Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
duckling days
Here's a tender mercy I was given yesterday. :)
So, I wasn't having the best day.
It was a Monday (yeah. I know.), and I didn't have the best day at work. I put in my earbuds and started walking home with my leftover Subway cookie. My favorite, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.
I went to the water to look at the ducks, my favorite thing to do. I sat down on the side and was just pondering while listening to music.
All of a sudden, the five ducklings and the mama duck that were swimming in the water came out onto the grass and walked up to me. They just hung out around me for the longest time.
I threw the baby ducks little crumbs from my cookie... they went after it like crazy.
You would think Mama Duck would try and stop them from getting too close to a strange human, but she just watched and was jealous when I wouldn't give her any of my cookie. (I took 3 videos of me and the ducks... if you even remotely care about seeing these cuties in action, I put one of them on my Facebook page. They wouldn't upload to here.)
These ducks kept me entertained for almost a half an hour. After a few minutes I realized I wasn't sad anymore, I was the happiest I had felt in weeks...
I realized I had had a silent prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would help to comfort me and feel happy inside. He answered my prayer through a way I never thought He could.
I walked home that day feeling like the happiest person in the world. <3
Sunday, August 4, 2013
'The Drawbridge Keeper'
Today in Sacrament Meeting was 'Fast & Testimony Meeting'. I had the privilege to hear from many of my dear brothers and sisters of their love for the Savior and His sacrifice.
A girl shared a story that hit me really hard. It's kind of long, but I promise it's worth the read.
It's titled "The Drawbridge Keeper":
"There was once a bridge that spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing the train to cross it.
A switchman sat on the riverbank and operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.
One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance. Then he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position, it would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with MANY people aboard.
He left the bridge turned across the river and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever he could hold to manually operate the lock.
He would have to hold the lever back firmly and let the train cross. He could hear the train's rumble, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.
Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
"Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time.
The man almost left his lever to snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized he would not be able to get back to the lever in time if he saved his son.
Either many people on the train or his own son - must die.
He took but a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked; to tell his wife how their son had brutally died."
I cry as I type this story out to you--it refused to copy/paste into this box I'm writing in.
Sometimes we don't stop to comprehend the pain that our Heavenly Father went through sacrificing His Only Begotten Son for us. He loves us enough that He did this for us.
It breaks my heart that people take advantage of the Atonement and its healing powers, when Heavenly Father suffered for it. The God of the heavens, our Creator and Maker, the Being with more power than any other being on earth... wept for us. Can you imagine our Heavenly Father weeping? Having to watch His son die for the sins of all mankind without being able to do anything about it.
I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough that He was willing to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son for us. Something that a boy in my ward shared in last month's testimony meeting:
If I was the only person on this earth to ever live, Jesus would still come to this earth and suffer so that I could live with my Heavenly Father and my Savior again.
That's how much our Savior and our Heavenly Father love us.
May we all remember the sacrifice that our Savior made for us.
And may we also remember the sacrifice our Heavenly Father made so we could come back to Him.
A girl shared a story that hit me really hard. It's kind of long, but I promise it's worth the read.
It's titled "The Drawbridge Keeper":
"There was once a bridge that spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing the train to cross it.
A switchman sat on the riverbank and operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.
One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance. Then he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position, it would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with MANY people aboard.
He left the bridge turned across the river and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever he could hold to manually operate the lock.
He would have to hold the lever back firmly and let the train cross. He could hear the train's rumble, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.
Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
"Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time.
The man almost left his lever to snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized he would not be able to get back to the lever in time if he saved his son.
Either many people on the train or his own son - must die.
He took but a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked; to tell his wife how their son had brutally died."
I cry as I type this story out to you--it refused to copy/paste into this box I'm writing in.
Sometimes we don't stop to comprehend the pain that our Heavenly Father went through sacrificing His Only Begotten Son for us. He loves us enough that He did this for us.
It breaks my heart that people take advantage of the Atonement and its healing powers, when Heavenly Father suffered for it. The God of the heavens, our Creator and Maker, the Being with more power than any other being on earth... wept for us. Can you imagine our Heavenly Father weeping? Having to watch His son die for the sins of all mankind without being able to do anything about it.
I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough that He was willing to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son for us. Something that a boy in my ward shared in last month's testimony meeting:
If I was the only person on this earth to ever live, Jesus would still come to this earth and suffer so that I could live with my Heavenly Father and my Savior again.
That's how much our Savior and our Heavenly Father love us.
May we all remember the sacrifice that our Savior made for us.
And may we also remember the sacrifice our Heavenly Father made so we could come back to Him.
Friday, August 2, 2013
blessed
nothing new... at all... haha ;)
And one of my friends had shared this picture. =>
I read it,
and just had to sit and think about my life for a little bit.
How blessed I am.
I do have food in my fridge, clothes on my back, a roof over my head, and a place to sleep.
I have money in the bank, in my wallet, and in my pocket...
I woke up this morning from a good sleep and have felt healthy and strong.
I have never been forced to fight in battle, and I've never been physically abused.
And I can read.
I don't know why Heavenly Father has placed me in this place at this time...
but I know it's for a reason.
I know that in the pre-mortal existence, Heavenly Father told me what I would face in this lifetime, and I still chose to come despite the difficulties I knew I would be facing.
I've never thought of myself as richer than 75% of the world. Or among 8% of the world's wealthy. Or luckier than 500 people alive and suffering... or more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who can't read.
This opened my eyes to how often I really do take these tiny things for granted.
So grateful. <3
Thursday, August 1, 2013
i love to see the temple
This tender mercy is not something that has happened recently, it's something I've realized recently...
For those of you who don't know, I'm from Bountiful, Utah. High up the mountain is the beautiful Bountiful, Utah LDS temple. I never realized how much I would miss the temple until I moved away to college.
Living on the third floor of the new Heritage Halls with my window facing North, I have a perfect view of both the MTC and the Provo temple.
As beautiful as it is, it just can't compare to my Bountiful temple.
For the past 12 years, I have grown up with it in my backyard. When I was a little girl, my sister and I would climb up through the trees in our backyard and have picnics in front of the temple. I have grown up with the Bountiful temple, it's been my nightlight for years.
Today it dawned on me how much I have taken this for granted. Heavenly Father has blessed me with a knowledge of temples, He's been gracious enough to have put me in a place where a temple was in my ward boundaries growing up. What a blessing!
Temples are where heaven meets earth! They are houses of God. What a blessing it is to have a temple for a body!
I found this picture on Facebook the other day.
For those of you who don't know, I'm from Bountiful, Utah. High up the mountain is the beautiful Bountiful, Utah LDS temple. I never realized how much I would miss the temple until I moved away to college.
Living on the third floor of the new Heritage Halls with my window facing North, I have a perfect view of both the MTC and the Provo temple.
As beautiful as it is, it just can't compare to my Bountiful temple.
For the past 12 years, I have grown up with it in my backyard. When I was a little girl, my sister and I would climb up through the trees in our backyard and have picnics in front of the temple. I have grown up with the Bountiful temple, it's been my nightlight for years.
Today it dawned on me how much I have taken this for granted. Heavenly Father has blessed me with a knowledge of temples, He's been gracious enough to have put me in a place where a temple was in my ward boundaries growing up. What a blessing!
Temples are where heaven meets earth! They are houses of God. What a blessing it is to have a temple for a body!
I found this picture on Facebook the other day.
It struck me.
It reminded me of a tweet I had read the other day that had also struck me as hard. It reads:
@MissionaryLDS
"All of satans attacks and temptations have to do with the body because hes jealous he cant have one. You are strong. Don't let him win."
After this tweet, I started to think about it. Do all of Satan's attacks really have to do with the body?
It is Satan that leads God's children to break the word of wisdom, poisoning their bodies.
It is Satan that guides God's children to break the law of chastity, poisoning their minds and their souls.
It is Satan that tells girls they aren't pretty enough.
It is Satan that tells boys they aren't strong enough.
It is Satan that is breaking apart families, because he wants us to feel worthless.
Our bodies are temples. Satan hates that he made the wrong choice. He hates that he doesn't have a body. He hates us for making the right decision to follow our Heavenly Father and His plan. He's so jealous of us that he will do anything to make us hate our own bodies. He wants us to hate ourselves as much as he hates himself.
This honestly breaks my heart. He could be as happy as we are with the gospel if he had only chosen to follow his father. I know it must break God's heart to see his son trying to push his other children off of the path... so sad.
But how grateful I am for the knowledge of this truth! How grateful I am for temples that are multiplying in number! I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have that my body is a temple, oh how I treasure it.
If you even made it this far in my blog post, I congratulate you... I know it gets boring after a while. I just love this gospel and wish I could share it with everybody that has ever lived on this earth!
Don't forget you are a child of God! <3
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