Blessings Pour Out

Do you ever feel like you receive blessings that you don't deserve? I taught a lesson today in church about the covenants we make with the Lord and the blessings we receive when we honor those covenants. During the lesson I kept having the feeling that Heavenly Father is so generous with the blessings he gives us. All we have to do is read our scriptures, say our prayers, go to church, and keep trying everyday to be more and more like our Savior. With those simple things we receive blessings beyond compare.

In my life I feel like I have received many blessings without having done the work. Growing up I was never consistent with reading my scriptures or saying my personal prayers. It just wasn't something that I made a priority. However, I look back and see the infinite amount of blessings that Heavenly Father poured out upon me, even in my laziest of times. He led and directed me by the Spirit to a wonderful school where I met my amazing husband (whom I literally feel I was not worthy of at the time of our meeting). So why was I blessed with these wonderful things when I was not deserving of them?

Honestly, I am not sure. The only guess I can possibly have in my mind is that Heavenly Father saw and knew my potential as His spirit born daughter. Years later I feel like I am more closely on track with keeping my end of the covenants I have made. For the first time in my life I am reading my scriptures and saying my personal prayers more consistently. With this recent change I have felt a change in myself. I am much happier each day. I speak more kindly to my dear spouse. I am less quick to judge others and instead I am able to focus on my own silly faults that need to be addressed and changed.

The blessings in my life continue to pour out. This doesn't mean in any way that I do not have trials or struggles each day, but when they come I am blessed with greater strength to endure them. It really is the small and simple things, or the primary answers as we call them, that give us the strength to live the gospel each day. Not only are we happier when we do these simple things, but the Lord is standing by waiting and hoping to bless us in every capacity. I have seen this in my own life and I have seen this in the lives of others. We as Latter-Day Saints can do it! We CAN live the gospel to it's fullest each and every day. All we need to do is rely on the Lord and He will make up for the rest!

Safety & Peace

Just a quick thought I had a couple weeks ago. At the beginning of {First Nephi Chapter 17}, Nephi explains the journey in the wilderness is taking a toll. They had "many afflictions." But, within their afflictions they were blessed. Nephi gives the reason in verse 3:

And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and ^astrengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did ^bprovide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness. {emphasis added}

Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of us. Right here in this verse, it says what we need to do to face our challenges: Keep the Commandments. If we keep the commandments, then the Lord with bless us to keep moving forward. Just like the {primary} {song} says:

Keep the commandments; keep the commandments!
In this there is safety; in this there is peace.
He will send blessings;
Words of a prophet:
Keep the commandments.
In this there is safety and peace.

Compensated for Every Tear

I am truly amazed at the resiliency of the human spirit. It is unbelievable how much pain one person can endure and still survive it somehow- that our bodies don't explode under all the pressure of it is truly miraculous.

I have heard the quote "you're stronger than you think you are", and this week I gained a personal testimony that it is true for every one of us. We really can deal with ANYTHING in this life, and still Christ endured more. And he didn't break under the pressure of it. His strength gives us the power to overcome our hardships without breaking too.

Every time I think I've reached my limit of what I can bear, I realize that I really am strong enough to bear whatever things I encounter in life, because God doesn't give us more than we can bear. If it WAS more than I could bear, what would I expect to happen to anyway? Even if I passed out from the stress, I would still be normal again eventually and will have passed through it.

I just feel so empowered by the Savior's atonement for me, and the knowledge that there really isn't anything I CAN'T bear with Him. Because everything "comes to pass" and eventually, I have passed through it, and I'm okay again.

I love the scriptures Joseph Smith wrote during his stay in Liberty jail under those awful circumstances. He offers up a pleading prayer to Heavenly Father, asking him "Where art thou??" And Heavenly Father's response is so kind and gentle, and reassuring. "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou enure it well, God shall exalt thee on high." Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8

I felt this the other night when my heart was heavy with some of the devastating news I've been dealing with for the past little while- I felt the Savior's reassurance that He understands, and that He is anxious to wipe away my tears and gather me into His arms when this life of pain and hardship is over.

If you haven't read "Come What May and Love it"- it was the last conference talk given by Elder Wirthlin before he died, Nov 2008 Ensign, and I highly suggest reading it again. My favorite quote from that talk is: "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

And that concept that we will be blessed even for enduring hard things is beautiful to me.

Back to the Basics

I'm so excited about the basic gospel principles being taught this year in Relief Society. Our lesson on Sunday was about coming to know the nature of God, and I think that is probably the most important thing we can accomplish here on this earth, by establishing a relationship with Him.

They talked about how we establish relationships with people around us by talking to them, asking them questions, and listening. If we just went and jabbered about ourself to someone every day, we really wouldn't get to know them, would we? So the way we get to know God is to get on our knees and talk to Him, and then to listen. I think rather than just sitting there waiting for Him to say something immidiately after we pray, we can listen to His voice throughout the day by making time to ponder. That means turning off the radio in the car so we can just think about Him, or making a quiet time to ponder and study the words He's given us.

When we truly make an effort to know Him, I know He will respond and draw closer to us in a way we never could have imagined. He wants to know us, and for us to know Him, because once we understand His intentions for us, I think everything in life will make more sense. And we will feel His guidance and help every day because we know how badly He just wants us to succeed.

One of my favorite scriptures is Doctrine and Covenants section 76 about the three degrees of glory. That whole section just blows me away, because it shows that God intends to give everyone some measure of glory, as much as he can possibly give us with how willing we are to live for it- and the amazing blessings of the celestial kingdom for those who keep their temple covenants are just astounding to me. And He WANTS to give it to us- that was His whole purpose in sending us here. So He will do everything He possibly can to help us keep those covenants, and is sending angels to help us every day.

I know He didn't send us here to condemn us for our failures, because he even gives a glory to those who fail miserably, even though He wanted more than anything to give them everything He has. It all seems so simple when I think of it this way, because Christ took all the complications upon Himself, and reaches out a hand for us to join Him in His perfection. It really is as simple as looking up at that serpant on the cross and being healed. And it just amazes me when I simplify it like that.

I could say that having Christmas Eve and New Years Eve to write my Thursday post was just too hard, but the truth is that I just plain forget! Every week I remember come Sunday that I never posted on Thursday.
But thank you so much to all the ladies who have shared their thoughts this week. They have meant so much to me.
Tonight I was feeling very overwhelmed with life, and the state of the world, and all my loved ones who are struggling with trials. In fact, I am overwhelmed thinking about all those things very often. And I just feel like giving up. But after I had a good cry, I came in here and pulled up my homepage (which I have changed to the lds website so I have to see it every day!) and just started reading the article on the front page entitled "Hold On a Little Longer."
It is always amazing to me that Heavenly Father can find a way to speak directly to ME even though his apostle is speaking to a huge audience of people. Almost as if I know that God directed him to say those things because I needed it.
I then watched the beautiful Mormon Message entitled "The Infinite Power of Hope" taken from Elder Uchtdorf's talk a few conferences ago. That talk moved me when it was given, and today again it brought me to tears. I also enjoyed the ones called "Lifting Burdens" and "Choose this Day".
It is so refreshing to know that if we will just make the slightest effort to reach our hands out for God, He will always reach back, and pour out His love through any means He can. Today for me it was a simple effort to read an article online and watch those videos. In the deepest darkness of dispair, He always reaches out to me somehow. I can see how I am completely overwhelmed on the days I do not seek Him. It is true that we cannot make it through our adversity without the Savior. We are completely helpless without Him. I think it is that way so we will make the effort to reach out, and to seek for Him, because it is impossible to get through this alone.

Thankful

I know I post a lot of videos, or refer to a lot of other blogs. Sorry about that. But I have to post this! I have to! In honor of Thanksgiving (I surely love that holiday) I think it is important to stop and think of all the things I am thankful for. Here is what some random people on the streets of New York are thankful for:


I am most thankful for the creation of life, and most importantly, for the atonement.

What Matters Most

I know I touched on this last week and earlier in the month, but I can't help it. I feel very grateful for what I've been blessed with and so I went searching on the church website and found the new Gratitude page. It's full of links and videos talking about this principle and one of the videos is this short message from President Monson, take a look and then take the challenge to examine what matters most to you! (I promise my posts will be more in depth once I get used to the lack of sleep) :)

"Astonished Beyond Measure"

I just started into the book of Helaman in my personal scripture study, and the other day, I was reading toward the end of Chapter 3, where it talks about the righteousness (and resulting prosperity) of the Church. The Church was having such a time of prosperity that tens of thousands of people were being baptized (vs. 24, 26)

I was really struck with verse 25 in particular:

And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure.

This brings to mind two things: first, the Nephites recognized that their blessings came from righteousness, and second, that these blessings were so amazing and abundant, that the leaders were "astonished beyond measure!" The blessings were that wonderful.

I often marvel at the small blessings and tender mercies granted unto me by the Lord, but to be astonished beyond measure? I can't imagine what wonderful blessings they received. I hope to see such blessings myself someday as the Church continues to grow in faith and righteousness.

Ambo & the Law of Tithing

I'm really excited that we are all 'forced' to introduce ourselves now. Since it's Wednesday, I'm up:

Hello, my name is Amber and I'm a Gospel-Addict.

I am also a wife, mother, sister, friend, daughter, sports-freak, clutz, nap-time crafter, theatre-geek, and teacher. I constantly try to do my best and, most of the time, it gets me into trouble (especially in the clutz category).

I grew up in St. Louis (as alluded to in Ash's post) and, when the time came, I ventured to BYU, where I graduated in Elementary Education. Gweg and I have been married for almost five years (CRAZY--and, yes, it's true, he is Ash's cousin).

We have a happy-go-lucky 15-month-old boy named Jared and are expecting a little girl at the end of November (not planned, on our part, at least). I, too, am a SAHM with so much to do and not enough time to do it in. We live in South Texas where Gweg works as an engineer and we don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon (we're building our first house---that's how I met Trish---she's in my ward and told us about a great subdivision to build in).

Whenever I have free time I enjoy cooking, crafting, swimming, yoga, playing Wii, dancing with Jared, and---shocker---the St. Louis Cardinals! I'm currently trying to be better at going to the temple, saying consistent family prayers and having FHE. I love to learn and grow which is why I wanted to join the ranks of this blog!

As Trish mentioned in her testimony post, I bore my testimony on Sunday. Ash can verify that this is nothing new; I'm one of those people that probably bears their testimony too much. I couldn't resist it this time because I felt overwelming gratitude for Heavenly Father's blessings to my family. And, I believe it was because we pay our tithing.

Greg just recently finished grad school and this month we had to start paying his loans back, both undergrad and graduate, in addition to the rest of our monthly bills. We sat down and talked about giving ourselves very small weekly allowance for food and other expenses. Even though we were following our new rules, it didn't seem we were going to make it to the next payday. We were worried, then on Friday we got a $1000 check from a car accident we had in December. Greg and I looked at each other and immediately said a prayer because we knew where this money came from.

Elder Robert D. Hales taught:

"To those who faithfully and honestly live the law of tithing, the Lord promises an abundance of blessings. Some of these blessings are temporal, just as tithes are temporal. But like the outward physical ordinances of baptism and the sacrament, the commandment to pay tithing requires temporal sacrifice, which ultimately yields great spiritual blessings....

Would any of us intentionally reject an outpouring of blessings from the Lord? Sadly, this is what we do when we fail to pay our tithing. We say no to the very blessings we are seeking and praying to receive. If you are one who has doubted the blessings of tithing, I encourage you to accept the Lord’s invitation to “prove [Him] now herewith.” Pay your tithing. Unlock the windows of heaven. You will be abundantly blessed for your obedience and faithfulness to the Lord’s laws and commandments."

Tithing: A Test of Faith with Eternal Blessings
Ensign, November 2002

The Lord blesses us when we live the commandments righteously; sometimes in ways we can see, other times in ways we can't. I know I have a lot of things to work on, but I hope that I will always pay my tithing because the Lord has already blessed me because of it.

Patriarchal Blessings

When I was 16 years old I decided that I was ready to receive my patriarchal blessing. I was very excited, but also very nervous. I was told to fast and pray before going to receive it and at the time I prayed for one specific answer to come through my patriarchal blessing. I prayed that my patriarchal blessing would confirm to me that I would have the opportunity to be a mother. When I received my patriarchal blessing my prayers were answered and it was confirmed to me that I would have that opportunity.

Three months ago I had a miscarriage and became very discouraged that I would not be able to have children naturally. Through out these last months I have been praying for comfort and I recently was guided to my patriarchal blessing. I know that my blessing is personal revelation for me, from a loving Heavenly Father who knows my needs and my desires. I know that if I can have faith and continue to do my best in living the gospel of Jesus Christ that I will be blessed.

President Monson said, "Your patriarchal blessing is yours and yours alone. It may be brief or lengthy, simple or profound. Length and language do not a patriarchal blessing make. It is the Spirit that conveys the true meaning. Your blessing is not to be folded neatly and tucked away. It is not to be framed or published. Rather, it is to be read. It is to be loved. It is to be followed. Your patriarchal blessing will see you through the darkest night. It will guide you through life’s dangers.... Your patriarchal blessing is to you a personal Liahona to chart your course and guide your way."

It has been over two years since I last read my patriarchal blessing. When was the last time that you read yours? I encourage you all to turn to it weekly, if not daily, for guidance and comfort. And if you have not yet received your patriarchal blessing I encourage you to do so. It has brought me much comfort throughout my life and I have seen many things fulfilled within it.