Miracles and Hotdogs

Who knew you could find miracles in the grocery store.
This Monday we were doing our normal weekly shopping.
We were in the check out line when I remembered I wanted hot dogs.
We were already in line... And the hot dogs were in the back of the store.
I wasn't sure if it was worth it to go back and get them.
Sister Owens sensing my inner hot dog turmoil solved the problem by
suggesting we turn around and get them anyway so we wouldn't regret it
later.
We walk to the back of the store grab them and then make our way back
to the register.
In that amount of time we hear someone call after us.
My heart leaped as we were greeted  by a man I worked with months ago.
We had spent weeks in his home teaching him the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As missionaries we move around and in that lost contact with him.
Now looking at him the change in his face was indescribable and for the better.
He said "when I saw your profile I knew it was you!"
He also told us how he almost went to a different store.
And we almost didn't go back for the hot dogs.

God has his hand is in our life far more then we know.

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say
unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to
pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and
eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the
wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."
Alma 37:6-7

 

Sometimes I Wonder

Sometimes I wonder 

why I have been the places I have been 

and seen the things I have seen.

The more I think the more I see all the preparation He puts in me.

Although I don't understand everything 

I have faith that He does in fact know everything :)

 This quote from Linda K. Burton and this poem from Eliza M. Hickok
helped me see God truly knows better than me :)

"When the Lord’s timing conflicts with our own desires, trust that
there might be some preparatory experiences the Lord needs us to have
before our prayers are answered."

"I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know, God answers prayer.
I know that He has given His Word,
Which tells me prayer is always heard,
And will be answered, soon or late.
And so I pray and calmly wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought;
But leave my prayers with Him alone,
Whose will is wiser than my own,
Assured that He will grant my quest,
Or send some answer far more blest."

Weak Ankles

We were eating dinner with a wonderful family when
the conversation turned to the tragedies that are happening around the world.
We were sharing our need to stand strong and help others along our way.
The words were getting caught in my mouth with the strong feeling of
importance and truth.
We ran out the door more determined to step up our efforts in bringing
others to Christ.
Down the steps we went.
We cut across the grass
And boom.
My good ankle buckles beneath me.
I'm hands and knees on the ground...
The pain doesn't last long.
I'm able to hop up and keep going.
But I couldn't help but laugh.

I know the quickening of the work of salvation for our brothers and
sisters isn't going to come with out opposition.
I know the more we desire to do good, hard things will come, ankles
will give out, and heals will be bruised.

As we sincerely seek to understand God's message, we may face
challenges, but God will help us.
The question is are we prepared for what is ahead?
Are we prepared to let God help us as we help ourselves and others?

"Are we prepared for the emergencies in our lives? Are our skills
perfected? Do we live providently? Do we have our reserve supply on
hand? Are we obedient to the commandments of God? Are we responsive to
the teachings of prophets? Are we prepared to give of our substance to
the poor, the needy? Are we square with the Lord?

We live in turbulent times. Often the future is unknown; therefore, it
behooves us to prepare for uncertainties. When the time for decision
arrives, the time for preparation is past."
- Thomas S. Monson
Are We Prepared?

Food Problems

Last month I was hungry.
My body is allergic to something (not sure yet)
Thus making my normal smoothie in the morning quite unenjoyable.
Food always has been a given in my life.
Hungary. Eat. Enjoy.
Now it's more like.
Hungry. Eat. Sneeze. Pain. Unable to enjoy.
The last straw was me trying to make something I thought wouldn't hurt
and then I burnt it. Making it uneatable.
Yet again I wasn't able to feed myself like I wanted and like I needed.
My stomach rumbled.
Frustrated and hungry I started to pray.
I knew Heavenly Father wanted to tell me something but I just wasn't
getting it.
This time the answer came quickly.
To keep our body working we feed it what it needs.
To keep our Spirit working we need to feed IT what IT needs.
Our stomach rumbles and rebels when we don't fill it with what it needs.
Good!
This reminds us that our spirit should feel the same!
Also I learned that we can't eat the wrong things and expect it to do us good.
We can't allow poor spiritual influences into our lives and not expect
them to have a damaging impact.
Nope nope nope.
My tummy tells me this is true and so does my soul :)
We need to
Feed our spirit
and not eat the garbage (temptation) this fallen world throws at us.

Our Savior faced hunger as well

"Though He was tempted by that master of deceit, even the devil,
though He was physically weakened from fasting 40 days and 40 nights
and was an hungered, yet when the evil one proffered Jesus the most
alluring and tempting proposals, He gave to us a divine example of
obedience by refusing to deviate from what He knew was right." -
President Thomas S. Monson
(Obedience Brings Blessings)

We need to refuse to deviate from what we know is right :)
We need to eat good food.
We need to feed our soul.

6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
3 Nephi 12:6


Since writing this post a month ago my stomach problems have died down!

Both my body and soul feel well feed :)
(For now.. We still have tomorrow to wake up and eat all over again ;)

Ebenezer

"Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thine help I'm come
And I hope by thy good measure
Safely to a arrive at  home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood"

Come Thou Fount is a beautiful song.
Within the last two months I have been able to sing it twice.
Once in a small group of three and second with a large group of 1,200+.
The last time I sang it was for a youth conference.
We walked in holding flags and lifted them when we started this verse.
The feeling in that moment was so powerful.
We were lifting a flag for an auditorium full of people but
symbolically we were lifting our faith to our God.
Saying "Here here is my offering. Although small it is all I have."
God in return responded with a powerful feeling of acceptance and love.
The Spirit was so strong and through the tears of the missionaries
surrounding me I know they felt it as well.
The offerings and sacrifices we give to the Lord have value.
It may be standing for your faith in a crowd of people or it can
simply be closing your computer screen.
I can promise you when you lift your faith from whatever level it may
be you will experience that same feeling of acceptance and love.

"He to rescue me from danger
interposed his precious blood."

Car Accidents and Seat Belts

This week I learned that crazy things happen and if we look with
spiritual eyes we can see why.

Car accidents are no fun.
They are especially no fun when driving 65 mph down the Interstate.
It was April 2011 and I was driving to work in my little Honda Civic.
For reasons unknown to me 

(no other car involved, no blown tire, no
blasting music, and no ice) 

I lost control.
After hitting the dividing wall my car turned, hitting the wall a few
more times...
This little car was now a ball of metal.
When the ambulance came they said it was a miracle I wasn't more
seriously injured.

I know my life was saved because I was wearing my seat belt.

In the months and year that passed I was vividly aware of my lack of car.
Walking and taking the bus in the heat and snow was hard and I often
wondered, "why?"

Fast forward to this week.
I am sitting in a room and I volunteer for some missionaries to teach me.
The subject was fasting.
In this meeting I was honest with them and I told them what I knew
about fasting.
I let them know that I didn't understand what fasting was to me.
The reason I would fast was because I believed and hoped it was
something good to do, but that was as far as my
knowledge/understanding went.

Then the missionary took what I said and bore his own testimony of fasting.
He compared fasting to "fastening" a seat belt to keep us secure and safe.
Tears started to form in my eyes, and I remembered that ugly mangled
mess of a car.

It was only because I had my seat belt on that I survived.

Prayer, with the added protection of fasting, is the seat belt needed
for our soul.
It is there to protect us from the spiritual car accidents we may face.
Fasting is humbly turning to God and asking Him for help,
understanding, direction, protection, etc.
Fasting can be giving up two meals to 24 hours of your food and water
and turning to God in prayer.
When we fast we always start and end with a prayer so we have a purpose.
We ask for what we need and we don't let the world know.
Fasting is just between you and God.
And I now know it saves lives if not physically then definitely spiritually.

"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go
free, and that ye break every yoke?

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health
shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before
thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and
he shall say, Here I am."
Isaiah 58:6,8-9

The Letters

When I was a junior in high school my face broke.
It was something called Bell's palsy 

(some sort of partial paralysis.)
This illness came on so sudden, the school play I was in had to be
canceled that night...
There I was at home devastated with my life long best friend at my side.
Then they came.. The Letters.
Although I wasn't at the school, my fellow friends and cast members were.
They all wrote me encouraging letters of love and support.
My friend read them to me and I cried.
I was hurt, yet the love I felt that night was overwhelming.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself going through a different
kind of pain.
I was at home, hurt, and The Letters came.
This time from a group of sweet young women.
I felt their love and I cried.
Again I wasn't alone.
Fast forward a few MORE years.
I'm a missionary feeling pain, grief, and loss again.
Although not as prominent as my first two experiences, my hurt felt
just as real.
And then they came.
All bundled together so I couldn't mistake it... The Letters.
This time from my home congregation in Texas.
As I read of their love, condolences, and support, I cried.
I know these three tender moments were not by chance.
I know these Letters might as well have been written by God himself
with the amount of love, reassurance, and consistency they bring me.
I know I am His daughter.
I know he is aware of not only me, but all my grief and pain in
whatever form it may be.
One way I know this is through His Letters.
God sends us letters every day.
Do we recognize his handwriting?

"Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are
unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that
would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is
one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.

We can be grateful!

It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one
who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who
set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of
gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and
understanding....

.....We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our
problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much
of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God
that there is rain?

Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased
with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we
look beyond our present-day challenges.

This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul. It is a gratitude
that heals the heart and expands the mind."

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
 (Grateful in Any Circumstances)