November: A Great Month to Be Born

And now, the beginning of thankful posts.  In order to avoid blowing up my blog, I shall post once per week.  We're going to start a thankful tree in our apartment, so hopefully I'll get some pictures (my picture-taking device shattered into almost a million pieces, so these posts might actually be a little bare ... )

Day 1: (Friday, I woke up at 6:00am)
I am thankful for doctors and the fact that they are willing to go through a million years of medical school to help other people and keep us all healthy.  Plus, they deal with gross stuff like blood and I'm pretty sure I could never in a bajillion light years do that.

Day 2: (Saturday, I attended two recitals)
I am thankful for the ability to hear and enjoy music made by others and that I have such talented friends who are willing and brave enough to share their talents with others.  Nathan and Lyz, you guys both did a fantastic job! (And Camille- great accompanying!)

Day 3: (Sunday, fast Sunday which despite the name, actually goes by really slow)
I am thankful for Christ and the faith which I have in him.  He has done so much for me already and I will never be able to repay Him.  And the most amazing part is that He will continue to do things for me and help me despite my inability to repay Him.

There are Better Days Ahead

Sometimes it's really hard to just go on pure faith, but sometimes, it's all we can do.  We exercise our faith and put our trust in God that He will take care of us, and that everything will work out for the best.  We don't know how, and we can't seem to figure it out.  But God does know.  He knows exactly how everything will work out and stands there, with his arms outstretched, asking us to trust him.  "Come, follow me."  If we do what He asks, He will bless us and He will not let us fail.

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This past week, I acted on a prompting to do something that I wasn't sure I could do.  I didn't see how it would work out, how everything would be okay.  But if there's one thing I've learned from the past three years, it's to trust in God.  I took His advice and hoped everything would work out.  Everything hasn't worked out yet, but I'm beginning to see those "better days ahead."

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So when you're feeling down, stand a little taller, walk a little higher, and smile a little brighter.  Someone's watching out for you in ways you aren't even aware of.  Sometimes, he let's it rain.  But after every rainstorm comes a beautiful rainbow.  It might be big, or it might be small, or it may even be hard to see until long after we think the storm is over, but we have been promised that it will come.

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Here's to the rain storms; here's to the leap of faith; here's to the days when your trust in God is all you have to go on; and here's to the blessings and promises that will come because of those days.

A Reflection Upon a Novel I Recently Read and Other Stories

I received this book for Christmas and had no time to read it until I suddenly had a full day of traveling to the east coast and another full day of traveling back (pics to come ...).  It is simply wonderful.  It's a rather simple read and not what I would usually spend precious reading time on, but I read it out of obligation and I'm glad I did.  If you ever wanted to know about the journey involved with change, this is an excellent book.  Changing is not easy.  It's never been that way, and it never will be.  It takes work, and it takes effort.  Change is something none of us looks forward to, but each of us has to experience.  We must go through the Lord's refining fires to change us from the natural man.  Every day can be a struggle and require so much willpower and force that we shudder to think of the great effort we could possibly put forth.  But the fruits of those efforts are sweeter than the icing on the cake.

I recently related to a friend the old adage that had helped me through so much of my sophomore year: "God won't give you anything you can't handle."  It set off an unpleasant moment and made me feel quite upset.  I've thought about that saying since then and the changes that it had helped me to go through.  I knew that those changes had strongly tested my own abilities and boundaries.  It didn't seem right that God would give me more than I could handle.  After all, I ended my sophomore year on a good note and I've handled everything else that I've been called to endure.  Wasn't I stronger than I had originally thought?  Just yesterday, I found this.

Oh, boy.  What a wake up call.  Christ, through his atonement, gives us the extra power and strength that we need to endure this crazy thing called life.  Yes, friend, you were right.  God sometimes gives us more than we can handle.  But He's there to help us every step of the way.  I didn't do it all and I have never completely handled anything given to me without his help.  No matter the trial, no matter the test, no matter the struggle, no matter the willpower and force, God has helped me to handle what He's given me.  And it's made me realize my reliance on him more than ever.  And perhaps, in a way, that has made me stronger.  But the real glory and wonder of making it, of handling life, goes to Christ and His atonement.  

"Nevertheless at Thy Word I Will Let Down the Net."

Welcome, welcome, to this beautiful Sabbath day!!!  I absolutely love Sundays and the opportunity we all have to go and worship Christ and refresh ourselves for another week!!  It's simply amazing every Sunday to gather with my friends and feel their spirits testify of the truth which we all embrace!  Why can't everyday be Sunday?!

Today being Sunday, I came home and decided that I wanted to read the Ensign.  The latest issue I have is from March.  I was reading an article called "The Savior's Compassion" by S. Kent Brown (Emeritus Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University).  It's really a wonderful article and I would highly recommend it to everyone (LDS or not) and you can read it by clicking on it above. :)  However, the message which I got from the article has very little to do with the message which Brother Brown shared.

If you recall from the New Testament, Christ met four of his apostles while on a boat: Peter, Andrew, James, and John.  The Savior was standing on Peter's boat, speaking to a congregation of eager listeners and when he had finished, he told Peter to row out further away from the shore and cast out the nets.  Peter told Jesus that the fishing had been horrible and they'd had no luck all night, but "nevertheless at thy word will I let down the net." (Luke 5:5, KJV)  This is where I found the message of Brother Brown's article.  Peter told Jesus that they, experienced fishermen, had had no luck throughout the night, but he still trusted this man from Nazareth  and let down the nets when he told him to do so.  Because of this, he and his brother, Andrew, along with James and John were blessed with so many fish there was barely enough room in both of their boats, the approximate dimensions of which are given in the article above.  And now, here comes the application :)

Oftentimes, the Lord asks us to things which we think there is no way we could possibly do.  My favorite example of this is tithing.  If you've ever been a college student, then you know how hard it is to make ends meet with a minimum wage job, especially in Provo, UT where there are very few jobs available.  Sometimes, we may question whether we can afford to pay the ten percent which the Lord asked of us.  We may think, like Peter, that the Lord is asking us to do something incredibly hard or incredibly pointless.  "I tried it last month and I just barely had enough to pay for rent and groceries; I've been looking for other sources of income, but I just can't find anything else.  I don't know if I can afford to give anything!  Besides, what's my fifty dollars really worth?  There are plenty of other people who pay their tithing." But, if we can be like Peter, and trust in the Lord and when the Lord tells commands us to, 'let down our nets' we can receive a blessing so great that there is not room enough for us to receive it!!  Peter didn't know how many fish they would catch by letting down the nets or if they would even catch any fish at all!  But he had seen Christ heal his mother-in-law and he knew that He was no ordinary man.  By acting on that small tiny bit of faith which Peter had, he received so many blessings that there literally was not enough room to receive all of them!  He had to call on James and John to come and help him and split the fish between the two boats, and even then there was enough fish in each boat to cause them to start to sink!  Just think what we could receive from the Lord is we could have the same faith which Peter demonstrated and simply do what he asks of us without hesitation.  Maybe then we could go to institute, despite the loads of studying we need to do.  We could make time for FHE, despite the paper we have due that week.  We could invite a friend to church, even though they may have already turned the invitation down.  We could act purely on faith and rely on the Lord to carry us through.

Wouldn't that be nice? I think so. :]