Come, See the Miracle

I had some amazing insights today that I wanted to quickly write. So this post is a bit hurried and not as polished as I usually like, but posting it will help me remember. And if you happen to read it, I hope you gain something from it as well. From my scripture journal: Amazing insights today! I read Alma chapter 47 and into chapter 48 today, and discovered something I had not seen before. Chapter 47 details how Amalikiah becomes king of the Lamanites. Specifically, I learned from the part about how he tricks Lehonti into giving him a position as second in command of the Lamanite armies, and then poisons Lehonti. We talk over and over about how Amalikiah lures Lehonti away from his stronghold and his fixed determination not to join with the rest of the Lamanite armies and fight the Nephites. And all those things are true. But like so many stories in the BOM, it has a counterpart. Lehonti’s fixed determination wasn’t enough. If he had such a fixed determination to not join w...

I experienced a true miracle today: I discovered that I love my body. Really? you ask.  A miracle?  Let me explain. I am a firm believer that the greatest miracle I can experience is a change of heart, because it involves the wills of two individuals--God's and my own.  God can command the elements and they will obey, but He will not allow His will to supersede our own.  Therefore, in order for our hearts to change, we have to be willing to be changed.  Not only that, but when our hearts are truly changed, then we become open to the multitude of miracles awaiting us on the other side of that change. But I was not willing.  For a very long time. AND...I didn't even know it. But last week as I was driving around town, I had this overwhelming realization hit me--I hated my body.  Hated.  And I had hated it since I was 10 years old.  Body-image memories flooded me.  I specifically remembered listening to other girls talk in jr. h...

I wrote this article in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. I pondered rhythm frequently during this time. Is there a rhythm to a pandemic? Is it our role to try and shorten it? To learn to live "a new normal" and hopefully someday to return to the old rhythm we knew? I'm not sure of the answers to those questions, but pondering them led me to a deeper understanding of the Law of Rhythm. Every fall, as summer draws to a close, I begin to feel a bit restless.  The lazy days, the vacations, the lack of a strict routine, which all felt so inviting just a few months previous, now feel wearing, and I long for the structure of the school year.  The predictability.  The routine.  The security of knowing what to do and when to do it. A few months later, I feel taxed by the rigidity of the routine I once longed for.  It feels so never-ending, and my entire family longs for a break. By then, winter vacation is just around the bend, and we get the rest we long for. It rem...

My first year teaching 5th grade is wrapping up, and boy, I am hanging on by my fingernails (as are all the students)!  The weather is so nice, and the kids just want to move and play outside.  Who can blame them? It means that it is a perfect time for an outside field trip! Yesterday was the day.  We bused the entire 5th grade up to beautiful Snow Basin to enjoy a day of hiking, games, and lunch on the lawn.  It was PERFECT weather for our trip.  Sunny but not too hot, shady for most of the hike without being too cold, and really fun to interact with my students in a less formal setting. Our majestic view of the mountains, and a beaver-made pond in the foreground.  It was really cool to see the trees that the beavers had cut down! After the hike, we settled down for lunch, and the kids started pulling out games to play on the grass. Everything was picture perfect, until we heard one of the kids screaming, and running towards the adults, specificall...

We're a few weeks into the Come, Follow Me curriculum that the Church as moved to.  We have studied a couple of lessons as a family, and I have taught one of the lessons in Gospel Doctrine.  So far so good, and I have had some really wonderful insights.  But I've really been struck in the last week about the ability the Lord has to guide us and teach us in such individual ways, if we will listen. I wish I could articulately describe the learning process for me over the last few days, but try to explain it would leave me rambling.  I guess the best way to succinctly say it is that I started in one place and ended in someplace totally unexpected. After accepting and completing President Nelson's challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2018, I thought I would let the Book of Mormon be less of a focus for me this year, and spend the bulk of my study time in the New Testament.  But after a few days without regularly feasting on the Book of Mormon, I qu...

I finished reading the Book of Mormon yesterday.  I began last October, in response to President Russell M. Nelson's invitation to the sisters in the General Women's Meeting.  Why did I do it?  And what did I gain from it? It strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  This book is a true record of people who lived on this earth, who knew Jesus Christ and his gospel.  They recorded their experiences, good and bad, for our benefit.  We don't have to experience the same consequences, born of their iniquity, if we will learn from their mistakes. It is another testament of Jesus Christ.  One of President Nelson's specific challenges was to pay special attention to every mention of the Savior and His work.  I started by marking every phrase that included mention of the Lord: the Lord warns, the Lord commands, the Lord hears and answers his people's prayers.  The Lord calls prophets to teach and instruct his people.  The Lord ...

*Disclaimer* As I study the scriptures, little thoughts and questions fill my mind.  Think of this post as a bit of a book report on the associated verses, telling what I got from them.  Especially as I try to imagine what Laman and Lemuel were thinking.  Really, who could know what these guys thought?  This is in no way a pronouncement of Church doctrine.  I'm just a girl trying to increase my understanding. ;) I read a little of 2 Nephi chapter 10 in the Book of Mormon this morning as my scripture study.  Verses 20 and 21 really caught my eye: 20  And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon a...

This summer started with some incredible optimism, as I looked ahead to a world full of possibilities.  As May and school came to a close, I planned to spend great time with my family, teach a couple of Genius Bootcamps, and then spend the month of August getting ready for a full-time teaching job that I just knew was on it's way.  But, not everything turns out as we plan. Read here for details. As the summer wore on, I felt like I was in a slump.  My kids were having a grand time in their summer play, and I did take the opportunity to volunteer my help for the production.  I'm so glad I did.  It was a great show, they had an amazing time, and I made some new friends myself.  Go figure. ;) Once the play was over, however, I had time to think about how my summer was not going according to plan.  I had felt impressed to cancel the Genius Bootcamps I thought I would teach.  The youth conference I was coordinating was more of a challenge than I h...

Last October, as I taught Genius Bootcamp , I received some direction about what to do next , for which I was so grateful.  It led me to talk to the principal at my kids' school, which led to a job that has been a great blessing for our family.  It also provided me the opportunity to renew my teaching license, which in turn has opened up additional employment opportunities.  Andy and I have both felt that for us to reach our financial and family goals--that of following our church leaders' counsel and getting out of debt--that I need to get a full-time job.  Specifically, a full-time teaching job.  It is, after all, what my degree is in, and even just a few years of full time teaching will make a huge difference in our financial situation. So I applied for some teaching jobs.  With the teacher shortage I keep hearing that Utah is facing, I didn't think twice about whether or not I'd actually get a job.  That is, until I interviewed for one that I tho...

The missing music My 14 year-old daughter posed the most perplexing question this morning: "Mom, where did you put my band music?" Normally, keeping track of band music is not something I see as my responsibility.  But on Saturday, after her band performance, she was bused to an amusement park, and I was in charge of getting her flute and her music home.  Which I did.  I was sure.  Mostly.  The problem was, I had no actual recollection of where I had put either her flute OR her music.  Naturally, I assumed they would be together.  The flute was in its expected location.  So where was the music? I searched the area where the music is kept.  Nothing.  I checked her bedroom.  Nothing.  I looked in the van.  Nothing.  What about the three possible "drop off" locations (you know, the ones where EVERYTHING gets stacked, but where none of it actually belongs)?  Nope, nope, nope.  The music was no where to b...

So, I previously wrote about my experiences with visualization, and this amazing mental "journey" that I find myself on.  But I didn't write about the whole thing.  I only wrote up to the point where I learned that I am not quite as in control of this journey as I thought.  There has been so much that has happened beyond that point. I hadn't necessarily planned to share any of the rest of it, but this morning during my study time, an image that was so profound and instructive came to me that I wanted to write it all down...for my benefit, of course.  (If you, dear reader, find value in it, too, so much the better!) As I periodically checked in with this visualization, I found myself  in mountainous areas.  First, I faced huge granite cliffs that I had to climb.  I struggled to climb them, especially when I saw other people climbing and summiting their own peaks.  I didn't understand why things were taking me so long, and why I couldn't have t...

I've recently started participating in Miracle Mornings, as described in the book The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.   It's been amazing!  Several years ago I developed a love for early mornings, and now I have a routine that transforms it from a lazy hour of solitude to a purposeful hour of rejuvenation and power. But there is one part that I have struggled with, and that is visualizing.  Each morning, part of the routine is to be spent in visualization.  There are lots of ways to visualize.  But I've always struggled with seeing myself in real life situations that I haven't experienced yet. Thankfully, my mind is a powerful tool, and I have discovered that it's really good at creating analogies. So while I might have a difficult time visualizing what my life will be like when I accomplish such-and-such, I can visualize a symbol of that accomplishment.  In fact, I was a little surprised to discover that I already HAD created such a visualization....

I realized that a couple of posts ago, I mentioned that I lost my job back in June.  I mentioned that fact, but never told the story behind it.  So here is the story.  Not because you need to know every detail of my life, but because it is a cool story, and I learned a lot from the experience. I've heard about the importance of giving thanks, of feeling gratitude, even in difficult circumstances.  I've even taught about the importance of being thankful.  But what does it really look like? I've spent the last three years as an online English teacher.  It has been a great job that has worked really well with being a stay-at-home-mom.  But it's been a 9 month gig, meaning that during the summer months, when I wasn't actively teaching, I was also not bringing in money. Coming into summer of 2017, this was a concern. Teaching, however, takes a lot of prep work.  It's easiest if the prep work is all done in advance.  I was hopeful that I coul...

Recently as I read the Book of Mormon , I read the story of Alma the Younger.  I've always loved this story (which I say about EVERY story in the BOM), and when you love a story and have read it many many times, it can be easy to overlook the lessons that are there.  Every time I read there is a new lesson (whether or not I pick up on it is a different story...). At any rate, I started this particular session of scripture study with a question: how does Heavenly Father want my to use my gifts and talents to serve His children? Because I had asked a specific question, my mind was focused on finding an answer.  I did largely skim over many of the details of the story (rebellious Alma and his trouble-making friends are out trying to lead people astray, when they are stopped and rebuked by an angel of God.  Alma is so astonished that he cannot move, and is carried home by his friends).  But when I got to this point, I knew I had found my answer:  And ...

Me being a goofball in my Drill Sergeant attire.  Turns out I'm an embarrassing mom.  It's a gift. Last weekend was my first official Genius Bootcamp--as a facilitator.  WOW!  I had forgotten how powerful this workshop is!  Not really--after all, that's why I wanted to teach it in the first place.  But it was amazing to watch each participant come to some really big realizations, discover direction, and put their trust in God to lead the way.  They all seemed so appreciative of me, but I was so appreciative of them.  I have wanted to teach this class for five years.  I got to the point where I figured it would never happen.  It turns out that I needed these last five years to give me the experience I would need to be an effective instructor.  I simply didn't have enough practice with the principles before hand, especially in terms of handling discouragement and grief.  The last five years have given me that! Our fantast...

We have really been going the rounds as a family.  Fighting, bickering, blaming, yelling, screaming, shouting (and that's just Mom!).  We've tried talking about the inappropriateness of the behavior, emphasizing positive qualities of our kids to their irritated siblings, and praying for guidance as to what to do.  We have made efforts to increase our family prayer and scripture study, relying on the promise that increasing our time in the scriptures would increase the Spirit in our home.  To be fair, those efforts have all but disappeared during the summer, but it was a serious concern for us even as we made diligent efforts.  The contention seemed to be ever-present, even when (even while!) we were regularly studying. But in talking to one of my daughters about this problem, I may have hit on an aspect of it that we haven't addressed before. She was particularly upset with one of her sisters.  I asked her how she thought Heavenly Father felt about that s...