I'm Committed!

First I just have to say how much I LOVE the Ensign. It is such an amazing magazine filled with inspired words from the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My thoughts are driven by an article that I read this morning in the July Ensign titled, "Brother, I'm Committed."

Lately I have been in a bit of a weird funk. I love attending church meetings and partaking of the Sacrament. I love the scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I have been feeling stuck. I have not been progressing the way I know I can over the past couple of weeks. This talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf helped me understand why I was "standing still" in my testimony.

He talks a lot about commitment to our covenants. I have not been nearly as faithful at reading my scriptures and saying my prayers as I know I should be. Often I make excuses as to why I haven't been as good at this lately, but in reality it is simply because I was not committed fully. President Uchtdorf says, "Those who are only sort of committed may expect to only sort of receive the blessings of testimony, joy, and peace. The windows of heaven might only be sort of open to them." This is what I have been feeling lately. Only a small part of the true joy and testimony that can be mine. "Being only sort of committed to the gospel can lead to frustration, unhappiness, and guilt."

This has been my call to remembrance. Starting today I am re-committing to live the gospel to its' fullest. And I am going to follow the counsel of the Lord (through His apostle) to "search the scriptures and earnestly seek the guidance of [my] Father in Heaven,...accept and magnify [my] callings,...attend [church] meetings,...[and] do [my] visiting teaching."

Have any of you ever felt stuck in your progress? I used to think that would never happen to me, but now I know that it can and will happen to anyone who chooses to not fully commit. I know that after praying and studying my scriptures this morning I felt a tremendous amount of peace and joy. Now I just have to keep it up! Wish me luck.

Finding Balance

It is time to get back to recording my spiritual thoughts on this blog. I hope that some of these thoughts will touch those who are reading.

I have been struggling with finding true balance in my life. I feel as though I get things worked out and then something new comes along to throw me off again. I felt like I was managing well and then I received a new calling at church. I got really consumed and busy planning a fundraiser for our Young Women to go to camp this summer and I got way off track with my balance.

As today is fast Sunday for our ward I am fasting to become a better mother and wife with balanced priorities. I searched for talks to study while fasting and have been reading all morning about what I can do to bring balance back to my life, home, and family. Here are some of the words of council I have found:

First from Elder Ballard's talk found HERE -

1. Write down the tasks you would like to accomplish each day. Keep foremost in mind the sacred covenants you have made with the Lord as you write down your daily schedules.
2. Set short-term goals that you can reach. Pray for divine guidance in your goal setting.
3. Budget your finances. Control your needs and measure them carefully against your many wants in life. "In my judgment, we never will have balance in our lives unless our finances are securely under control."
4. ALWAYS pay a full tithe.
5. Stay close to your spouse, children, relatives, and friends. They will help you keep a balance in your life.
6. Study the scriptures.
7. We need to schedule time on our DAILY calendars for sufficient rest, exercise, and relaxation if we are to enjoy a healthy and balanced life. "Good physical appearance enhances our dignity and self-respect."
8. Hold Family Home Evening every week.
9. Pray often as individuals and as families.
10. "I believe that when we focus on a few basic objectives, we are more likely to be able to manage the many demands that life makes on us. Remember, too much of anything in life can throw us off-balance. At the same time, too little of the important things can do the same thing."
11. Live every day with joy in your heart and life can be wonderful.

Other fantastic talks I have been studying -
Elder Uchtdorf's "Of Things That Matter Most"
Elder Faust's "The Need for Balance in Our Lives"
Brent L. Top's "A Balanced Life"

I hope to achieve better balance in my life over the next few weeks. And then I hope to maintain that balance as long as I am able. Then when something new falls into my life I can rearrange and hopefully still keep the balance.

Any and all suggestions on how to keep balance in my life would be very welcome and greatly appreciated.

Little Acts of Service

Today I had the most wonderful experience. My husband has been extremely sick for the past week and has had to keep his distance from both me and our 2 month old son. Thus, I was left to care for our little guy entirely alone, round the clock, for going on 7 days now (I have no family in the area to help out). It has been a tiring and trying week for me. Apparently my exhaustion was visible because a new sister in our ward promptly came up to me at the end of church and said, "You look so tired. Can I bring you dinner tonight?" All week I had been praying that I would make it through and that somehow I could get help if I needed it. This sister had never met me, yet she was so in tune with the Spirit that she recognized my need for help.

I swallowed my own pride and accepted her help. It was so wonderful to be able to come home and relax (even take a nap) all afternoon because I knew that dinner was taken care of. And dinner was of course delicious. Better than anything I could have whipped up.

This sister's act of service got me thinking that I need to be more observant when I am around others. There will always be someone in need and it is our job to serve them in any way we can. I only hope that someday I can return the favor! I am so grateful for our church and for the built in support system we have in our ward families. The church is true. If you ever doubt this then just look at the love members have for one another through their service to each other.

Conference Ensign

I have been wanting to post on this blog for the past two weeks. Every day I feel like I want to share something, and then I completely forget. I think it must be the new mommy brain (or lack thereof). Anyway, I am finally remembering and having time to post.

These days I spend much of my time nursing my son. While I am doing this there really is not a lot I can do besides watch a movie or read. So I have decided that I should be spending the majority of my time reading. I have finished three books and in the span of about 1 week I read through the entire May 2010 Ensign with all of the conference talks. I have never read through an entire conference issue before. I have read conference talks here and there, but have never really made time to sit down and read the entire issue. I must say it has been a wonderful blessing in my life. Each day I have had something meaningful to ponder about. And each day I feel like I have done something productive with my time. I don't know about you but when I feel productive my self confidence goes up and I am a much happier person. There are so many wonderful messages shared by the leaders of our church. It is there job to lead us, but it is our job to follow. I have found over the past few weeks that I can fulfill my duty of following our leaders by studying and pondering on there words. I hope that we all can put a higher priority on reading and learning the words of the prophets of God. Hope you all have a good and productive week.

A New Life!

This week has been a week full of wonder and love. Our baby boy was born this past Wednesday and we are in utter amazement at his sweet little life. We are grateful that he is healthy and here safe in our family. Today I wanted to share some thoughts from my husband about the birth. I was so touched by his perspective that I thought it would be wonderful to share with all of you. He said the following:

Spiritually speaking, there exists no better example of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and parallel suffering of our Heavenly Father. Meagan, in her beautiful own way, suffered selflessly for another who was powerless to help himself. I had to watch and reassure and love Meagan and baby as best as I could having no power to relieve their suffering. Heavenly Father, on the other hand, had all power to stop his Son's suffering and had to exercise Godly restraint to stay His almighty hand to allow Christ's sacrifice for us to be efficacious. In the end, Meagan was delivered victorious from her suffering, Bennett's deliverance was complete, and Meagan enabled a sparkling new soul to live a life full of joy in a way profoundly similar to what Christ has done for us.

I don't know if my words do the thought justice, but that's what I learned and I learned it in a more intense and beautiful way than I have ever before experienced. Welcome Bennett, we love you forever.

Now, meet baby Bennett:

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!

The Screwtape Letters

This week I started reading "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis! I just want to let you all know that this is one of the best books I have ever read. It is entirely entertaining and I have learned so much about the ways in which Satan tempts us. It has truly opened up my eyes towards temptation. I feel that I am better aware of Satan's tactics and that I can better ward off temptations as they arise.

There are about a hundred quotes that I would love to share and elaborate on from this wonderful book, but today I want to leave you all with this thought:

"To get the man's soul and give him nothing in return - that is what really gladdens Our Father's heart."

Explanation: Screwtape (the senior devil) is saying this to his nephew (a junior devil). Satan is referred to as "Our Father." Satan's goal is to make us miserable like unto himself. When we choose to follow him we are exactly that - miserable. But in the end Satan has nothing to give us. He literally CANNOT give us anything. God can give us EVERYTHING, if we but choose to follow Him.

I am looking forward to finishing this book and hopefully sharing many of the things that I learned from it! You should all really read this book. Check it out at your local library or buy a paperback version for cheap. It is truly insightful!

Teaching Your Children

I wanted to talk today about General Conference last weekend. It was absolutely wonderful! I am so excited to get our copy of the May Ensign with all of the conference addresses. I have decided that it will become our "Parents Manual." I loved that almost every talk focused on the family and teaching your children in the home. I think that they are obviously trying to tell us something.

The world is changing so much in the way that they view the family, but our church is standing firm! The family is the most important unit in society. Without the family our country is doomed. We need to stand up and speak up for the family! The best way I think we can do this is by starting in our own individual homes. We must teach our children so that together as a family we can be an example to the world. I encourage us all to spend more time IN our home WITH our children and our spouses. Our children need to hear the gospel from us every single day. We must be reading our scriptures and saying our prayers together as families every single day. Family home evening is more than just being together. It is about teaching our children the gospel in a place where they feel safe and in place where they can trust their teachers. We NEED to have family home evening every week.

My favorite thing that was said in conference was that we can start teaching the gospel to our infants. This was particularly important to me at this time as my husband and I prepare to welcome our first little one into our family. Infants are very aware of what we say and what we teach. We need to start right from the beginning. Even if our babies cannot fully understand everything we teach them we are still creating good habits as a family that will carry with us for many years. If we build good habits while our families are new and growing then we will be able to improve upon them over the years! I encourage you all to make these good habits. Read the scriptures and say prayers with your children, even your infants, every day - starting NOW!

Easter All Year Round

The past week leading up to Easter I have been pondering the Savior's life. At Easter time each year we get to re-focus our minds on our Savior and on the knowledge that He lives! I started to think to myself, "Why are we only focusing on the resurrection of Jesus Christ once a year at Easter?"

It is similar to Christmas. We get all jazzed up about the birth of Christ for about 1 month. People turn to service, treat each other more kindly, and emulate the Savior more fully. But once Christmas is over everyone goes back to their daily lives. So it is with Easter. We get excited to think about our Savior and how He died for us and broke the bands of death with His resurrection. But once Easter is over, we return to selfish thoughts and forget to be grateful for His sacrifice and the gift of eternal life which He has prepared for us if we choose to receive Him into our hearts and minds.

My challenge to all of us is that we continue to ponder about our Savior's life, sacrifice, and resurrection. He lives! We must turn our hearts to Him and follow Him in word and deed. We must be examples to those around us of Christlike love. We need to study His attributes and make them our own. Something I find useful to keeping my mind on the Savior is reading "The Living Christ." Print your own copy from the church website and read it AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. It is a wonderful reminder of our loving Savior who sacrificed His life for each of us.

I know that Christ lives. I know that He is our Savior. I know that if we follow Him we will gain exaltation and eternal life. I anxiously await His return to the Earth so that I may see Him once again. He is our loving brother and is always there when we need Him. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am ever grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who created such a wonderful plan for us to receive bodies and learn and grow here on the Earth. May we all stay on the path that leads to the presence of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ!

Dedicate Your Home

Quick Question: Have any of you dedicated your home?

If your answer is no or you are wondering what in the world I am even talking about then you MUST read this post! If your answer is yes then you rock, way to go you!

Dedicating your home is a wonderful thing to do! It is very simple and it helps you create a home where the spirit can dwell constantly! My husband and I have been meaning to dedicate our home for months, but somehow we kept forgetting. We finally were able to dedicate our home last Sunday evening. It is a simple priesthood ordinance that is much like a prayer. You women who are reading this go tell your husband's that you would like them to dedicate your home.

“Church members may dedicate their homes, … as sacred edifices where the Holy Spirit can reside” (General Handbook of Instructions, p. 11-5). If your husbands do not know how to dedicate your home then have them refer to their General Handbook of Instructions under Priesthood Blessings.

If you are single and would like to have your home dedicated then you can ask either a family member who holds the Priesthood or a home teacher. I highly encourage all of you to dedicate your homes so that you can better be guided by the Spirit of the Lord each day!

PS: Remember that you don't have to own your home to dedicate it. My husband and I live in a little 2 bedroom apartment but it is our current "home" so we have dedicated it as such! This would be a perfect Family Home Evening lesson tomorrow night!

Spiritual Bugs

Last week while visiting family in Utah we heard a talk about temptation. The sister sharing the message quoted from the following New Era talk:

When I went outside that Saturday morning, I didn’t say to myself, “I hope a bug flies into my mouth today.” But as I was jogging, it happened. A bug flew right into my mouth! It wasn’t my fault. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I didn’t even see it coming.

What do you think I did when that insect zipped between my teeth? Well, I didn’t swish it around and savor it. I didn’t leave it there just to see what would happen. I didn’t swallow it. I didn’t even take time to think about it. I just spit it out and kept running, sputtering along the way.

Have you ever had a “bug” fly into your mouth? Have you ever innocently come across an inappropriate picture or song or word or idea? You probably have. Evil influences are all around us, and while we can do much to avoid them, we will probably be exposed to them through no fault of our own. These spiritual bugs are deadly—much more harmful to our spirits than that little insect was to my body.

What should you do if a spiritual bug flies into your mouth? You should give it the same treatment I gave the bug that flew into mine: Spit it out! Don’t hesitate. Walk away. Run away if you have to. Turn off the TV. Turn off the radio. Turn off the computer. Throw that book or magazine in the garbage can where it belongs.

I thought that this image was absolutely perfect and one that every single person could relate to. When temptations are thrown our way, as they always are, we need to spit them out and keep running towards God. Lets not take a peek, or savor the spiritual bugs in our lives!

Check out the rest of the talk HERE.

We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet

Today my lesson was on Prophets of God. I really enjoyed teaching this lesson because I feel like this is a topic I have never put much thought into. Having a living prophet on the Earth is absolutely amazing. Have you ever stopped to think about how fortunate we are as Latter-Day Saints to have a prophet to guide us in our lives? Before this week I hadn't.

Thomas S. Monson is the current President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has been called of God to lead us in these latter days. He is truly an amazing man! In the lesson I prepared it asked the following question: "What has the current prophet taught or counseled us to do recently?" When I read this question I thought to myself, "I don't know." Do you know what President Monson has counseled us to do recently? I decided that I would go back through each talk he gave at conference since he was sustained as the President of our church. He was sustained in February 2008 so I looked at May and November Ensigns of 2008, as well as May and November Ensigns of 2009. Wow, did I learn a lot. Here are just a few of the things that he has asked us to do:

Don't Gossip
Be Examples - "Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow."
Be kind and loving to your spouses and children
Be honest in your dealings with others, at all times and in all circumstances
Show kindness and respect for all people everywhere
Demonstrate respect toward those whose beliefs differ from ours
Create a home where the Spirit dwells and where love reigns
Make your home a sanctuary of righteousness and a place of prayer
Go to the temple often - "Doing so will help to strengthen marriages and families."
Pray for the opening of those areas around the world where we are not allowed to share the gospel freely
Be prudent in our planning, conservative in our living, and avoid unnecessary debt
Pray concerning our callings in the Church and seek divine help
For those who hold the Priesthood - use it to bless and serve others ("The man who fails to use it is apt to lose it.")

These are only the beginning of the teachings that President Monson has given us since he has been called and sustained as our prophet and leader. I encourage you all to go back through the talks that he has given over the past 2 years. I know that you will find counsel and wisdom that will benefit your lives! And don't forget to read between the lines in order to find the counsel he is giving us. Many times it is through a story or the sharing of an example that he tells us what we need to do to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Savior.

Tithing

We are currently in Portland, OR on a work trip/vacation. The ward that we attended this morning was excellent (as all wards are). We both especially loved one of the speakers in sacrament meeting. He spoke on the law of tithing! In our church we pay 10% of our income to the Lord. I wanted to share some key points that the speaker touched on and also share the talk that he referenced quite a bit.

First of all he started by saying that paying tithing is a PRIVILEGE. He said there are 7 reasons why we need/want to pay tithing. I can only remember 6 because I didn't start writing them down until half-way through the talk so I will share what I remember.

1. We pay our tithing so that God will pour out blessings upon us.
2. We pay tithing to express love to a generous & loving Heavenly Father.
3. We pay tithing as a declaration that material wealth and possession is not the most important goal in our mortal lives.
4. We pay our tithing as an affirmation that we are on the Lord's side.
5. We pay tithing so that we have church buildings to meet in, temples to worship in, etc.
6. We pay our tithing because we are indebted to God. He has given us all that we have and His only requirement in return is that we give 10% of what He has blessed us with.

The last one is especially important I thought. Here is what Elder Talmage said about paying tithing:

Paying tithing is not a token gift we are somehow charitably bestowing upon God. Paying tithing is discharging a debt. Elder James E. Talmage once described this as a contract between us and the Lord. He imagined the Lord saying: “ ‘You have need of many things in this world—food, clothing, and shelter for your family … , the common comforts of life. … You shall have the means of acquiring these things; but remember they are mine, and I require of you the payment of a rental upon that which I give into your hands. However, your life will not be one of uniform increase … [so] instead of doing as mortal landlords do—requir[ing] you to … pay in advance, whatever your fortunes or … prospects may be—you shall pay me … [only] when you have received; and you shall pay me in accordance with what you receive. If it so be that in one year your income is abundant, then … [your 10 percent will be a] little more; and if it be so that the next year is one of distress and your income is not what it was, then … [your 10 percent will be] less. … [Whatever your circumstance, the tithe will be fair.]’

“Have you ever found a landlord on earth who was willing to make that kind of [equitable] contract with you?” Elder Talmage asks. “When I consider the liberality of it all,” he says, “… I feel in my heart that I could scarcely raise my countenance to … Heaven … if I tried to defraud [God] out of that [which is rightfully His].”

Click HERE to read the remainder of Elder Holland's talk on tithing. I have always loved to pay my tithing. It is not something I think of as a sacrifice. It is rent for my existence here on Earth. By paying tithing we are only receiving an increase in the blessings that God can give us! I have a lot of experience with seeing the blessings of paying tithing. If I had not paid my tithing then I never would have been able to afford tuition for school. If we were not paying our tithing now then I know that my husband and I would be paying off student loans for years. But instead we are on the path to being student loan/debt free by the end of this year. It is all because of tithing. Whenever we feel discouraged about meeting our goal, we pay our tithing and immediately we see extra bonuses from work roll in, and news of raises this year, and the stock we have scheduled to sell always jumps up right before it sells. These are not coincidences, they are blessings of paying our tithing. I know that if we follow the commandments of the Lord and pay our tithing we will be blessed beyond measure! So hop to it and start putting the payment of tithes as first priority in your financial lives!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Since we get to celebrate LOVE today I thought I would share this wonderful article about love:

"Love All" by David B. Haight

Here is a sneak peak of the article! Click on the link above to read the article in it's entirety!

I believe our Father planted into the soul of man a special ingredient which, if used, will influence him toward heavenly things. Families or individuals wondering how to better share the gospel or to show deeper concern for new members, or missionaries wanting to touch the hearts of those they are teaching, have available to them this heavenly influence. That special ingredient instilled in each of us may bring to us our greatest joy. It will overcome fear, peer pressure, hatred, selfishness, evil, and even sin. This special ingredient must be nurtured as the tiny mustard seed; it is powerful beyond words and was taught by the Savior himself when asked which was the great commandment of the Law. He said:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:37–40.)

Love is this divine ingredient. It alone describes what can be our perfect relationship to our Heavenly Father and our family and neighbors, and the means by which we accomplish His work.

I really like how he calls love a "special ingredient." It really is! When we show love for our Heavenly Father, our Savior, and our fellow men everything else falls into place! I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day pondering

Pillars of Eternity

This week my lesson was on The Creation! It was a wonderful lesson and while studying and preparing for it I found an article by Bruce R. McConkie titled "Christ and the Creation." This article is really amazing and I wanted to share an excerpt that I found particularly enlightening.

God himself, the Father of us all, established a plan of salvation whereby his spirit children might progress and become like him. It is the gospel of God, the plan of Eternal Elohim, the system that saves and exalts, and it consists of three things. These three are the very pillars of eternity itself. They are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement.

Before we can even begin to understand the temporal creation of all things, we must know how these three eternal truths—the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement—are inseparably woven together. No one of them stands alone; each of them ties into the other two; and without a knowledge of all of them, it is not possible to know the truth about any one of them.

Salvation is in Christ and comes because of his atoning sacrifice. The Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is the heart of revealed religion. It ransoms men from the temporal and spiritual death brought into the world by the Fall of Adam. All men will be resurrected because our blessed Lord himself died and rose again, becoming thus the first fruits of them that slept.

And further: Christ died to save sinners. He took upon himself the sins of all men on conditions of repentance. Eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God, is available because of what Christ did in Gethsemane and at Golgotha. He is both the resurrection and the life. Immortality and eternal life are the children of the Atonement. There is no language or power of expression given to man which can set forth the glory and wonder and infinite import of the ransoming power of the great Redeemer.

But, remember, the Atonement came because of the Fall. Christ paid the ransom for Adam’s transgression. If there had been no Fall, there would be no Atonement with its consequent immortality and eternal life. Thus, just as surely as salvation comes because of the Atonement, so also salvation comes because of the Fall.

Mortality and procreation and death all had their beginnings with the Fall. The tests and trials of a mortal probation began when our first parents were cast out of their Edenic home. “Because that Adam fell, we are,” Enoch said, “and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.” (Moses 6:48.) One of the most profound doctrinal declarations ever made fell from the lips of mother Eve. She said: “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5:11.)

Remember also that the Fall was made possible because an infinite Creator made the earth and man and all forms of life in such a state that they could fall. This fall involved a change of status. All things were so created that they could fall or change, and thus was introduced the kind of existence needed to put into operation all of the terms of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation.

I encourage you all to read this talk. I never realized how important it is for us to study and understand the accounts of the creation. In studying about the creation I have gained a further witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that our Heavenly Father loves us immensely.

Prayer

My husband and I watched this message while we ate breakfast this morning. It was very touching and uplifting and I have been on a personal prayer kick for the past month! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Winning the War

Today my thoughts have significantly turned to winning the war against Satan. In my Sunday School class today I taught about Jesus Christ, our Chosen Leader and Savior. In this lesson it asks "how is the war in heaven still continuing today?" My answer is we are still battling over agency. Satan is still trying to take away our agency by tempting us to sin and become addicted to things that will limit our choices. The real question now is: How can we win the war? Well here is a list of tools that we have on our side to help us defeat Satan (keep in mind that Satan does not have full access to these things):

Scriptures
Prayer
Commandments
Temples
Sacrament Meeting
Sunday School
Relief Society
Other Church Members
Family Members
Friends
Seminary
Institute
Missionary Work
Jesus Christ
The Atonement
Repentance

This is just the beginning of a very long list of tools we have to help us win the war. What stood out to me is that these things are manageable, even easy things to do daily. And they immediately bring us strength. When we follow any commandment we are immediately blessed. Someone in my class also made the comment that the war is entirely uneven to our advantage. We have a one up on Satan because we have a body and he does not. We also have the Spirit of God to guide us and he does not. Plus we have this long list of "weapons" that he does not. So how hard should it really be for us to win the war? Not very hard at all! Go out and kick Satan's butt! I sure feel confident enough to do it! I hope you do too!

Gold Stars

Today I wanted to blog about goal setting. It is that time of year again when we all start to think about our goals and New Year's resolutions. This year I got really organized and for the first time ever I have been sticking to many of my goals. I came up with an idea to put a gold star on my calendar each day I completed 3 of my most important goals. If I don't do all 3 then I don't get a gold star. My calendar sits on my dresser in my bedroom, so I see every morning as I get out of bed and many times through out the day. It has been a wonderful reminder and gives me a lot of incentive to accomplish my goals so that I can have a gold star.

I realize how childish this may sound to all of you, and really I think it's childish myself. But the Lord has taught us that we need to be childlike! My 3 most important goals that I must accomplish each day are: 1. Say my morning prayers, 2. Study my scriptures for 30 minutes every day, and 3. Floss my teeth. For many years I have struggled to remember to say my morning prayers. I rarely have any trouble with my nightly prayers, but for some reason I just couldn't remember my morning prayers. (I think that it is mostly just because I was being lazy.) Since I have come up with my gold star idea I have only missed one morning in 10 days. That is pretty much a record for me. (Please don't judge!)

I highly encourage you all to set yourself some daily spiritual goals that you can work on over the next year. Then find a way to visually motivate yourself to accomplish them each day! Feel free to use my gold star idea if you think putting stickers on a calendar is fun! Good luck with all of your goal setting!

God is Awesome

Loving this new blog design! Whoever created it totally rocks!

Before I begin my post I wanted to check up on the goal I gave you all last week to do something nice for your spouse every day. I have to confess that I did not follow through this past week because I was in a different state than my husband for most of the week. Therefore I am going to set this goal for myself this week. How did you guys do? If any of you tried this, even for just one day, please leave a comment and tell me what you did for them and how it made your marriage better that day!

Now on to my post for the day. The lesson I taught today was about our Heavenly Father. I asked my class to help me make a list of the attributes of God. We came up with many wonderful things but there was one thing that was said that I absolutely loved. We have a lady in our ward that was just baptized about a month ago. She is the sweetest woman I have ever met and she has truly been an inspiration to me! Her comment on God's attributes today was "God is Awesome."

What a statement! God is awesome! He sure is! It is amazing to think of everything that he has given us, and continues to give us daily. God is in everything. He is constant, loving, merciful, just, forgiving, fatherly, and perfect! We can see Him in the beauties of nature! The goal this week: think of all the attributes of God and choose one that you would like to emulate more abundantly in your life! Remember that our ultimate goal is to become like God, therefore we must first understand His qualities if we want to learn to make them our own.

Put God First

I feel completely behind in my life right now (probably because I have been so busy getting ready for Christmas and now I am out of town). I apologize for missing last week's post. Congratulations to Ashley and Nate on the pregnancy! My husband and I are also expecting our first baby, a boy due May 18th!

I just want to share a simple yet profound thought with everyone. I have been witnessing people around me that are having difficulties with their marriage. It is extremely hard for me to see the sadness that these people are experiencing. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful marriage. I love being married to my best friend and I am so grateful for the wonderful person he is! I often wish that I could fix the marriages around me that do not seem to be going well. I know how good it can be so I guess I want everyone to have that in their life. The most important aspect of a marriage is that you must put God first, your spouse next, and yourself last. If you do this then you will reap the benefits of a happy, healthy, and successful marriage!

I will be the first to admit that I make many mistakes in my own marriage. And being a natural "woman" I am often more selfish than I ought to be. Thankfully I have a wonderful, patient, and loving husband who overlooks many of my more selfish moments (hopefully I do the same for him). My challenge to all of you readers is to do something thoughtful and selfless for your spouse every single day this week. That would add up to 7 selfless acts! Next week I'll check up on you and see how you did, as well as report on how I did. Good luck!