Forget Me Not: Second, forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.

From the talk Forget Me Not by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth.

Giving up a little sleep to help a child who is having a nightmare is a good sacrifice. We all know this. Staying up all night, jeopardizing our own health, to make the perfect accessory for a daughter’s Sunday outfit may not be such a good sacrifice.

Dedicating some of our time to studying the scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson into homemade pot holders for each member of your class perhaps may not be.

Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another.

How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective. Sometimes, that may even mean nurturing small but beautiful forget-me-not flowers instead of a large garden of exotic blooms."

We may have immersed ourselves in the thick of thin things, overlooking worthy and meaningful sacrifices. I would encourage us all to take an inventory of our lives and to contemplate removing sacrifices that are of little worth.  I know that Heavenly Father's choicest blessings will come into our lives as we make meaningful sacrifices and follow the council of His prophets and apostles in our daily lives. 

Forget Me Not: First, forget not to be patient with yourself.

From the talk Forget Me Not by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect. Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does.

 Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

It’s wonderful that you have strengths.

And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses.

God wants to help us to eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal. He wants us to become perfect, and if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It’s OK that you’re not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourself."

I testify along with President Uchtdorf that our loving Heavenly Father is much more patient with us that we can even imagine.  Ether 12:27 says "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. 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." I know for myself that if we put our faith and trust in the Lord that He WILL help us change our weaknesses into strengths!

Simon says... Follow the Prophet!

“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”  Ezra Taft Benson

Like the principle taught in the game of Simon Says, the discipline of following directions given with exactness will lead to great victories in life! I had a chance to play Simon Says with some children the other day and I realized how closely the rules correlated with real life. When we follow the directions of one having authority to direct us we are blessed (in Simon Says we get to stay in the game) but when we lose focus and follow the guidance of those who don't have the authority then we miss out on those blessings (we are out of the game). As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I know that the person given authority to direct us the way that God would if He were here is the prophet. The prophet today is President Thomas S Monson. I know that as we follow his guidance, knowing that it is God's word through him (Amos 3:7), that we will find the greatest blessings in this life and in the life to come! I also know that when we choose not to follow the prophet's guidance we are keeping ourselves from the blessings that God so lovingly wants to give us. So follow the Prophet! He knows the way!

Oh chute!

I have been thinking lately about how pride can have such a negative effect on our daily life. It can literally keep us from moving forward in life and progressing in a positive direction. It made me think about when I took a swimming class back in middle school. Like with other sports, swimmers do resistance training in order to build up their strength and endurance. As part of this training swimmers might tie or strap a bucket or, like in this picture, a parachute to them and pull it as they swim. This minor addition makes a big difference to the amount of energy it takes to swim. Like this parachute, pride can weigh us down and drain us of our energy and make life harder than it needs to be! And who needs that? It often starts, for me at least, with my thoughts. Little thoughts of  self-righteousness and pride can spread to an attitude of  superiority. Like with the Pharisees of the Bible and the apostate Zoramites of the Book of Mormon, pride can keep us from understanding things of the spirit not to mention the mysteries of God! So let's stop the cycle, the pride cycle that is, and focus our energy on positive, productive attributes! Like Christlike attributes of faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. (Doctrine and Covenants 4)  

Incomplete but not Broken

Have you ever felt broken? Have you ever gotten to the point in your life where you aren't sure if you can do anything right? Or that there must be something terribly wrong in your genetic make up that makes your imperfections not only numerous but painfully noticeable? I know I have felt all of these things at one time or another. But my Dad showed me an analogy once that has really stuck with me. He showed me a picture of a line of cars being assembled. Much similar to the cars in this picture. His message was along the lines of: "Look at these cars.  They are missing doors, seats, wheels and a bunch of other things..... but would anyone in their right mind say these cars were broken? No, that would be a ridiculous statement. In fact when finished these cars will be sold for thousands of dollars. Once finished they will have all the parts necessary to perform and function for the purpose they were designed. Though they are incomplete right now they are not broken by any definition of the word." He related this to how we are all on the "assembly line" of life. All of us focusing on what we are missing and mistakenly thinking we are broken or damaged when in fact we are just incomplete. I know this is so true! Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be successfully assembled. So the next time you feel broken remember who can make you feel complete. He knows everything we have ever or will ever go through. He can give us peace and comfort and guide us literally day by day! I know that this happens as we daily and diligently seek Him through word (Bible, Book of Mormon ), prayer and action. The next time you feel discouraged remember that He is waiting with arms wide open for you to allow Him to help you put together the pieces.
                                                    

                                                      And believe me.... we need His help!

Talk about a leap of faith!

Have you ever stopped to think about the faith of a child? The complete trust they have in those around them? Think about the simple example of when you place them on a counter or a table and then step back and say "okay, now jump!" That table is most likely twice if not three times their height, and the impact of their fall would be very painful; but almost every time, they jump. They throw caution to the wind, relying on the fact that you have caught them before, and they jump.
 We learn in Matthew 18:3-4 about being childlike:

 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 I know that in one way, becoming childlike requires us to trust Him like a child! No matter where you are in life at one time or another God lovingly places you on the table of trial or the counter of uncertainty and says "Okay, now jump". I testify that it is those times we can choose to grow closer to our Heavenly Father! He is waiting with open arms to show us the way. I know that it is only by following in his way that we can be truly happy in this life and in the life to come!

“When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.” ― Edward Teller

Life is But a Weaving

 Life is But a Weaving

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me.

I cannot choose the colors

He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;

And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper

And I the underside.

Not ‘til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas

And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those

Who leave the choice to Him.

I love this poem! It is so true! I love the imagery that it gives and how well that applies to our lives! We all have times where all we see are the dark threads of trial and adversity and we all hope for the times when the gold threads show up again. But the end result needs both to make it a masterpiece. And like the poem says it is up to us to turn it over to Him.