"Take Counsel From His Hand"

Dear Sisters,

Hope you are having a good week with all these “April Showers” and the beautiful green that follows.

I have been thinking about how sometimes the answers to our prayers may come through a different process than we expect.  My husband, Douglas and I were talking about this, and he shared a profound example of this found in the Book of Mormon when poor Nephi was bound with strong cords by his older brothers: (1 Ne 7:16-18)

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 16 And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me. And it came to pass that they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceedingly wroth, and they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.

 17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.

 18 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

Nephi’s righteous desire, expressed through faith-filled prayer was a plea that the Lord would deliver him from the hands of his brothers.  His idea was that the Lord would strengthen him, and he would be able to physically break the bands.  Honestly, I have always pictured that that is exactly what happened, but as you read closely in verse 18, as he turned to the Lord in faith, the bands were not broken, but “loosed”, not necessarily because Nephi broke them with his strength, but because the Lord loosened them as a result of Nephi’s faith.

Sometimes, we have a vision, and a plan that makes sense in our mind of how we will achieve it, and I really feel that the Lord blesses us with the righteous desires of our hearts; however, the time-table and the process of achieving our desires may be quite different than what we planned.  We are blessed as we listen to the promptings of the spirit, and allow the Lord to direct our lives.

 10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

From time to time, I catch myself giving the Lord “my agenda” in my prayers, and I forget he is and should be at the helm, directing my life for good.  He’s the master creator and he knows what is best for me.  I’m going to work on taking counsel from Him, because He truly is wise, merciful, and just.

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Hope you have a lovely day!

Sincerely,

Lydia

Service with a Smile

Dear Sisters,

Service has been on my mind lately.  My mother is a great example of tirelessly serving anyone in need… and even anyone not. J 

She is pretty special.  She just had a birthday, and this year, my siblings and I decided to serve with a smile the way she would that day and tell her about it.  I have discovered that finding opportunities to serve with this calling take little or no effort; however, from time to time, my heart is not in the right place. J That day, as predicted, the service opportunities came to me, but I was amazed at how much more enjoyable the experiences were when I adjusted my attitude.  I even felt the special gift of love that comes with charity.

Let’s not forget King Benjamin’s famous worlds:

“And behold I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”

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I was also on the receiving end of special service this week, as well, as a sister shared her talents with me.  She was an answer to my prayers, and I was humbled to watch her be an instrument in the Lord’s hands to touch my life.  I felt the Lord’s love for me through her kind act.  (Pretty much, this happens daily—you sisters are so very loving and giving and special.  Your support humbles me and keeps me going.)

I urge each of you to reach out to your neighbor, friend, or Relief Society sister and offer service with a smile, so you can feel the Saviors love for them and for you.  Be a missionary.  Strengthen our Ward.  Contribute.  There is a place for you in our Relief Society.  We need you.  Don’t wait any longer to be active and happy in the gospel.  It will bring you peace and joy that you will find in no other place, because it is true and we are blessed with the fullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know he loves each of you and is mindful of your path.  He calls with open arms to “come unto him.”  May we have ears to hear.

Sincerely,

Lydia

Too Blessed to be Stressed

Dear Sisters,

Between three family birthdays in a week, and an impromptu spring break road trip, I missed a week, but you have been in my thoughts and prayers.  Hope you are enjoying the beautiful spring blossoms popping up everywhere.

While I was traveling home yesterday, I got stuck, for quite a while, behind a rusty old potato truck with the words painted on the back “Too Blessed to be Stressed.”  I felt pretty sure that the universe was sending me a message.  

As I crawled along the freeway behind that rusty truck, I began reflecting on how good my life is and how truly blessed I am.  It is sad that sometimes I allow myself to get so stressed, that I forget my blessings.  Our Heavenly Father is so generous with us.  We would do well to remember it.

“We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.”                         -Pres. Monson

I know there are many people in our ward going through some difficult challenges in life right now, and sometimes it’s easy to feel picked-on, but if we try to cultivate an attitude of gratitude for our blessings, I know the Lord with guide us along, and it will all be for our good.

“When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given.”                 -Pres. Monson

 

I would urge each of us to “count our many blessings” and keep the commandments, because obedience opens the door to more of the blessings we are seeking.

“The knowledge which we seek, the answers for which we yearn, and the strength which we desire today to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world can be ours when we willingly obey the Lord’s commandments.”          -Pres. Monson

Hope you have a lovely, happy, "gratitude-filled" week and know you are one of my greatest blessings!

Sincerely,

Lydia

Women of Faith

Dear Sisters,

My older sister just sent me a picture that I hadn’t seen in years.  The shocked, fearful expression on my little baby face made me laugh out loud when I saw it.

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On a more serious note, this got me thinking about fear.  We are facing troubled times in the world.  My heart goes out to the poor people in Belgium, who recently experienced the terrible terrorist attacks.  I have been encouraging my children to pray for them, and I think Brigham must have heard me pray that they would comforted, because last night during his bedtime prayers, I heard him pray “that the people in Belgimum will be comfortable.” J He probably doesn’t understand what is taking place, but I am grateful he wants to follow my example. 

I had a similar experience as I was taking notes during the General Women’s Conference, and my girls kept moving my hand so they could copy what I wrote word for word.  At first I was going to get after them and tell them to take their own notes, and then I felt humbled by how they were watching me so closely and trying to be like me.  It was a powerful reminder for me that we must make sure we are teaching our little ones and giving them a good example of faith to follow, and they will not fear, because “their mother’s knew it,” just as the Son’s of Helaman said of their mothers. 

Be women of faith, not fear.  

“Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time.” 

(Elder Andersen)

These beautiful scriptures found in D&C 50:40-42 seem especially applicable:

 40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

 41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;

 42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.

We cannot carry our load alone, so let us put our faith and trust in our beloved Savior, who has paid the price and overcome all things, and we will not be lost.  I have faith in His ability to rescue us, and I know HE LIVES!!!

Sincerely,

Lydia

Cleave Unto God

Hello Sisters!

Hooray for Spring!  Doesn’t that sunshine feel wonderful!  I love watching new flowers open every day.  It reminds me of the Savior’s resurrection and rebirth.

I am trying to read my scriptures earlier in the morning.  It is a real sacrifice for me, (especially since day-light savings time change) but I have sure felt like the Lord is rewarding my efforts as I gain understanding.  I have never loved or understood Jacob 5 and the “Allegory of the Olive Tree” like I did this last time through.  

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One thing that really struck me was the follow chapter, where Jacob explains why he included that parable. He wanted his people to know that the Lord will come again, and that if they didn’t bring forth good fruit/works, they would be cut off and cast into the fire.

Jacob 6:5-8

  5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.

 6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?

 7 For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?

 8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?

The word cleave jumped out to me.  I was fascinated as I looked up the word, that it’s two definitions have such opposite meanings.  One means “to split or sever” and the other (which is definitely the applicable one in this case) is “to stick fast to or adhere strongly to.”

How strongly do you adhere to the Lord?

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This made me think about how the He is so merciful, understanding, and forgiving to us.  He gives us every opportunity to succeed and doesn’t give up on us.  I think it is sad that sometimes, as soon as we hit a trial, a doctrinal question, or a controversial issue, we distance ourselves from Him and the gospel, when we should be “cleaving unto God as He cleaves unto us.” 

I like how verse 6 says, “today”—choose to cleave today!  We’ve been nourished by his good word, and surely we don’t want to reject it and be “cast into the fire.”

I’m going to work on “coming with full purpose of heart” and “cleaving” to the Lord like he cleaves to me.  He’s pretty good to us, isn’t he?  He deserves our loyalty, and I believe we are always blessed for giving it.

Sincerely,

Lydia

"Christ will tell you all things"

Dear Sisters,

I really appreciate today's Sunday School lesson, where Bro. Nelson encouraged us to “feast on the words of Christ” as we seek for answers to our questions.  He reminded us that “the Holy Ghost will tell us the truth of all things” if we “follow Christ with FULL PURPOSE of heart.”

These are some scriptures I am going to “ponderize” this week as I try to feast on the words of Christ and receive answers to my questions and concerns.

2 Ne 31:13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

2 Ne 32:3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

I know we will be blessed to know “all things that we should do” as we study and apply what we learn from the scriptures.

Sincerely,

Lydia

"Forgive One Another"

Dear Sisters,

I was just thinking today about what a blessing forgiveness is.  Letting go of a grudge is truly empowering.  I am going to get just a bit personal here, so bare with me…

During my early teen years, I had a bit of a firey temper, not unlike “Anne of Green Gable’s.”  There was one school boy in particular that could really set me off, and I him.  Our personalities and opinions strongly clashed.  He sort of became my nemesis.  We could barely stand to be in the same room.  One day, when the teacher left the classroom for a moment, this boy was walking down the aisle and tripped over my foot.  Thinking I had intentionally tripped him, he picked himself up, turned around, and decked me.  Somewhat shocked, but highly defensive, I decked him back… and quite possibly this pattern would have continued had friends not intervened.  (I’m kind of embarrassed about this… but moving on.)

Feelings of passionate anger and even hatred began to stir inside me.  When I finally opened up to my mom about what had happened, I’m sure she felt some disappointment in me, and probably some of her own anger at this boy for punching her daughter, but I will be forever grateful for the lesson she taught me, as she set her own feelings aside.

She listened, and busied herself making cookies.  When the cookies were done, she informed me that we were taking them to this boy’s house.  I was completely mortified!  It probably took some serious coaxing, but I relented.  I can remember ringing the doorbell while awkwardly balancing the plate of cookies.  The boy answered the door, and I simply said, “I think we should bury the hatchet.” (Probably my mom’s words.)  He agreed.  We both made quick apologies and parted ways.  I wish I could have heard his explanation to his mother as to why a girl was bringing him cookies. J 

The main thing I remember about all of this, was how I felt afterwards.  I remember skipping—almost floating back to the car, because that sick, fiery feeling was gone.  I’m so grateful that my mother recognized my need to forgive and heal, and that she was willing to take the time to teach me the contrast between those two feelings.

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I didn’t know then how much I would later need this lesson of forgiveness. Just a couple short years later, I experienced some minor sexual abuse.  Again, I am grateful for my sweet mother, who listened and didn’t “sweep it under the rug” when I confided in her.  When the person approached me in humble apology, I was able to frankly forgive them, and apply that early lesson of “letting go of bad feelings”.  I know the power of the atonement healed my hurt and removed my guilt, and blessed me with the ability to forgive.  It was empowering to let go of that heavy burden, and also allow that person to progress as well.

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I testify that there isn’t a trial the Savior hasn’t suffered.  He has descended below all things.  If you have been mistreated or are carrying a grudge, I urge you to set it at the Saviors feet.  Approach the person in forgiveness and allow Christ’s atonement to heal all that is unfair in your life.  Life really is too short to hold grudges.

Sincerely,

Lydia