Sunday, June 19, 2011

Fathers

I am grateful for all the Fathers in my life. I am grateful for my husband and the great father that he is. I am grateful to have the Priesthood in my home. It brings such wonderful blessings.
Lesson Learned:

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"It will all be worth it."

 I went and saw "17 miracles". Holy tear fest. I really really really liked the movie. Several things went through my mind as I watched it. It was about the Martin/Willie Handcart Companies crossing the plains. And the many hardships and miracles along the way. (so good, go see it) One thing I will share is this statement said from one of the members of the company:
Lesson Learned:
"It will all be worth it."
-Sarah Anne Franks (Martin/Willie Handcart Company)

That statement can be taken several ways. I won't blow the movie but in her situation she had to make a very tough decision and chose to wait to get married to her love so she could be sealed to him when they reached Salt Lake. "It will all be worth it." she said to her love as he asked why they should wait and told her the possible scenario's of one of them not making it to Salt Lake. "It will all be worth it."

The gospel can be very hard to live at times. Not just following standards and commandments that are already set in place, but often times the Lord has a plan for us and asks us to follow that plan even though it may not be easy. As such with the pioneers commanded to cross the plains.

I recently had an experience where I was given a very strong spiritual prompting to do something. Something that I didn't want to do. Knowing the outcome would probably end in a lot of emotional pain, people with hurt feelings, and a lot of frustration. I could not deny the strong impression and decided to follow through with this prompting. In doing so, a lot of feelings were hurt, emotional pain, and a lot of frustration. I still do not understand why I needed to do what I did but I know I needed to do it. The only understanding I can hold on to is that the Lord wanted me to and somewhere down the road it will be best. It was hard. Extremely hard. But, I have peace knowing I followed the prompting, and even though it brought me much grief I know one day it will have hopefully mended what needs to be mended. In the back of my mind "It will all be worth it." keeps running through. I have faith in Christ and know that one day this one decision I made will be worth it.
Living the gospel will all be worth it.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Priorities

It's interesting how sometimes I find my self "stuck in a rut" (so to speak) and it sneaked up on me oh so subtly. Are there ever times in your life when suddenly you feel "stuck"? Suddenly you realize you are not progressing the way you should. Kinda like your watching the world move around you but your not moving with it. And then you start to wonder why your not content or at peace with your life. Funny how that happens (probably too often). 
I start to evaluate my life and my daily routines. Found the problem. Were my priorities in the right spot? no. Good intentions? yes. It's that cycle we live: 1.trial 2.humility 3.faith 4.lessons learned 5.life is good 6.pride 7.back to step "1"  I always vow to never get to step 6 but somewhere between step 5 and 6 I start to get comfortable with things and slowly but surely the little things start to slip there way in in front of God. Reminds me of the on going battle in the Book of Mormon, the people sin, they repent and come to Christ, life is good, and then with the abundance of blessings they receive they slip back into pride and do it all over again. 
I'm not just talking about the big things, but little things like (don't judge, don't worry I've changed my ways): Playing words with friends before reading my scriptures or watching that TV show instead of spending time with your family. Silly I know. But really. How many things in your life do you put before the few simple things God asks us to do. It's not that doing those things are bad, but are we letting them take to higher portion of the day or letting it even just affect our way of thinking. Is it helping us progress? Good, better, or best. I choose best. 

Lesson Learned:
"When we place God first in our lives, everything else falls into place or drops out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern: 
the claims for our affection, 
the demands on our time, 
the interests we pursue, 
the order of our priorities.
We should place God ahead of everything else in our lives."
-Ezra Taft Benson

It's when we put Him first that we become our "best" selfs. Our lives become His path. His path isn't always easy but it is worth it. It is best. Best for us. I know that when I focus on putting Him first everything else around me falls into place. That doesn't mean I'm without trials, hardships, or afflictions but it does mean I have the peace I need to overcome such times and I have a clearer perspective on my path to Him. So yes in a sense life becomes much smoother. I no longer feel "stuck".