Change

I wanted to write a little today about change, especially because fall is coming on and summer is changing into fall... Today has been really warm.  Surprisingly.  But lately you can feel the crisp air coming and the tip of the leaves are changing their green colors for warmer reds and browns.  It is sad to see summer leave, but it is fun to see autumn come.  The longer I've lived the more I've realized the amount of changes a person has in a lifetime.  There is always change.  Life changes from day to day, week to week, and year to year. It is really quite incredible the constant changes that we all go through.  Not only does the world change around us but we as people change.  I was doing some reading this morning on repentance, and it was talking about how repentance was really a way that we can change each day. Most people look at repentance as something needed for those who commit awful crimes, but repentance really is changing our life and living closer to our Father in Heaven.  I really like this quote by Elder Neil A. Anderson, it says:

“The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to ‘re-turn’ toward God. It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the commandments.”

We all have a need to repent everyday, to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and to change.  It is really incredible to know that we can become better everyday.  We hold the pen that writes our future. We are the ones that decide.  God has created a perfect plan and through His Son Christ we can repent everyday and be a little better.  I ask you all to find something to change.  Just like Summer to Autumn is a beautiful change so is repenting everyday!

Is the grass really greener?

My question to you today, is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? How many times in our lives do we think that to ourselves and really wish it was true, but when we get there we realized that it wasn't as green as we thought. I definitely have thought that many different times in my life.  One very good example which I'm sure a lot of people can relate to is growing up.  When I was fifteen you couldn't wait to be sixteen so that I could drive and date and have a job. Then I couldn't wait to be eighteen, I often thought how happy I'll be when I reach those ages.  I'll be all grown up and life will be better.  Then when it happened I realized that being grown up isn't all its cracked up to be.  I have to pay for more things and be responsible for more things.  I can't just clean my room in the morning and have the rest of the day off.  I actually have to work and earn money to pay for all those cool things, like a car or a phone. And now that I'm older I think 'oh if I were a kid again...'  But am I really seizing the day.  I have learned to enjoy every minute of my life.  To have dreams and aspirations for the future but to live in the now.  Enjoy lives trials and joys, lives upsets and triumphs.  There was a talk give in the October 2010  General Conference about this same thing. Mervyn G. Arnold of the Seventy gave a talk called 'What Have You Done with My Name' and in this talk he relates a story from his wives childhood about cows grazing in a field "

“When I was 15 years old, I often felt that there were too many rules and commandments. I wasn’t sure that a normal, fun-loving teenager could enjoy life with so many restrictions. Furthermore, the many hours spent working on my father’s ranch were seriously dipping into my time with my friends.

“This particular summer, one of my jobs was to ensure that the cows grazing on the mountain pasture did not break through the fence and get into the wheat field. A cow grazing on the growing wheat can bloat, causing suffocation and death. One cow in particular was always trying to stick her head through the fence. One morning, as I was riding my horse along the fence line checking on the cattle, I found that the cow had broken through the fence and gotten into the wheat field. To my dismay, I realized that she had been eating wheat for quite some time because she was already bloated and looked much like a balloon. I thought, ‘You stupid cow! That fence was there to protect you, yet you broke through it and you have eaten so much wheat that your life is in danger.’

“I raced back to the farmhouse to get my dad. However, when we returned, I found her lying dead on the ground. I was saddened by the loss of that cow. We had provided her with a beautiful mountain pasture to graze in and a fence to keep her away from the dangerous wheat, yet she foolishly broke through the fence and caused her own death.

“As I thought about the role of the fence, I realized that it was a protection, just as the commandments and my parents’ rules were a protection. The commandments and rules were for my own good. I realized that obedience to the commandments could save me from physical and spiritual death. That enlightenment was a pivotal point in my life.” 

I love this story and how a real thing it is to not cross the boundaries the Lord has set.  To enjoy the righteous lives we have and enjoy where we are at not where we wish we could be.  I know with all my heart that the Lord has put us where we need to be at the time we need to be.  So I encourage all of you to look around and find out why you are where you are!

rain

So summer is pretty much upon us.  It starts officially next week, but I have to admit that I am very sad, for a couple of reasons.  First off I'll miss the rain, but thankfully it rains a lot here in Rochester.  Secondly once summer starts then the next thing is fall and I'm out of here, very depressing.  Rain is just one of those things that I can't get enough of.  It is so beautiful and so cleansing.  It always puts me in a good mood.   I was thinking about how happy I am to see the sun after a few days of rain.  And visaversa I'm happy to see the rain after a few days of Sunshine.  I guess that what I'm trying to say is that I can enjoy both because I've had both. It is the exact way with life... even though sometimes it is really hard to enjoy the storms of life.  But how would anything grow without the rain? I love this quote given in General Conference by Elder Paul V. Johnson " I doubt many of us would label our afflictions light. Yet in comparison to the blessings and growth we ultimately receive, both in this life and in eternity, our afflictions truly are light."  In this life we can find hope from our trials.  We can see the sunshine after the rain, even if your life is full of storms, if you endure them well you will have a sunny life ahead of you.  I know that we will be able to feel complete rest from our cares and we will be with our families and our loving Father in heaven.  We will feel the joy of working hard and relying on the merits of Christ. I pray that we can all enjoy the sunshine and the storms that life throws at us.

Bugs

            Today I was outside, with a family from Canada and  one of the little girls, about five, decided to lift up a log outside to look under it. So curious!  And what was there... Bugs!!! A lot of bugs.  I guess you could say that I am a girly girl and those things tend to make me squeemish, maybe because my five brother tourted me with them... But I have come to appreciate the beauty that is all around us, even bugs.  Well that little five year old girl picked up a big worm and was just playing with it in her hands like it was a fuzzy little chick. Just seeing her do that made me have no fear and it made me realize how fearless children really are. 

               Yeah sometimes they are timid, but as a whole they love to talk to new people and see new things. Something else that I have noticed about kids is that they always get right back up when they fall like nothing even happened. I admire these young ones, that have so much resilience and so much curiosity about life.

Christ taught that we need to be like little children, to be humble and submissive. How have the children in your life taught you to be more Christlike?

"And said, Verily I say unto you, except ye e converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matt 18:3-4

observer.of.nature.and.men

Oh it is here... The warmth that comes from the sunshine, and the departing snow, the flowers starting to bloom, the birds chirping happily in the morning. Oh it is wonderful. I've been reading a book called Jesus the Christ.  Such an amazing book. I just read an amazing part about the life of Christ and how he taught from what he knew... it is beautiful and I want to share it with you...

"Jesus was a close observer of nature and men. He was able to draw illustrations with which to point His teachings from the varied occupations, trades and professions; the ways of the lawyer and the physician, the manner of the scribe, the Pharisee and the rabbi, the habits of the poor, the customs of the rich, the life of the shepherd, the farmer, the vinedresser and the fisherman- were all known to Him. He considered the lilies of the field, and the grass in meadow and upland, the birds which sowed not nor gathered into barns but lived on the bounty of their Maker, the foxes in their holes, the petted house dog and the vagrant cur, the hen sheltering her brood beneath protecting wings- all these had contributed to the wisdom in which He grew as had also the moods of the weather, the recurrence of the seasons, and all the phenomena of natural change and order."

How beautiful that Christ taught from the regular occurances of life. Today I think we live such a fast paced life we seem to pass by all the beauty of society and nature.  I pray we can ponder more deeply the parables that Christ gave and ponder on the beauty of His creation.