Saturday, August 30, 2014

One, Two, Three, Four.... SEVEN!

I am so thankful to be able to stay home with John, and to teach him all that I know. It is a great privilege to be his mother and to get to stay home with him and raise him how we want him to be raised. People often ask me now, since we just moved, "What are you going to do? Are you going to get a job?" John is my job. He is my greatest work. I am a mother. That is the best job I could ever have. And it is the most challenging. I use everything I've learned, and I gain new skills and face new challenges often. I learn from John every day.

John loves to count. We count everything. We count the chickpeas on his tray. We count the stairs as we go up. We count the balls in his play room. His favorite number is seven. He used to always skip 6 because he loves seven so much, and now he even skips five too :)


In Spanish is favorite number is "Ocho" (8) and he often skips "Siete" (7) to get to ocho. Go figure :) He is so cute!














I love little boys in bow ties, especially this one.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Create Something of Beauty and Helpfulness

Tonight I am admiring the things of beauty and helpfulness that God has blessed me to be able to create.
(This is our picnic table centerpiece now on our back patio)

"Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.” 6
The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."
That was from one of my favorite talks, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage."



It makes me smile to know that after hours of hard work, our office is functional now. I know where the highlighters and paper and staples are. And everything is baby-proofed!!! That wasn't easy! The scissors and hole punch, pens and sharpees, etc. are safe and tucked away in a drawer where John cannot get to them, and where they cannot even tease him, because he can't see them. Hooray!
I love organizing! I love even more it when things are organized and very useful and neat looking.

My sad rubber tree plant is being scorched I think... But I don't dare put it on the back patio, or John will tear off all the leaves. He thinks it's great fun. And my hosta got half eaten by dear in Cleveland. Don't worry hosta! You will be beautiful again next year. I know your potential!
Flowers do something wonderful for my well-being.
I felt a great need to try to save the struggling rose bush in front of our house, and add some cheerful flowers to the neglected garden beds to welcome our visitors and help this feel more like our home than just our house. Now I come home and enjoy the beauty.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Words of Wisdom from Seth

This is Seth's talk from last Sunday. I love this guy!

We live in a world and a society that is obsessed with making comparisons. This fixation can be found in our daily lives in our employment, hobbies, entertainment etc. You can look at almost any industry and it is rife with comparisons. Before coming to Columbus I worked at PNC Investments and a lot of what we did was making comparisons with different investment products to determine which ones we should recommend. There were many different metrics that we would calculate to evaluate different investment options, but the metrics could only be used when you could compare them with the metrics of a similar investment product. On their own the metrics were of no real value. With sports there are endless commentators that are comparing the stats of one player to another in a never ending cycle. When shopping we compare prices, brands, and quality of products at different retailers Television is saturated with programs were judges are comparing singing, cooking, dance moves, weight loss, home renovations, survival skills, fashion, physical appearance and the list goes on and on. Now I am not suggesting that making comparisons is inherently wrong, if fact they can be very important and useful in making decisions. However, because our brains have been trained to make comparisons so often we begin comparing ourselves with others in a way that is sometimes negative, unhelpful, and even hurtful. Because of this brain training we begin comparing our physical appearance, type of employment, perceived intelligence, and salary with others. These types of comparisons tend to bring ourselves down or to bring others down and puff us up with pride. This can warp how we see ourselves and how we see others.   
2 Nephi 26:33 we are reminded that, “…[and the Lord] inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
So, how do we develop a proper focus or true identity?  In the last days the Lord has said there will be confusion and many different voices that will try to gain our attention, “For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the lord, when the one shall say unto the other; Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord – And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.” (2 Nephi 28:3-4)
Isaiah prophesied , “And he [the Lord] will lift up and ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss [call] unto them from the end of the earth;…” (2 Nephi 15:26)
How will the Lord call us back to Him? In the church history there is a recounting of a story about Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith when he visited President [Martin] Van Buren, president of the United States. The President asked the Prophet what difference there was between the Prophet’s church and the other churches of the world. The Prophet answered: “We have the correct mode of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.” Then he said: “We considered that all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost” (see History of the Church, 4:42).
Through the Holy Ghost we can develop our spiritual gifts. Parley P Pratt wrote:
“He [Holy Ghost] is an intelligent being, in the Image of god, possessing every organ, attribute, sense, sympathy and affection that is possessed by god himself. But these are possessed by man, in his rudimental state, in a subordinate sense of the word. Or, in other words, these attributes are in embryo, and are to be gradually developed. They resemble a bud, a germ, which gradually develops into a bloom and then, by progress, produces the mature fruit after its own kid. The Gift of the Holy Ghost adapts itself to all these organs or attributes. It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections and adapts them by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to give health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.”
The gifts of the spirit were also manifest in the church that Christ established on the earth. In 1 Corithians 12 Paul says, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences and administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to antoher faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tounges; to another the interpretation of tongues: “
In modern day revelation we are given an explanation of what these gifts of the spirit are for. In Doctrine and Covenants section 46 it says, “8 ... seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given; 9 For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, ... 11 For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. 12 To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby."
Now there may be times when we think gifts or blessings are delayed or not given. We need to remember that we are in a probationary state here on earth and we will be tested to know if we will remain faithful unto the Lord.  
The same God that delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the flames was the same God that allowed Abinadi to die by fire. The same God that protected Samuel the Lamanite from arrows and stones was the same God that allowed Joseph Smith to be martyred in a prison by a mob.
God loves each of us! We are His children!
That last part is important to remember, “…that all may be profited thereby.” Spiritual Gifts are not given to gratify our lusts or satisfy our curiosities, but are given to align ourselves with God and to help His children to come back to Him. President Eyring has reminded us there are three things we need to keep the Holy Ghost. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, be clean, and have pure motives.
President George Q. Cannon has given us counsel regarding the gifts of the spirit:
If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. . . . No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.” He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth.[Millennial Star, April 1894, p. 260]
George Q Cannon also taught We can have the gift of discerning of spirits, “a gift that is of exceeding value and one that should be enjoyed by every Latter-day Saint. . . . No Latter-day Saint should be without this gift, because there is such a variety of spirits in the world which seek to deceive and lead astray” (Gospel Truth, comp. Jerreld L. Newquist [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1987], pp. 156–57).
Each gift that is given needs to be developed. Just as a person learning a musical instrument it takes time and dedication. With spiritual gifts it will take prayer and fasting even to know of gifts we have received.
There are verses in the Doctrine and Covenants to help guide us to know what is from God, “Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. And that which doeth not edify is not of God, and is darkenss. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you;” (D&C 50:22-25)
There are many gifts. Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “Spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite in variety” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985], p. 371). The last gift I want to talk about is charity. Mormon said, “Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail – But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of god; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” (Moroni 7:46-48) The reception of the Holy Ghost cleanses us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.



Monday, August 25, 2014

Summer fun with aunt Laura and aunt Candi

We enjoyed a wonderful evening with aunt Laura and Aunt candi this weekend! 

Aunt Candi took john to the park
Aunt Laura grilled a wonderful dinner for us.
O H! I O!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

What fell out?

John is a ham for selfies!
Had a very productive day today fixing up the patio, and getting ready for school. The missionaries, Sister Ure and Sister Meredith, came over and helped us with the patio. They are so nice! We are so thankful for their help, and that John helped by napping through it all! Seth bought his books today. Wow books are expensive!
Seth tech John on all of his errands today. He is so thoughtful and such a wonderful father and husband! I am so blessed! I love my two boys!
John is getting really good at asking questions. He loves to say what is it? Who is that? What fell out? (that's from his favorite Raffi song, something in my shoe), where did it go? None of these sound exactly like the real thing, they are much cuter! 

I just love to hear john Babble, with words that I can understand interjected within the mix of gibberish :)

Friday, August 22, 2014

The Handy Wagners


After 2 1/2 weeks of planning and a $100 trip to Home Depot and working and planning and another trip to Home Depot and a lot more working, we have finally finished building our patio door!

We wanted to have a safer place for John to play because our patio entrance used to look something like this: 

I designed it after watching a lot of YouTube videos about building fence gates.

We have been working on it after John goes to bed until sometimes 11 o'clock at night! It is hard to build things in the dark! But tonight, we had John awake still, but we had an opportunity between rainstorms to finish the door, so we did. John had just been soaked through with rain, so we just took his clothes off. :-) he was very excited about the door, and he really wanted to help. We really need to get him a little kid toolset! 
At the end, when we were putting on the hinges, it became very difficult to do anything without John getting into all of the dangerous tools. God answered my prayers, and my neighbor Katie showed up and asked if she could help by taking John over to her house. I am thankful for people that listen to promptings and answer my prayers!

After one last crisis when part of door frame came apart, we finished it! I have used a power drill more in the last two weeks man in my entire life. I feel so handy! We have made so many mistakes, but we have really increased our handy skills! 
Although it is sure not perfect, and I would do a lot of things differently next time, we are pretty happy and proud of our door!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Adorable John selfies

I'm in love with this kid.


Each of Us is Given a Gift

Seth and I both gave talks on Sunday at our church. It was a great opportunity, and we had some wonderful discussions as we prepared for our topics. We have a lay ministry in our faith, which means that everyone serves as a volunteer. There are no paid clergy. So we all get a chance to speak and teach. I love to give talks, because having a specific subject, a deadline, and a responsibility to teach others and to say what God would have me say truly deepens my focus and gospel study and my communion with God. I am thankful for that. Here is my talk: I'll post Seth's tomorrow.

Each of Us is Given a Gift - Talk by Emily Wagner 8-17-14
Riverside Ward, Columbus Ohio

            I'd like to begin my remarks by telling you a little bit about one of my brothers, Jacob. I am the second oldest of seven children. Jacob is number 5. As we all do, he had his struggles. We all knew that he had great potential. He was one of those geniuses who was too smart for homework and had a hard time expressing himself, and he struggled through high school. He spent a lot of time in his room, or lair, in the basement that was piled high with dirty clothes and who knows what else. Then he finished out his last teenage year by mostly playing video games until he finally left home to serve a mission.
            For those of you who might not be familiar with our religion, young men and many young women dedicate 18 months to 2 years of volunteer service to others all around the world. They do community service and teach people about Jesus Christ and our faith. Jacob was called to serve in Teresina, in Northeast Brazil. He has been serving now for 21 months, and the transformation he has been through is remarkable! His many gifts are becoming very evident.

Here is an excerpt of a letter he wrote recently:        
"Dear Dad,
            Remembering all the time I´ve had with you and the rest of the family, I realize now how blessed my life has been. I realize how much I cherish you all. For me, most of the time I've had to work through blood, sweat and tears to help those we taught... But at the moments when everything fell through and no one we were helping was progressing, God always sent that Elect child of God to brighten our day. I always feel that no effort we make is wasted, because the Lord will reward what we have done, through ways we sometimes don´t recognize."

and from another letter he wrote about the blessings of missionary work:
            "I [chose to serve] a mission because when we are in the service of our fellowmen we are in the service of our God. We are helping bring souls unto Christ and salvation, and great is our worth in the eyes of God. If we bring someone to the light our joy will be great, more than we can comprehend on earth. As we help others be saved from sin, our own sins are forgiven. Here in the mission field we are perfected in the refiners forge, even as unto Gold.
            As youth, we are not the best public speakers, or the most knowledgeable in the beginning, but we are [the ones that] God will use to change the world. Even as Enoch was simple and slow of tongue in the beginning, the Lord gave him the spirit so strongly that people could not deny the truth. So it shall be [with us] if we dedicate ourselves to this work ...       [Serving a] mission is the best choice I have made in my life. I now know that my Redeemer lives. He is the Holy One of Israel that died for us and [rose up] on the third day. And it is only through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can receive exaltation. [As we] serve [God, we] help our brothers and sisters receive the same blessings. And I testify that these things are true in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
            Love, Elder Shepard

P.S. As a [mission] perk/bonus, You could be sent to an exotic country, learn a new language, eat exotic food and get a tan and lose weight. :) "

(Jacob is so tan and speaks Portuguese so well now that he could pass for a native Brazilian, and he's lost over 40 pounds, probably through sweating it off walking through the jungle).

            I tell you about my brother because I am sure that you, like I, can see that serving the Lord is increasing and multiplying the gifts of the Spirit that God has blessed Jacob with. I know without a doubt that God wants to bless each of us in the same way. As we rely on the Lord and do our best to serve Him, we will become more than we ever could on our own. We will develop our gifts, spiritual and temporal because, "Every good gift comes from Christ:" {Book of Mormon - Moroni 10:8–18}

            One of the Gifts of the Spirit that I prize most highly is my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and His Gospel. That gift is available to anyone who will seek it and use it. {Chapter 23: Receiving a Testimony of Jesus Christ Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, (2011), 201–209}
            I see this gift in Jacob, and it is the one that I most hope for the rest of my family and for all of us.
            "To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful. {Doctrine and Covenants, D&C 46:8-33}

Look for and Recognize Gifts in Others
           
            As I have seen this transformation in my brother, I have realized the importance of looking for and recognizing the gifts of those around us. One of the Wagner traditions I love most, which the Shepard family has now adopted, is the tradition of going around the dinner table and sharing what we each love about the birthday girl or boy. Now that we are so spread out, we use skype, texting and email which is just about as good. This brings us so much closer together, grows our love and helps us recognize one another's gifts. Each family can find ways to express appreciation for each other's gifts and talents, and as we do our love will grow.
            Parents, and any relative, leader or friend of children and youth can especially have a profound impact as they seek to recognize gifts in the young people they love. Every child, as well as every lair-dwelling teenager :) has a gift. (For those of you teenagers out there, I was one once too. Don't worry. It gets better!)
            President Henry B. Eyring said, "As a young father I prayed to know what contributions my children might make in the Lord’s kingdom. ... I can promise you that you will bless them to help them recognize the spiritual gifts with which they were born. Every person is different and has a different contribution to make. No one is destined to fail. As you seek revelation to see gifts God sees in those you lead... —particularly the young—you will be blessed to lift their sights to the service they can perform. With your guidance, those you lead will be able to see, want, and believe they can achieve their full potential for service in God’s kingdom. God knows our gifts. My challenge to you and to me is to pray to know the gifts we have been given, to know how to develop them, and to recognize the opportunities to serve others that God provides us. But most of all, I pray that you will be inspired to help others discover their special gifts from God to serve. I promise you that if you ask, you will be blessed to help and lift others to their full potential in the service of those they lead and love." {"Help Them Aim High" Henry B. Eyring, October 2012 General Conference}
            Perhaps some of the people around us, acquaintances, strangers, our neighbors, colleagues, perhaps even family members may seem rough around the edges, but "each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly parents, and as such, each has a divine nature and destiny." {The Family: A Proclamation to the World} If we will see others not as they are, but as they may become, see them for their potential, for the inherently divine gifts they have inside of them, the world will be a much better place.
            President Thomas S. Monson, our prophet, recounted a story that pertains to this. "During the 1940s and 1950s, an American prison warden, Clinton Duffy, was well known for his efforts to rehabilitate the men in his prison. Said one critic, “You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!” ...Warden Duffy [replied], “You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.”1 {"See Others as They May Become" Thomas S. Monson, October 2012 General Conference} People can change and improve, let us see them for their potential.
Use it or Lose it!

            Now, we all have gifts and talents, and God has given them to us. We learn in the New Testament in Matthew 25, of the Parable of the Talents. {New Testament, Matthew 25:14-30 See also Luke 19:12–27

for the Parable of the Pounds to compare} The Master, who symbolizes Christ, needs to go far away for a long time. He entrusts His servants, which represent us, with His goods or His business in the hopes that they will take care of and grow His business as if He were there. He hoped that they would develop their abilities so that He could entrust them with more responsibility and blessings.

            After about a life-time, when He returns, the Master asks His servants for an account. The servant who received five talents and returned ten, as well as the one who took two talents and returned four, were declared good and faithful servants. They received different amounts according to their abilities, but they were rewarded the same blessings for their diligent efforts. This teaches me that God knows us, and He doesn't expect more of us than we can accomplish with His help. "To whom much is given, much is required." {Doctrine and Covenants 82:3} and to whom little is given, little is required. The servant who received one talent wasn't expected to increase it by 5 talents like the other. But the Master could not accept burying the talent in the ground and not using it at all. It's like the servant had been given a candle and put it under a bushel, but the Lord had given him the candle specifically to light it and put it on a candlestick, so that it could give light to all those in the house. {See New Testament Matthew 5:15 and Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 12:15} The Master only wanted this servant to try, to have a little faith and use what he'd been given. But he didn't, so it was taken away. The Master needed all of the talents He had distributed to be put to good use. This is the principle of "Use it or Lose it!"

            Elder Stanley G. Ellis spoke on this matter. He said, "what caught my attention was the servant who received one [talent], took care of it, and returned it safely back to his lord. I was surprised by the response of the master:
            “Thou wicked and slothful servant,"
            "This seemed to be a harsh reaction to one who seemed to be trying to take care of what he was given. But the Spirit taught me this truth—the Lord expects a difference! I knew in that moment that each of us will one day stand before God and give an accounting of our ... service and stewardships, [our gifts and talents]. Did we make a difference?"
            "Thankfully, the Lord teaches us how to be fruitful, how to make a difference. “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” {John 15:5}. If we follow...the direction that we receive from His servants and His Spirit, we will be good and faithful servants!" {"He Trusts Us!" Stanley G. Ellis, October 2006 General Conference}
Develop Your Gifts to Bless Others and to Learn and Grow
            Now my husband would be the first to tell you that he wouldn't want to be signed up for a talent show. Sometimes I am successful in dragging him to ward choir practice if I say, "Do it for your mother!" but that's about it. I often have to use my skills of persuasion to convince him that beautiful flowers and decorations are worthwhile, and that he really does want to pay for tickets to listen to the orchestra and go to the art gallery. However, although Seth is not exactly what you'd call "the fine arts type," he has taught me so much with his many wonderful spiritual gifts. To name just a few, he can get along with just about anybody, and he is not one to have a negative comment about anyone. He gives people the benefit of the doubt. He accepts them as they are. Those are spiritual gifts I truly admire in him.
            Quoting President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:  "You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. 5 The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.
            What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.
            If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.
            The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. ...Trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."

{"Happiness, Your Heritage" DIETER F. UCHTDORF October 2008 General Conference}


            
              Our son John truly has the talent of creating smiles. He is so adorable and friendly. Once, while we were waiting for our stroller on the Jetway, John said bye-bye to every person that got off the plane. I must have seen 100 people smile who weren't smiling before.
            I love President Uchdorf's counsel to start small. Remember that "You must first become an amateur before you can become a professional." "You must first become a novice before you can become an expert."
            God wants to give us gifts. He wants us to ask for them. He is willing to give us the ones we need in the way and time that we need them. He can turn our weaknesses into great strengths.  A patriarchal blessing is a sacred and special blessing given to each worthy member of the church to give them direction and counsel for their life and to tell them more about who they are. In my blessing I am told, "You have been blessed with certain attributes of love and kindness and gentleness and a sense of humor. All of these attributes are necessary as you raise your children here on this earth." The part about me having a sense of humor surprised me. I thought I was that last person who would be told specifically that I had a sense of humor. Organized, a planner, driven to the point of maybe being a little too uptight - those wouldn't have phased me much, but a sense of humor didn't seem to fit.  Now that I am finally a mother, and that of a tornado terrific 2 year old, I am finding that I have to have a sense of humor just to survive. That sense of humor has got to be deep down there somewhere, and when I really ask God to help me find it, He always does. I am truly learning this scripture firsthand: "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them."  {Book of Mormon, Ether 12:27; also see Ether 12:23-28}
            We can learn a lot from children about developing and increasing our gifts. My son John is like my little sponge! He wants to learn everything! He watches and listens and often imitates my every move and word. He doesn't mind if he doesn't do it perfectly. He just tries his best and makes it fun. For my Master's Degree I studied Teaching English as a Second Language and subsequently taught English at Cleveland State University to college-bound adults from all over the world. Some had their Phd's in their native languages and/or 20 years experience in their professions, and it was very humbling for them to struggle with basic communication in English. They often felt embarrassed. I wish they could have been as willing to try to speak and make mistakes as John. They would have learned much faster! But I can empathize with them because I decided to learn Spanish in college. I am still learning. I am trying now to teach my son Spanish, and the more I learn, the more I find out that I don't know. But I do know that everything I've learned so far is because God is helping me. I'm sure He knows Spanish perfectly and He doesn't mind if I make mistakes or sound silly.
            Like learning a new language, another example of a gift of the Spirit that can be a bit overwhelming is family history or genealogy. Family history is very important to us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We want to learn about our roots, to get to know our ancestors, about their lives, where and when they came from. It can be a daunting task for anyone, those who might not know much about even their grandparents, or possibly even more daunting for those who might feel like "their family history has already been done all the way back to Adam and Eve." If you are one of those people, I can assure you that it hasn't. It just means that someone in your family has already become and expert, so you feel overwhelmed at becoming a novice. But don't give up before you start, begin small, and keep at it. Soon enough you'll look back and realize that you have learned so much from the experts that you are now one yourself.
            Our Heavenly Father is the one who decides what gifts of the spirit each of us need. He is perfect. He is all-knowing. I am glad He is the one in charge. He is the best one to decide which gifts will help us the most, which will bless those around us the most. They aren't always the gifts we would chose first, but they are custom fit for us. Like many of you, I have dealt with some very challenging health problems that have lasted a very long time. Experiencing chronic pain and illness isn't my favorite activity, and one of the spiritual gifts available to us is "to have faith to be healed." {Doctrine and Covenants, D&C 46:19} God also promises  "He that aasketh in the bSpirit asketh according to the cwill of God; wherefore it is done even as he asketh. {Doctrine and Covenants, D&C 46:30}
            At the beginning of my journey towards health, I couldn't understand why the Lord wouldn't want to heal me right then and there. I was trying so hard to follow Christ, to be good, to have faith. But the longer this journey continues, the more I am coming to understand God's will for me. I have developed faith to be healed, but I am learning that often, faith not to be healed is a gift as valuable, if not moreso, than the faith to be healed. Sometimes I still forget, but I better understand now that God has given me a gift to keep trying to do what He wants me to do, to be what He wants me to be, to keep loving Him no matter what happens. I will admit that I'd still like to be healed instantly from all my infirmities, and I know that the Lord could do it if that were His will for me, but if not, I will still follow Him and keep trying my best to learn what He wants me to learn. {See New Testament - Daniel 3:18}
            "And ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with." {Doctrine and Covenants, D&C 46:32} As we give thanks, we are able to recognize blessings and talents and gifts that we couldn't see before. We need to submit to the Lord's will for us. He will always lead us down the path that will help us most to grow and progress, and though it may not always feel like it, He is helping our talents, our gifts, our understanding to increase as we struggle and learn. Whatever gifts the Lord has given us, as we give thanks for them, they will increase and multiply.
           
            It is my prayer that we may all see those around us for their potential and their spiritual gifts, and that we may recognize, develop and share our own gifts to become who we need to be and bless those around us.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Monday, August 18, 2014

To cut? Or not to cut?

John's hair is getting really long, he looks so adorable though! It is almost to the point of being in his eyes when it is not brushed aside, and I am having a hard time deciding what to do. Cut it? Or keep letting it grow?
We ate dinner outside tonight as we waited for papa to come home from school. As the sun was setting, I saw this crazy scene in the sky. It is almost like that cloud made a shadow on the sky.
I couldn't tell if my eyes were playing tricks on me until I take a picture. Pretty cool!