Stronger Through Him

 A simple reminder of just how loved we are. In this world created for us. And full of beauty and splendor almost always packaged in the everyday if we are looking for it.

  Today was preschool graduation and as the director,  I get the privilege of speaking to the parents for a moment and announcing all the children's names. I looked at all the polished shoes and pigtails with bows, the carefully gelled hair and the little giggles as they sang their Brown Bear chant.   I looked at all the parents with their eyes overflowing with love as kids excitedly called out "That's my Daddy!".  And my heart smiled.  This year one message kept coming to mind again and again.  What kids really need is for their parents' presence, not presents. As I asked children what they wanted to put on their summer bucket lists the results were telling. Go to the park. Read a story. Play tag. Have a nerf war. Color. And most touching of all-  Eat a popsicle with my whole family.  And no phones.   What kids want is actually what grownups want too. Time.   With in-person contact and authentic relationship building. It matters.  

 On Saturday afternoon my friend and coworker called.  She had heard there was a shooting near our elementary.  My heart sank as I began to frantically search the news.   Sure enough around the corner from my school, at a house visible from the playground an angry young man seeking revenge shot his ex girlfriend and her siblings before taking his own life.  Two dead and three critically injured.   Then tonight I was horrified to see yet another shooting in Texas at an elementary school.  With more than 20 lives taken.  Sickening.  Cruel.  Absolute evil.   Evil is real.  And Satan is laughing as he watches the world sob.   As Bishop Keith B McMullin said, "Satan is real and is on the earth as well. He and his legions are wreaking havoc among the children of men. He speaks no truth, feels no love, promotes no good, and avows nothing but mayhem and destruction." Make no mistake about it.  We are each still accountable for our actions.  But Satan is waiting for us to put our guar

  Multiple times in Deuteronomy the children of Israel are invited and reminded to give their whole hearts to the Lord.   Entire. All. Complete. It's not enough to give part of our hearts and then make up our guidelines for the rest.   CS Lewis taught that where man goes working is when they "could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come … the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." I mean truly happy.  Whole hearts happy.  Even when things aren't going perfect happy.   And happiness will never be just about us.   Jesus taught us that over and over again.   One key place we can work on this is by teaching the next generations. By giving them a stark contrast to the lies of the world that say we can buy, invent or demand our own happiness. When

  There is a Japanese tradition in which if a person is ill, they are made 1,000 origami paper cranes. They are given to show that others are wishing them well, thinking of them, and caring. Each paper is folded, and once a crease is there in the paper it can't be removed. It can, however, be made into something bigger and better by folding around it. Each of our lives are full of creases, difficulties or hardships that leave scars.   But while the creases will remain, great things, even infinite possibilities, can be built around them if we allow it.  We may have to fold, and it may not be the shape and form we had planned on.   But it will be beautiful and each of us can do our small part to lift and bless others.   President Linda K Burton reminded, "It does not matter if we are not yet perfect and complete. We are devoted disciples who reach out and help each other along the way." https://youtu.be/5Ch25z9om5w

  One of my good friends and coworkers has been battling stage IV metastatic breast cancer which had moved into her arm bones, hips, pelvis and multiple lymph nodes. Her prognosis did not look good but she began the regimens of chemotherapy, radiation, and a huge dose of faith.   Last week she went in for her scan and to the astonishment of her medical team they found no evidence of cancer left.  Her lymph nodes had all returned to normal size.  The cancer appeared to be gone.  It was a true miracle! We all cried and praised together. Today I am contemplating the blessing of being able to testify and witness her miracle when my own healing looks different.  Or isn't happening.  Even when, as Elder Bednar asked, we have the faith to NOT be healed.  Elder Donald L Hallstrom shared this thought provoking question, "Is our faith focused on simply wanting to be relieved of pain and suffering, or is it firmly centered on God the Father and His holy plan and in Jesus the

 We were reading in Joshua today and I still have this scripture marked from my own seminary days.   It's an easy one to remember for me because of the rhyme. Joshua 1:8 meditate.  I was at a class on letting God prevail in our lives last weekend and had the thought come that we can't meditate on what we haven't read.  Of course the Holy Spirit can bring something to our mind, but that's a whole lot easier if we give him something to work with.   It was a good reminder of the importance of daily reading.

  It was a beautiful sunny day today and our Stake Leadership had put together a wonderful Day of Sisterhood for us at a camp in Michigan. Ella really wanted to go and so even though I was tired and dragging, we drove up together.   It was a good feeling to be together with so many good women.  There were multiple classes and activities to choose from. After the first class on letting God prevail in our lives, I headed outside with my camera with a plan to hike around a bit and then perhaps head out on the water. I only had enough energy to make it to a swing and gently rock back and forth.  I snapped a few pictures and for a moment felt some discouragement, frustration and jealousy of those around me setting out in the kayaks and canoes, or giggling together as they headed down the paths. But I quickly caught myself and offered a prayer of gratitude for the beautiful surroundings and a moment of peace to myself.  I felt a reassurance that I am loved and pulled a book from m

  It is teacher appreciation week, which incidentally is way more work as a member of the leadership team doing the appreciation, than it ever was as a teacher.  Some of us were even feeling a bit worn down and beginning to feel a bit resentful.   And by some of us I mean me😊. And then today I got this simple note from a former student who is now in 4th grade. And that act of appreciation and expression of gratitude softened your by prickly heart. Elder Robert D Hales promised, "What a joy and blessing to have the Spirit in our homes! And what a blessing it is to invite it through prayer, studying the scriptures, speaking kindly, and showing appreciation to one another!" All ways we can invite the Spirit into not only our homes, but our work places, our social circles and anywhere else the Spirit would be welcome. Who do you need to thank? In the meantime, I'm going to go bake that casserole for tomorrows teacher breakfast!😂

  One of the lyrics from Dear Evan Hansen has been going through my mind for the last few days.   From the song, "The Anonymous Ones" it's a powerful message.  "The parts we can't tell, we carry them well; but that does not mean they aren't heavy." Every single one of us has things that are hard.  Things that are scary.  Things that we wish were different.   Every single one of us is broken.  Imperfect. And a sinner. Even those who may seem to have things always working out, or who were somehow absent when the trials were handed out.  Them too. Two second graders who I was helping mediate an argument put it this way.  Student one: "It made me angry when you hit me.  I need to feel safe at school and not like someone is going to hurt me. And I already was hurting inside because of something else." Student two (dropping onto the floor next to her): "I'm sorry.  I didn't know that.  I'm hurting on the inside too.