Give and take....

Today...

I'm thankful for:

- early mornings...when everything is quiet and the world is rising, there is a joy and antipation and peace that can only be felt at the dawn of day.

- the Anthony Henday...thank you for properly moving traffic despite rush hour.

- for beautiful smiles...you brighten up my day ;)

- for scottish oatmeal...really make a great breakfast with organic bluberries and little syrup.

- for friends who outlast time itself. You make the world of a difference in my life...

- warm hearts...your heart fills mine when nothing else will.

- for guidance of the Spirit... blesses my every thought, heart beat and word.

- for those not so good with words...you share more than words can say!

:)
..all for u.


Ok...so lots has happened but well since this isn't a blog devoted to the gossip that is my life, I'm just going to share some wonderful and fascinating things the Lord and others have bless ed to share with me and the lessons I've learned.

Now if I already shared some of these, that's ok...I feel they might need some repeating.

1. It's your intention and the spirit something is done in that truly affects your communication.

Someone shared with me something so important and simple that it's easy to forget.

As Dr John Lund Says : you can't fulfill the Lord's plan using the adversary's ways.

They were sharing about the difficulty to know when to be firm and soft and where that balance lies and then told me after much prayer how it really has everything to do with intention.

It's like it says in Moroni (it's a short book; you can find it)

Giving alms with improper intention...for pride for instance, only does one thing: help you feed your pride.

Our intentions, hearts and spirits and even beliefs of someone is always felt or conveyed however we choose to treat others.

Children most of all are especially sensitive to our feelings and thoughts and intents.

This could turn into a long exposition so I'm going to keep it short:

A. Are you truly unselfishly and lovingly doing and saying what you are saying? If not, and you don't feel it, neither will the person you are giving it to? Search your intentions: Are you trying to control, manipualte, coerce, force, bribe, make another see you a certain way?

B. to you parents out there: Remember if you know you are doing your best and doing your best to love the Lord and serve Him and do your best with your children, you intentions and feelings will be felt years down the road when they grow up.

There is also another side to all of this: you are not the cause of your childrens every bad mood or anxiety. Just a thought.

C. If you ever get confused, remember how the Lord loves you and how much He loves you and with every imprefection or mistake, He can heal , take up the slack and help you do better every day.

D. This just came to my mind...I wonder if our thoughts and intentions for ourself are ever noticed...Neat idea huh? What's my intention for doing this for/ to myself?

E. Something I do which has and will continue to bless my life is when I don't feel 100% filled with the Spirit or I feel slightly distanced from the presence of the Lord, I pour my heart out to the Lord... in my heart or out loud. I just expose how I'm feeling and 100% of the time I not only can figure it out but I can also feel the Lord heal and support me and if need be I give something to my Saviour to help me heal or repent of. The Lord is perfect at helping you see what's wrong and why. Counsel with Him...He knows what to do or just what to say to heal you(not just make you feel better).


2. Give not take.

This was and still boggles my mind.

One day I was talking with a friend and they were telling me about how they had some pretty crumby jobs in the past but they were always able to find something to enjoy about the job and if you looked hard enough, you could always find something...

Then this hit me:

People who gripe and complain about life are in a sense selfish.

(and by people I mean me...and I'm repenting everyday for it)

To a complainer, life is about how life is supposed to be this way, this job is supposed to be this way, they are supposed to be this way...

Versus an optimistic shiny happy person is different.

Instead of forcing how things are supposed to be, they look at life and see what life is giving them. What the job is giving them, this person, nature, everything! They notice all that is given to them and take in the good and focus on just that. I'm not advocating not setting goals or the like but I feel that being unsatisfied with life isn't always the best and most inspiring way to live, even as a means to change your life. It's like complaining to get the "happiness" or "success". Does that seem right to you?

Seeing what can be improved is important in our lives but if that's all you see, then life is harsh...even if you change things around you, this can develop into and power complex of havinng to or needing to control everything around you...I'm just speculating at this point but that's what I sense.

It's my personal opinion that real change happens after we've had a real change of heart (Atonement) and in so doing we go from a selfish heart (believe me, we all have it to some degree) to an unselfish one and then we see the world differently...

Suddenly, life it's about taking , but giving AND receiving .

And receiving opens up hope and notcing God's hand in everything and that you are blessed, of infinite worth and the Lord and universe want to bless you. This has blessed me with inspriration to now give back to life and also trust that God wants me to be blessed and succeed and I therefore feel inspired to set goals and create a vision of service and joy that are who I am meant to be and live as.


OK...so this might not as goos as my other posts but I'm happy I cna share some of my ideas and thoughts with you. To all of you reading this: you mean the word to me and I hope something I share here inspires you and blesses your life to some degree or measure.

I hope you have a joyful and thank-filled day!


Next up: You might be gossiping and not know it and service: it's everywhere did you know?

Time tempers all things....

So it's been a few crazy weeks. My apologies for not posting sooner. Sometimes so much happens at once, it gets difficult to mentally keep up with everything you learn and learning from.



Thankful:



-I'm thankful for my heart. It's senstive but it's also strong compassionate and tender and I'm gratful to God for blessing me with this heart.



-I'm grateful for support I feel from the Spirit and unseen hands everyday. It astounds and amazes me how manys things touch my life in so many different ways.



-i'm grateful for the sun. It reminds me of how beauty exists in all things and that it's not how something looks but how deeply it contributes and gives to you and supports you that truly makes something or someone beautiful. More than what you see but what is felt.



-I'm grateful for answers to prayers and revelation. I am so blessed to be guided everyday and receive constant communication from God to guide my life.





I am so grateful for so much, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by it all. there is so much to be grateful for and yet the things that touch my heart and life the deepest are not things I can express with words or descriptions. It's in the quite tender moments either in contemplation or when I'm with someone I love and simply talking and the presence of God can be felt that moves my soul to pieces.





Here's where things get difficult: so much has happened to me in the last 2 weeks that to put it all down would take me all day and then some.



It's my prayer that I'll be guided to share things that need to be shared in a manner that only the Spirit can convey.



It's tough to share on my blog because I've made a committment to keep this blog completely annonymous and I have no desire to point out the stories of my life that would reveal personal or even sacred details concerning my or others lives.



I'm a pretty private person.



Still there are important things I want to share so here goes:



Recently I've been blessed to witness 3 individuals in my life who expressed and showed me such courage it has astounded me. Courage to trust God and listen. In that courage I've noticed that God's hand supporting them in growth and learning.







All things denote a God...even your life.



I had a revelation/dream a while back. In that dream I was looking up at the stary skies and suddenly struck with the deepest impression that the very hand that guides the stars to move them was also the hand that guides my life and how much more important I am then a star to God.



Since this time, I've been noticing more and more miracles show up in my life and even been blessed to have some come to pass in my own life. I have been witness to miracles I can't even share here and yet it astounds me how far removed I was from ever even noticing them at all in the past.



How can a fish notice the sea or a tree see the forest or a man and his purpose except through the eyes of someone who sees it all.



There is reason and purpose in all things. There's a reason I'm writing this in fact. It's no accident. I originally told myself I wouldn't share that dream about the stars and yet I feel compelled to. Why? I do not know but I trust and believe regardless of what I see to think or comprehend.



Recently a tragedy entered my life. Some of you may know it, some of you may not. Regardless I couldn't understand why until many reasons that came later. It saved a friends life, placed me in a position to be able to help 3 people going thorough tragedies similar to mine and also helping 2 other people bring about similar miracles into their life and this is not the end of it. I've been blessed to see the deeper and longer consequences of their lives and choices not only in the past but the road ahead.



What astounds me even more in particular was a revelation I received a while back that was like no other that had ever been revealed to me before and has tested and pushed the reaches of not only my powers and abilites to exercise faith but learn of it as well and puch me beyond what I ever thought I was capable of sustaining or learning before. I never would have received such a miraculous blessing and experience had I not been blessed with the trial I received. This impression changed not only my life and understanding of it but opened gateways to strength, understanding and develpoment that I previously had no access to or ability to attain.



It was this trial that exposed me to rely on faith in such a way as to invite something greater in my life and push and test myself in ways I cannot expound upon.



In so doing it prepared me to receive something I was not prepared for or expecting or even thought I was worthy of receiving let alone possbile.



It's one thing to repent. It's one thing to become a new man and have a true change of heart. And it's another thing to become someone who God sees fit to bless with things you never thought were possible. Not just repentance or a change of heart or power to transfix faith into greater things...and it's one this to be privileged to see what the one who created the trees can see, even a glimpse.



I will not go into greater depth.



This much I will testify:



Miracles of the past are the same today as they were then and literally.



If there are any part of the scriptures you read and say "Well that could never happen to me"....well why not?



The very power that moves the stars, influences and guides your life. Ponder that and pray about it and seek understanding about it more and how to apply this knowledge to your life.



I wish I could expound upon this more but I cannot. Learn about faith. What it is, how to apply it and what you can do to increase it's power in your life.



Here's a great question to ask "Why does faith exist?"



Faith serves a purpose you know. Everything serves a purpose. Everything...



Once you understand somethings purpose, you're nature and relationship to it changes forever.





Find the purpose in the things around you. and in yourself and in your life. They are often just sitting before you but we cannot see because we neither believed, exercised enough faith (more than belief) or have quite exercised faith long or hard enough...but all things can be revealed "to even the least Saint as fast as they are willing to bear it" (Joseph Smith Jr.) To bare it...Interesting word to use, no?



I hope my life continues to develop and the powers of faith I've been blessed with increase and the recent miracle I've been blessed to receive will fully come to fruition soon to so that it can bless the lives of others beyond my scope and understanding.