Because of the easiness of the way...

The other day I was complaining to a dear friend that it would be nice if something was easy for once! I had gotten my hopes up, thought it would be and then, of course, was sorely disappointed. I had thought this same thought to myself a few times but when I voiced--or rather texted--that thought about easiness to someone else, a phrase started running through my head: "Because of the easiness of the way..." After I heard it a few times, and admitted that I was being taught something, I started to search through the scripture stories in my head to place the phrase. I wasn't sure which part of the scriptures it was in but I knew that the way being easy wasn't a good thing.

After searching the actual scriptures I found the phrase in Alma 37:46. "...do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way..." The verse was referring to when the people of Israel were attacked by poisonous serpents in the wilderness and some of them wouldn't look at the snake on the staff and be healed because it was too easy.

The Pride Cycle is seen many times in the Book of Mormon. God's people follow the commandments, the prosper, then the start to get prideful and then they fall away.

So while easy is...well, easy, it's not always the best thing. I know that when things are going well I have to work harder and be intentional about reading my scriptures and making my prayers meaningful and inviting the Spirit into my day.

Along with those easy times I have known difficult times. I have had to wait and work for a lot of things in my life. I have known heartache and frustration.

Before I had Elise I had a miscarriage. It was hard to get pregnant that first time and even more difficult to get pregnant with Elise. And then I was on bed rest with Elise hoping that I wouldn't miscarry again. That was the hardest thing I have ever been through. The way to having Elise was the longest, most painful and most difficult way I have every traveled.

But I would never take it back.

Because of the difficulty of the way...

I came to know God.
I learned patience, faith, hope and trust in my Heavenly Father.
I learned that He does have a plan for me and it is better than I could ever dream to imagine.
I learned that His timing is worth waiting for, no matter how much I hate the waiting.
I became stronger, emotionally and spiritually.
I learned a lot about God, myself and about getting pregnant.
I learned empathy.
I learned that everyone's story and experience is different.
I learned that I can get through anything with the Lord.
I learned that He wants me to be happy, and for that purpose he gives me tender mercies every day.
I learned that there is a purpose for what happens, no matter how bad it is.
I learned the blessings of tithing.
I learned to prepare.
I learned to make the most of the time spent waiting.
I learned to cherish 1 Nephi.
I learned that things will work out if I do all I can and have faith.
I learned that God fulfills His promises.

If the way had been easy I wouldn't have learned any of that. So I can say with sincerity that I would not give that trial away. It is mine, along with all of the blessings I received along the way. I still enjoy those blessings to this day.

That doesn't mean that I want things to be hard, I really wish they would be easy! But at least when hard times comes I know what to do and I know that I can do it. All I have to do is stop complaining, turn to God and put on my eternal perspective.

Whatever hard path you are going down, no matter how endless it looks, I know that with God you can make it through and you will be stronger and wiser for it. Trust in Him. Put your faith in Him and He will not let you down. In the end you will receive blessings far greater than you could ever have thought to ask for. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will get there.

If you want opposition...do something right!

So tonight is Monday, which means Family Home Evening! We're not perfect at FHE but we do try. After a great talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday I felt that a change was needed. So we discussed it last night and decided to start tonight. I thought we were doing a great job with our new FHE until Elise got super whiney and I got super frustrated with her and then I got frustrated with Cody and just had a general feeling of frustration and irritation. And then I realized that what I was experiencing wasn't just me having a bad day or being a bad person, it was opposition. Opposition to the FHE that we were trying to have. Opposition to the right that we were choosing. Which tells me that we were doing something right! Why else would Satan want to ruin our simple night? So what are we going to do next Monday? Have FHE! Even though tonight wasn't a stellar success we are going to keep trying. Sometimes it's nice to have a little bit of opposition to let you know that you're on the right track ;)

'The Saratov Approach'--the article I really wanted to write ***SPOILER***

I like to watch movies but the older I get the more and more I find myself being selective. I'm busy, I don't want to waste my time and I definitely don't want to watch something that I'm not comfortable with. So when I heard about "The Saratov Approach" I put it on my 'to watch' list. I missed the opportunity to see it in the theater so when my contact at Cedar Fort emailed me and asked if I wanted to review it I was ecstatic! I anxiously waited for it to arrive in my mailbox and then very gratefully watched it when it came. 

At first I wasn't sure about the quality of the movie, probably because I was watching with my more critical reviewer eye, but as the movie went on I found myself leaving my reviewer self behind as my spirit was touched. 

Oh, how I love this movie. And after talking to Garrett, the director, I love this movie even more. And let me tell you why. 

***SPOILER*** 

There is this scene in the movie. It's the pivotal scene. It is THE scene. This scene makes the whole movie worth it. It speaks to me of things I've learned from life these past few years. If you've seen the movie I hope you know what I'm talking about.

Are you ready for it?

The missionaries see an opportunity to escape. It's risky but it could work. They've been handcuffed for days and Elder Propst figures out how to get them out of the handcuffs. Now they just have to attack the guy that's watching them and run away. They get all set up and ready to execute the plan when Elder Propst has a revelation. 'He has a plan for them. He will get them out of it. This is not the way.' So what do they do??? They put everything back the way it was, AND THEY HANDCUFF THEMSELVES BACK TOGETHER!! Batty told me that mothers have told him that their hearts broke into millions of pieces at that moment, that they wanted the missionaries to just run for it.

What faith. I feel like I have had to have some tremendous faith in my life, but to be free and then have the faith to put the handcuffs back on! There is so much to be learned from this one scene. Most often when I have had to have faith in my life it has been in situations that I can't control. I was there until the Lord, in His wisdom and timing, freed me. I had no other way to free myself. I hope that I would have that kind of faith if I were put in that kind of situation.

I had to ask Garrett if that scene was true to how it really happened to the missionaries and he said yes, that he worked very closely with the real missionaries and that they did all they could to make the movie accurate. No embellishing here. Most of the changes were made in condensing five days into 90 minutes.

 ***END SPOILER***

Garrett also told me about some of the responses that he has been receiving. Members of other faiths, and even people without any faith, have responded positively to the movie. An atheist told him that it really made him rethink things. "The Saratov Approach" has been successful and has transcended the LDS movie genre to become a movie for all faiths.

This movie has great potential to bring God into the lives of those who really need Him. And that is why I love it even more after having talked to the director about it. To me it seems impossible to watch it and not feel anything. Even just talking about the movie with Garrett, the Spirit was so strong. The movie's success at the box office gives it an even greater chance to reach a wide variety of people.

If you haven't seen the movie, see it. And share it with others! What a great tool to plant seeds and bless the lives of others.

For more information about the movie you can check out the website at www.http://saratovapproach.com/ or find them on Facebook.

God is the Gardener....and so am I!

Today I planted my peas. I am so excited. I may have gone slightly overboard, I planted four packs of seeds. While lovingly planting the seeds I took great care to plant each seed just right and not loose a single one. Each and every one was precious. I was thinking about how much I loved each seed and how excited I was for them to grow, and that got me thinking about my recent scripture study in Jacob, about the vineyard. And about how much the Lord loved His olive trees. More than I love my pea plants. We are those olive trees. Our Heavenly Father loves all of us so much. He took great care to plant each of us individually with great love, intent on not losing a single one of us. What hope and great expectations He must have had as he put us exactly where He wanted us to be, exactly where we should be, and thought of each of us growing and what we would become. And how we would become like Him. All the good things we would do. When someone plants a garden they don't plant things they don't like or won't be useful to them, so you can know that Heavenly Father did not plant anyone in His garden that he does not love, or who does not have the potential to be a tool in His hand. So when you start planting your garden, remember who planted you where you are, and how much He loves you and delights in watching you grow. 

Stockpiling Service

I have many wonderful women in my life who are great examples to me. I am grateful for all of them. A few weeks ago I visited one of them and learned a valuable lesson. One day we dropped in on a friend of ours, Sara Mckee. Sara and her twin sister, Cindi, were good friends with Cody in high school, and still are good friends. The day we dropped in on Sara and her family she was having a busy Saturday. They were feeding dinner to the missionaries that night and she was also taking dinner to a family in her ward. She explained that, even though her family doesn't eat the lasagnas, she buys them and keeps them in her freezer and looks for families who need a dinner brought in. She doesn't wait for someone on the compassionate service committee to call her and ask her to take dinner to a family, she looks on her own for a family who might benefit from her kindness and acts on it. What?? I told you she's awesome.

So that got me thinking...about stockpiling lasagnas. And as I thought about it I realized that that particular method isn't really practical for my family, and that's okay. So I've been thinking about other things, from cookies to notes. I have a couple of good ideas that I'm going to try out.

But as I type this up I realize that I didn't put near as much thought into actively looking for people who need a little love and service, the way that Sara does. So I'm going to put a lot more thought, and prayer, into that. Perhaps the important part isn't keeping lasagnas on hand, but looking for the opportunities to serve, and acting on them. 

Thank you, Sara, for your good example and for the lesson I learned from you!

Busyness and Blessings

Somehow I went from being bored to death to busy to death. I think it happened sometime in January but I just can't be sure. It is nice, though. Some aspects of the busyness I am really enjoying, like Zumba and beta reading, but having to juggle things and being so busy is not as much fun. With as busy as I have been lately there are still a couple of other endeavors that I so wish that I could pursue. I've felt disappointed, frustrated and hemmed in because at this time in my life I can't do everything that I want to. I've almost come to terms with it all. Most of the time I'm good but then I get to thinking "what if...."

Today in Sacrament the high counsel speaker, Brother Winterton, said something that I needed to hear:

"Just because you can do it doesn't mean you have to/should."

His point being, don't make yourself so busy that you don't have time for your family. "Huh. That's true," is what I thought as I sat their in the chapel. Now I still have time for my family but I'm tired and stressed out and I do try to figure out ways to entertain Elise so I can work on other things while she is awake. And I've been grumpy occasionally! So yeah, I probably would benefit from evaluating my activities and deciding what I can set aside. Right now is my season to raise Elise, and to Zumba! And those other things will either still be there when I can do them or they just won't matter anymore. Elise will always matter though one day she won't need me as much.

Even though I feel so busy and, at times, overwhelmed, I have been blessed with this busyness. Zumba has been a huge blessing for my physical and emotional health. Working Mondays for a few hours has been a blessing financially. Being in Young Womens is time consuming but the blessings are many. And I have enjoyed beta reading immensely, though that will be ending in March and is definitely something that I can set aside for later even though I COULD and WANT TO keep pursuing it right now.

One of the great blessings of this busyness is knowing how aware of me my Heavenly Father is and how good He is at perfect timing! He knows what I want and need in my life and when I need it most and when it will be the most beneficial to me and when the time is just right. It gives me the courage to set aside things I want to do right now for later, knowing that He knows that those things are important to me and that if they are good for me that they will happen later, in His right time. This will not be my only opportunity to do those things that I want to do right now.

10 Things I Love About Melissa Wilkeson

It's Melissa's birthday! Well, it was on Thursday. But better late than never! Here are 10 things I love about Mel....

1. She is patient
 There is so much I could learn from Mel, patience being high on that list!

2. She is a good mom
Mel is so concerned about the well-being of her children. When she first had Dean I asked her what the hardest part about having two kids was. She said spending an equal amount of time with both of them and not having personal time. I told her that not having personal time would be so hard and she told me that she was more concerned about spending time with her kids.

3. She is a good friend/sister
She's always asking me how I am doing and listens to me and I know that I can always count on her.

4. She is strong
She is strong in ways that I am not. Physically and emotionally. I really look up to Mel for that. 

5. She's not afraid of hard work
 She works hard for her family and doesn't complain, at least not very much! ;)

6. She digs in and helps out
There have been many times when we've had a family dinner and I'm just hanging out and then I realize that Mel is in the kitchen helping clean up!

7. She listens to me complain
A lot.

8. She is down to earth and easy going
 Mel is easy to be with and I can be myself with her, and she is always just being herself.

9. She is considerate of others and sensitive to their feelings and what they are going through
I have been grateful for this many times.

10.She's dependable
She is always there for me and I know that if I needed her she should be there for me