So much to be Thankful for

Today is Thanksgiving Day and I have SO MUCH to be GRATEFUL for this year:

http://aboutmyrecovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/gratitude-1.jpg

Heavenly Father     Savior Jesus Christ     Family     Friends     Love

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Saratoga Springs 8th Ward Family     The Book of Mormon and other scriptures

Temples     Covenants     Prophets & Apostles

My Health (won't ever take it for granted again)

My New Business     Being an American     Education     My Sister on a Mission

Nieces & Nephews (with a new one hopefully today)

Dance     Music     Art     Home     Car     Clothes     Food

Things that make me Laugh (The Cosby Show, I Love Lucy, Calvin & Hobbes)

and SO MUCH MORE!!!

Stop and Stand Still . . . Know that I Am God!

I read this scripture today Doctrine and Covenants 5:34 "...Stop, and stand still until I command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee."

 

(Images from: http://www.myparkingsign.com/MPS/article_History-of-Stop-Sign.aspx)

Sometimes the GREATEST MANIFESTATION of our faith is to STOP and let God do His part, trusting wholly upon His merits! We reach a point where we have done all we can do to receive the desires of our hearts and then we must let Christ be the finisher of our faith!

D&C 101:16 "...be still and know that I am God."

One Sure, Unfailing Guide

There are so many loud voices telling us what to do, where to go and what to believe. 

Is there ONE, SURE, UNFAILING GUIDE to tune into? YES!!! That is the voice of the SPIRIT! How grateful I am for that unfailing voice!

(Image from: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&q=old+fashioned+radio)

Doctrine and Covenants 1:19 "...that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh."

Doctrine and Covenants 46:7 "But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments of men; for some are of men,  and others of devils."

Check out this Mormon Message "Voice of the Spirit"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPbDZnrxBLM

ACTS of Faith, not THOUGHTS of Fear!

Today I came to a great realization: The Lord has helped me this year conquer fear after fear, by prompting me to do specific acts of faith. ACTS of FAITH instead of THOUGHTS of FEAR!!! That is my life motto now and it is allowing miracles to come into my life daily! Faith is a tender mercy.

(Image from www.lds.org - Gospel Art Picture Kit)

In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites defeat the Gaddianton Robbers by ACTS of FAITH, not thoughts of fear.
3 Nephi 4:10 "But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them."

Christ helps me Press Forward

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Like the pioneers who have gone before, Christ is my constant guide, leading me one step after another, past my own rocky ridges and valleys of sorrow, all the while building my faith for a greater future.

2 Nephi 31:19-20  

And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow ^apath, I would ask if all is ^bdone? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken ^cfaith in him, ^drelying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to ^esave.

   Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life.

Good Samaritan

Luke 10:33 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,"

So my friend Heidi and I were on a great bike ride this morning. We were riding a few miles out from where we parked our cars, when my bike pedal suddenly fell off! We had no tools to screw it back on, so we tried screwing it back on with our hands, to no avail.

Hmmm, what were we to do now?

Heidi rummaged through her pack and found a zip tie. We tried that, no luck.

Maybe we could wrap the pedal to the post with a weed or create a make shift pedal by shoving a stick through the metal post.

Just as we were laughing our heads off because of my predicament, a nice man on a jazzy rolled up beside us. "Do you need some help?," he said. As I was ingeniously shoving a stick through the metal post to make a pedal, I said, "Uh, yes, definitely."

So he graciously strolled back to his house, got a wrench and fixed my pedal. This good samaritan was another tender mercy!

Filled by Christ

It makes no sense to clean a canning jar only to put it in the cupboard empty. We clean the jar so we can fill it. So it is with the Atonement of Christ in our lives. The plan of the Atonement wasn't simply so we could be cleansed, but so we could be filled. 3 Nephi 27:16 "And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled..."

Image from: countryheartsathome.blogspot.com

I worked in the LDS Cannery yesterday. We were canning peaches and it reminded me of the above thought I heard at BYU Education Week in the class "The Wonderous Atonement of Christ - Sanctification, Becoming Holy" by Michael A. Goodman. It is definitely a tender mercy to be cleansed and filled by the Atonement of Christ!

The Touch of the Master's Hands

To a Designer the Negative Space in his design is as important as the Positive Space.

(Image from: http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/02/saline_sculptor_crafts_tribute.html)

I realized this is the same with the Master Designer, the Lord.

Sometimes He does things in our lives that leave us asking why and feeling heartbroken. When we lose someone or something we love, we question the purpose. But if we begin to look at our lives from the Master Creator's perspective, we begin to understand the design better.

Take a sculpture of a head for example: God is like the sculptor and we are the clay. The sculptor carves away large chunks of clay at a time, then shapes and molds the remaining parts. The sculpture starts to take on great life and become recognizable. In order for it to reach it's true potential however, to really become a masterpiece, the sculptor must carve away a little more. Oh how it hurts, it goes so deep.

Alas, when the Master is finally done we see that in order for the positive spaces to be the most beautiful, it is exactly next to them that needed to exist the deepest negative spaces. I know the Master's touch can hurt so deeply at times, but it is only by experiencing the bitter "negative spaces" that we fully appreciate the sweet "positive spaces" in our lives!

Check out this Mormon Message about turning to the Lord when we experience these "Negative Spaces."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3m9MmApNwI