Living the dream!

I painted this ceiling tile at the end of my senior year in high school, to be put in the AP Art room.  

The idea was to illustrate myself rejoicing in the bright future and potential in store for my life.

 

Now, 4 years later, I revisited the classroom where my precious ceiling tile is displayed.  Here I am, with a bachelors degree, now pursuing a PhD.  I'm living the dream!  

I'm starting to see that bright, beautiful future unfold before me, behind me, and all around me.  I know that I am in the path God would have me follow.  Oh, what joy, courage, and peace that brings to my heart!  I am so grateful to God for making possible all my deepest desires and hopes.  He loves each and every one of us, His children, more than we can possibly understand... yet. ;-)

How have you seen God guiding you in your life? 

What hopes, dreams, and desires has He enabled you to pursue?

I promise you that He is well aware.  If you don't see His hand in your hopes and dreams... Well, maybe it's time to reassess what those hopes and dreams are.

- peace out -

Our powerful roles as women, and men. As God's children.

Though I don't know everything, I know this:  

I am a daughter of God, my Heavenly Father, who loves me, and has great plans for my growth and happiness.  

This speech is pretty long (almost an hour), but it is worth listening to, especially if you have concerns about how Mormon's regard and treat women.  Please, listen with an open heart to the beliefs of Sharon Eubank, director of Humanitarian Services and LDS Charities.  I enthusiastically agree with her.  There is more to life than this temporary world!

Link is here

You have something to contribute

I've been thinking a lot about spiritual gifts lately...

What exactly are spiritual gifts?

They are blessings given by God to His children for their own benefit, and for the benefit of others.

Everyone has different gifts; nevertheless, everyone does have a gift.

Moroni 10:8-18, 1 Corinthians 12, D&C 46:11, "Gifts of the Spirit"

Find out what your spiritual gifts are by considering what you're good at,

What you're passionate about,

The compliments other people give you, 

etc.

Kneel in prayer 

and ask Heavenly Father what spiritual gifts He has blessed you with.

Then, use them to bless others' lives!

“One of the most comforting teachings of the gospel is that each son and daughter of God—every one of us—is born with an inheritance of gifts, talents, and abilities that can help us through our earthly mission…We cannot be happy and successful in life without gratefully acknowledging those gifts and doing all we can to develop them.  Our problem is never that we have no strengths; the problem comes when we do not recognize our strengths and build upon them."

- Gerald Causse - 

"For When I Am Weak, Then Am I Strong"

Shout out to my dear, dear mother who has the gifts of:

Teaching

Pure love of God and man

Sacrifice

Learning

Obedience

{I am so grateful for her}

Peace out.

A twist

This little email I received really puts things into perspective:

I AM THANKFUL: FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,

BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO,

BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES

BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY

BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK

BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT

BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL

BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY

BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS

BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

I truly believe we can find something good in any situation.  

Now that's beautiful.

light streams in to warm a dark and cold place 

(photo from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thebbp/2784562781/in/photostream)

time to be grateful.

I'm grateful for when people say "thank you."

I'm grateful for opportunities to serve.

I'm grateful for sunshine.
(Oh, what joy!)

I'm grateful for friends and family.

I'm grateful for people who look me in the eye, and sincerely ask me how I'm doing.

I'm grateful for a functional body that can change and improve.

I'm grateful for sleep.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<∙>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What are you grateful for?

life sure is beautiful!

we are all different, and that's the way it should be

"While the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. 
Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe...that each one should look, feel, think, and behave like every other. This would contradict the genius of God, who created every man different from his brother, every son different from his father....

"As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are united in our testimony of the restored gospel and our commitment to keep God’s commandments. But we are diverse in our cultural, social, and political preferences.

"The Church thrives when we take advantage of this diversity and encourage each other to 
develop and use our talents to lift and strengthen our fellow disciples."

- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf -
Second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 

Why we fear

[Disclaimer:  Most of what I post on this blog is not official LDS doctrine, as far as I know.  Just my thoughts and beliefs.]

Have you ever been afraid to come close to God?

Have you ever been afraid to really open your heart up to Him?

To truly be converted?

To commit all that you are, do, and desire, to Him?

To really feel His love, and accept it into your heart?

To believe Him, and trust His word?

If you've never felt that way... you're probably not human.  ;)  Or you're just a saint.

[no real reason for this picture, except that it's beautiful! :)]

It hit me the other day, why I'm sometimes afraid to come close to Christ.

I know He's all-loving.  I know He's true.  I know I can trust Him...

I found the answer in Ether 12:27: (these are the Lord's words:)

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness."

That's it.  

I know that when I come unto Him, He helps me see things as they really are.  ...Which necessarily includes seeing my weaknesses.  And aren't we humans so good at avoiding our faults/failures/weaknesses?

But the verse goes on:

"I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Don't I want to become stronger?

Don't I want to become more like Christ?

The only way that can happen is if I come unto Him and, through faith on His atonement, let Him turn my weaknesses into strengths, until every last impurity is refined into perfection... 

Slowly, but surely, with faith.

So I want to know my weaknesses.  

I want to know them so that I can do all that's in my power to improve on them, and let Christ take care of the rest.

I know that Jesus Christ lives.  He knows and loves each and every one of us, His children.  I know He has been through every little (and big) thing that we've ever been through, and will go through, and He knows how to succor His people.  

Come unto Him, despite any fears you may have, and you will never regret that decision.

{beautiful thing}

The infinite atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

peace out.

A Cry For Help

I came across this quote by Marvin J. Ashton from a speech he gave at BYU:

"What a wonderful situation it would be if we could with feeling and understanding know that God is there, the Church is there, friends are there, leaders and families are there to give us comfort, direction, and reassurance. 

Oh, that there were more people inclined when special situations arose to say to a classmate or an associate, 

'I need to be sure that you are there while I am going through this present trying situation.'"

...

Wow.

Why does this touch my heart so?

I think it's because, I know I struggle with that.

Talk about vulnerability.  And trust.

It's hard to imagine anything that can make you more vulnerable than humbling yourself enough to admit your helplessness and trust another person enough to actually ask for their support in your time of greatest weakness... instead of putting on a mask of strength, pretending you've got it all down because you're afraid that if anyone saw your knees shaking, they would lose respect for you.  Or worse, desert you.  Which would, to our confused minds, prove our worthlessness.

It's funny how God gave us all thorns in the flesh for the duration of this earth life.
Without them, without our trying situations, would we reach out to others like we necessarily do?
Would we humble ourselves enough to accept the aid of another?
Or give our support to another?

And that's why we have friends, family, teachers, churches, mentors, advisors--so we can learn to both ask for help, and give it of ourselves.
To ask with our whole hearts, and give with our whole hearts.

This brings us together as friends.
As families.
As humanity.

And it's beautiful,
and it's humbling,
 and it's peaceful.


Oh,
so peaceful.

Thought

give your 

wings

the 

dreams 

to fly.

Positivity

Signature Strengths

Talk about an cool personality test!

...Well, technically it's a strengths test.  

It's about pinpointing your signature strengths, so that you can focus your work/activities around them, and live more purposefully and joyfully.

Here's the link.
(It may require you to make a username and password.  After you do that, navigate back to the "VIA Survey of Character Strengths"--that's the questionnaire you want to take!)

And here were my results!

Cool, huh?

If you find out yours... I'd really be interested to hear your results!

The website that I got this from is Martin Seligman's (basically the father of positive psychology) website, Authentic Happiness.  There are many more wonderful things on there that you'll find, should you choose to explore.  

beautiful thing:

we all have unique, wonderful gifts to apply and share.

peace out