A friend posted a U-Tube link that I'll repost with this blog. The speaker on the video clip asks each of us to examine ourselves and see if how we treat others properly reflects Jesus' second great commandment to love one another. He emphasized that the doctrines of the Church are even given in love and our understanding of our purpose here on earth.
As I listened to this, I pondered several things. God is love and He loves us. Everything that we do as a Church and individually should be done in love. I've considered how the commandments and doctrines are given as safety measures to help us navigate through life and return to Heavenly Father. Today, however, it struck me anew that every principle and doctrine is given in love. This simple truth lit up my soul this morning as I listened to this video clip.
I also thought how differently we would be treated by others if they were trying to extend God's love to us. If we always acted in love toward others, what changes would we need to make? How would our parenting change to manifest love in all that we do? How would the manner in which we work and even play change? I see a greater vision of what we need to be working toward as I come to understand this principle of love being the motivating force behind every doctrine.
In gathering precious truths this morning, I drew another conclusion. To give the entire story, though, I need to start with our family bowling night. We love Quarter Mania Bowling on Scott AFB. We pay an entry fee, and then a quarter to rent shoes and for each game we bowl. We also eat way to many french fries because they are also only a quarter.... We bowl for several hours, which has ended the evening with my arm hurting. At the very end of the last night of bowling before this week, Ed pointed out that I should be releasing the ball with my thumb pointed up...
I had been bowling incorrectly for weeks.... I remembered what a bowling coach had taught me many years before when I bowled on a youth league at the Cannon AFB, NM, bowling alley. She said to reach out and shake hands with the guy in the middle. She must have also added the exception that my thumb should be up. I had forgotten an important part of her lesson. I had been turning the ball and throwing the bowling ball awkwardly down the lane for weeks without realizing my error.
In pondering the several lessons this video clip brought to my mind, I realized that the gospel is very simple and basic - much like my bowling coach's instructions. We have opportunities to teach and learn the very same simple gospel truths over and over again. However, I only had my memory to fall back on and it was faulty. We don't have to rely on our memory. We can continually keep the truths before our minds by attending our Sunday meetings, studying the scriptures, praying always, and all the very basic steps of our faith. We can keep adjusting our vision, too, to align more closely with heaven, too.
Did my change in how I was bowling make a difference when we bowled last night? Decidedly so! Not only did my arm feel great through all the games of bowling, but I bowled some of my best games of my life. In recent years, I've come to see repentance as a gift given by a Heavenly Father. With my improved vision of the love aspect of this and all principles, I am grateful that we have the opportunity to continue checking our behavior, our vision, our understanding of gospel truths. When we find a seemingly small error (much like my turning my hand as I bowled), we can quickly repent and align ourselves on that straight and narrow path that will lead us back to Heavenly Father.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Church Responds to HRC Petition: Statement on Same-Sex Attraction
Church Responds to HRC Petition: Statement on Same-Sex Attraction I remember being so happy about this response and hopeful that it'd touch others, too, when it was released last month. I am posting it to my blog today because a friend had shared it on Facebook and as I listened to it this morning, I learned some things that I'll share.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Instant Vegetable Soup
In talking with my mom this morning and researching diabetes on the Mayo Clinic's website, I've made several discoveries. I've made an appointment with a nutritionist for Wednesday and will pursue diet changes that I hope will lead to managing my blood sugar and getting rid of some symptoms that I am experiencing. All this research, lead me to discover an instant soup recipe that was so delicious my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
In a micro-safe bowl, I added 1 cup broccoli, 2 tablespoons leftover rice and veggies, 2 oz shredded, cooked chicken, 6 oz low sodium V-8 Juice. Except for the V-8, the ingredients were leftover. I warmed the soup on the reheat setting in the microwave and enjoyed a tasty, healthy lunch in so time. I can see taking the veggies and meat to work and adding the V-8 juice and heating it for lunch.
In a micro-safe bowl, I added 1 cup broccoli, 2 tablespoons leftover rice and veggies, 2 oz shredded, cooked chicken, 6 oz low sodium V-8 Juice. Except for the V-8, the ingredients were leftover. I warmed the soup on the reheat setting in the microwave and enjoyed a tasty, healthy lunch in so time. I can see taking the veggies and meat to work and adding the V-8 juice and heating it for lunch.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Coping Habits
My episodes with mania have probably made me more intent on being productive, but I also think the motivation to be productive has worked to pull me back to mental health, too..... I have discovered that some activities are quite helpful to me when I am stressed, even through my moods or illnesses (physical or mental). Typing and needle work (crochet, knitting, plastic canvas, cross-stitch, etc.) are quite therapeutic for me. Walking is such a boost, too. Getting outside in the sunshine is important for many reasons and does seem to be essential for me.
Individual Worth and Responsibility
I've been pondering all week how important each one of us are. I had a professor that said, "All of our heads are better than any one of our heads." We each have something to contribute and are needed - each within our own realm of influence. How many people choose to be more passive or to kind of opt out of being .... well, productive?
I am not advocating pushing oneself past suitable limits, but I am afraid we do not rise to our capacities. It has struck me in recent years how important it is for each of us to reach out and uplift one another. I remember conducting my own personal experiment when I was in college. I observed how what I chose to do influenced others. When I walked across campus or from work to the hospital, if I kept my head down and didn't meet anyone's eyes, no one spoke or seemed to even recognize my presence. When I did nothing more than look the people in the eye and smile, I received returned smiles from each person that I met. I have continued to do a version of this experiment. However, it isn't an experiment now, but a habit to show hospitality. I choose to greet those I pass with both a smile and a greeting. As before, it is rare that I don't get a greeting in return. It does matter what we choose to do, even with something as simple as greeting others as we pass them.
If we could do this in our cars, think of the far reaching positive effects we might have on our roads. Road rage would become a thing of the past. Instead of shaking our fists or worse at one another, what if we were able to spread smiles? Would it make a difference?
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... I am a Mormon. In my church, we are invited to work in our wards and branches (congregations) through callings that the bishoprics extend. Before I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I had been active in the military Protestant communities and other churches. There is a common problem of the same few people doing everything that gets done...
I liked the analogy that one of my church leaders spoke of in a talk a few years ago. He spoke of trying to move a piano with some volunteers but not the right equipment. Though they tried many ways, they were unsuccessful. Finally, someone said for everyone to stop shifting around and just to lift where one stood.... This was successful and they were able to move the piano. This is what we are asked to do. We need to do our part - right now and with our present skills, weaknesses, strengths, aptitudes.....
We do not have to wait, we can lift one another now. We can be an influence for good in our families and communities now. We can choose to smile and greet all those that we meet. We can watch for opportunities to serve that are all around us now. Kind words spoken and even just a smile can change the world a little at a time. We can be a tool in the hand of the Master. We can pray for one another. We can be the answer to those prayers for someone.
My grandmother used to say that "can't never could do a thing." If we feel a need to do something, we need to seek God's will in doing it. If God puts it on our heart to do something, then He'll also show us the way to accomplish it. We only need to be willing. In the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
I am not advocating pushing oneself past suitable limits, but I am afraid we do not rise to our capacities. It has struck me in recent years how important it is for each of us to reach out and uplift one another. I remember conducting my own personal experiment when I was in college. I observed how what I chose to do influenced others. When I walked across campus or from work to the hospital, if I kept my head down and didn't meet anyone's eyes, no one spoke or seemed to even recognize my presence. When I did nothing more than look the people in the eye and smile, I received returned smiles from each person that I met. I have continued to do a version of this experiment. However, it isn't an experiment now, but a habit to show hospitality. I choose to greet those I pass with both a smile and a greeting. As before, it is rare that I don't get a greeting in return. It does matter what we choose to do, even with something as simple as greeting others as we pass them.
If we could do this in our cars, think of the far reaching positive effects we might have on our roads. Road rage would become a thing of the past. Instead of shaking our fists or worse at one another, what if we were able to spread smiles? Would it make a difference?
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... I am a Mormon. In my church, we are invited to work in our wards and branches (congregations) through callings that the bishoprics extend. Before I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I had been active in the military Protestant communities and other churches. There is a common problem of the same few people doing everything that gets done...
I liked the analogy that one of my church leaders spoke of in a talk a few years ago. He spoke of trying to move a piano with some volunteers but not the right equipment. Though they tried many ways, they were unsuccessful. Finally, someone said for everyone to stop shifting around and just to lift where one stood.... This was successful and they were able to move the piano. This is what we are asked to do. We need to do our part - right now and with our present skills, weaknesses, strengths, aptitudes.....
We do not have to wait, we can lift one another now. We can be an influence for good in our families and communities now. We can choose to smile and greet all those that we meet. We can watch for opportunities to serve that are all around us now. Kind words spoken and even just a smile can change the world a little at a time. We can be a tool in the hand of the Master. We can pray for one another. We can be the answer to those prayers for someone.
My grandmother used to say that "can't never could do a thing." If we feel a need to do something, we need to seek God's will in doing it. If God puts it on our heart to do something, then He'll also show us the way to accomplish it. We only need to be willing. In the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Being Rescued
I dropped kids off a school yesterday and drove on to the temple. It was a bright, sunny, but cold morning. I realized as I arrived at the temple that I was on empty. We have a tool that tells you how much gas you have until empty.... Well, mine said 0! I checked to see if Ed or James were available to rescue me, if I needed rescuing and went into the temple. I decided if I needed to walk that it'd be warmer later and went in to do my work in the temple. I generally don't let my tank get so low, but like buying cheaper gas in Missouri, especially at Sam's club where it is often 30 cents cheaper than we can get in town. I said a prayer that I'd be able to make it to the gas station and went in....
It was a cold, windy morning and walking in chilled me. As I walked inside, I was welcomed warmly by the smiling faces and the physically warm entranceway. I practice leaving my problems at the door, which must be automatic because I often don't even have to think about it. If I find those thoughts crowding in, though, I mentally walk them back to the door and set them outside on the bench. I was able to do ordinance work for a sister that shares Sarah's birthday. I noticed several new faces among the ordinance workers, which made me think about how many more people will get the opportunity to serve with the opening of the Kansas City temple. Being so close to our temple and being able to go often is a choice opportunity that I treasure.
As I left the temple, the cold wind hit me. Requesting the nearest gas station on my GPS, I discovered that there was one in just over a mile. All morning I had been praying to know what to do. When it felt like driving to the gas station was the right thing to do, I prayed to make it there safely or to at least have a safe place to pull over to the side of the road. Remarkably, I felt confident that all would work out even if I did run out of gas. Reaching the Shell station was easy, though the van did seem like it was working harder to get there.
I like to look at situations from lots of angle.... I guess I do it out of curiosity. I knew God was with me and did not doubt his power in fixing my problem. However, it was my problem and I wasn't so sure how it would play out. When bad things happen, does that mean God isn't watching out for us? I know one thing that I have found myself praying for more and more through the years is that I will be prepared for what is coming. In the winter, I generally have winter gear stashed in the vehicle. If I am wearing a dress, I have sweats and/or warmer shoes in the car. As I contemplated walking for gas, I knew I'd be cold. Like once in Germany when our van broke down, I wasn't prepared for breaking down... In Germany, we were rescued by a family that we kept in touch with for a long time afterwards. Many years even before that, we were rescued by grandparents and a grandson from West Virginia when we broke down in the desert in California. After church our first Sunday in Illinois, we were rescued by a construction worker on Highway 50 within seconds of pulling over. I had forgotten most of these experiences until I started writing this blog.
I still didn't answer my question.... I know even through some of the hardest things I've done, I've felt God with me. What is the saying about the rain falling on the just and unjust alike....? I believe each of us are going to face horrible things in our lives. If we live close to God and heeding his counsel and guidance, I know we will do better. However, I am just as sure that we will have to handle hard, difficult things. The difference is whether we do it with God or without God. God is always there and always willing to comfort, to help, to shoulder our burdens.
It was a cold, windy morning and walking in chilled me. As I walked inside, I was welcomed warmly by the smiling faces and the physically warm entranceway. I practice leaving my problems at the door, which must be automatic because I often don't even have to think about it. If I find those thoughts crowding in, though, I mentally walk them back to the door and set them outside on the bench. I was able to do ordinance work for a sister that shares Sarah's birthday. I noticed several new faces among the ordinance workers, which made me think about how many more people will get the opportunity to serve with the opening of the Kansas City temple. Being so close to our temple and being able to go often is a choice opportunity that I treasure.
As I left the temple, the cold wind hit me. Requesting the nearest gas station on my GPS, I discovered that there was one in just over a mile. All morning I had been praying to know what to do. When it felt like driving to the gas station was the right thing to do, I prayed to make it there safely or to at least have a safe place to pull over to the side of the road. Remarkably, I felt confident that all would work out even if I did run out of gas. Reaching the Shell station was easy, though the van did seem like it was working harder to get there.
I like to look at situations from lots of angle.... I guess I do it out of curiosity. I knew God was with me and did not doubt his power in fixing my problem. However, it was my problem and I wasn't so sure how it would play out. When bad things happen, does that mean God isn't watching out for us? I know one thing that I have found myself praying for more and more through the years is that I will be prepared for what is coming. In the winter, I generally have winter gear stashed in the vehicle. If I am wearing a dress, I have sweats and/or warmer shoes in the car. As I contemplated walking for gas, I knew I'd be cold. Like once in Germany when our van broke down, I wasn't prepared for breaking down... In Germany, we were rescued by a family that we kept in touch with for a long time afterwards. Many years even before that, we were rescued by grandparents and a grandson from West Virginia when we broke down in the desert in California. After church our first Sunday in Illinois, we were rescued by a construction worker on Highway 50 within seconds of pulling over. I had forgotten most of these experiences until I started writing this blog.
I still didn't answer my question.... I know even through some of the hardest things I've done, I've felt God with me. What is the saying about the rain falling on the just and unjust alike....? I believe each of us are going to face horrible things in our lives. If we live close to God and heeding his counsel and guidance, I know we will do better. However, I am just as sure that we will have to handle hard, difficult things. The difference is whether we do it with God or without God. God is always there and always willing to comfort, to help, to shoulder our burdens.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Modern-day Quilting Bees
I've noticed that women have a need to gather together and to be productive. I wonder if quilting bees achieved both. Our need to gather together may be one reason the in-home sales parties are popular. I know I can think of several times that I've either joined or started a group that drew women together to share a potluck meal; to pray together; to study the scriptures; to play with out kids; etc.
The idea came to me when I was talking to my friend Asha that we should make time each week to get together and work on our projects. We were going to meet tomorrow to watch the Sound of Music, but she can't now. I've several projects that I want to do and have decided to invite other women to bring their projects to my house once a week. We can watch movies or whatever and work. I think that women do have a need to time to encourage and uplift one another. :-) I keep thinking that I will make time for the projects I have. However, without a specific block of time set aside, I am not getting them done. I am excited about the possibilities....
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Missouri Botanical Gardens
A friend and I explored the Missouri Botanical Gardens this morning. The sun kept it from being too cold, but it was a brisk morning. I did take one picture, but am not sure how to download pictures from my phone to the computer.
Why are gardens so peaceful? They seem to have the ability to refresh and renew our soul. To be close enough to walk through this garden every day would be a luxury! On Wednesdays, St. Louis residents or maybe members, can walk in the gardens for free from 7 to 9 am. At $8 for admission and free parking, it is inexpensive. With a military ID, admission is two for the price of one.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
My First Blog
Wow, my first blog entry and I have nothing to say. :-) My husband says that I give people too many details... I may be wrong, but I think a blog might flourish with details.
Life is good! I am at a point in life where my kids are pretty self-sufficient and happy! My husband has a job that he mostly enjoys. I am comfortable with my life, but also willing to accept challenges. I am learning to knit and after I bead some socks for my sister-in-law for Thanksgiving, I am going to knit some hats for Christmas for my family.
I live close enough to the St. Louis zoo that I went twice last month and would go again soon. :-) I am going to the botanical gardens this week. I live close enough to the St. Louis Temple (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that I can nearly every week to do work for those that passed through this world without having the work done. My temple worship is one great strength in my life. It strengthens me immeasurably.
Once a week a friend and I are going to try to get together to watch a movie and knit or crochet. This week it is The Sound of Music. We are picking up Long John Silvers for lunch. I wonder if other friends would like to join us...
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