Stronger Through Him

 Yesterday at church we had a hymn testimony meeting.  People could hear their testimony about a favorite hymn and then we would sing it. It was a beautiful, spirit-filled experience.   "I am a child of God." "Be still my soul...leave to thy God to order and provide." "Have I done any good in the world today?" "Families can be together forever." "I know that my Redeemer lives" "Count your blessings....even when discouraged and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." Psalm 28:7  "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Have you ever thought how truly blessed we are to have these beautiful works shared by others?

  Our dryer is limping a bit on its last leg.   But we continue to replace the element and coax a few more months out of it. Consequently, we are using our drying rack more often.  And when the dryer was unavailable for a few days, Ella was less than impressed with the wired together rack that slanted just enough that with the wrong move it would deftly deposit the entire rack of clothes into a pile on the ground. So I ordered a new one. Only when it arrived, no two components had been put together.  It brought back many memories of the Sauder furniture years..... except the diagram was at least in English!  I was kind of annoyed.   The jumble of parts looked nothing like the picture of the product I had ordered.   But I spent the next few hours assembling the rack with some occasional helpful clarification from George. I dropped screws and washers and had to move the loveseat to find them.  I put some pieces together wrong and had ...

  Alex is currently serving at the Mexico City missionary training center. Having just spent a year at college, there are of course many parallels to the communal living experience including eating in the dining hall. However, there is one very stark difference which she recognized and embraced immediately.  Contrary to the very American practice of taking tons of food and then discarding what you don't feel like eating, they are instructed to take minimal amounts first and eat it all, before getting more if still hungry.   Why? Because wasting is not God's way nor does it show true gratitude.   And she told of the employees there who are grateful for their jobs but see the poverty all around them all the time.  And when one of them saw a missionary dump a plate of food, she began to cry.   To see some throw edible food in the trash while others starve is crushing.   Can you do better? I know I can.  And with the ability to stretch ou...

  Psalm 36:5 "Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds."

  I've spent a couple of days in a pity party as I tested positive for yet another round of covid. So I'm coughing and have chills and aches that are screaming through my freshly torn knee injury and threatening to rupture my eardrums.  Walking up and down the stairs is a production.   I think it has been particularly frustrating because I didn't think I could get it now.  Since I had it in June (when I was hospitalized) I thought I had immunity.  The official guideline said I did.   And yet here I am.   It's when things don't go as expected or we feel blindsided by life that it can be most difficult to hold onto not just our faith, but our sanity.   When I can think of all the good things I could be doing and accomplishing if my health would give me half a chance, I get frustrated.   And I know that Jesus could step in and heal me.  Not just of Covid, but of Lupus and its many complications.  But I don't think that's his plan....

  When I returned home last night, I was met with this beautifully sunny sight.   A friend had dropped them by the house for me.  Sunflowers are cheerful, bright, and can grow in less than optimal soul.   I'm balancing frustration, exhaustion, worry, and pain this week.  It's called life.   But I'm also aware of the light, friendships, laughter, family, love, insights and ultimately peace that is present in even greater quantities in my life.  Because of Jesus Christ. Elder Cook taught, "One of the remarkable characteristics of young wild sunflowers, in addition to growing in soil that is not hospitable, is how the young flower bud follows the sun across the sky. In doing so, it receives life-sustaining energy before bursting forth in its glorious yellow color. Like the young sunflower, when we follow the Savior of the world, the Son of God, we flourish and become glorious despite the many terrible circumstances that surround us. He truly ...

 Just a reminder that to truly listen we have to at least sometimes be silent.  (I'm a talker so this one takes intentionality for me!) God told us to "Be still, and know that I am God".  All of us, including our mouths. Jesus showed us that same pattern, when the storm raged and he told the waters to be still.   And they obeyed.  So can we.  And then listen and feel and connect and learn.