I always wondered about why we have divine nature and individual worth as values in the young women program. I was reading the Sunday School assignment in Peter and pondering his words and I figured out the difference.
Divine Nature is about Christlike qualities. It's about discovering the divine qualities within us and working to develop them.
Individual worth is about finding out what is unique and special about each individual person and strive to develop those unique characteristics.
I bet most people figured that out years ago, but I just figured it out. I guess I'm a little slow sometimes. But now that I have written it down, I won't forget.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
Faith without works is dead
I was reading in James this morning and was struck by the section on faith and works in chapter 2. In verse 26, it says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." I pondered this and what it means and linked it in my mind with the scriptures we studied in Sunday School yesterday in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Here is basically what I came up with. It will probably make more sense in my head than it does in writing, but I don't want to forget what I learned, so I am going to make a feeble attempt to write it anyway.
Faith without works is dead because it doesn't do anything for you. It looks pretty, but lacks any substance. When I looked at my sister at her funeral, she was beautiful, but it wasn't her. There was none of the spark that made Kim so wonderful. That had gone to heaven. Faith has some of its beauty without works, but it lacks the ability to make our lives joyful and whole. It lacks the ability to bring us closer to our Father in Heaven. As it says in verse 19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." It is good to believe, but it doesn't do much for us on its own.
The Sunday School lesson yesterday was divided into three parts: Learn true doctrine, "be ye an example of the believers," and follow after righteousness. We studied it in the context of Paul's statement that he had finished his course. Learning and holding to true doctrine is like faith. It is a starting point and helps us along the way. In a race, it's like getting us to the correct starting line. Being an example of the believers and following after righteousness are the works part. It's the actual running of the race. If we don't run the race, we won't ever finish our course. The faith and true doctrine help us every step of the way, as through our works we move towards the finish line. All the faith in the world, all the doctrine in the world, will never save us if we don't do what our Father asked us to do. But if we try to be an example and follow after righteousness, the faith will enliven our efforts and help us to be more than we could be ourselves. The true doctrine will strengthen us along our way and keep us going in the right direction.
Truly, faith without works is dead. But works without faith will never get us to our destination either. They work together in our lives to help us come to Christ and put us in a place where his grace is sufficient to bring us eternal life.
Faith without works is dead because it doesn't do anything for you. It looks pretty, but lacks any substance. When I looked at my sister at her funeral, she was beautiful, but it wasn't her. There was none of the spark that made Kim so wonderful. That had gone to heaven. Faith has some of its beauty without works, but it lacks the ability to make our lives joyful and whole. It lacks the ability to bring us closer to our Father in Heaven. As it says in verse 19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." It is good to believe, but it doesn't do much for us on its own.
The Sunday School lesson yesterday was divided into three parts: Learn true doctrine, "be ye an example of the believers," and follow after righteousness. We studied it in the context of Paul's statement that he had finished his course. Learning and holding to true doctrine is like faith. It is a starting point and helps us along the way. In a race, it's like getting us to the correct starting line. Being an example of the believers and following after righteousness are the works part. It's the actual running of the race. If we don't run the race, we won't ever finish our course. The faith and true doctrine help us every step of the way, as through our works we move towards the finish line. All the faith in the world, all the doctrine in the world, will never save us if we don't do what our Father asked us to do. But if we try to be an example and follow after righteousness, the faith will enliven our efforts and help us to be more than we could be ourselves. The true doctrine will strengthen us along our way and keep us going in the right direction.
Truly, faith without works is dead. But works without faith will never get us to our destination either. They work together in our lives to help us come to Christ and put us in a place where his grace is sufficient to bring us eternal life.
Monday, November 9, 2015
How We Grow
Over the summer, I jammed my ring finger so hard that I broke a bone in my hand. I went to the doctor and had a splint for a week and then got a cast put on. When I got the cast put on, the doctor suggested that I do some physical therapy after getting it off. I was hesitant, mostly because we have a high deductible plan and I didn't want to pay the money if I could get by without it. 3 weeks later, when I got the cast off, she once again said that I should get hand therapy. My fingers could barely bend, so I accepted that she was right. I walked out of her office with a few exercises to do and a referral to a therapist.
I did the exercises she gave me and made an appointment to see the therapist a week later. With my own efforts, I made some progress and my hand was feeling pretty good. My fingers didn't hurt unless I stretched them too far. When I let them alone, I had no pain. Then I went to physical therapy. She stretched my hand, massaged it, helped me learn various exercises and used some heat therapy to encourage healing. The next day, my hand was sore. I didn't have to move it at all to feel the soreness. But, the therapist told me that sore was good and that I should do my exercises 6-8 times a day, unless I was in pain. So I did my exercises. My hand and finger remained sore, but the progress was amazing. By the time I went back to see her 3 weeks later, I had regained full range of motion in both of my fingers. There was stiffness, but little soreness.
At that visit, she tested my hand strength and gave me exercises to improve my strength. She told me that my finger would probably be sore throughout the winter and that my finger might not be back to its normal size for up to 18 months.
I realized this has some pretty great gospel applications. When we go about our lives doing what we always do, there isn't a ton of discomfort. But there isn't a lot of growth either. But when we start to work to improve ourselves, we start to find more difficulty. Sometimes it's hard to want to put in that effort when it feels so uncomfortable. But if we don't experience the discomfort, we don't grow. And the result of trying to improve ourselves is worth the effort. But just like with my hand, sometimes things aren't quick and easy fixes. It often takes time and patience.
I did the exercises she gave me and made an appointment to see the therapist a week later. With my own efforts, I made some progress and my hand was feeling pretty good. My fingers didn't hurt unless I stretched them too far. When I let them alone, I had no pain. Then I went to physical therapy. She stretched my hand, massaged it, helped me learn various exercises and used some heat therapy to encourage healing. The next day, my hand was sore. I didn't have to move it at all to feel the soreness. But, the therapist told me that sore was good and that I should do my exercises 6-8 times a day, unless I was in pain. So I did my exercises. My hand and finger remained sore, but the progress was amazing. By the time I went back to see her 3 weeks later, I had regained full range of motion in both of my fingers. There was stiffness, but little soreness.
At that visit, she tested my hand strength and gave me exercises to improve my strength. She told me that my finger would probably be sore throughout the winter and that my finger might not be back to its normal size for up to 18 months.
I realized this has some pretty great gospel applications. When we go about our lives doing what we always do, there isn't a ton of discomfort. But there isn't a lot of growth either. But when we start to work to improve ourselves, we start to find more difficulty. Sometimes it's hard to want to put in that effort when it feels so uncomfortable. But if we don't experience the discomfort, we don't grow. And the result of trying to improve ourselves is worth the effort. But just like with my hand, sometimes things aren't quick and easy fixes. It often takes time and patience.
Friday, July 31, 2015
light and dark
I can't believe that I just made the following connection. When Christ was born, the signs in the heavens were a new star in Jerusalem and a night with no darkness in America. His coming was marked by extra light, which is a perfect symbol because he is the light of the world. The signs of his death were darkness and storms on the earth. When the world rejected his light by killing the Savior, the sign was extra darkness. What perfect symbols to show us where to find light and truth in our lives.
Friday, June 19, 2015
gateways in God's plan
I have often heard that men get to hold the priesthood and women get to have babies. That is the divine design. I believed it was true, but didn't quite understand the significance of those two essential roles in the plan of happiness. I had an insight recently into how these roles relate and are of equal importance in God's plan. It happened as I was preparing a lesson about the priesthood for young women's.
God's eternal plan is to help each of his children come to earth to gain a body and have experience, then to return to him in heaven, to share in His glory. In order to do this, there are two main obstacles to pass through. Women hold the key to one of them and men hold the key to the other. In order to return to Heavenly Father, we must first leave Him. Women have the divine role to bring that to pass. Women create the mortal bodies in which Gods spirit children reside. Then, once we leave His presence, there are saving ordinances that must be performed for each spirit to return - baptism, confirmation, and the endowment. These ordinances are performed by men who hold the priesthood. Thus women provide the gateway into this world and men provide the gateway into the next. And while we live on this earth, we work together to help our brothers and sisters learn to walk the path of discipleship that will honor the great blessings we have been given.
God's eternal plan is to help each of his children come to earth to gain a body and have experience, then to return to him in heaven, to share in His glory. In order to do this, there are two main obstacles to pass through. Women hold the key to one of them and men hold the key to the other. In order to return to Heavenly Father, we must first leave Him. Women have the divine role to bring that to pass. Women create the mortal bodies in which Gods spirit children reside. Then, once we leave His presence, there are saving ordinances that must be performed for each spirit to return - baptism, confirmation, and the endowment. These ordinances are performed by men who hold the priesthood. Thus women provide the gateway into this world and men provide the gateway into the next. And while we live on this earth, we work together to help our brothers and sisters learn to walk the path of discipleship that will honor the great blessings we have been given.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Seeing the Lord's hand in little things
I think the Lord blesses our lives in ways that we often don't notice. This week, I noticed the Lord blessing two of my sweet children in a small, but very special way. I'm sure if I look harder, I would see evidences of this kind of thing quite often.
My sweet Rachel, who has earned quite a bit of money lately babysitting, wanted to buy a birthday present for Josh. She didn't know what, but she wanted it to be something he would really like. While I was shopping at Costco last week, I saw a table full of Seahawks t-shirts with the numbers and names of players on them. They resembled jerseys, but were t-shirts, and were only $20. I thought Rachel might like to get that for Josh, so I asked her about it. (I thought about buying one while I was there and asking Rachel later, but decided against it.) Rachel thought that was a great idea. I had seen the shirts on Thursday and we went shopping on Monday. There were two shirts left - both XL (which is entirely too big). I asked an employee about the shirts and she said they had sold out in less than a day. We were sad, but we wandered around to see if there was another suitable present. There was a cool looking book that was shaped like and felt like a 2D football, and was about college football. There were a few of them in the stack. Rachel decided that would be a pretty good gift and she bought it. On the drive home, she noticed some sort of hardened goo on the outside of the book. She decided she wanted to return it and get a replacement. I told her I would do a little later in the week.
On Tuesday morning, I was thinking about my plans for the day. Sarah had preschool from 9:20-11:50 and I was helping in Emilee's class from 10:30-11:00. I had the thought that I should do some housework before helping in class and then go to Costco after. Costco is a 12-13 minute drive from the school and a 10 minute drive from preschool. This would leave about 25 minutes for returning the gift and shopping, if everything went perfectly. This was a bad plan, but I couldn't let it go. I decided to go for it.
Everything went perfectly at Emilee's school and I was in the van at 10:58. I got to Costco a little before 11:15. I walked into the store and there was a line at the return desk. Thankfully, it went pretty quickly. I got a cart, went into the store, and walked straight to the book section. I walked past the table that had held the t-shirts and it was still empty. There were no more books left. My heart sank. So I walked through the store and did my shopping. I kept my eyes open for anything that Josh might like, but there was nothing. After getting my groceries, I decided to walk through the book section one more time to see if I had missed something. I hadn't. So I walked out the other end and noticed a couple of employees next to the empty table. They had just unloaded a box of t-shirts and had several more boxes next to them. It was a new shipment of the very t-shirts Rachel had wanted to buy for Josh. I was so excited! I walked up to them and asked which players they had. They didn't have Josh's favorite, but they had his second favorite. So one of the employees dug through the box she was getting ready to unload to find me the right size for Josh's t-shirt. I grabbed the shirt, went to check out, and got to Sarah's preschool at the end of the pickup window.
If I had listened to the first prompting and just bought the shirt, none of this would have happened. But since I didn't, the Lord honored Rachel's desire to celebrate her brother by helping me be in the right place at the right time to buy the present she wanted. And Josh is wearing it today for Seahawks Friday and will probably wear it during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
My sweet Rachel, who has earned quite a bit of money lately babysitting, wanted to buy a birthday present for Josh. She didn't know what, but she wanted it to be something he would really like. While I was shopping at Costco last week, I saw a table full of Seahawks t-shirts with the numbers and names of players on them. They resembled jerseys, but were t-shirts, and were only $20. I thought Rachel might like to get that for Josh, so I asked her about it. (I thought about buying one while I was there and asking Rachel later, but decided against it.) Rachel thought that was a great idea. I had seen the shirts on Thursday and we went shopping on Monday. There were two shirts left - both XL (which is entirely too big). I asked an employee about the shirts and she said they had sold out in less than a day. We were sad, but we wandered around to see if there was another suitable present. There was a cool looking book that was shaped like and felt like a 2D football, and was about college football. There were a few of them in the stack. Rachel decided that would be a pretty good gift and she bought it. On the drive home, she noticed some sort of hardened goo on the outside of the book. She decided she wanted to return it and get a replacement. I told her I would do a little later in the week.
On Tuesday morning, I was thinking about my plans for the day. Sarah had preschool from 9:20-11:50 and I was helping in Emilee's class from 10:30-11:00. I had the thought that I should do some housework before helping in class and then go to Costco after. Costco is a 12-13 minute drive from the school and a 10 minute drive from preschool. This would leave about 25 minutes for returning the gift and shopping, if everything went perfectly. This was a bad plan, but I couldn't let it go. I decided to go for it.
Everything went perfectly at Emilee's school and I was in the van at 10:58. I got to Costco a little before 11:15. I walked into the store and there was a line at the return desk. Thankfully, it went pretty quickly. I got a cart, went into the store, and walked straight to the book section. I walked past the table that had held the t-shirts and it was still empty. There were no more books left. My heart sank. So I walked through the store and did my shopping. I kept my eyes open for anything that Josh might like, but there was nothing. After getting my groceries, I decided to walk through the book section one more time to see if I had missed something. I hadn't. So I walked out the other end and noticed a couple of employees next to the empty table. They had just unloaded a box of t-shirts and had several more boxes next to them. It was a new shipment of the very t-shirts Rachel had wanted to buy for Josh. I was so excited! I walked up to them and asked which players they had. They didn't have Josh's favorite, but they had his second favorite. So one of the employees dug through the box she was getting ready to unload to find me the right size for Josh's t-shirt. I grabbed the shirt, went to check out, and got to Sarah's preschool at the end of the pickup window.
If I had listened to the first prompting and just bought the shirt, none of this would have happened. But since I didn't, the Lord honored Rachel's desire to celebrate her brother by helping me be in the right place at the right time to buy the present she wanted. And Josh is wearing it today for Seahawks Friday and will probably wear it during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
The parable of the tangled hair
My daughter has long beautiful hair. She loves her long pretty hair (although not as much as I love it), but she hates to have it brushed. I generally keep her hair in braids to prevent too many tangles from forming. On Sunday, I take out her braids, then wash and brush her hair and usually leave it hanging down her back. It takes a little while to get the tangles out, but it's not too horrible. On Monday I brush her hair and put it in braids. Then each day after I take out the braids, brush the hair again and rebraid it. Last week was a bit different. On Monday, I was forgetful and didn't braid her hair, nor did I brush it. On Tuesday, I did not brush her hair or braid it either. I looked at the hair and thought, this hair is going to get really tangled if I don't do something, but before I could do something, she was off to play with her friends. By Wednesday morning, the hair was getting bad, but I was lazy and didn't feel like fighting her over the hair. I put it in a quick ponytail, without brushing it, thinking that maybe it would stop the tangles from getting worse. By Thursday, it was clear that this strategy hadn't worked. Her hair was ridiculously tangled. But I fixed the ponytail and let it be. On Friday I was more interested in getting out of the house to play volleyball. On Saturday we were busy cleaning the house and taking down Christmas decorations. On Sunday, I had no choice but to deal with the badly neglected and unbelievably tangled hair. I washed her hair. I put a lot of conditioner in her hair. And then I went to work. I carefully started to brush her hair, starting from the bottom. I worked slowly to try to avoid hurting her, but the rats nest on her head was not going to come loose without some pulling. I tried to distract her and was a gentle as possible, but still I hurt her head at times. After 40 minutes, I still wasn't done. But the hair I had brushed was beautiful again. We had to leave for church so I took a break and finished her hair later after church. And once I had finished brushing her hair, I put it in braids to avoid pain and suffering next Sunday.
As I was brushing, I realized how this experience illuminates repentance and the wisdom of following the commandments and repenting quickly when we realize we have made mistakes. We, like Sarah's hair, start out perfect. But as we make choices, we inevitably make mistakes. Our beauty is marred by tangles. We can brush it out quickly and it can be a relatively painless process , just like repenting on a daily basis. We can take steps to prevent tangles from forming, like making efforts to keep the commandments and filling our time with positive things. But if we ignore our problem and sins, they can become worse and more painful to resolve. But, like Sarah's hair, even if we allow our lives to go wildly off track, there is always a way to fix it. Though repentance can be a painful experience, through Christ's atonement we can be beautiful.and whole again.
As I was brushing, I realized how this experience illuminates repentance and the wisdom of following the commandments and repenting quickly when we realize we have made mistakes. We, like Sarah's hair, start out perfect. But as we make choices, we inevitably make mistakes. Our beauty is marred by tangles. We can brush it out quickly and it can be a relatively painless process , just like repenting on a daily basis. We can take steps to prevent tangles from forming, like making efforts to keep the commandments and filling our time with positive things. But if we ignore our problem and sins, they can become worse and more painful to resolve. But, like Sarah's hair, even if we allow our lives to go wildly off track, there is always a way to fix it. Though repentance can be a painful experience, through Christ's atonement we can be beautiful.and whole again.
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