Which Direction Are You Facing?

Recently I heard a snippet of a talk by John Bytheway.  I don’t even know what the name of the talk was, but he was speaking about a talk he gave to a group of men in prison.  This topic, however, fully applies to each of us.

As we start this New Year and are making goals and resolutions, one of the things worth pondering about is not necessarily where we are, but rather what direction we are facing.

Kudos to you if by and large you are doing the things you should be doing….reading your scriptures, praying daily, attending the temple, etc.  But are you continuing to progress toward a closer relationship with your Savior, or are you becoming complacent?  Are you continuing to strive, or are you letting little things slip now and then (I’m too tired to read my scriptures tonight, it’s ok if I don't keep the Sabbath now and then, this movie really isn’t THAT bad)?

On the flip side, if you realize that, like most of us, you are far from perfect, which direction are you facing?  Do you feel like you are never quite good enough, yet you are continually making a conscious effort to improve and to overcome your weaknesses?  Then you ARE facing the right direction!!  The Lord does not tell us to be perfect RIGHT NOW…he tells us to BECOME perfect.  That implies that this path we are on will be a lifelong (and then some) endeavor.  The trick is to be headed the right direction on that path.

So as this year begins, take a minute to evaluate that path and where it is taking you.  And while you are at it, also evaluate the improvements you have made this last year and give yourself a “hug!”

Shaping

"After all that life can do to us, it is we alone who decide what it will MAKE of us." G G Vandagriff

How I want to live...

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live in such a way that when you die, the world will cry and you will rejoice." (Not sure who this is by, but sure liked it!)

It's a Gift to be Simple

This is a talk that I am giving at a Leadership Training Meeting on Aug. 24, 2008.

I want you to know that the topic of this talk is not a topic that I myself would have chosen, but as I was preparing for this leadership meeting, it became very clear to me that this is the topic that the Lord would have me speak on. I know that it has been a very good reminder for me, and hope that it will be for you, also.
Several years ago I noticed a trend in the Christmas letters we were receiving from our friends across the country. The letters seemed to be almost a competition of “how much my family and I were able to accomplish this year.” As I would read this or that letter, friend A was accomplishing this or that, friend B was serving on multiple boards, PTA’s, and church callings, friend C’s child was involved in 300 sports plus music lessons, etc. I decided that I wanted to opt out of that contest!!!!
We each have to make a decision about how much to put on our plate and, most importantly, what the Lord would have us do.
We live in such a hectic time. A favorite quote of mine is by Marjorie B. Hinckley. She says, “Last Thursday at [the General Authorities] Wives luncheon two of the granddaughters of Susa Young Gates gave a musical skit of her life. She was a prolific writer, do-good-er, organizer, etc., etc., etc. I turned to Sister Kimball and said, “It makes me wonder what I am doing with my life.” “You are running to and fro,” she quipped. She was right. I am running to and fro and shiver to think that someday I will have to account for the time spent.” (Glimpses into the Life of Marjorie Pay Hinckley, p. 87).
In reading through the transcripts of the “Worldwide Leadership Conference” from Feb. 2008, I noticed, especially in the roundtable discussion, a heavy emphasis on the need for us to make sure that we are not so busy that we are neglecting needful things.
Sister Lant talks about how sometimes a woman is called to a position, say as a primary worker, “and she thinks, ‘OK, how am I going to do all of these things?’ And she works at doing those things, and then she looks for what else she can do.”
Elder Holland quoted Elder Scott from the 2004 Leadership Conference when he said that sometimes to magnify your calling is to do less, not more. Elder Holland continues, “We’ve got to have the wisdom and the judgment to be able to kind of ‘do it all.’ It’s just that we can’t do it all at once, and we sometimes don’t need to do all the things we’ve done. But the essential things we will be blessed to do.”
Elder Holland, later in the discussion, mentioned the pioneers. When they came across the plains they had handcarts. They had to carefully load those handcarts and be choosy about what they would put in them; they had a long way to go, and if they put too much in them the handcarts would become too burdensome. He says, “Just as our ancestors had to choose what they took, maybe the 21st century will drive us to decide, ‘What can we put on this handcart?’”
Are we putting the important things on our handcarts? Are we reading our scriptures and attending the temple? I remember telling my visiting teachers, when I had several young children, that I was too busy to read my scriptures EVERY day, but that I did several days a week. But I have learned in more recent years that reading my scriptures NEEDS to happen every day to help me through the other things I am doing.
Carol J. Rasmuss has written a new book called, “Simplify: How to Control Stress by Caring for the Soul.” I haven’t read it yet, but I read the excerpt from it on the Deseret Book website. I want to share a few thoughts from that with you.
She talks about the book “Gift from the Sea” by Anne Morrow. (A dear friend loaned me this book a few days ago and suggested I read it – I guess I will!!!) In Anne’s book she writes, “What a circus act we women perform every day of our lives. It puts the trapeze artist to shame. This is not the life of simplicity but life of multiplicity that the wise men warn us of. It leads not to unification but to fragmentation. It does not bring grace; it destroys the soul.”
Carolyn Rasmuss goes on to say, “As we think to simplify and make it a spiritual quest, we are reminded that the Lord commands us to be still and to listen.”
She reminds us that prayer is not a one-way communication, but rather that we need to take time to listen AS WELL as to pray. She also talks about the importance of “scheduling in” time to ponder and reflect. Our lives are so busy that if we don’t make a conscious effort for alone and quiet time, it won’t happen.
I am grateful that as I look around at you and many wonderful people in our ward and community, that Satan is not winning our souls through sin. However, I do worry that he might be able to win us through distraction, through things like not having time to tend to the needful things (scripture reading, church and temple attendance, serving others), and through keeping the “noise” level so high that we cannot hear the gentle whisperings of the Spirit.
I hope that something I have said today will prompt you to take some serious time in reflection. Take a good look at your life and what you are doing and make sure that you are allowing yourself the time and the quiet to commune with the Lord. Learn to simplify.

A Place of Miracles

In November 2001, our life brought us one of those events that sits somewhere in the back of your mind as something that happens to other people, not to you.

Our 20-month-old daughter, Lyndsi, began a learning experience doctors refer to as Guillain-Barre. This incredibly painful disease attacked our sweet daughter at the end of a simple head cold. In this disease, the body’s own immune system destroys the myelin sheath of the nerves. The best description the doctors could give us was that her entire body felt the way the rest of us feel when a foot or leg “goes to sleep;” however, there was no way to relieve the pain. During her time at the hospital she also developed a very serious bacterial infection.

I will spare the dreaded details of the illness, other than to say that she is truly a miracle and we are so grateful for our Heavenly Father’s watchful care and for the lessons we learned along the way. The kindness and support from the medical community we dealt with was such a great comfort to us also, and I can never say enough wonderful things about how well we were treated.

But the point of this chapter is to try to share a small part of the overwhelming lessons that I learned while at Primary Children’s Hospital, things that have helped me grow closer to the Spirit.

We had a nurse in the ICU named Adam. He asked us if we were LDS, and when we told him that we were he told us that every Sunday there is a Sacrament Meeting (worship service) held there at the hospital for the patients and their families. Although circumstances with Lyndsi prevented my being able to attend on either Sunday that I was there, I was touched by the description he gave me. He talked about what an emotional experience it is to sit in a room full of sick children, some of them toting along their IV poles, some of them bald, all of them with health trials, and to listen to them sharing their testimonies of God and His love for them, telling how grateful they are for their blessings.

The first Sunday that we were there we were in the ICU, but the second Sunday the Bishop and a young man (I think his son), came room to room to see if anybody wanted to partake of the sacrament who had not been able to come to Sacrament Meeting. In a regular Sacrament Meeting the priesthood holders bless the sacrament for the whole congregation and then pass it to each person, but, as I experienced first hand, when the sacrament is administered to you alone, the bread and water are each blessed, just for you. Tears flowed freely down my face as I more deeply understood at that time that the sacrament is completely individual; even though it is administered to the congregation as a whole, Jesus’ sacrifice was very specifically for ME, as it was for EACH person. The impact that experience had on me is one that still humbles me to this day.

One night as I sat by Lyndsi’s bed two men came in to visit the family of the boy with whom Lyndsi shared a room. The curtain was drawn and I wasn’t paying any particular attention to what was going on, until I heard a prayer begin. As these two holders of the Priesthood laid their hands on the head of this little boy and prayed for his recovery, such a wonderful spirit entered the room. I pondered on how many blessings were given through the Priesthood in this very hospital every single day, and how many miracles had been seen here.

I had often heard people express the idea of “feeling prayers” in their behalf. I had always wondered what that must mean; but you know, sometimes you get what you asked for, and I now have a very clear understanding of that concept. We were aware of the numerous friends, family, church members, and even complete strangers who knew of our plight, who were praying for her. I don’t do well with stressful situations, but I was blessed with a calmness and cheerful attitude (most of the time!) that were way beyond what I thought I was capable of, and I truly felt that my Heavenly Father was by my side through all of this.

I honestly do not know why some people are allowed miraculous healings and others are not; but I DO know for certain that our lives are in the hands of a loving Heavenly Father who weeps when we weep.

Somebody asked me after that experience if having gone through that experience had built a special bond with Lyndsi that isn’t there with the other children. I guess to a point, perhaps. But it definitely changed my feelings for ALL of my children and my husband, because I realized that in merely an instant our lives can change. It helped me be more grateful for every single day and to “cherish the moment.”

I am so grateful that the Lord still gives us miracles!!!

"The Invisibles"

That's right, the "invisibles." Probably not the title of any movie you've seen lately!!

Our family took a vacation to New Mexico this last week to visit my uncle. While we were there we stayed at the Embassy Suites. It's wonderful because you get a full "real" breakfast everyday! A big plus for our family!!

As we were sitting at our table, I was watching the "bus boys" who would go around and clear the dishes from the table. One that we became especially fond of was "Josh." He was this tall young man with a cheerful grin and a happy countenance. He was so pleasant and always made sure that we were doing fine and had what we needed. I told him one day while we were there that I enjoyed how pleasant and kind he always was. He smiled and told me that "that is just the way I am!"

Who are the invisibles? The invisibles are the bus boys, the janitors, the sky caps - the people who serve us, but we tend to allow to go unnoticed.

Just like the body needs all of it's parts to function well, our society needs each member, invisible or "out in the spotlight" to do their part to keep society functioning well. Imagine a building with no janitor!!! But how often do we ignore or just not notice those individuals?

Several months ago I was standing in the airport waiting for Jeff to get our bags off of the conveyor. It was taking some time, and I was standing near a sky cap who was trying to help two women find their bags. The ladies were impatient and snippy, but this man kindly stood there to do what he could to be of assistance.

As we were waiting, I started a conversation with him. This man was from Africa and had come to America several years before. He talked about his family and the different places he had worked in America. He was truly fascinating.

Who of us truly wants to be invisible? By and large most people want to at least be acknowledged. The next time you are out and about, tell the person cleaning the glass on the store doors that they are doing a good job, smile at the lady cleaning the bathroom. You might just make somebody's day!!!