Greater Love Hath No Man...

I know! I have been a slacker and I apologize.
Last week I attended my brother's ward where his youngest son spoke prior to leaving for a mission. During the sacrament hymn I had a moment. We were singing Oh God the Eternal Father. In the third verse it states "When Jesus, the anointed, descended from above and gave himself a ransom to win our souls with love--..." I was touched by His incredible love not just for His father but also for us--for me. Then it occurred to me that this is what I have learned (and certainly talked about in the blog at times) in our relationships especially the difficult ones. We win them over with love. Withholding love, inflicting pain, punishing, nagging which may seem at times to be the way we need to react do not win souls. Souls are won with love. The only way we can love those who hurt us, is if we love our Father and Savior and let their love fill the void left by the hurt. We can't do this with an ulterior motive. Our only motive can be to be an instrument in our Father's hand to lift and bless another. People are drawn to those who extend our Father's love for that is what we all miss and are searching for.

Who among us has not felt the great comforting love through the holy ghost of our Father and our Savior when our hearts have been broken, our minds confused, our lives overwhelmed, and our path unclear? How grateful I am for a wise Father who knew how much we would miss him and his love and so provided the way for us to access him even in that absence.

There are many touching evidences in the scriptures of our Father’s love. None touch me more than that found in Moses 7. Enoch has seen Satan with a great chain enslaving the children of god. As they succumb to his temptations he looks up and laughs. Then Enoch testifies that the God of heaven looked upon his children, and he wept; Enoch wonders how this can be seeing that there are numberless creations of God and touchingly states “and yet thou art there.”

Imagine this God who weeps for our sorrows who is involved in the details of our lives. This is not the passionless, incomprehensible God of the Nicene Creed. This is not the all-in-one god much of the world believes in. This is our father who loves us intimately and infinitely. Who is revealed to us through the Holy Ghost. To whom we are led by our Saviors example, sacrifice, and unending love.

I love this by Elder Nelson:

"I would like to share a remarkable quotation I found in a rare book in London one day while searching through the library of the British Museum. It was published as a 20th-century English translation of an ancient Egyptian text. It was written by Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria, who died in a.d. 385. This record refers to the creation of Adam; premortal Jesus is speaking of His Father:
“He … made Adam according to Our image and likeness, and He left him lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into him. And He heaved sighs over him daily, saying, ‘If I put breath into this [man], he must suffer many pains.’ And I said unto My father, ‘Put breath into him; I will be an advocate for him.’ And My Father said unto Me, ‘If I put breath into him, My beloved Son, Thou wilt be obliged to go down into the world, and to suffer many pains for him before Thou shalt have redeemed him, and made him to come back to his primal state.’ And I said unto My Father, ‘Put breath into him; I will be his advocate, and I will go down into the world, and will fulfil Thy command’ ”

Truly what greater love?

“Miracle of miracles and wonder of wonders," said President Hinckley. "They are interested in us, and we are the substance of Their great concern. They are available to each of us"

D&C 76: 22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. 

Message to self: Let Them fill you with Their love!

A Half of Stick of Gum

He has spent so much of his life in the sun. Grew up in a beach city. He surfed and became a life guard. I remember every year he would come home sun burned after his first day of the summer. When we left the beach life he took up running, biking, swimming. Always in the sun. He has had many pre-cancerous melanoma's removed. Last January he had one burned off. He went back a couple of weeks ago to have it looked at again. The doctor took a biopsy this time. Last Friday the doctor tried to get hold of him but had to leave a message. He was on a trip so couldn't return the call. The doctor called again yesterday. "Must be pretty concerned" I thought. When he was finally able to call the doctor today the doctor told him it was melanoma and he had set up an appointment for him to see an oncologist tomorrow. He can't go as he has yet another trip. First available appointment is in two weeks. "Bring your wife with you" they told him.
I have known lots of people with melanoma. One friend had her toe removed because of one. Another had a big chunk of her leg cut out and a bunch of lymph nodes and then it wouldn't heal. I have yet to know of any who had a melanoma metastasize. But just the mere fact that it could....!

Sunday our High Councilor spoke. I had an amazing experience. It had been a really painful week. My husband had said something to me that really hurt and caused me to question what on earth to do with such information. Talking to him is of no use. He simply will not talk about feelings including mine. As usual I just had to deal with my feelings and forgive.
So at church the speaker talked about this scripture:

Alma 56:15-17 15 "And these are the cities which they possessed when I arrived at the city of Judea; and I found Antipus and his men toiling with their might to fortify the city.

16 Yea, and they were depressed in body as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day and toiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had suffered great afflictions of every kind.

17 And now they were determined to conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well suppose that this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons of mine, gave them great hopes and much joy."

My immediate thought was "I need someone to fortify me...to reach out and strengthen me. I hurt." But even as I thought it another thought replaced it "you know that's not how it works. You are healed as you reach out to others." I know but sometimes you just have to imagine what it would be like.

The speaker then went on to quote from the baptismal covenant in Mosiah 18:

8 "And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— "

Yes, I thought, that is the covenant I made and that is how I want to be. Sometimes it's just a little harder than other times.

Next he spoke of the new commandment our Savior gave to his disciples found in John. Our Savior knew that what they would miss most when He was gone was His love. That is what we all miss but rarely recognize it.

John 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

We feel His love for us as we share His love with His children.

He went on to quote from Matthew which I have quoted here before:

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you ^crest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Ah...there's the key. We can be comforted and find strength to be healed even in the midst of great adversity if we "come unto" Him. And as Neal Maxwell taught "Empathy during agony is a portion of divinity."

As I was contemplating all of this a little boy, about 2 years old, left his family on the other side of the chapel from where I was sitting and came over to me. He handed me a half stick of gum and walked back to his family. I sat and marveled. A minute later he walked back over and shyly stood at the end of the bench where I was sitting. I motioned to him several times to come over but he continued to stand there. Finally he walked to me and whispered "do you need more gum?" "No" I said. " I am fine. But thank you!" and he walked away.

The speaker ended his talk with a quote from Elder Holland's conference talk of October 2008. I love this:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.” On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.
“May we all believe more readily in, and have more gratitude for, the Lord’s promise as contained in one of President Monson’s favorite scriptures: “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, . . . my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” In the process of praying for those angels to attend us, may we all try to be a little more angelic ourselves—with a kind word, a strong arm, a declaration of faith and “the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.” Perhaps then we can be emissaries sent from God when someone… is crying,.. .” 


Now it's true that our mission is to know the Savior so well that we can reach out to His children in love and compassion like Him...for Him but He loves us and will send angels to strengthen us when we really need them. They may come in the form of a loved one calling to chat, a co-worker telling us we are doing a great job, a friend who waves as they drive by our house, a speaker in sacrament meeting who listens to the spirit and speaks to our heart. Or they may come as a little child offering a half stick of gum.

Experience the total effect.

If you are new to this blog really don't start here. To understand what it is all about you must go to the beginning and read a few entries. If it's not what you are looking for then go ahead and move on. But it just might be for you! So give it a try before clicking off.
Thanks a whole bunch.

Happy Mother's Day!

Being a mom is hard, is wonderful, is frightening, is awesome. I love my kids and miss them so much. Did I mention they live FAR away? He is out of town so I am alone today. But never really alone. He left me a nice card and called me from poolside in Phoenix. I'm OK though there are days I absolutely get so frustrated. I am frustrated that he can't see the truth--doesn't want to know the truth. I am frustrated that I am home alone most of the time when I could be enjoying my children and grandchildren. I am frustrated with my inability to function at a higher level. BUT gratefully these moments of deep discouragement are fleeting. I know I can have joy in the midst of the most difficult trial and these are not that difficult in the big scheme of things. After all, that's what this blog has been all about. Finding joy in the journey.
I felt a moment of that joy today. Actually twice...OK probably more than that as I think about it. But let me share two. At the end of our Sacrament meeting our Bishop spoke about a Primary teacher he remembered. She was definitely flawed in many ways but he remembers how much she loved him. He wasn't the best behaved boy in class (hard to imagine since he is so calm) but still she loved him. He said something at the end of relating this story that pierced my soul as if it had been said to me as a message from my Heavenly Father. He said "She loved us with all our imperfections...and we loved her with all of hers." I could hear Father saying to me "I love you! Yes, even with all your imperfections." It felt good. And it reminded me that He loves even those in my life who I allow to cause me grief. And with His help I can love them too. I know my husband drinks coffee and beer, but I like to live in denial that he does. Today he mentioned it and it was frustrating to be reminded. But I had that moment that Stephen Covey talks about between stimulus and response we have a space in which we can choose. I chose to not make it into an exchange that would end badly. He knows how I feel about it. I don't need to harp. I chose to love him.
The second experience came as I was listening to Music and the Spoken Word. The Tabernacle Choir was singing God So Loved the World. It was beautiful and as I sat alone I felt myself reaching for my Savior...almost literally but really only figuratively---and I felt (figuratively but almost felt literal) Him reaching toward me touching my arm. How grateful I was in that moment to be reminded yet again that He loves me and wants to bless me.
He loves you! And in His strength we can bless the people in our lives.

1 John 4: 9-11 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Eternal Marriage

“In an eternal marriage, the thought of ending what began with a covenant between God and each other simply has little place. When challenges come and our individual weaknesses are revealed, the remedy is to repent, improve, and apologize, not to separate or divorce. When we make covenants with the Lord and our eternal companion, we should do everything in our power to honor the terms” (Marlin K. Jensen, Ensign, October 1994).

"My dear brothers and sisters, there will be days and nights when you feel overwhelmed, when your hearts are heavy and your heads hang down. Then, please remember, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is the Head of this Church. It is His gospel. He wants you to succeed. He gave His life for just this purpose. He is the Son of the living God. He has promised:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
“For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee” (3 Nephi 22:10). Elder Uchtdorf