Good Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Comfort and Joy

Brought to you By:

The brand new, oh-so-amazing Round Covered Baker from Pampered Chef that I just received! (So excited to make soup in this bad boy!)

AND

This video.

Okay, so these two things bring lots of laughter, happiness, warmth, and smiles into my life.  I mean, what is better than sitting inside on a cold wintry night with a nice bowl of warm soup, snuggled up in your blanket, watching Christmas movies?  Or listening to Christmas music and enjoying the silent lights of the Christmas tree?

This season is all about comfort and joy, but in a different way.  Last night I participated in a Messiah sing-a-long on BYU Campus.  It was lots of fun and my roommates and I definitely have some good memories from it.  But that words and message behind the Messiah are so powerful that I couldn't help but marvel at what we celebrate during this Christmas season.  Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day and He can bring us more comfort and joy than we could ever imagine.  We can be instruments in his hands to bring to pass his glorious and eternal purposes.  There are so many people we can touch, so many lives that we can change by just having a Christmas spirit all year round and sharing the joy of Christ with them.  Christ was born to die so that we may live again.  That statement alone should bring us exuberant and overwhelming joy!  Joy to the world because the Lord came and died for us!  In accomplishing this task, he suffered every pain and hurt imaginable.  He was human, just like us.  He knows how we feel and because he knows how we personally feel, he can comfort us better than any other being on this Earth.  He knows how it feels to be betrayed.  He knows how it feels to be completely alone.  He knows how it feels to lose loved ones and family members.  He knows how it feels to not be trusted.  And because He loves us, He knows how it feels to watch those we love suffer.  He knows.  How cool is that?!  How I wish that everyone could hear this message, feel God's love, and know that He really is there!  It brings such joy to my life to know that I can feel His spirit with me all day, every day.  

I testify that He lives, that He loves us, and that He will comfort us.  Like a friend with open arms, He waits and beckons "Come, follow me."  Let nothing you dismay during this holiday season or anytime throughout the year because Christ is always there for you.  And that's really comforting. :]

On the First Day of Christmas

I think this song is funny, but emphasizes two main points.  One- Christmas has really become more about the money to be made and commercialism.  Two- It's starting sooner every year. (But mostly it's just funny)

I'm one of those people who hates when I see Christmas paraphernalia out before Thanksgiving.  Not because I'm a Scrooge, but because it's never the right Christmas stuff.  I would love it if nativity scenes were sold all year-round at major retailers.  As a collector of nativities, trust me- they are not easily found in shopping centers year-round.  I feel like I always see stockings and Santa and garlands and Christmas trees out long before any nativities.  I know lots of people have said it, but I'll say it again because Christmas has become so commercialized.  We need to remember the CHRIST in CHRISTmas.

If it weren't for Christ, our lives would be entirely different.  He created this Earth, the beautiful landscapes and animals which we pay money to see (Been to the zoo lately?  Or a national park?).  He presented the plan of happiness which allows us to potentially return to live with Him someday, and He is also the main part of that plan- He died to satisfy justice and allow God to exercise mercy.  How can we only remember Him once a year??

Growing up, I remember my sweet mother leaving the Holy Family part of her ceramic nativity on the mantel all year.  It never came down.  Baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Joseph were always there right next to the clocks and pictures.  One year, I asked her why.  No one else had their nativities up and they were a Christmas thing, weren't they?  She taught me that it's because we remember the Savior all year.  He is not just the reason for the season- He's the reason for everything.  Why can't we remember to honor Him more than just one month out of the year?

I have a wooden decorative piece that I put up just recently and it says "The magic of Christmas is not in the presents but in His presence."  His presence can be with us all year round.  He doesn't leave us on our own for eleven months out of the year and come around for December to celebrate.  He does not leave us comfortless.  He is with us always.  He loves us and remembers us all year round.  We should do the same for 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.  

The Weaver

‎"My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride,
Forget that He seeth the upper,
And I the under side.
Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned."

-Unknown