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  I was staring out the window as we flew over the European Alps this morning. I was eating a decent meal of scrambled eggs and roasted cherry tomatoes and feeling the warmth in my belly.  It was toasty warm on this flight- so much so that I never even opened the blanket they gave us.  Then I noticed at the very bottom edge of my window a bit of frost on the outside.  Under magnification I could see the intricate pattern of nature in the crystalline fingers stretching from the tiny crystal.  I realized in my comfort inside the plane I hadn’t even thought about how cold it was outside. At 10,000 m up, the air is bitterly cold and that is true even if I can’t feel it.   Even if it doesn’t match what I am personally experiencing. But when I stop to look for the evidence it is there in intricate and beautiful patterns.  Sometimes in life we aren’t feeling God’s presence or love at the moment. It doesn’t seem to match what we are personally experiencing. But if we will
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Personal Inspiration

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  A friend invited me to a small book study where we were discussing the role of the Bible and its history. The big question was whether or not we can personally have encounters with the Holy Spirit as we are reading, and thus be individually inspired by the words of God. That is such an integral part of my daily study, that it is something I find I forget to be grateful for.   I pray.  I read.  I ponder.  I listen.  I act. One of my friends shared her concerns that trusting the Spirit should be left to those who have come through Seminary.   That made me smile, as it is one of the core goals of our own seminary- to better teach teens how to have daily encounters with the Holy Spirit while reading scripture.   I came away more grateful that I know I can  “feast upon the words of Christ” and through that process be guided by the Spirit through life, becoming ever closer to the example Christ showed.
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Seeing The Joy

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  This past weekend we decided to take a drive north to visit a section of road along the shores of Lake Michigan known as The Tunnel of Trees.  I wanted to see the fall foliage and spend the time on the scenic drive as we listened to General Conference. We decided to bring our daughter’s dog, Jett, with us.  This would save the cost of boarding or finding a caretaker for him and we thought he might enjoy exploring new areas with us. He hadn’t been on a road trip with us before and it turned out he laid perfectly still the entire 5 hr journey, not chewing or barking or even looking out the windows.   He did nothing except pass gas.   The whole way. From a stomach that apparently was nervous about the car ride. The windows would all come down and George and I would cringe and comment. It continued at the pet friendly hotel with George  exclaiming he couldn’t sleep and his eyes were burning. All humor aside, we could have focused solely on the negative aspect of this.
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Surprised by Joy

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  “You have to watch this.  You will love it.” And I did. Surprised by Oxford is a film based on the memoirs of Carolyn Weber.   Without giving much away (because you should really see this!), it’s a word play on Surprised by Joy, by C S Lewis. Lewis goes into great depth as he explains his perception and definition of joy, but I want to focus on just one line.  “ I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.” (Surprised by Joy: The Shape of my Early Life, 19.) We are the keepers of our joy, but not the creators.   It can’t be forced, though we can manipulate and create circumstances that increase its likelihood.   So today I was watching for those moments.  And surprised multiple times. In the sensation of a 2 year old’s chubby fist curling around a strand of my hair as her warm forehead presses into my neck and she falls asle
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Opportunities for Love

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 “What time are you leaving?” my husband texted me. “Right now” I typed back and picked up my backpack to head home from work last night. As I approached the door I found George waiting with an umbrella to walk me to my car. It was a few minutes out of his way as he was headed to an athletic training event but he made the time and made me filled special. Later that night he brought me some small dark chocolate caramels he knew I would like. He didn’t wait for the big things.  He just served.  And he made my day a little bit better. Often our most important service will be that which we offer in our own homes. Sister Cheryl A Esplin shared, “True Christlike service is selfless and focuses on others. One woman who took care of her invalid husband explained, “Don’t think of your task as a burden; think of it as an opportunity to learn what love really is.”” Opportunities to learn to better show love are all around us.   Starting in our homes.
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Pancake Stirrers

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 Have you ever found yourself super upset over a rather simple offense? Generally when that happens it is actually due to much more than that incident.   It is likely just that incident that was the last straw, or used up your final bit of patience. Yesterday I had a student come to my room absolutely outraged.   She has a significant trauma history and so has learned to fight at all costs. Her counselors and our staff are working to help her build some new, more effective ways of dealing with frustration and confrontation. In this instance her role in her culinary arts class was to stir the pancake batter.   Only someone else did and her immediate reaction was to want to fight her. She knew that wasn’t appropriate so walked out and came to my room. After she had vented and calmed down, we talked through it.   Humor is a very effective tool for her so after gauging her body language I simply asked, “Are you going to let your whole day be ruined because someone else stirred the pancakes
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Detours

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 A friend sent me a picture taken in a recent construction zone.  Doesn’t life feel like this sometimes?  How comforting it is to know that as much as things flip-flop and change in the world, eternal truths and the straight and narrow path don’t? Satan cares not about the destinations his detours will send you to, only that they will get you off the path.   President Thomas S Monson wisely warned, “Opposition is ever with us. The temptation to detour from our chosen path is at times a daily confrontation. Joseph L. Townsend wrote the words of a hymn which we sing frequently: Choose the right when a choice is placed before you. In the right the Holy Spirit guides; And its light is forever shining o’er you, When in the right your heart confides.”
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