No Fear is EVER Required

So many of us are afraid.  We get depressed and think we're not good enough.  We feel guilty, we sink, we shrink, we wonder if we can ever accomplish what is necessary.

But God's Spirit teaches us something totally different.

Thinking of what we learn in holy places--we are shielded by Christ.  We are protected from the destroyer if we will trust in the Lord our God.

I was reading 2 Nephi 8 this morning, and I felt the most amazing sense of power. 

"I am he that comforteth you. . . . who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid . . . and forgettest the Lord . . . and hast feared continually every day."

(I think of that time I felt the adversary say, "Who do you think you are?"  and now the Lord asks the same question.)

"But I am the Lord thy God . . . Behold, thou art my people."

(Bruce R. McConkie taught that such expressions as this one "mean that the name of the Lord Jehovah has been placed upon his people, and they, knowing the name by which they are called, are heirs of salvation.)  See the book, Understanding Isaiah.

Are we His people?  Are we really?  Does He have our hearts? Does He have our absolute devotion?  Are we disciples of His forever?  Then that means that we have zero reasons to fear and doubt and be anxious and depressed.  That means we have HIS power to serve and to learn and grow and meet the challenges of this life.  That means that we are entitled to receive His power and support and comfort and help, and he NEVER breaks His covenants or lets down His people. 

"Awake, awake, stand up. . . . The Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people."

Is that not enough to convince each one of us that we need to trust in Him COMPLETELY?  And whatever it is that feels overwhelming right now--our children, our house, our job, our marriage, our extended family, our education, our weight, our future . . . doesn't it make sense that we rely 100% on the God who made us?  And we go to Him daily.  IN the scriptures.  Asking questions, writing down what we hear.  Praying fervently--hiding in our closets or running out to the car for a moment of quiet--talking to Him while we walk or sort the laundry.  Listening to the voices of His servants on our phones and computers, singing His praises while we exercise.  Kneeling with our family and spouse and pouring out our whole hearts to Him?

Right? 

And I love verse 23--the Lord will protect us from those who say "Bow down, that we may go over."  (In some cultures, the victor would force the loser to lie down, and then he would walk over him).  In the past, we may have laid on the ground and given in to the adversary, but no longer.  

Beautiful thoughts today.

Order

I'm recording a podcast with my dear friend Marilyn today about de-cluttering and creating order.

I love how the scriptures teach us about God's holy order (2 Nephi 6:2) and how all things must be done in order (Mosiah 4:27).

There are tons of examples of how righteous people have order amongst them, and with that order goes mercy and faith and devotion to God.

When there is order, the Kingdom of God can flourish, but without order, hearts aren't prepared for God.

I love the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants about organizing "every needful thing." 

We want our homes to be clean, well-stocked, and able to facilitate all the wonderful activities of a family. 

But there's also the importance of having order in prayer, scripture study, family nights, and relationships.

The hardest thing for me has been to create order when you're in a house full of children.  NEVER have I seen an extreme home makeover where they've brought in tons of kids and said, "Here!  Let's work with THEM!"

But this process of teaching children about order, helping them know how to put things away and de-clutter and plan great projects is a beautiful process.  I want more of that in my life.  I want to train and teach and refine my children.  And in the process help them to learn that order prepares their hearts for God.

Quotes from Marjorie Pay Hinckley.

These quotes from Marjorie Pay Hinckley are some of my FAVORITES:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/226482.Marjorie_Pay_Hinckley

This one was quoted by our stake president on Sunday, and I love the image of "locking arms" with one another.  Beautiful.

“We are all in this together. We need each other. Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are young, and hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old...We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other. These friendships are a necessary source of sustenance. We need to renew our faith every day. We need to lock arms and help build the kingdom so that it will roll forth and fill the whole earth.”
― Marjorie Pay Hinckley


And this one is something I need to read every day.  I have no make-up on today, my toenails haven't been painted in over a year.  I badly need a haircut.  And I know that it's important to take care of ourselves and to look lovely.  But things have been busy.  And I haven't even noticed my appearance because I've been so focused on taking care of everyone else.

But I'm living!

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
― Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Stay Ourselves Upon the God of Israel

I felt such a beautiful Spirit as I studied 1 Nephi 20 today (compares with Isaiah 48). 

Verse 2 has this phrase, "stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts . . ."

It was saying that people of the House of Israel would "call themselves of the holy city (Jerusalem), but they would not stay themselves upon the God of Israel."

Couldn't we, today, fall into this same problem?

I want to stay myself upon God.

I've been sick for the past week, and life doesn't feel easy today.  Yesterday was amazing.  I felt healthy for several hours, we went on a bike ride, I got to spend time with Eric, and I didn't feel stressed at all.  It was beautiful.

But today I have a headache and two of my children have been squabbling all morning (one is back in the bedroom for the second time), and I wonder if I'm teaching what I should be teaching--or if I'm living as I should be living--or if there's any hope for me.  We have guests coming over in about an hour, and I have some Power of Moms work that needs to get done--and I need to shower and get ready and clean up the house and get the kids settled, and I just feel overwhelmed.

Of COURSE the Grace of God is the only solution.  That is the only way that we can be saved.  And I know His Grace makes up for where I lack.  He knows I'm imperfect, but that's okay.  He wants me to try.  To accept His offering.  To rely on His Grace.

Verse 10 says, "I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."  And verse 11 says that He does this for His own sake.  He doesn't want His name polluted.

I want these challenging times to refine me, but the only way I can do that is to stay myself on Him.

I need to pray with more faith.  Turn to Him when I am worried.  And allow Him to teach me.

Act in Doctrine - Chapter Two

I loved this quote from p 44 of Act in Doctrine:

"The earth was created and prepared as a place whereon Heavenly Father's children could be proved to see if they would do 'all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them' (Abraham 3:25).  The very purposes of the Creation and of our mortal existence are to see if you and I will do and become what the Lord instructs and commands us to do and to become.  We have not been blessed with moral agency to do whatever we want whenever we will.  Rather, according to the Father's plan, we have received moral agency to choose the right, to do good, and to become whatever God intends for us to become."

And in Moses 7:32-33, we learn that "the fundamental purposes for the gift of agency are to love one another and to choose God."  (This isn't a suggestion or a counsel . . . this is a commandment.)

How can I better use my agency to love others and choose God?

Obedience to God isn't restrictive.  It's quite the opposite.

President Packer said this, "Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would loan or yield my agency to Him--without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege.  In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take one's agency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, 'I will do as thou directs,' is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more."

That really means a lot to me.  And it leads me to ask the question, Have I completely yielded my agency to God?  Am I willing to do EVERYTHING He asks me to do--without question?

I would like to think so, but I am sure there are still some areas in which my faith is not yet perfect.

But I am going to think about these questions and consider how much of my agency has been given to Him.  That is my ultimate goal.  Because when we give Him our agency, He gives us everything.

Inspired Preparations

I've been focusing on two scriptures this morning:

The first is D&C 24:12

And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and ^adeclare my gospel as with the voice of a ^btrump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.

The second is Alma 49:8

But behold, to their uttermost astonishment, they were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni.

I've been impressed by this idea that the Lord will exceed our expectations in the strength He will give us.  And He will help us (and our families) to be prepared in a way that no one has ever known.

I am relying on these promises as I try to strengthen my family and to help other families to strengthen theirs.

With technology today--and with the way the culture on our earth is shifting, it has never been more important to teach, train, prepare, strengthen, and protect our families.  We need to take this seriously.  We need to be focused on our little ones.  We need to be very careful about what we're watching on TV, what music we allow into our homes, how we spend our discretionary time, and how we nurture and deepen the relationships in our marriage.

The Lord wants us to share His love, to share His gospel, and to help others to know about our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It isn't an easy task, but He gave everything to us, and we serve Him because we love Him.

Act in Doctrine - Chapter One

I have been thinking deeply about this new book by Elder Bednar, and I wanted to record some of the main thoughts he teaches.

Really, anyone looking at these notes would want to read the whole book, so I won't try to summarize, but here are the points that are particularly resonating with me:

• The scriptures are full of invitations to ACT.  It's not enough to simply know something.  We have to do something with what we know. ("Let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence" - Doctrine and Covenants 107:99.)

• This question is powerful: What doctrines and principles, if understood, would help me or you to live more consistently with what we know is true?  Isn't that beautiful?  Every single problem I have in my life goes back to this.  That's why I've been studying faith in the atonement of Christ.  I get too stressed and worried about the things that are on "my" shoulders, when really, the Lord has already taken them upon Himself.

•  I wrote a bit about this idea here on my other blog (Fighting the Inclination to Turn Inward), but main idea is that the Lord's character is what enabled the atonement.  He always turned outward and served others--even when He was in the midst of pain.  (After fasting for 40 days, He sent angels to minister to John the Baptist, who was in prison.  In the upper room, right before the atonement took place and before He was crucified, He was comforting His apostles and giving the Intercessory Prayer. He healed the ear of the guard right after He was betrayed. He asked the Father to forgive those who crucified Him. He made sure His mother was cared for while He was hanging on the cross.)

•  And I love that the word "Character" has the word "act" right in the middle.  And that the word "charity" (though not related) has "char" as a part of it.

• Elder Bednar describes what a "drip" system is in gardening/irrigation.  It "involves dripping water onto the soil at very low rates from a system of small plastic pipes fitted with outlets called emitters or drippers.  Unlike surface and sprinkler irrigation that invloves flooding or gushing or spraying large quantities of water where it may not be needed, drip irrigation applies water close to a plant so that only the part of the soil in which the roots grow is wetted."  It's more focused and more frequent, and it provides a high moisture level in the soil.  THIS is how we need to get our spiritual nourishment--drop by drop, day by day.  We can't study our scriptures for 5 hours and have that be more productive than 30 minutes a day for 10 days.  It needs to sink into our souls.  We need to have time to act upon what we are learning.  

• And in the ordinary days of our lives, we are laying the foundation of a great work.  D&C 64:33.

I love the questions that go with this book, as well.  Elder Bednar has done an absolutely beautiful job putting this together.  

Armor of God - Mercury's Lack of an Atmosphere

We went to the Discovery Science Center on 1/4/12.  I took a photo of Mercury--covered with craters because it doesn't have an atmosphere.

Earth's atmosphere protects it from projectiles in space, causing them to burn up.

What does this teach us about the armor of God?

God's Love for Mothers

On Mother's Day, we usually hear the same scripture over and over again.  (The stripling warriors' mothers . . .)  That is one of my favorite stories, but the scriptures have TONS of verses and principles that apply to motherhood.

One of my favorites is 1 Nephi 17:2. 

We read about Nephi's family, journeying in the wilderness--being obedient to God, and having all kinds of difficulties along the way.

But "so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give for plenty of suck for their children and were strong, yea even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings."

This scripture means a lot to me because you think about the mothers who needed to live in tents and travel each day with their families.  They were walking for miles.  They were pregnant.  They were nursing.  They were trying to take care of their little ones.

This could have been miserable.  But instead, they were strong.  They had plenty of milk.  They didn't even feel the need to complain.

How does this translate into my day?  Can the Lord be so merciful to me that I can be strong?  That I can have plenty to feed my children? That I can be so well taken care of that I won't even feel the need to complain?

The next verse is beautiful: "And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled.  And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them. . . ."

I know that the Lord wants to offer all his blessings to all of His children.  And so I am going to do my best to give Him my whole heart. and not whine one little bit.  I need to trust Him with my whole life because He is in charge. 

Right now I feel like there is a LOT required of me.  Just teaching my children, supporting my husband, and being a good woman takes so much energy.

But on top of that, I feel called to run The Power of Moms.  We just published a book, I'm creating programs and writing posts and emailing our thousands of women.  I'm trying to lead this huge global organization, and it is a bit exhausting sometimes.  But if I am listening to Him, I know that I can be nourished and strengthened and blessed.  He is so wonderful!

What it Means to "Keep" the Commandments

I'm studying the scriptures and Preach My Gospel in Spanish this morning, and I thought it was very interesting how the verb "guardar" is used.

In Doctrine and Covenants 109:22, when it translates "thine angels have charge over them," it uses these words: "y tus angeles los guarden."

I love that thought--angels guarding me, taking care of me, watching out for me.

And then in Preach My Gospel (page 129) it says, "se espera de usted que guarde los mandamientos," which means that "you are expected to keep the commandments."

I always thought of "keeping" the commandments as obeying them--as having an obligation to do what's right, whether you want to or not.  (Not that I don't want to keep them . . . but I thought of it in the same way as "Mind your manners!")

But this verb changes the way I think about it.  What if we were to really "guard" the commandments?  It becomes a special charge.

Synonyms for "guardar" include "treasure, preserve, hold on to."

Today I'm going to think about that more.  I'm going to ask the Lord what I can do to better "treasure" His commandments.

And I'm going to teach my children to do likewise.

I felt such a beautiful Spirit as I studied these things today.  I have my new Spanish scriptures, and I am starting to mark my favorite verses and annotate in Spanish.

My heart is full of love for God.  He is so, so good to us.  And I want to do all I can to serve Him.

Living the Gospel Half-way

I taught Lesson #1 of the George Albert Smith manual  in Relief Society on Sunday, and we were talking about really living our religion.

As an introduction, I asked one sister to leave the room and three sisters to come to the front.  I showed the three sisters a list of three requests:

(1) Singing Happy Birthday

(2) Drawing a picture of a clock on the chalkboard

(3) Cracking an egg into a glass

Then I told them we would bring in the sister from the hallway, and she would ask them to perform one of these tasks.

They were instructed to only do it HALF-way.

It was so fun.

One sister sang just the first line and a half of Happy Birthday.  Another sister drew a "C"-shaped clock with just 12, 11, 10 . . . 6 on it and one hand, and the final sister cracked the egg/separating out the white.

I then asked the sister who'd left the room how she felt when her requests were only done half-way, and she said it just didn't feel complete, and she was kind of disappointed.

Then I asked the class if they'd ever asked their children to do something--and only had it done half-way.  Everyone laughed, and one sister called out, "The bathrooms!"

We then started talking about how the Lord must feel when WE only obey Him half-way.  Our goal is to be absolute and complete in how we follow Him.