I will never be ashamed to admit that I LOVE Christmas. I can't rightly say when my love for Christmas really developed. I imagine I was just like every other child who eagerly awaits Christmas day and finds wonder in every Christmas light and bow. As I got older, Christmas changed as it does for most of us. All the usual events happened in order to get ready for Christmas Day: finding a Christmas tree and decorating it, decorating the house, and making cookies for the neighbors. But I no longer woke up early Christmas morning and there wasn't the same excitement. After I moved away from home I came to appreciate a lot of things that I hadn't really appreciated before, and Christmas was one of those things. Christmas meant spending time with my family, and I enjoyed every minute I got to spend with my mom and sister as we decorated the house and listened to Christmas music. When I went on my mission, Christmas changed for me a little bit again, and I really came to understand what Christmas is about. Not that I didn't understand before, I just focused too much on the parts that weren't as important. My first Christmas in Taiwan I just missed my family and always thought to myself "I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams." I came home a week before my second Christmas in Taiwan and I spent those few weeks in December with my companion trying to tell everyone I could about what Christmas is really about. And that changed everything for me.
This December will mark my second year home from my mission and so much has happened and changed, but not my love of Christmas! Everyone thinks I'm a little nutty and obsessed, especially when I listen to Christmas music in July. Then I try to explain to them that Christmas music just makes me happy, and then I ask them what's wrong with being happy?! So, after that ridiculously long intro...
Everyone I think realizes that around Christmas there is a different kind of feeling. Some attribute it to the festive lights and decorations, some think it's because of the gifts that are given and received. Most don't fully realize that Christmastime bears a special feeling because Christmas is about Christ. For those who do believe in Christ, it is a special time to remember Him, and to remember the hope that He brought with Him when He entered this world. For those who don't, they recognize that Christmastime is different. It is a time of joy, a time of service, a time of looking for ways to make someone else's day a little bit brighter.
There is a song from the play/musical The Forgotten Carols that says three kings found the Lord, and so can we. Christmas is about finding Him, and sharing His love and light with those who are searching, for those who sit in darkness, for those searching for hope. During Christmastime we are particularly aware of service opportunities, but when we carry the spirit of Christmas always in our hearts, we are always looking for and finding ways to lift others. And we do that because we are really carrying the spirit of Christ and His love in our hearts.
I love Christmas because of the feeling it brings, and there is not much more I could want than to have that feeling always. I want to do all I can to help brighten someone's day, to walk with a skip in my step because I am happy with life and all it brings. I want Christ to be the center of my life, just as He is the center of Christmas. As the Christmas season approaches, I do look forward to the sparkling white snow, the festive decorations, and the time I'll be able to spend with family. This will be our first Christmas all together as a family in four years. And I hope that when I turn my Christmas music on even though Thanksgiving has yet to come and go that all those people that have to put up with me will just smile, and remember that Christmas is about Christ.
Let Him In. Light the World.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Thursday, June 16, 2016
The Apple Pie Analogy
I was recently reading a book- a romantic comedy kind of book- and the main character shared an analogy that just made sense. So I wanted to share it...well at least my version of it anyways. On my mission I was the queen of coming up with wacky analogies, so bear with me and make your own interpretation of what I say.
And then...one day as you're waltzing past a bakery on your way to work you see it. A peach pie sitting there in the window. And it looks delicious. You stare at it for a few moments, imagine what it might smell like, and then you remember the apple pie you had for breakfast, and you keep walking. But you don't forget that peach pie. A few days later you walk past that same bakery and there is another peach pie sitting there. This time you stare a little longer, this time you work up the courage to walk inside the bakery hoping to catch a whiff of that delicious pie. Then you shake your head, call yourself silly, and walk back out. A week later you go out of your way to go to that bakery to find that peach pie. This time you've had enough. You just have to have that pie. So you buy it. You take it home. You open the box and that heavenly smell you've been dreaming about wafts out. You lovingly cut it up and serve it on a nice, glass plate. (We keep it classy, no paper plate for our delicious peach pie.) And then, that first bite...
After the first, OK maybe third slice, has been eaten you sit back and sigh a very contented sigh. That peach pie was all you hoped it would be. Then you cover the rest of the pie and put it in the fridge right next to your apple pie.
The next morning you open the fridge for breakfast and you see both pies sitting there. You spend the next 15 minutes of your life trying to decide which kind of pie you want for breakfast. You choose one, and life goes on. As the days go by, it gets harder and harder to choose which kind of pie you want to eat and then...there is only one slice left of each. You choose the peach pie. The new pie. The exciting pie. And then you go to bed wondering if you should have chosen the apple pie instead. The next morning, that apple pie is sitting there, just waiting for you. That first bite puts a smile on your face and you walk out your door humming a Disney tune. The peach pie was nice. It was nice to have a break, try something new, but in the end that apple pie is what you really wanted all along.
I'll leave the interpretation of this analogy up to you, because we all have different circumstances. So, happy thinking! Feel free to share your interpretations! And if you read it and think that this analogy in no way relates to your life, No worries. Not everyone understands my analogies...or pie.
Also, for all those girls out there in need of a good, happy romance book check out Marcia Lynn McClure's Kissing Cousins.
Let's call it the peach pie-apple pie analogy.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I have always loved apple pie. Don't get me wrong, I love my Grandma's homemade pumpkin pie but there is something about apple pie that just makes life happier. My first few years of college I would sometimes buy an apple pie and eat it for every meal. Every college student's dream, right?
Anyways, back to the analogy. All of us have our favorite kind of pie. Imagine it in your mind, the way it smells the way it looks, that first delicious bite that sends you right to cloud nine...that pie can represent your life in general, or if you're a love starved college student, it can represent your love life. That is the kind of pie that we are happy with. It's dependable, we know it's going to taste good every time, and we are content with buying that same pie every time we go to the bakery.
And then...one day as you're waltzing past a bakery on your way to work you see it. A peach pie sitting there in the window. And it looks delicious. You stare at it for a few moments, imagine what it might smell like, and then you remember the apple pie you had for breakfast, and you keep walking. But you don't forget that peach pie. A few days later you walk past that same bakery and there is another peach pie sitting there. This time you stare a little longer, this time you work up the courage to walk inside the bakery hoping to catch a whiff of that delicious pie. Then you shake your head, call yourself silly, and walk back out. A week later you go out of your way to go to that bakery to find that peach pie. This time you've had enough. You just have to have that pie. So you buy it. You take it home. You open the box and that heavenly smell you've been dreaming about wafts out. You lovingly cut it up and serve it on a nice, glass plate. (We keep it classy, no paper plate for our delicious peach pie.) And then, that first bite...
After the first, OK maybe third slice, has been eaten you sit back and sigh a very contented sigh. That peach pie was all you hoped it would be. Then you cover the rest of the pie and put it in the fridge right next to your apple pie.
The next morning you open the fridge for breakfast and you see both pies sitting there. You spend the next 15 minutes of your life trying to decide which kind of pie you want for breakfast. You choose one, and life goes on. As the days go by, it gets harder and harder to choose which kind of pie you want to eat and then...there is only one slice left of each. You choose the peach pie. The new pie. The exciting pie. And then you go to bed wondering if you should have chosen the apple pie instead. The next morning, that apple pie is sitting there, just waiting for you. That first bite puts a smile on your face and you walk out your door humming a Disney tune. The peach pie was nice. It was nice to have a break, try something new, but in the end that apple pie is what you really wanted all along.
I'll leave the interpretation of this analogy up to you, because we all have different circumstances. So, happy thinking! Feel free to share your interpretations! And if you read it and think that this analogy in no way relates to your life, No worries. Not everyone understands my analogies...or pie.
Also, for all those girls out there in need of a good, happy romance book check out Marcia Lynn McClure's Kissing Cousins.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Education....it's the most powerful tool in the world
For those of you who don't know, I was one of those crazy girls who decided that I wanted to spend the majority of my life surrounded by children, and somehow try and teach them something valuable that would help them become functioning adults. When I started the program last semester, overwhelmed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.
Teaching, just like life isn't all lollipops and rainbows.
Duh.
I don't know why it took me so long to figure that out.
I realized that a love of children isn't going to get me through even my first 5 years of teaching. It might not even get me through my first day as a real teacher. Teaching is not for the faint of heart, but I can honestly say that it is THE MOST important job in the world.
Sorry all you doctors, lawyers and politicians.
Teachers are in charge of inspiring children, helping them open doors and discovering what this world is all about.
I think right now, how teachers are teaching, and how children are learning is changing a lot. Children now have so many more advantages than even I had, and it is critical that we as parents and educators help them understand that. So many children leave elementary school with a distaste for learning simply because their teacher did nothing but pass out worksheets and ask them to regurgitate facts.
My hope when I am captain of my own classroom is that I can help my students realize that they CAN learn and that they DO have valuable ideas and thoughts to contribute. I want them to love reading as much as I do. I never want a child to leave my classroom hating to pick up a book and read. I want to be a resource for my students, someone that they feel comfortable talking to. I want to use all the incredible tools that are now available that make learning so much more fun. I want my students to learn through exploration and play-even if they are 11 years old, there are still valuable things to be learned through play.
I know that most new teachers enter the school on their first day with the same hopes that I have, and leave that school only a couple of years later burned out. There are almost insurmountable odds that teachers have to face, and what makes a great teacher is when they face those odds every day knowing that they aren't going to conquer all of them, but they keep trying. Not every child is going to leave my classroom inspired, but I want to be able to tell myself at the end of the day that I did everything I could to help each child.
Check out these other blogs, they have some great articles!
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/
Teaching, just like life isn't all lollipops and rainbows.
Duh.
I don't know why it took me so long to figure that out.
I realized that a love of children isn't going to get me through even my first 5 years of teaching. It might not even get me through my first day as a real teacher. Teaching is not for the faint of heart, but I can honestly say that it is THE MOST important job in the world.
Sorry all you doctors, lawyers and politicians.
Teachers are in charge of inspiring children, helping them open doors and discovering what this world is all about.
I think right now, how teachers are teaching, and how children are learning is changing a lot. Children now have so many more advantages than even I had, and it is critical that we as parents and educators help them understand that. So many children leave elementary school with a distaste for learning simply because their teacher did nothing but pass out worksheets and ask them to regurgitate facts.
My hope when I am captain of my own classroom is that I can help my students realize that they CAN learn and that they DO have valuable ideas and thoughts to contribute. I want them to love reading as much as I do. I never want a child to leave my classroom hating to pick up a book and read. I want to be a resource for my students, someone that they feel comfortable talking to. I want to use all the incredible tools that are now available that make learning so much more fun. I want my students to learn through exploration and play-even if they are 11 years old, there are still valuable things to be learned through play.
I know that most new teachers enter the school on their first day with the same hopes that I have, and leave that school only a couple of years later burned out. There are almost insurmountable odds that teachers have to face, and what makes a great teacher is when they face those odds every day knowing that they aren't going to conquer all of them, but they keep trying. Not every child is going to leave my classroom inspired, but I want to be able to tell myself at the end of the day that I did everything I could to help each child.
Check out these other blogs, they have some great articles!
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Starting Over Again
Coming up with goals for the whole year is a daunting task! I don't want to come up with something too lame because then I won't be motivated. Life was so much simpler when it was broken into 6 week increments. One thing is for sure, when I get to December I don't want to look back on the year and wonder how I got to where I was...it is not a good feeling.
I was sitting in the living room and feeling unhappy about where I was at (emotionally, spiritually and physically) and the fact that I had just eaten an entire Arctic Circle shake and contemplating eating an entire bag of popcorn did not help at all. I was reminded that if I don't like how things are, I have to step up and change things. I have learned over the last few years that I am the only one responsible when things don't turn out and I can't sit back and hope everything turns out. I only get to do that after I have genuinely given my best effort.
On my mission I learned that I can do harder things and how satisfying it is to overcome myself. I need to re-embrace that mentality and expect more from myself. I have seen how much that extra effort pays off, and how much happier I am when I push a little harder. It takes lots of organization and discipline with a healthy dose of laughter. I think I need to find ways to laugh more. It's not that I'm not happy, I think I just need to choose to find more joy in the situations I'm in. But it's hard because I feel like I was never happier than when I was with a certain person that I cared about a lot. I know that's not true, because I remember all the laughter and smiles I shared with each of my companions. It's all about how we view life. On my mission I had to look for those tender mercies and enjoy interacting with others and noticing the small details. Some of the best days were when I was soaked to the bone, but took the time to appreciate the sunset that always came after the torrential downpour. Those days happened when I was genuinely interested in my companion and let go of what might be dragging me down-most often it was something I had no control over! I know that kind of happiness is within my grasp-it's amazing how hard it is to let go of our self-pity though!
The last few months I've forgotten another lesson I learned on my mission. There are few things more important and more life changing than the relationships we cultivate with the people who are already a part of our lives, and the ones who come along as we move trough this chutes and ladders game we call every day life. (I say chutes and ladders game because my life feels like I am constantly climbing up ladders only to land somewhere and slide all the way back down to the bottom and have to start over again. Life could also be compared to a Candyland game. You're breezing along right by the ice cream queens castle and then you draw the card that has the little picture of the green plum monster or the candy cane forest and have to start at the beginning again.)In the past as I have moved into new phases of life I have prayed that I will meet the people that I need to...and I have! Case in point: Alaska. The ladies that I worked with were incredible, and the friends I made up there influenced and lifted me up a lot. Plus they didn't abandon me when my life became the plot of a tv soap opera! Heavenly Father helps us find the people that we need to get us through what we are dealing with, and He helps us know through them that we are loved and that we are not alone. Sometimes those people stay in our lives for a long time, and sometimes we only get to enjoy them for a short time before life moves you in different directions. That doesn't make them any less important, it just means that their part in your story is over and there are other characters who have yet to make their grand entrance.
As this new year begins, I want to leave behind the gray skies I've let hang over me for the last few months and find the sunshine again. It still might take some time, but what's important is that I want it. I want to find new people who make me happy and help me be my best self, and I want to stay connected with those I already have. Is it a lot of work to make that effort? Yes! But it's worth it. I don't want to settle for less than my best effort. I want to work on a goal that I set for myself my first day in Taiwan; smile til my cheeks hurt.
Here. We. Go.
I was sitting in the living room and feeling unhappy about where I was at (emotionally, spiritually and physically) and the fact that I had just eaten an entire Arctic Circle shake and contemplating eating an entire bag of popcorn did not help at all. I was reminded that if I don't like how things are, I have to step up and change things. I have learned over the last few years that I am the only one responsible when things don't turn out and I can't sit back and hope everything turns out. I only get to do that after I have genuinely given my best effort.
On my mission I learned that I can do harder things and how satisfying it is to overcome myself. I need to re-embrace that mentality and expect more from myself. I have seen how much that extra effort pays off, and how much happier I am when I push a little harder. It takes lots of organization and discipline with a healthy dose of laughter. I think I need to find ways to laugh more. It's not that I'm not happy, I think I just need to choose to find more joy in the situations I'm in. But it's hard because I feel like I was never happier than when I was with a certain person that I cared about a lot. I know that's not true, because I remember all the laughter and smiles I shared with each of my companions. It's all about how we view life. On my mission I had to look for those tender mercies and enjoy interacting with others and noticing the small details. Some of the best days were when I was soaked to the bone, but took the time to appreciate the sunset that always came after the torrential downpour. Those days happened when I was genuinely interested in my companion and let go of what might be dragging me down-most often it was something I had no control over! I know that kind of happiness is within my grasp-it's amazing how hard it is to let go of our self-pity though!
The last few months I've forgotten another lesson I learned on my mission. There are few things more important and more life changing than the relationships we cultivate with the people who are already a part of our lives, and the ones who come along as we move trough this chutes and ladders game we call every day life. (I say chutes and ladders game because my life feels like I am constantly climbing up ladders only to land somewhere and slide all the way back down to the bottom and have to start over again. Life could also be compared to a Candyland game. You're breezing along right by the ice cream queens castle and then you draw the card that has the little picture of the green plum monster or the candy cane forest and have to start at the beginning again.)In the past as I have moved into new phases of life I have prayed that I will meet the people that I need to...and I have! Case in point: Alaska. The ladies that I worked with were incredible, and the friends I made up there influenced and lifted me up a lot. Plus they didn't abandon me when my life became the plot of a tv soap opera! Heavenly Father helps us find the people that we need to get us through what we are dealing with, and He helps us know through them that we are loved and that we are not alone. Sometimes those people stay in our lives for a long time, and sometimes we only get to enjoy them for a short time before life moves you in different directions. That doesn't make them any less important, it just means that their part in your story is over and there are other characters who have yet to make their grand entrance.
As this new year begins, I want to leave behind the gray skies I've let hang over me for the last few months and find the sunshine again. It still might take some time, but what's important is that I want it. I want to find new people who make me happy and help me be my best self, and I want to stay connected with those I already have. Is it a lot of work to make that effort? Yes! But it's worth it. I don't want to settle for less than my best effort. I want to work on a goal that I set for myself my first day in Taiwan; smile til my cheeks hurt.
Here. We. Go.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
When it Rains it Pours
I know it has been awhile since I have written anything on my blog. More often than not I feel like the things swimming around in my head don't amount to much.
I think this post will be therapeutic for me though, and hopefully I'll be able to spit out some useful advice as well.
My Grandma had a saying that my mom always repeats. When it rains, it pours. When I was younger I never really understood what that phrase meant, but as I have grown up and life has gotten more complicated and the decisions more demanding with far reaching consequences I have come to understand. When it rains we don't get to decide how long it will last, how hard it will rain or the damage it will do. We can certainly prepare if we know it's going to be a doozy of a storm, but can't do much besides wait for it to pass. Life is much like those rainstorms. And more often than not it's not a warm, gentle drizzle, it is a down pour complete with thunder and lightning.
But that is when we get to decide if we are going to dance in the rain, or if we are going to simply endure it and wish that it would stop.
These last couple of weeks have been full of stress. I don't think I have been so stressed out since my mission...and that's saying something! I had to leave Alaska and everything I had come to love there. I had to come home and live with the consequences of choices I had made. I went back to school for the first time in 3 years. My truck needed new tires, and my computer decided to erase all my files. A doozy right? Well, at least it has been to me. The hardest part has been trying to figure out what I want and what I need and what is going to make me happy. It's hard when everything seems to come to a head at the same time, and even harder to see the positive side of things.
Have you had enough of my pity party yet? Good, because I have too. See? I told you this would be therapeutic.
When it's all said and done, we can't do much more than take things one day at a time. What seems like the end of the world at 9:30 at night is always a little less bleak the next morning. The solutions come one by one, and even if they don't we start to understand better how to handle the situations we are given. That heaviness in our hearts starts to lift and we remember that there is sunshine after all. We just needed a little bit of rain to appreciate it more.
I think this post will be therapeutic for me though, and hopefully I'll be able to spit out some useful advice as well.
My Grandma had a saying that my mom always repeats. When it rains, it pours. When I was younger I never really understood what that phrase meant, but as I have grown up and life has gotten more complicated and the decisions more demanding with far reaching consequences I have come to understand. When it rains we don't get to decide how long it will last, how hard it will rain or the damage it will do. We can certainly prepare if we know it's going to be a doozy of a storm, but can't do much besides wait for it to pass. Life is much like those rainstorms. And more often than not it's not a warm, gentle drizzle, it is a down pour complete with thunder and lightning.
But that is when we get to decide if we are going to dance in the rain, or if we are going to simply endure it and wish that it would stop.
These last couple of weeks have been full of stress. I don't think I have been so stressed out since my mission...and that's saying something! I had to leave Alaska and everything I had come to love there. I had to come home and live with the consequences of choices I had made. I went back to school for the first time in 3 years. My truck needed new tires, and my computer decided to erase all my files. A doozy right? Well, at least it has been to me. The hardest part has been trying to figure out what I want and what I need and what is going to make me happy. It's hard when everything seems to come to a head at the same time, and even harder to see the positive side of things.
Have you had enough of my pity party yet? Good, because I have too. See? I told you this would be therapeutic.
When it's all said and done, we can't do much more than take things one day at a time. What seems like the end of the world at 9:30 at night is always a little less bleak the next morning. The solutions come one by one, and even if they don't we start to understand better how to handle the situations we are given. That heaviness in our hearts starts to lift and we remember that there is sunshine after all. We just needed a little bit of rain to appreciate it more.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Dancing Queen
This past week we had a much needed girl's night.
Although in the gift shop, every night in the gift shop is girl's night, we needed one that let us sit down, relax and talk about all that drama. We decided to watch the movie "Mamma Mia" and it was a blast to sing along at the top of our lungs to all those classic Abba songs (those songs that I love thanks to my mom who first introduced us oh so long ago.) I am no longer young and 17, but there is always adventure to be had and lessons to be learned. Everyone needs those friends who love our crazy ideas and sing along with our favorite songs. Love comes in all different forms and touches us each time in a different way. We need the people we meet along the way to help us through this crazy journey called life.
Those were the things I was reminded of while watching Mamma Mia.
Trust me, I don't usually sit down and watch a movie to glean life advice.
In other news, I saw my first moose! Or should I say my first six moose! I went on a drive with a friend and within a 20 minute period we saw 6 moose. Let's just say, it totally made our day. We even saw a beaver as well swimming around in a pond. I have a particular fondness for beavers after I did a 4th grade science project on them.
Today at work I overheard a lady from Australia comment on how she had come all the way to Alaska to see a bear and hadn't seen a single one yet! It made me sad, because I wanted to ask her if she had noticed the absolutely gorgeous landscape around her instead of just trying to find a moving blob of brown or black.
On a more spiritual side of things, one of the girls that I work with asked me a question about being "saved by grace" and what we believe in my church about it.
That got me thinking, and I did some studying and pondering. I was reminded of a talk by Elder Bednar and how he said that whenever he thinks about the word grace he substitutes it for "enabling power."
For example, there is a scripture in Jacob 4:7 that I love.
"Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace (enabling power) and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." Accepting that grace means accepting Christ, and accepting Him is not simply a one time act. It is a lifetime of drawing closer to and striving to become more like him. It is living as He would have us live, because we know that it is truly because of Him that we have a chance to return to the presence of our Father.
As Moroni in the Book of Mormon said,
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God" Moroni 10:32
I know that God's grace is real. It truly is an incredible gift, and one that I am grateful to use each day. That grace is not just an extra boost when our own abilities are not enough. It is a constant source of strength and guidance and one that will not fail when other lights go out.
Although in the gift shop, every night in the gift shop is girl's night, we needed one that let us sit down, relax and talk about all that drama. We decided to watch the movie "Mamma Mia" and it was a blast to sing along at the top of our lungs to all those classic Abba songs (those songs that I love thanks to my mom who first introduced us oh so long ago.) I am no longer young and 17, but there is always adventure to be had and lessons to be learned. Everyone needs those friends who love our crazy ideas and sing along with our favorite songs. Love comes in all different forms and touches us each time in a different way. We need the people we meet along the way to help us through this crazy journey called life.
Those were the things I was reminded of while watching Mamma Mia.
Trust me, I don't usually sit down and watch a movie to glean life advice.
In other news, I saw my first moose! Or should I say my first six moose! I went on a drive with a friend and within a 20 minute period we saw 6 moose. Let's just say, it totally made our day. We even saw a beaver as well swimming around in a pond. I have a particular fondness for beavers after I did a 4th grade science project on them.
Today at work I overheard a lady from Australia comment on how she had come all the way to Alaska to see a bear and hadn't seen a single one yet! It made me sad, because I wanted to ask her if she had noticed the absolutely gorgeous landscape around her instead of just trying to find a moving blob of brown or black.
On a more spiritual side of things, one of the girls that I work with asked me a question about being "saved by grace" and what we believe in my church about it.
That got me thinking, and I did some studying and pondering. I was reminded of a talk by Elder Bednar and how he said that whenever he thinks about the word grace he substitutes it for "enabling power."
For example, there is a scripture in Jacob 4:7 that I love.
"Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace (enabling power) and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." Accepting that grace means accepting Christ, and accepting Him is not simply a one time act. It is a lifetime of drawing closer to and striving to become more like him. It is living as He would have us live, because we know that it is truly because of Him that we have a chance to return to the presence of our Father.
As Moroni in the Book of Mormon said,
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God" Moroni 10:32
I know that God's grace is real. It truly is an incredible gift, and one that I am grateful to use each day. That grace is not just an extra boost when our own abilities are not enough. It is a constant source of strength and guidance and one that will not fail when other lights go out.
Monday, May 11, 2015
A Whole New World
This is what I get to see when I step out my front door every morning. Well, if there aren't any clouds that is. Amazing the things you can see when you take a chance, leave behind everything familiar and head out into the great unknown! This time for me, the unknown is......Alaska, The Last Frontier. It is a complete 360 of what I experienced in Taiwan and I know I will be having more than my share of adventure here.
Hopefully no adventures that include the wildlife.
A new place brings lots of mixed emotions. Nervousness because you have no idea how things work or where to go. Excitement because there are so many new, fun things to do and experience. Appreciation for what you left behind and for what you now have. When my airplane landed in Alaska all I could think was "why did I decide to come up here by myself? Is it too late to go back? What if I don't fit in?" Within a couple of hours, after seeing the beautiful landscape and taking a few deep breaths I knew that I was where I needed to be and that I wouldn't want to give this adventure up for anything.
I think the one thing that shocked me the most was the people. I am from Utah:born and raised. I grew up in an environment where almost everyone belonged to the same religion, the majority of people have never had a drop of alcohol or coffee, and the most extreme thing you ever saw was hair dyed a strange color. Outside of that little bubble I grew up in is a mind boggling variety of people, most of whom have a very blase` attitude about life. Where decisions don't have long term affects and all that matters is what is happening tonight at the bar or with the cute girl next door. Needless to say, I was a little intimidated and felt really out of my element. Not to say that I judged these people and their way of life. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions and decisions and I respect that and understand. Just like I hope others understand my decision to not drink alcohol and to go to church on Sunday.
I know that interactions with people whether they have the same lifestyle or not are invaluable. Life is too hard and too unpredictable and sometimes unhappy to spend even a moment on prejudice. Everyone deserves the common courtesy of a smile and friendly conversation. Everyone.
So for me, Alaska hold the excitement of a new place with new things to see and do and new people to meet. Everyone has stories about life that can enrich our own and I am excited to add a few stories to my book and learn a few more stories from the people I meet here.
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