Sunday Reflections: Eternal Marriage

Today is our 7th Anniversary! We feel so blessed that we are able to celebrate this day together! Every day together is a blessing. Seven years ago we were married in the Idaho Falls Temple. This was a special place and event for us because we were not married until "death do us part", but we were sealed together for time and all eternity by one with the authority from God to seal on earth and in Heaven.

Knowing we will be together not only in this life but the next also brings me much comfort and peace.  Kary is my best friend.  There is no other person that I would rather be with or spend time with.  We were kidding around tonight and I was like, "I hope you like me because you are stuck with me forever."  Kary said, "I more than like you.  I love you."   Tonight Kary told me that he wishes he could do more for me right now and can't and it makes him feel bad.  I told him that the only thing that matters to me is being with him.  I don't care about flowers and gifts and fine dining.  He said, "Yeah, but you deserve so much more."  He's so sweet to me.  I know he loves me and I'm so grateful for him and the love and support he gives me on a daily basis.  He prays for me every day to not feel overwhelmed with all that I have to do.  Knowing that he prays for me strengthens me each day.  He is also always reminding me to do things because he knows I have so much on my mind that I easily forget.  He knows me.  He understands me.  He is patient with me.  He is forgiving of me.  I'm the luckiest girl in the world. 

I am so glad that God has a plan for husbands and wives to be married not for just time but for eternity. God does not wish for us to part at death and no longer continue one of our most important relationships.  How sad I would be if I could not have our relationship last after this life.  I almost lost Kary in death.  It would have hurt me terribly to be parted from him.   I know that someday death may seperate us for time, but how comforting it is to me that we can continue our relationship in the next life if we keep the covenants that we made in the temple that day seven years ago. 

I look forward to spending this life and eternity with Kary.  

Click here to find out more about what our church teaches about eternal marriage.

Sunday Reflection: Forgiveness

Well I have had a bit of a rough night tonight. I just want to be the perfect Mommy but I'm so far from it. I wish I could go one day without having to raise my voice or get upset with my children, one in particular. I struggle so much with patience. I keep praying to have it because I need it and God keeps giving and giving me experiences so that I can exercise patience, but I just haven't been able to come close to mastering it. I get so mad at myself for failing time and time again. I fail every day it seems like.

Anyway, this has me thinking of forgiveness. The reason being...no matter how mad I get at my son or often I get after him and lose my temper with him, he always forgives me. It always amazes me that he will even ever look at me again or hug me and give me kisses after the way I treat him sometimes. (I know I'm not painting a very pretty picture of myself right now but I have to admit that I lose it sometimes.) After all the yelling and getting upset tonight I crept in the room where he was finally asleep and kissed his little head and told him I was sorry. He half awakens and says, "It's okay." Bless his little heart. How much I need that forgiveness from him. What a great example he is to me. How much better I need to be at forgiving those who might offend me. In the past I have been a big grudge holder. Through some not so great experiences, I have learned it is better to forgive than to hold on to things and let them fester inside. No matter how right we feel we are. The only people we hurt by not forgiving others is ourselves.

In section 64 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord makes the following statement:

“Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.
“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” (D&C 64:9–10.)

When we do not forgive it becomes a burden upon our shoulders that weighs us down. (I'm speaking from experience, unfortunately.)

I have many many shortcomings. Many of them came to the surface tonight. I'm full aware of them. But as I sit and contemplate my shortcomings tonight I'm grateful that I can go to my Father in Heaven in prayer and ask for His forgiveness. And like my dear son who said, "It's okay." I know that God will forgive me also. Each day can begin anew. We just have to try our hardest each day to do better. No one is perfect. We are allowed to keep trying and eventually Christ will make up the difference. The important thing is that we don't give up. No matter how awful our sin we can be forgiven if we repent because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

“There is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come: yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.” (Hel. 5:9.)

In recalling the words which Amulek spoke to Zeezrom, Helaman emphasized man’s part in obtaining forgiveness—repenting of his sins:

“He said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

“And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance.”

I'm truly grateful for the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the forgiveness that I am able to recieve from my Father because Jesus suffered and died for me. He has paid the price for me. I'm grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who has sent two dear children to teach me how to be more forgiving of others.

May we endeavor to become like little children and easily forgive as God forgives us. May we remember that no matter the sin or shortcoming that we can be forgiven if we repent and come unto Christ and be perfected through Him.

Here is a little video clip of an example of forgiveness.

Sunday Reflection: He'll Carry You

I have gained a lot of strength from others' examples of enduring trials. I guess one of the purposes of this blog is to share what I'm learning through our trials. If anyone can gain peace and comfort from anything that is written, I'm truly grateful. I truly want people to experience the same blessings that I have recieved from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This song, "He'll Carry You" speaks to my heart. I have felt my Savior carry me through each day. The strength that people might see in me is not my own. I am strengthened by Him daily. I'm grateful that I don't have to bear my burdens alone. I have said before in an earlier post that the burdens seemed heavy for me to bear that this trial brought on. I knew I couldn't do it by myself. I am weak. I'm grateful for the strength He gives me.

There is a picture in this video that shows Christ standing at the door knocking. The door does not have a door knob. It must be opened on the other side. He is always there waiting for us to open the door to Him. It is up to us whether or not to let Him into our lives. He will never fail us. When others disappoint and fail us; Christ never will. I guess the invitation is to "Let Him In".

Faith Reflection

Well, we had a bit of a scare yesterday with my husband.  I had just got home from picking up my son from school and sat down at the computer to do some learning activities with my little girl.  My husband had been sleeping but all of a sudden I heard him call my name, "Sharee!"  I could tell it was a cry for help and had no idea what I would find when I ran into the bedroom.  I found Kary had fallen on top of the bed and the wheelchair and was having a seizure. I called for my 6 yr old son to call 911 and he sounded very anxious when he said, "I don't know which one is the 9."  So I told him to bring me the phone and he did and then I asked him to stay out in the living room with his sister.  Meanwhile Kary is still seizing and due to his weight is starting to fall between the wheelchair and the bed.  I'm trying to hold him up as I dial 911.  Got them called and then I knew I had to get Kary down to the floor by myself somehow without hurting him and making sure his arms wouldn't get twisted or turned wrong. As I'm still holding him I pushed the wheelchair aside best I could and started lowering him down while he's seizing.  His left arm got stuck in between the two wheelchairs wheels and his whole body was twisted so i had to try and untangle him from the wheels and then got back behind him and grabbed his legs to try and straigthen out his body.  The police man got there and helped me turn him onto his back.  Then the EMT got there and got him on the stretcher.  Luckily our neighbor had come and stayed with the kids while this was all going on. Kary started to come to as they were taking him to the ambulance .  Anyway, we found out that due to a flu bug or some kind of stomach issue that Kary had an infection in his stomach.  Gastroenteritis or something like that.  So they put him on antibiotics.  So, being dehydrated and having flu like symptoms his seizure medicine just wasn't able to absorb like it should.  I stayed the night with Kary at the hospital and they just watched him and kept fluids in him all night and the next day and then made sure he could hold his food down which he did after he recieved the antibiotics.  We got home about 3:30 or so I think.  Anyways, before this happened I had been thinking about the people in my life that have trials.  It seems like they just keep getting trial after trial after trial and I was just thinking to myself, "These people should be exempt from experiencing more trials because they already have it so tough why are they given more on top of what they already have?"  I don't know why it happens like that but I just know it happens so I had a thought that I need to be prepared because life was seeming pretty comfortable and that though I would like to be exempt from more trials, I am not.  Then this happens.  Though it was a shock to my system that it was happening I was not overly stressed.  I've had a feeling of peace and calmness, especially after a priesthood blessing was given to Kary. I knew that it happened for a reason and that God would help us through it.  I was even able to sleep pretty well which is amazing! Then tonight we read in Hebrews Chapter 11.  It's about faith.  How fitting to read this chapter tonight.  VS 1. "Faith is the assurance (JST) of things hoped for , the evidence of things not seen."  We are required to walk by faith in this life.  Faith in our Father above and Faith in our Savior to save and lift us up. We don't always know what God has planned for us.  It takes a lot of faith to trust in His plan.  Many times His plan is very different from what we envision for ourselves.  But, in my own personal experience, God's plan always ends up better than what I would have envisioned for myself.  I don't know how our experience and trials right now are better than what it would have been had it not happened, but I have faith that it is.  God knows best.   I loved the examples that this chapter gave of the many people who exercised their faith in God to do something that may have seemed impossible to them to do.  Abraham was asked to offer his own son as a sacrifice.  Wow!  That would have been a toughy!! What faith he had to do it! Moses, by faith, chose to "suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures  of sin for a season;" This chapter gives so many wonderful examples!!
I especially love vs 40(JST) "God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect."  Can I just say, "WOW!!"
God allows us to have trials for our betterment.  He wants us to live with Him someday.  He knows what it will take to get us there.  If we have FAITH in Him and do our part and follow His commandments SO GREAT WILL BE OUR REWARD IN HEAVEN.  This knowledge is what helps me through each day.  It's not easy, but by faith in my father above I KNOW it will all be worth it in the end.  As the apostle Paul has said, we will be able to say, "I have fought a good ^afight, I have ^bfinished my course, I have kept the faith"!!!  AWESOME!!!

Sunday Reflections: Be an Example of the Believers

 I wasn't able to attend church today because my husband was sick.  Colton was sick last week so we missed last week too.  I feel such a difference when I'm not able to recharge my spiritual batteries.  Anyway, I'm glad I'm still able to read my scriptures and lessons and feel uplifted that way.  My sister, Lanae, shared with me a quote for next week's lesson that I really liked.  It's by Ruth B. Wright from October 1991 General Conference, "In Timothy (4:12), we are admonished to be an example of the believers. A believer is someone who follows and knows the teachings of Christ not only in his mind but also in his heart and whose actions are a witness of that belief. It isn't easy to be an example of the believers.  We don't usually wake up in the morning and say, 'Today, I'm going to be an example of the believers!'  Yet, we can say, 'Today, I will be kind and thoughtful, or considerate, or honest, or whatever quality I need to work on.'  And then we will try hard all day to make a conscious effort to do so. That's what we can do!  We can live in such a way that people can look to us as their examples.
To be a good example of a principle, we must not only understand it, but we must live that principle. It should be such a part of our every day living that without consciously thinking about it, the principle is reflected in the way we live.  To be true examples of believers, we are first committed inwardly to the principle of Christ that our actions reflect. For example, if we are dedicated to the principle of family prayer, we as parents pray regularly with our family. Hopefully, our children will recognize our devotion and dependence on prayer and pattern their prayers after this example.
Each of us can feel our Savior's love through the righteous example of others.  We, too, can strive to live in such a way that we can be examples of the believers."
I'm so grateful for the examples of believers I have had in my life that have helped strengthen my own testimony.  I have a long way to go but I really want to improve so many things in my life so that I can be a better example of the believers.  The great thing about this life is that we can try each day to improve.

Sunday Reflections: Teachings of Paul to Ephesians

Okay, so I'm loving studying about the Apostle Paul.  He's so awesome.  Thanks to my sister who teaches Sunday School and her excitement about all she is learning to get me excited about it too...because it is just that...exciting!  I think I'll talk about what I've learned in just a few chapters otherwise it will be a very very long post. 

In Ephesians chapter one Paul writes a letter to the saints in Ephesus.  He talks of how saints are foreordained to recieve the gospel (vs 1-9) He then says in vs. 10, "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."

What does this phrase "dispensation of the fulness of times" mean?  Let's ask first...what is a dispensation of the gospel?  According to the Bible Dictionary,
"A dispensation of the gospel is a period of time in which the Lord has at least one authorized servant on the earth who bears the holy priesthood and the keys, and who has a divine commission to dispense the gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. When this occurs, the gospel is revealed anew, so that people of that dispensation do not have to depend basically on past dispensations for knowledge of the plan of salvation. There have been many gospel dispensations since the beginning. The Bible suggests at least one dispensation identified with Adam, another with Enoch, another with Noah, and so on with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus with his apostles in the meridian of time.

Okay, so here is the really exciting stuff in the Bible Dictionary that answers the question of what the dispensation of the fulness of times that Paul was talking about means, "The fulness of times is the final dispensation, and began with the revelation of the gospel to Joseph Smith. It is a dispensation of restoration and of fulfillment of the Lord’s plans and purposes since the world began. There are also things reserved for the fulness of times that have not been revealed previously (D&C 121:26–32; 124:41). It is a glorious time, the time in which we live today (see Acts 3:19–21; D&C 27:13; 110:11–16; 112:14–32; 128:18–21; 136:37–40)."

We, my dear friends, are living in the dispensation of the fulness of times that Paul prophesied about.  Yee-haw!  This is cool!  Our Father in Heaven is gathering together in one all things in Christ.  I love vs. 17-23.  Father in Heaven has made Christ the Head of the Church. 

Okay, so that's the message I got from just chapter 1.  Let's go on to Chapter 2 of Ephesians.
Paul teaches the Ephesians that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ.  He also goes on to teach that the blood of Christ saves Jew and Gentile alike. Once we have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ we are as it says in vs 19, "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;"  

Now this next verse is very key to Christ's church on the earth today.  Paul teaches that not only do we become fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God, but we are also (vs 20) "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
I love this testimony given of Christ by one of His prophets in this dispensation of the fulness of times, President Gordon B. Hinckley, "

The Cornerstone

He is the chief cornerstone of the Church that bears His name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved (see Acts 4:12). He is the Author of our salvation, the Giver of eternal life (see Hebrews 5:9). There is none to equal Him. There never has been. There never will be. Thanks be to God for the gift of His Beloved Son, who gave His life that we might live and who is the chief, immovable cornerstone of our faith and His Church."

Christ is the head of His Church.  His Church IS built upon a foundation of apostles and prophets today as it was anciently. Just as Paul taught.

What is the importance of being built upon a foundation of apostles and prophets in our day?  Paul teaches in vs 14, "that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to decieve;" 

My dear friends, we do have a church today that is led by Christ through Prophets and Apostles.  How exciting is that????  We do not have to be tossed to and fro.  We can know all of the truth's of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I invite you to click on this link and learn more about God's prophets and apostles on the earth today.  It's exciting!  All the world should know!

The Fire

I have mentioned this before I believe but again it is coming to mind.  Before Kary's stroke I felt like I was just going through the motions when I was at church.  I had a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ but I just didn't feel the fire.  Unfortunately it took an experience like this to light the fire underneath me.  I feel the fire now and I'm grateful.  You can't go through a trial like ours and not want to sing the song of redeeming love for our Savior.  I also think that we have experiences or trials like these to learn and grow...to become better followers of Christ and not keep these experiences to ourselves but to share with others what we are learning.  I want to be like Alma the Younger in vs 9-10 of chapter 9 when he says, "

 9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do ^anot ^bglory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

 10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember ^awhat the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."

I think most people who have felt the love of the Savior and known the blessings that come from following Him wish they could share the joy and blessings that have come to them through following Him.  I love hearing other's stories of conversion to the Savior and His gospel.  Recently heard Sheila Walsh on the radio the other day and was totally inspired by her story.  We also have trials in our lives to help us be more compassionate towards others who may be experiencing similiar trials to our own.  I'm grateful for the people in my life who share their testimonies of the Savior with me.  I'm grateful for the scriptures that uplift and edify and teach me of God's plan.

I don't really know what the purpose of this post is....these were just some of my thoughts I had as I was studying tonight.