Treasures of Heaven

I had the opportunity to attend girls camp with my ward this past weekend. One evening we had a little fireside and a testimony meeting. Our theme for girls camp was "Seek ye the treasures of heaven." (Everything was pirate themed) Our guest speaker gave a great talk.

He started by showing us this painting that was very old and explained how this painting was a treasured family heirloom. He then asked someone to hold the painting for him up while he explained how this painting became apart of his family and the importance of it. And how he had inherited it after his mom died and he now is the coveted owner of the painting in his family. The person holding the painting (who happened to be my husband) slipped and accidentally dropped it in the fire. Shock. Everything went silent. Not knowing what to do someone finally attempted to grab it out of the fire. The look on the speaker's face was enough to make anyone want to cry with him and jump into the fire yourself to save such a thing. It was a horrible feeling. The speaker stepped aside with his painting, clutching it in his arms looking at the damage. It was all burned. It was damaged. Blackened from the flames. It seemed as if the world had just stopped moving and silence took over. Then he threw it back in the fire and explained that this painting was just a $2 painting that had no meaning to him. Oh my gosh. Seriously. Then he told one more story as we are all sitting there in shock.

He told a story of a fire fighter that arrived at a barn that had been burned beyond repair. As he entered the rubble he noticed a hen still alive surrounded by soot and ashes from the fire. This hen had all her babies clutched under her wings, still alive. The mother hen had saved her babies through the fire.

In the scriptures the Savior uses many parables to help teach us, one of these is he is compared to a hen and we are the chicks. 

Lessons Learned:

As we are trying to find the treasures of heaven, trying to live the gospel, we are becoming like the Savior. We are His treasures.  The hurt I felt for the speaker and the burnt painting was great, I can only imagine the pain he must have felt. Just as we are the Lord's treasures, I can only imagine the hurt and pain He feels as we make choices that in a sense is like throwing our spirits in the fire. Burned and torched. But it also brings me hope knowing that has the mother hen was able to protect her baby chicks from the fire. The Savior sacrificed, atoned for our sins, and died for us so that He might be able to at times protect us from the fire but also heal us when we are burned and torn. Seek ye the treasures of heaven. For we are the His treasures.  

"...The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; BUT they are numbered unto me, for they are mine." (Moses 1:37)

We are of importance. We are treasures. We are His. His treasures. May we do all we can to strengthen our value. 

Convenient

It is interesting to me that as each day passes and I try to do my best with my life I find there are things easier to live then others when it comes to the gospel. For instance: I would never be tempted to try alcohol or smoke. But yet I seem to be too embarrassed to turn off/walk out of a movie if it isn't appropriate (in front of a crowd). Silly right. Living the gospel isn't just living the easy parts, but living all of it. Everybody has temptations, you might find someone that it is super easy to walk out of an inappropriate movie but battle everyday with the temptation to smoke or drink. It's okay to have temptations. That you can't control. You can control what you do with those temptations. 

Lesson Learned:

"Some men are willing to die for their faith, but they are not willing to fully live for it."

-Ezra Taft Benson

I don't matter, I am needed

I was reading my friend's blog and it caught me off guard. The post was titled "My mom doesn't tell me I'm pretty" you will find the whole post here. She asked her mother why she didn't ever tell her she was pretty or smart when she was growing up. And what her mother was trying to teach her because of it. And this was her mother's response:
"That you, in and of yourself, are not nearly as important as the good you do for other people.  You may have to use your brain and your looks to make it through life, but at the end of the day, it isn't what your face looks like, or if you graduated from college, it is what you sacrificed to help someone in need.  No beauty, no degree, no accomplishment will make me as proud as knowing that my children know how to love and serve those around them."


I have been having a really hard time with some emotions recently. I got my "feelings hurt" so to speak, and I really have been letting it get the better of me. I swore I wouldn't let that happen when the feelings got hurt, but seeing that I am no where near perfect I let it get the best of me. And in return it has been affecting my actions. I have been less willing to serve in certain situations.  So many things have happened this month that have been "eye openers" or as I would like to call them "tender mercies" for me.


Lesson Learned:
It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter how pretty, smart, funny, dumb, ugly, and so forth, you are. It matters what you do with yourself. It matter who you serve. How often you serve. And why you serve. 
"Our lives are a gift from God. What we do with that life is our gift to Him."
I would like to share something a little bit more personal, which I normally wouldn 't do, but I feel strongly I should share it. I was recently given a Priesthood blessing because of an illness I had a couple weeks ago, in the blessing I was only expecting something on how I was sick but this statement was said: " Kimberlee, the Lord relies on you to help those around you."
I don't matter, I am needed. I am grateful to be needed. And I will try my best to do all that I can to fulfill that need. I hope to be quicker to forgive and not so easily offended in the future so that I can focus more on what work the Lord has for me to do. I hope to not let the less important things matter more then what really matters most. As the Mormon Ad would say:" It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

Butterfly

Sometimes I wonder why things have to be so hard at times. I feel guilty for feeling such ways when I know that each life experience is for our good.

Lesson Learned:
"The struggle to break out of the cocoon develops the butterfly so it can fly. Without that adversity, the butterfly would never have the strength to achieve its destiny. It would never develop the strength to become something extraordinary."
-Joseph B. Wirthlin

It isn't just for our good to have such hard times, it is vital for us to experience such things in order for us to become our full potential and live with Heavenly Father again. Without those experiences we could never have the strength to live the life we need to with Him. 

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:

"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.

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".