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.

More than Just Peanut Butter

Meals in our house are always fun. Jared, my son, knows the routine, so when I tell him it's time to make lunch he usually beats me to the kitchen. We decided today was sandwich day so I went to the pantry to get the peanut butter. As soon as I pulled it out, he opened the silverware drawer, grabbed a fork and started pushing me towards his highchair. He saw the peanut butter and knew that was what he wanted AT THAT MOMENT.

When it dawned on him I wasn't going anywhere, he did what any toddler would do: he threw a nasty all-out-screaming-and-crying tantrum. He decided to whine and complain because he wanted just the peanut butter, while I was still pushing forward because I knew the peanut butter was only a small part of the whole sandwich. I was frustrated he was screaming, but I wasn't going to bend my will to his because I knew what would happen in the end. I tried to tell him this in ways he would understand, but he wouldn't listen because he was so focused on the peanut butter. We continued this way until our wills met with me finishing the sandwich; our perspectives were finally in line.

It dawned on me this is how Heavenly Father feels when we forget to focus on the eternal perspective while in this mortal realm. We only remember this earth, so when decisions/situations don't go the way we planned, we tend to complain or wonder why. We are so focused on the peanut butter that we forget about the whole sandwich.

Luckily, as members of the church, we have the chance to realize our full potential beyond this earth, Elder LeGrand Richards said:

God bless[ed] you to realize where you came from and the great privileges that are yours. If the veil were rolled back and you could just see one glimpse of God’s great eternal plan concerning you and who you are, it would not be hard for you to love Him, keep His commandments, and live to be worthy of every blessing that He has had for you since before the foundations of the world were laid (“Patriarchal Blessings,” New Era, Feb. 1977, p. 7).

Heavenly Father gives us the tools to remember our potential; it's up to us to stop focusing on the peanut butter and look forward to feasting in the eternities.

On Personal Growth

I was reading the Ensign this week (the new and improved January issue) and I came across a quote by Neal A. Maxwell that I wanted to make sure no one missed.

He said:

"One's life... cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free....

"Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, 'Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!'...

"Real faith... is required to endure this necessary but painful developmental process."

(Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds," Ensign, May 1991, pp. 88, 90.)

I am personally going through a stressful, sorrowful and painful trial right now in my life. And while I try to be hopeful and remember that "all these things will be for my experience," I am tired of being stressed out and constantly fretful.

This quote really gave me reassurance and a little bit of much needed perspective. Life cannot be faith-filled and stress-free.

With that choice before me, I'll choose faith every time.

Chastity

The other day I was watching the Rachael Ray show and Julie Andrews was a guest that day. I was excited to hear about what she was up to these days. One of Rachael's questions to her was about a quote she gave to Vanity Fair magazine. In it she was quoted as saying, "Chastity is an overrated virtue." Julie confirmed that this was genuine and that she still felt that way.

I was slightly shocked at this. I mean that- yeah people in Hollywood do not quite share the moral standards that I hold dear. But sometimes you get thinking that when an actor is constantly portraying someone (in their films) with moral fiber that they might actually have some them self. For some reason I always thought that a good girl could pretend to be bad but bad one couldn't pretend to be good. Well I was wrong! But I still want to speak about chastity today because I don't agree with media that it is an overrated virtue.

After searching the scriptures on lds.org for the word "chastity" I was returned with two scriptural references:

1. Jacob 2: 28
   28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the ^achastity of women. And ^bwhoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
2. Moro. 9: 9
   9 And notwithstanding this great ^aabomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after ^bdepriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is ^cchastity and ^dvirtue—

In these Book of Mormon scriptures we learn that the Lord God delights in the chastity of women and that the most dear and precious thing we have is our chastity and virtue. There are many other scriptures that contain the word (or its forms) "virtue" which here is used interchangeably.

I am so glad that recently a new value has been added to the young women values of the church- "virtue". Yesterday in Relief Society we were given the pamphlet and asked to also hold to this value and follow the same program that the young women do. It is no wonder that we are needing to emphasize this value in the church today even more than before. There are obviously so many that believe it is not important anymore.

An amazing talk on the subject came from President Benson:

Do not be misled by Satan’s lies. There is no lasting happiness in immorality. There is no joy to be found in breaking the law of chastity. Just the opposite is true. There may be momentary pleasure. For a time it may seem like everything is wonderful. But quickly the relationship will sour. Guilt and shame set in. We become fearful that our sins will be discovered. We must sneak and hide, lie and cheat. Love begins to die. Bitterness, jealousy, anger, and even hate begin to grow. All of these are the natural results of sin and transgression.

On the other hand, when we obey the law of chastity and keep ourselves morally clean, we will experience the blessings of increased love and peace, greater trust and respect for our marital partners, deeper commitment to each other, and therefore a deep and significant sense of joy and happiness.

We must not be misled into thinking these sins are minor or that consequences are not that serious.

I decided to post about this today not because the other authors of this blog need to hear about it. We were all married in the temple and currently enjoy the blessings that come from it. I wanted to post this because so many people don't understand how important this value is. So many people are keeping quiet about it. More people need to speak out and declare the importance of this value. More people should bear their testimony about it. The people living on the earth today need to know there are other people who hold these values dear and teach them to their children. Please if you are reading this and also feel the same about chastity, leave a comment. Tell everyone what this value means to you.

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.

Plan of Happiness, Plan of Joy

Tomorrow for the first day of teaching a new primary class, I have been preparing a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. I really enjoy lessons that get back to the very basics of doctrine that form the foundations of testimony. Ironically enough, the first scripture in the lesson is Romans 8:16-18, which I remember because a young Hna. Ferrell shared with me in the MTC while I was learning how to teach the Plan of Salvation.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

At that time Hna. Ferrell shared with me her amazement that we are not only heirs to our Heavenly Father's fortune, but joint-heirs that have the opportunity to inherit all the Christ, our perfect brother, will inherit.

We learn in the Book of Abraham that when we learned of the Plan of Salvation we cheered for joy. Just as we feel joy when we reach major events of our lives, I imagine that we feel a joy equal to that expressed in the scriptures when we reach major milestones of the plan like birth and death. It gives me a great sense of peace to think that when people cross through the veil again they aren't sad and melancholy over all that was left behind, but instead they cheer for joy and all that lies before them in the plan, especially that realization of the promise that through the Atonement of Christ that all that was unfair in their earth lives are made right and all sufferings is made perfect.

I know that God has a plan and a purpose for us and I rejoice in the knowledge we have of it through the restored gospel. It truly is a Plan for Happiness.

Feeble Fumblitis

Hi. My name is Amy and I am a Time Waster.

"Hello, Amy."

It was my first meeting at TWA (Time Wasters Anonymous) and I received some very bad news. According to Douglas L. Callister I have been diagnosed with Feeble Fumblitis. According to him it is a mild disease with symptoms which include but are not limited to wasting time, filling my days with the unimportant things, and being slightly lazy thus not getting anything done.

One of the greatest gifts God gives us is the gift of time. Unfortunately and unwittingly I misuse this gift all the time. It is hard for me not to misuse it. I just get caught up in the little things of the time waster persuasion and by the end of the day I can't figure out where the day has gone or why nothing was accomplished.

And at the end of a wasted day I often remember a story about a great time manager and an even greater man Ernest Wilkinson and I feel very foolish and lazy indeed.

I don't remember the particulars of the story much (I heard it about 5 years ago) but I did write down what he said that drives guilt deep into my heart every time I remember it. He said

"Stop every fifteen minutes and write down what you have done the last fifteen minutes. You will soon become so discouraged with writing 'not much' you will soon start accomplishing so much, you will amaze yourself."

What a profound thought! If we just track our minutes the way dieters track their calories think what we could accomplish. If time is one of the greatest gifts God gives us we should treasure every second and use it wisely. I know I don't ever want to waste a gift from God yet sadly, I do. Every day. Realizing that, I have decided I must put a stop to this waste. If it is from God, we will be blessed if we use it wisely, right?

Concerning that thought Brigham Young said

“Time is all the capital stock there is on the earth; … if properly used, it brings that which will add to your comfort, convenience, and satisfaction. Let us consider this, and no longer sit with hands folded, wasting time” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1941], p. 214).

So, with these thoughts in my mind I have decided to change my time using habits. My grandmother always said "Waste not want not" and so I am going to try. It seems I don't have enough time now, but if I don't waste any of it, not even 5 minutes I can cut down on my wanting more time habit I have developed. That is the goal, anyway.

So, I am going to take the challenge of learning to manage my time better. I hope to see myself accomplish much more during the days, feel a deeper sense of satisfaction with my day, and even feel a deeper relationship with Heavenly Father. I will report back next week on how I have done, and I would like to invite any of you to join with me in this challenge.

My plan of attack is making a list each night. I will have three columns. The first column will contain 6 things I must accomplish that day. The next column will contain the things I should accomplish, and the final column will hold the things I would like to accomplish- the unimportant and frivolous things. By doing this, I should be able to fit more things into my day, including the fun things and not get burned out.
That is the idea anyway. We will see if I can actually accomplish it.

I would like to hear who will join me in this experiment, and how it goes for each of you. Look for ways you are blessed temporally and spiritually from managing your time. Remember, Brigham Young has promised us that it will add to our comfort, convenience and satisfaction. Lets prove him right!