is against it.

In essence, my longing for a renewed heart each day is a heartfelt longing to know Him–to truly be the person I was before coming to the earth, the person who walked and talked with the Father and the Son, the person who knew Them intimately. And I will never stop praying and pleading until I am that person again, until I can finally kneel before my Savior and know without a doubt that He is pleased with me, and my offering.

May we all pray earnestly for a new heart – a heart that can truly be claimed by the Lord.

The Shaping

Growing closer to the Lord during trials is more important than we know. We can allow our trials to shape us into the strong, righteous, holy people that God needs us to be, or shape us into the bitter,

stagnant, miserable people that Satan desires to have. One leads to spiritual growth and progression while the other leads to loneliness, despair, and regression. One road leads to God, the other leads away from Him. One is an upward climb, moving an inch at a time to heavenly rewards, the other, a slippery slope or free-fall into darkness.
Either way, the Lord's hand is there for us to grab and hold onto. Because that hand can pull us up the steep climb, or catch us before we fall down the slope. We just need to keep our eyes fixed - especially during dark times - that we may never lose sight of it.

Happy Sabbath!

Sometimes we want to accept Christ in our lives on our own terms instead of His. With all the things

going on in the world, I would much rather have Him in my life on His terms, no matter what they are, because when I need help, as a beggar, I can't be choosy. I love Him too much to ever go there.

The Savior's Promises

“On that very night, the night of the greatest suffering that has ever taken place in the world or that ever will take place, the Savior said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) I submit to

you, that may be one of the Savior's commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord's merciful heart.”~Jeffrey R. Holland

I've been pondering this quote, and in my pondering, I have discovered a truth that brought a sense of guilt and a firm resolve to heed the Lord's counsel and believe His promises. The Lord never makes a promise without fulfilling it, providing that we do our part.

Something to remember.

Woman of Faith

Since I'm finishing up my short story of a modern-day Ruth, this amazing woman has been on my mind constantly, and I just love her so much and desire that kind of faith and strength. I thought I would share my thoughts on Ruth and how her example has affected my life.

Ruth

“Blessed be thou of the Lord.” ~Ruth 3:10

“For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” ~Ruth 1:16

Even though I knew bits and pieces of Ruth’s story, it wasn’t until this past year or so that I truly came to learn of her, and love her.

Facts we know about Ruth:

First: She was a Moabite who married one of the sons of Naomi and Elimelech, an older Israelite couple who moved their family to Moab because of a famine in their own country.

Second: Within ten years, Elimelech, as well as both of Naomi’s sons, Mahlon (Ruth’s Husband,) and Chilion (Orpah’s husband,) were dead.

Third: When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, Ruth vowed to go with her.

Fourth: To feed herself and Naomi, Ruth gleaned the barley fields of Naomi’s kinsman, Boaz.

Fifth: Ruth’s kindness won her the heart of righteous Boaz, he married her and raised up seed in her deceased husband’s name according to Levirate law–to help preserve the family name (a redeemer.) And through Ruth came King David, through whose lineage came Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.

Ruth is the perfect example of the power of faith, hope, trust, and devotion. Because of her love for her mother-in-law, Naomi, and trust in a God that was once foreign to her, she was infinitely blessed beyond all possible measure through God’s mercy and grace. The meaning of the name Ruth is friend/companion, which is a perfectly fitting description of this righteous, godly woman.

It is obvious that Ruth had a great deal of respect for Naomi, as well as a deep love, as evidenced by Ruth heeding Naomi’s counsel that she go to the threshing floor where Boaz slept, uncover his feet, and then lay down. (Ruth 3:4) It was a righteous petition for his care, and just as righteously, Boaz blessed her for it because he knew she was a virtuous woman. (Ruth 3:9)

Ruth’s action was one that many of today’s worldly women have been taught to frown upon, because it displays dependence upon a man. The world teaches that men are not needed, and that a woman’s strength is in her independence, that she can handle anything on her own; she can replace a man in the workplace, and if she wants children, she does not need a husband to have them–in fact, she can have them and be both mother and father to them. Sadly, many of today’s worldly women would consider Ruth’s act of righteous petition a weakness.

This thinking could not be more wrong. If anything, Ruth’s act demonstrated a humility beyond words. Hers was a heart full of faith in God, obedience to Him, and boundless compassion and concern for the welfare of her mother-in-law, as well as a strong discernment that spoke to her spirit of Boaz’s goodness and holiness.

To possess a heart like Ruth’s would truly give others around the bearer a glimpse into the heart of Christ. Therefore, it is fitting that it is through her lineage that the Savior came.

There is so much more to Ruth’s story, and so much more that we can learn from it. The thoughts I have shared are only a glimpse of her life. I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to read the Book of Ruth that you might savor in full, a life that was truly blessed by the Most-High.