Stronger Through Him

  How can you walk through the autumn masterpiece of color and love and not want to sing to the Lord in praise?  It lifts the heart above current troubles. It reminds of the ever changing seasons in life. It speaks of God without saying a word.   Just by being. As do each of us. Even if we sometimes need reminded.

 Tonight as I was reading and studying I came across this incredibly timely message by President A Theodore Tuttle and this particular quote seemed to be calling out to me to take notice. “Our lives are ruled by a schedule and appointments while the Christian acts of kindness wait—ofttimes in vain. Our most flagrant violations, perhaps, occur in our own homes. We chase worldly pleasures and neglect our own innocent children. When did you tell stories to your children? Or go fishing or hunting with your son? Or help him earn a merit badge? Have you counseled with them concerning their personal achievement program? The trials through which today’s young people are passing—ease and luxury—may be the most severe test of any age. Brothers and sisters, stay close to your own! Guide them safely! These are perilous times. Give increased attention. Give increased effort.” I am guilty of this.   I’m not feeling shamed, but I am feeling a call to action. Or as another friend phrased it, “I feel c

    For 24 consecutive hours, youth around the world gathered to bear testimony of Jesus Christ.   Each group gathered at 7:00 in their own time zone.  I was blessed to be in attendance with Ella and her friends at hers. It was a beautiful experience to hear them each share from their hearts.  And as always,  I learned from them.  One of the youth stood and reminded us all “you don’t get cleaned up to take a shower; you take a shower to get cleaned up.” He compared it to how we go to the Savior as we are and work on becoming better and cleaner with his help through repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.   The simplicity and faith these young people have was heartwarming and inspiring.  And the thought of it being magnified all over the world was incomprehensible.  Kind of like the love Jesus Christ has for each and every one of us.

  After the great fire in London in 1666, Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral. One day, while Wren was visiting the construction site, he stopped and talked to three different men working on a wall. He asked the first what he was doing. “I’m a bricklayer, I’m building a wall.” He asked the second what he was doing. “I’m earning three shillings.” He asked the third what he was doing.   “I’m helping Sir Christopher Wren build a Cathedral for the Almighty.” Work is a holy principle.   It’s a principle of God.   In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul counsels the people to “work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” But our purpose matters deeply and guides how we see and perform that work. Speaking of this situation Jim Baker wrote, “We need to recognize that God didn’t make anybody to just be a bricklayer.  Don’t hear me wrong, nothing is wrong with being a bricklayer.

  37 overdue assignments. The young man was feeling overwhelmed and was lacking motivation.   He didn’t know where to start so he was acting up in class. The assistant principal had assigned him to spend a day with me to see what we could do to get him back on track.   He showed me his most current math assignment and said he had no idea how to complete it. “Hold on.  Let’s go back and do the parts you CAN.  The parts you know how to do.” It turned out he could do 18 of the 20 problems but was getting hung up when he encountered one he was unsure of. Soon his confidence began to build and by the end of the day he had only 17 assignments remaining.   “Do the part you CAN.  The part you DO know.”! Philippians 4:9 reads “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” The part you HAVE learned and received and heard and seen modeled by the apostle, DO.   A powerful one word sermon.   DO. But do the part YE (yo

  A 13 year old biking home from school was hit by a car.  Police were there quickly.  And life flight came and transported him to the closest trauma center. Where his mama sits beside his bed waiting and pleading with heaven. Faculty gathered as we made plans to teach, protect and support the hundreds of teens in our care while profoundly feeling the absence of the one. And yet the needs of others don't magically disappear in the midst of tragedy for one. And so we give and stand and hug and support and love. And a few hours later I am at a concert that Ella is performing in, and these touching lyrics based on Christ's final moments, his final prayers in mortality, are performed. From local composers, Susan and Lee Dengler's choral suite for Holy Week: My God, I feel forsaken.  My God, I feel alone. My sin has left me far from you, a child so far from home. My God, I feel forgotten. My God, I feel distressed, Yet you have said You'd never leave, and

 "You don't have to be grateful for everything." It was stated with the obvious bitterness and pain of someone carrying a heavy load.   And I agreed. We don't have to be grateful for everything.   But there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for.   Or as Elder Gary Sabin recently said, "you will never be happier than you are grateful. The Lord declared, “And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious.” Perhaps this is because gratitude gives birth to a multitude of other virtues. How our awareness would change if every morning we awoke with only the blessings we were grateful for the night before. Failure to appreciate our blessings can result in a sense of dissatisfaction, which can rob us of the joy and happiness that gratitude engenders." It's just sometimes I forget to look for the small ways. So I caught myself earlier today asking, "What am I grateful for in this moment right here, right now?" And I looked at my

  In frustration I finally pulled out my preschool behavior sort and laid the cards on the table for the seventh grader I was sitting next to.   "Kicking," he read.   "Helpful or hurtful?" We repeated the process with sharing, interrupting, hitting, caring for materials, and many others. Later that day I reflected in frustration that I had needed to use preschool materials and skills practice for a seventh grader. My wise husband simply replied, "Well actually we really do need the same skills and are still working on them, right?" I thought about that.   What would our world be like if we all followed the four preschool cardinal rules? Kind words. Walking feet.  Gentle hands.  Listening ears.  I also smiled as I heard Sister Tamara Runia ask those same reflection questions in her recent conference address.  "Before we interact with a loved one, can we ask ourselves the question “Is what I’m about to do or say helpful or hurtful?” O

  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/imgs/5265af7cbcea8d9113c6a20662c8139b11bd215f/full/1280%2C/0/default https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/imgs/5265af7cbcea8d9113c6a20662c8139b11bd215f/full/1280%2C/0/default It's been a super busy week. And the more I work with these teens the more my heart breaks for some of the trials they are going through.  But this week I found another "power scripture". Ephesians 3:13-19 "13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know th