Grateful

A friend shared this quote with me last night. I love it! 

We Matter to Him.

One of my all-time favorite talks is entitled, "You Matter To Him." It was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf in April 2011. I read it often. It is a good reminder that I'm not just one of billions of people on this earth. I am a child of God and I matter. And you do too. Sometimes it's easy to forget that. Especially for me, as a young single adult. Sometimes I feel lost in the shuffle. But I am not forgotten. And neither are you.

"...No matter where you live, no matter how humble your circumstances, how meager your employment, how limited your abilities, how ordinary your appearance, or how little your calling in the Church may appear to you, you are not invisible to your Heavenly Father. He loves you. He knows your humble heart and your acts of love and kindness..."

The Touch of the Master's Hand

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile:
“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”
“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two?
Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three—” But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone!” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand
What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:
“The touch of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,
A game—and he travels on.
He’s “going” once, and “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand. 

God loves us the way we are, but he refuses to leave us that way. He can make us so much better. We just have to turn to him.

His Divine Creation

As I was preparing for my lesson in Relief Society at church today, I came across this talk given by Gordon B. Hinckley. As I listened, I felt so strongly the love the Lord has for women.

In his talk, President Hinckley says, "I remind you that you are not second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. You are His divine creation. Men hold the priesthood. Yours is a different role, but also extremely important. Without you, our Father’s plan of happiness would be frustrated and have no real meaning."

I am so grateful to be a woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm grateful for my role as a woman in the Church. I'm grateful that the priesthood - the power and authority to act in God's name - is in this Church. And I'm grateful it blesses us all - both male AND female. 

Beware of Pride

"Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing.

The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Philip. 2:21.)  -Ezra Taft Benson

(Read the whole talk here.)

I've been thinking about this talk lately and how important it is to recognize the pride we have within ourselves and seek to get over it and be humble. President Benson also says (in the same talk): "Pride is the universal sin, the great vice." It is a huge problem. But, as I posted about perfectionism last time, I am grateful the Lord knows we are not perfect. He is willing to work with us and be patient with us as we overcome our pride/faults.

Perfectionism

"The wait for a perfect spouse, perfect education, perfect job, or perfect house will be long and lonely. We are wise to follow the Spirit in life’s important decisions and not let doubts spawned by perfectionist demands hinder our progress." -Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Read the whole article here.

I also really liked:

"...a brother may not consider dating a wonderful, worthy sister who doesn't fit his unrealistic profile—she is not a sports enthusiast (yup, definitely me), a Relief Society president (me), a beauty queen (me), a sophisticated budgeter... (okay, this IS me)"  (wish I could say "Thank you, Elder Gong!!!")

Of course, we should consider qualities we desire in ourselves and in a potential spouse. We should maintain our highest hopes and standards. But if we are humble, we will be surprised by goodness in unexpected places, and we may create opportunities to grow closer to someone who, like us, is not perfect."

:)

Beauty After the Storm

I saw this beautiful sight tonight after a day of some CRAZY storms. There was some serious rain. Serious flooding. I was pretty excited to see a rainbow - it'd been a while.

But after I went inside as I was making my little dinner I had this thought: after the storm comes the beauty. So it is with life. Sometimes it pours. Sometimes we have crazy hard trials. Sometimes the storms go on all "day." But then, at the end, we get to see something beautiful. God makes something beautiful out of our "storms."

"Only God can turn a mess into a message, a test into a testimony, a trial into a triumph, a victim into a victory."

Motherhood

I read an amazing talk today given by a lady named Sharon Eubank entitled, "This is a Woman's Church." It was all about the role of women in the LDS Church. Read it here. Really good. I, personally, have never felt like I am less than men in this church. I know we have different responsibilities. One of those is that women get to be mothers. 

I loved what she said about this. This lady is 50 years old and single. No kids of her own. But she said the following:

"As a creator, Eve was so desirous to be a mother that she sacrificed Eden for it. And she did that willingly and knowingly. Adam called his wife’s name “Eve” and you know what it means. It means she was the mother of all living. But I find it so interesting she had no children when he called her that. But she was given a title, a divine title, that means there is heritage in this. And so whether you have children in this life or not, when you have your endowment and you are given the name, you are an inheritor of that. And it means that you have the title to be a mother." 

What struck me the most was that Eve had no children when she was called the mother of all living. I had never thought of it that way! 

I am not yet a "mother" with kids of my own. But I will be one day. Either in this life or the next. I look forward to that so much. I know it is my divine privilege to be a mother to precious children of God.

Charity Towards Self

"Some of us who would not chastise a neighbor for his frailties have a field day with our own."-Neal A. Maxwell

That is so true. I'm certainly guilty! We are our own worst critics. We need to exercise charity not only to others, but also to ourselves.

Life is to Be Enjoyed

Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." I have decided to make this my motto and take it to heart.

There is so much about life to love. A spectacular sunset, a sweet niece's hug, a great deal on the clearance rack, a beautiful flower, laughter with friends, the list goes on and on. 

Heavenly Father wants us to be HAPPY. It doesn't matter where we are at in life. I don't need to wait to be happy until I get married. The time to be happy and enjoy life is now. Life is happening now.

I have found myself just so happy lately. There is so much good in my life and all around me. I don't want to miss it.

Enjoy the journey.

Faith

                              Image source: lds.org Gospel Library Kit

Tonight I want to testify of the power of the Atonement and the love of our Savior Jesus Christ. The longer I live the more I realize I am so inadequate. I am not perfect. It seems like I'm always getting trials that remind me of this. :)

But, I know I can't do it on my own. I can't live my life with out my Savior. I need his help SO much. I'm so thankful He knows me. Guess what? He knows that I am not perfect. And He loves me anyway. He loves me so much that He was willing to suffer, bleed and die for me. I can't even comprehend it. But, because He did that for me, I can turn to Him and He will completely understand me.

I've been trying to work on faith. I want to have more of it, but it can be very hard. But,I remind myself if everything came easy and Heavenly Father just told us all of the answers, there would be no learning and growing.

The Lord gives us our trials so we can learn to have faith and trust in Him.

I read the following quote tonight, which I love:

"Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him. As God, He has infinite power, intelligence, and love. There is no human problem beyond His capacity to solve. Because He descended below all things (see D&C 122:8), He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties.

Faith in Him means believing that even though we do not understand all things, He does. We, therefore, must look to Him “in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” (D&C 6:36.)
-Ezra Taft Benson   (full talk here)

I think I should read that every day. It is powerful.

I know our Savior Jesus Christ can help us go through whatever we face. This life isn't going to be easy, but we don't have to do it alone. Our Savior can help us carry our burdens.