Faith, Hope, Charity

Faith is believing that everything in my past has a purpose. Every misjudgment, jealousy and hurt. Every joy, indulgence and success. All my wrong choices, all my right choices pushed me forward to right now. My rejoicing, my repentance, my realignments, all of it, has brought me here. Faith is believing that I have been on an upwards progression all my life, guided by the very angels of heaven. There have been no mistakes so grave, no depression so dark, no wind so strong that I've been knocked off course. Faith is believing that the past has accumulated for my good. And though it still makes up my soul, the past is over.

Hope is believing that the future will come. A future of better things, stronger convictions and securer sense of self. It is having the confidence that everything I don't have today, everything I want, will come because I am worthy of it. Hope says, I am weak today, but tomorrow I will be a little bit stronger. Hope can promise all the hurt, all the fear, anxiety, the lacking will slowly leave, vanish, melt away. Hope is okay that today isn't perfect. Hope holds all the mysteries yet to unfold. Hope is never-ending because the future is always ahead.

Charity is all we have in the present. Our past is gone, our future is yet and there is no sense living in those two spaces. We remember, we project, but for now we love. We love all that we have presently, all that our eyes can see and bodies can touch. We love the people who are in our rooms, our spaces our dreams. We love with intelligence and understanding. We may not have the money we want, the body we crave the things that occupy our desires, but we can love the salary we do make, the body we have cultivated, the things that fulfill our needs. We love the meals we eat, the shoes we wear, the woman at the grocery store. Charity is the now we own, the present we can manipulate. It's all we have and it's all we have to give.

 From C.Jane Enjoy it (again) Her picture is below.

oh, and this too: 

I am a daughter of God, and therefore entitled to intelligence, creativity, joy, inspiration and beyond. These are my strengths. Real strengths. 

I think she means those are her personal strengths and not all daughters of God, but I hope they are mine too.

maybe never again

It felt like this: If no one ever wanted to marry me ever again, I would still have happiness beyond my imagination. I would always have a relationship with God. I would always be His daughter. I could always hear His council--I knew His voice. At that point, it was enough. Maybe even more than enough.

from C. Jane, Enjoy it. 

I like this. 

 I wish I could say the same thing.

 I could  of said it before I got married.

Strength of a Nation

"The strength of any nation is rooted within the walls of its homes. We urge our people everywhere to strengthen their families in conformity with these time-honored values."

Said by Gordon B. Hinckley after reading the Proclamation on the Family in 1995. 

Children are the greatest blessing

life has to offer.

From Sophia and here

Preparing for a Temple Marriage

If we look at love between two who are preparing for temple marriage, we see the elements of sacrifice and of serving each other’s best interests, not a shortsighted “me” interest. True love and happiness in courtship and marriage are based upon honesty, self—respect, sacrifice, consideration, courtesy, kindness, and placing “we” ahead of “me.” Marvin J. Ashton
April 1981 General Conference

The Word of Wisdom

Elder Widtsoe wrote: “To many of our members feel that if they refrain from taking liquor, tobacco, tea and coffee, they are keeping the Word of Wisdom.  They are doing so only in part.  If the law be understood and lived, people would not be ill and the blessings promised may be fulfilled….The Church of Christ must ever try to care for the whole man.”

He also said, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to give man health and happiness. Health is concerned with the spirit and mind as well as with the body of man.  The Gospel is mistakenly supposed to concern only man’s spiritual health. Mental and physical health forms the only assurance of spiritual progress.  A man who is physically or mentally ill is not truly happy, though he may approach spiritual peace.  The three parts of man’s nature are interrelated and depend upon one another’s welfare.”

Elder Widtsoe wrote, “In the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, the sanctity of the body is second only to that of the spirit.  It is the duty, as well as the desire, of every person to preserve his physical health, so that he may live out most completely the destiny of his existence.”

The author summarized some of Leah’s writings by saying, “That teaching children about [physical health] exceeds the importance of teaching them reading, writing, or arithmetic.”

And later he summarized her again by saying, “Leah explained that mortal bodies are composed of dust of the earth, which chemists had divided into fifteen elements that could be found only in the Lord’s foods, the plants and fruits of the ground.  Children should be fed with at least as much thought as farmers put into feeding their prizewinning livestock…a person’s health is largely a function of the food consumed.”

To read the story of his book that the first presidency approved go here. 

Virtue

Virtue

“[I]am a faithful FRIEND TO VIRTUE and a fearless FOE TO VICE.” 

Joseph Smith - 

"Virtue is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards.  It encompasses chastity and moral purity.  Virtue begins in the heart and in the mind. It is the accumulation of thousands of small decisions and actions." 
- Elaine Dalton, General YW President

[image "white rose with a twist" by grant mcdonald]

“The Virtues of Righteous Daughters of God”  
Ensign, May 2003, 108

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10).

I will prepare to enter the temple and remain pure and worthy.

My thoughts and actions will be based on high moral standards. 

Read this article from the Church News 

Quest for Virtue: Peace is the reward

"You will need [courage] to be chaste and virtuous. You live in a world where moral values have, in great measure, been tossed aside, where sin is flagrantly on display, and where temptations to stray from the strait and narrow path surround you. Many are the voices telling you that you are far too provincial or that there is something wrong with you if you still believe there is such a thing as immoral behavior."Isaiah declared, 'Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness' (Isaiah 5:20)."Great courage will be required as you remain chaste and virtuous amid the accepted thinking of the times." 

- Thomas S. Monson, "May You Have Courage," Ensign, May 2009, 125

 

Pay the Deductible!

“I believe, to use an insurance phrase, we must pay the deductible. We must experience sorrow enough, suffering enough, guilt enough so we are conscious and appreciative of the heavier burden borne by the Savior.” (Elder J. Richard Clarke, in Conference Report April 1993, 10)

Born to Create

"Woman was born to create...in creating she becomes herself, accomplishes her destiny. Her whole life is only an initiation into creative power. To create is not merely to produce a work...it is to give out ones own individuality."-Jeanne De Vietinghoff