praise God time :)

Sometimes I just have to praise God for His goodness :)

1. I had the most a m a z i n g job this summer that I loved. I met life-changing, wonderful people and got to experience the spiritual goodness of efy for seven weeks ~ three more than expected and all with the northwest team, my favourite people :)

2. I got to travel and see the most beautiful places that He created :)

3. I get to live in the beautiful pacific northwest, my favourite place on earth :)

4. I get to live with my wonderful family, and my family is wonderful :) 

5. I'm enrolled in a wonderful university that I get to return to after my mission

6. I feel very much at peace with my decision to not attend school this semester and to go home and prepare for a mission. :) 

7. I have enough money for a mission, and then some. I had enough with my job at efy, then I got additional weeks, and then I got home and have had three different job offers that will allow me to earn almost $3000 in two months. God truly is a God of abundance, mercy, and overflowing love :) :) 

8. And of course I always have to praise Him for my Savior, Jesus :) love love love love love. Knowing Him makes me oh-so-happy :) :) 

holding hands

The other day I learned something that completely blew my mind and changed the way I think about a lot of things. I'll try to walk you through it :)

First of all, this scripture:

For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. {Isaiah 54:5}

Thy Maker is thine husband. The metaphor the Lord chooses to use for His relationship with us is husband & wife. Interesting.

Let's next look at two of the ten commandments:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to [idols], nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. {Exodus 20:5}

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife... nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. {Exodus 20:17}

Doesn't there seem to be a discrepancy here? God calls Himself a jealous God, then commands us not to covet. How can this be? Look closely at the commandment not to covet... not to covet what, specifically? Thy neighbour's wife. Here's the thing though... we aren't "His neighbour's" wife. We are His, by covenant and by marriage. He is jealous for me. I am His. He bought me with a price & by covenant I am His. Thank God, literally! What love He has for me. He will never break that covenant.

Jehovah Himself said,

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness...

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." {Isaiah 41:10,13}

"Other comforts fail and comforts flee," as the hymn says, but He will not.

Neal A. Maxwell taught,

"God has no distracting hobbies off somewhere in the universe. We are at the very center of His concerns and purposes." [Compare this with the god Baal in 1 Kings 18:27, who might've been off on a journey or sleeping somewhere in the universe.]

I need to be as devoted to Christ as He is to me. Jesus comes first, above and before everything and anything else. No "holding hands" with anyone or anything else! And no cuddling with my fears. This is what it means to be faithful.

Being the bride of Christ takes faith. It takes faith to choose Him first, run to Him first, turn to Him first. 

Remembering this metaphor He gave has taught me a great deal about my relationship with Christ. For example, husbands pay for things. Jesus paid for everything; my job is to let Him and stop trying to pay for things myself. He already suffered for sin, I don't need to suffer for it again.

Being married to Him, I get to go where He goes. It's almost like a marriage visa ~ I can be sealed to Him and brought to heaven because of the covenant. My job is to cleave unto Him, keep my covenants, love Him, be faithful to Him, & put Him first in all things. :)

I feel my Savior's love :)

I Am with thee

Sometimes, days are rough. Yesterday was rough. Sometimes I'm just crippled by how not-good I am and how much I wish I were better, but I'm not. So sometimes I cry in my car. Which is dangerous haha. So then I go home and open up my scriptures and pray and read about Jesus.

I was reading in Isaiah 41 last night when something stood out to me...

Fear thou not, for I AM with thee. Be not dismayed, for I AM thy God. I will strengthen thee.

The Great "I AM" is my God. He is all powerful & infinitely, powerfully loving. He has the strength to strengthen me - be not dismayed. I AM is my God, & He is awesome & powerful. ♥

I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. 

I don't need to be afraid of not yet being all the way good. The Lord, my God, will help me. He is the only One who can, and he can. He has all power, both in heaven and in earth. (Mosiah 4:9) 

He created me. He knows me. He can fix me.

When Moses asked "Who am I?" God answered "I will be with thee."

I AM that I AM can be translated as "I will cause to be what I will cause to be." He has the power to bring about righteousness for those who follow Him.

Jesus is the bridegroom, & the bridegroom takes care of His bride. All things that He has, she has.

Fear not thou, for I AM with thee. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee. For I the Lord the God will hold thy right hand. Be not thou dismayed, for I AM thy God. I will help thee. ♥♥♥

What does it mean to be a child of God?

Hello friends :)

As part of my job this summer working with efy, I got to take some nice long car trips with friends :)
~ fun fact about me ~ 

Sky & Katie :)

I love talking with people. It's seriously my activity of choice, listening and thinking out loud with someone. 

And so on one particular car trip, I got to talking with my friend Sky about the issue we and some other friends have with the oft-taught idea that all girls are "princesses." Certainly, this is true. We know that we are all "children of the Most High" (Psalms 82:6) and I think that this knowledge of who we really are is very important for us all to have, especially teenagers, who seem to struggle so much with self-worth and the source of their identity. However, my worry is that we sometimes stop too soon. "You're a princess!" we declare, never following up with what it means to be a princess.

To Whom then can we look to discover how children of the King really act? Why, Jesus of course! (Seems like He's always the answer, isn't He.) :)

Like His Apostle Simon Peter, we "believe and are sure that [He is] that Christ, the Son of the living God." {John 6:69} There isn't any better example of One who truly is the Son of God, and knew it. So what did He do, this Divine Son of God, when He was here on earth?

He washed people's feet.

He "went about doing good," yet was despised for it. {Acts 10:38}

He "walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead." {The Living Christ}

He came to serve.

As John records,

"Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded." {John 13:3-5}

In other words, knowing who He was, where He came from, and where He was going impelled him to serve.

This, being a child of God means that you have been called to serve.

As Christ Himself taught,

"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." {John 13:13-15,17}

You are a child of God. The supreme Governor of the universe, the Creator of everything, the all-powerful, all-knowing, infinitely loving God is your eternal Father.

What this means is that you can be like Him. You can be good, and pure, and happy as He is. :)

What this means is that you are loved.

And what this means is that you and I have been called to serve. Go, and do as Christ did :)



**for another example of how children of a king behave, go here.** :)

motivation

First of all, a story. 

There was once a man who had a dream. And in that dream, he "beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." He also "beheld a rod of iron, and it led to the tree by which I stood." He observes two different groups of people moving forward along that rod of iron, towards that tree and its fruit. The first is described thus:

"I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed. And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."

He then saw a second group, described as, "other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."

What makes the difference between the first group, who were afterwards ashamed, and the second who were not? The answer, I think, is found in the difference between "clinging" and "continually holding fast." Clearly in this context the word clinging has a negative meaning. The word "cling" can denote fear, and I think in this case it certainly does. By contrast, "continually holding fast" denotes the same amount of dedication to this rod of iron, but with a significantly different motivation.

Interestingly, the first group - the clingers - mentions a "mist of darkness," (certainly frightening) while those who continually hold fast do not. Did they just grab onto the rod of iron to help them escape the darkness, and not necessarily to get to the fruit?

So let's break the metaphor apart. Let's say that the tree is Jesus Christ, and the fruit is His love. Let's also say that the rod of iron is Christ, because He can do that - be both the Way, the Reason, and the Result. :)

What we have are two reasons for following Christ ~ fear, and the opposite of fear - love. Our first group, motivated by fear, eventually becomes ashamed and falls away from the Savior. The second group, motivated by love, does not.

I think this has an important message for us about why we should do the things we do and how we should motivate others. Do we follow Christ because we're afraid that if we don't we'll be somehow unbearably punished? Because we're afraid of what others might think of us? If so, that will eventually fall away, and we'll be left with nothing to stand on - no reason to stay.
Fear is infinitely weaker than love.

By great contrast, Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught that,
"His pure love directs and encourages us to become more pure and holy. It inspires us to walk in righteousness—not out of fear or obligation but out of an earnest desire to become even more like Him because we love Him.
 Divine love is the factor that transforms reluctant compliance with God’s commandments into blessed dedication and consecration. Love is the guiding light that illuminates the disciple’s path and fills our daily walk with life, meaning, and wonder. Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship. Love is the way of the disciple." {emphasis added}


As a second witness of this truth, Henry B. Eyring testifies that,

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him, our perfect example. Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others... It is love of God that will lead us to keep His commandments. And love of others is at the heart of our capacity to obey Him."

May we be ever more motivated by love for our Savior, and not keep His commandments motivated by fear or obligation. As we come to know Him more and feel more strongly of His infinite and abiding love for us, we will be inspired by this love and be able to continually hold fast to Him and eventually taste of His Love and never be ashamed :)  

remember who you are

first of all, this.

   

 classic disney, you do me right :) there is all sorts of spiritual goodness in that clip :)

Let's just start with this line ~ Remember who you are.

One thing that's been on my mind as BYU's starting up again is the idea of identity and where it comes from. BYU can be a difficult climate to live in since there are so many people who are better than you at what you're "best at" haha. Everyone there is above average or better, which makes everyone just... average. You may have been the valedictorian/concert pianist/drama star/all-star athlete/funniest/nicest/most spiritual person in your home ward or in high school, but everyone at BYU was "that kid" in high school. Thus, if you've built your identity around what you thought made you special, coming to BYU and having that stripped away can cause a major identity crisis and be extremely difficult.

Thus it becomes apparent that we must build our identities upon something else. Something unchanging, something intrinsic.

Let's look at a story from the Bible of someone who did just that... Joseph in Egypt!

Joseph is an individual who could've very well based his identity on all he had going for him. Favorite son, best-dressed in Canaan, most visionary... the kid was sweeping in the ancient Israelite superlatives.

... Until one day when all of that was taken from him. He was literally stripped of his coat of many colors, taken away from his family, his country, his language... everything that, to an outside observer, made him "him." Yet somehow, he held true to who he was and demonstrated incredible integrity in the face of great temptation.

i feel like Joseph is always making
 this same pose... poor guy ;)

How was Joseph able to hold true and stick to his values even when literally no one around him knew who he was or what those values even were? I believe that Joseph had a proper understand of who he really was, separate from outside conditions. This is how he was able to answer Potiphar's wife with "how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

Even when he was thrown into prison and once again had everything taken from him - favorite servant of Potiphar no more - he held true to who he was and thrived even in a prison setting. His actions reflected his knowledge about who he really was. And eventually, after many years, he was able to do great things for Egypt and reunite with his family. {Genesis 37, 39-47}

So who was Joseph? Who are we?

Joseph knew, as we can know, that:

"Ye are the children of the Lord your God." 

"All of you are children of the most High."

 "Ye are the sons of the living God." 

"We are the offspring of God." 

"We are the children of God."

{Deut. 14:1, Ps. 82:6, Hosea 1:10, Acts 17:29, Romans 8:16}

This is an identity that doesn't change. No matter where we are or what our circumstances are, nothing can change our identity that we are children of God, who loves us. This knowledge changes us and affects our every action, as it did Joseph's. No matter where you're going to school, or if you're going to school at all, this identity does not change.

To Simba's protest of, "I'm not who I used to be," Mufasa countered "Remember who you are" - intrinsically and eternally.

You are more than what you have become. You must take your place. Remember who you are - a child of the Most High God, eternally beloved of Him, created in His image :)

:)

this is a fact

God loves His children 

He even (especially?) loves His teenagers
He loves them so much He won't even let people like this -->
mess things up for them. :)

This summer working at efy one of the huge lessons that I learned was that God loves and is aware of His teenagers. Feeling Him work through me to touch their lives was the most incredible experience.

A metaphor:
In the Book of Mormon, a prophet called the Brother of Jared "did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass; and he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried unto the Lord, saying...
"Behold these things which I have molten out of the rock. And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness."
...And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger... And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness." {Ether 3:1,3-4,6; 6:3}

"Stones to shine in darkness."

That's how I feel. :) I'm just a stone, but God works with stones, and if I allow the Lord to touch me and His Light to shine through me I can shine in darkness :) My job is just to become as transparent as possible.

God is so powerful that even we in our weakness can't hold back His awesome work from progressing. His love and His power and strongest, period. the end, amen.

"No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing" ~Joseph Smith

efy

this happened:

and i'll never be the same :)