On Service

Today, two thoughts on service:

"Sometimes the solution is not to change our circumstance but to
change our attitude about that circumstance; difficulties are
often opportunities for service." ~ Spencer W. Kimball


Service is a form of worship ~ we do, not necessarily because of the
recipient's worthiness, but because of our love for the Lord.

xoxo

Completing Your Protein

The protein found in nuts, along with their healthy fats, is a great addition to every diet.

But protein is a funny thing. There are "complete" proteins, and there are "incomplete" proteins. When a protein isn't complete (and thereby more nutritious really), it needs other vitamins, etc. to help the body absorb it, and complete it.

In the case of nuts and their proteins, vitamin C is the thing that helps them be complete and easier for the body to absorb. Because of this, a handful of almonds and a cup of orange juice is a GREAT snack. You can pick your nut really and your 100% juice variety. The cream of the crop though is the almond and orange juice.

A while back I wanted to lose some weight and even though I started exercising 4 or 5 times a week, I really didn't change my diet. At all. I lost 3 pounds in five weeks. While every little bit helps, my results were not terribly impressive.

Fast forward a year to when that workout plan had long since been forgotten. I was ready to attack that weight loss monster again, but this time had no energy for exercise. I did alter my diet though and lost about two pounds in a week. That wasn't too bad, but I knew it could have been better.

So the following week I worked out AND watched what I ate.

I lost ~ count em! ~ SIX pounds.

Needless to say it was a boost to what I was trying to accomplish, but it was also a great lesson. Just like nuts are good on their own and juice is good on it's own, and eating well on it's own is good and exercise on it's own is good, combining these two things respectively produce greater results than any one thing could ever accomplish on its own.

Now lets switch gears a minute, keeping in mind the increased goodness combining both nuts and juice and then diet and exercise brings.

Spiritually speaking, there is great strength to be found in having regular prayer. We are encouraged to pray "in [our] closets, and [our] secret places, and in [our] wilderness." (Alma 34:26). Starting our day with prayer and ending it that way means we are most likely better in tune with what the Lord needs us to accomplish that day. There is great strength in making prayer a regular part of each day.

Scripture study is also something that brings great spiritual strength. The sweet and simple truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is found within the pages of the scriptures. They truly are the word of God.

These two things on their own provide great spiritual nourishment. But just like the examples of the nuts and juice and then diet and exercise, there is SO much more power to be given and strength to be gained when we combine the two, prayer AND scripture study, together.

In some ways, this seems like a no-brainer. If you're doing one, you are probably doing the other. But someone I look up to recently mentioned how they'd make a small change in their morning routine to have their prayer BEFORE they read their scriptures, and what a difference that made.

She is right!

The chance to call down the power of heaven to open the scriptures to us, to help us better understand the principles of the gospel, is found in prayer. It is a gift that is ours for the taking, but the Lord won't just hand it out ~ we have to ask. But if we do ask, he will deliver.

In my own life, just like with learning about the benefits of "completing" my proteins, and coupling diet AND exercise, I know that combining prayer and scripture study brings great strength and peace and direction. Doing both means the Lord can better help us in our struggles, direct our decisions and organize our priorities.

How grateful I am for the gifts of prayer and scripture study!

xoxo

A Woman's Heart

A recent magazine article amazed me. The article itself was about heart disease, and how, as women, we can live to avoid it.

The disease is the #1 killer of women in America and until very recently was largely undiagnosed, because all of the previous research had only been done in men.

You see, a woman's heart is different from a man's.

Researchers have found that when plaque builds in a man's heart, it creates a blockage. That blockage builds until too much blood is constricted, and *crack* you have a heart attack.

A woman's heart however doesn't just fill with plaque. Her arteries adapt to accommodate it.

In the face of stress and change, a woman's heart expands to make room for the plaque build-up. Because of this, the build-up is difficult to detect and scientifically, medicine is still trying to learn how to detect issues within a woman's heart.

Physiologically, the expansion of a woman's heart is most likely due to pregnancy, when blood flow increases and accommodation has to be made.

But emotionally and spiritually, the idea that a woman's physical heart expands to accommodate her surroundings seems to fit, doesn't it?

I've heard it said that once a woman has a child, she begins to wear her heart outside of her body. More recently I read where a woman with four children proclaimed she watched each of the four chambers of her heart each and every day.

In that regard, my heart has expanded to five chambers. They are beautiful and simultaneously my biggest challenge and biggest blessing. I know for sure that my heart beats faster with pride and with worry for each one of them, each and every day.

I know that no many how many children any of us have in our lives, there is room enough in our hearts to receive each one.

In the face of challenges and struggles, a woman's heart adapts to take on whatever is necessary...often, much to the amazement of those around her.

Surely a woman's heart is a divine creation. May we remember that we are His. Always.

xoxo

Hallowed Be Thy Name

In a Sacrament meeting a number of months ago, a member of our Stake Presidency spoke and used an example from a local coffee-shop paper that, each week, highlights two great kids from area high schools. Usually the church the student attends is mentioned. The wording used is that so-and-so "worships with the Melba 2nd Ward" or the "First Community Church" or at "St. Mary's Catholic Church", etc. The speaker in Sacrament that day felt that the writer of the paper was probably not a member of our church as we rarely refer to our time at church as "worship".

I knew that he was right as, unbeknownst to him, he was speaking about a paper that is my dad's business...my dad is a faithful Methodist.

More recently a member of our Bishopric spoke in Sacrament and talked about how, in our prayers, we often skip over the part he deemed as the "hallowed be thy name" part. We skip the worshipful aspect of prayer and after offering what can even be an extensive list of things we are grateful for and thankful for, we jump right into our concerns, our needs and our wants.

I don't know why this is exactly, except that perhaps we see in the world that those who proclaim they "worship" God do so in a way that is usually backed up by a band with an electric guitar, a brass section and a big drum set, playing from the stand of the church they are in. "Amen" and "Hallelujah" are shouted from the audience and hands are raised and waved to heaven. While there's nothing wrong, bad, dark or devilish about any of these, the lack of reverence in these cases just might be why we don't quietly seek the opportunity to worship directly to God. We've just never seen the example.

There are many forms of worship. Singing can be worshipful. Telling of an spiritual experience can be a way to worship the Lord. Certainly bearing our testimony is a way to worship sometimes.

But what about acknowledging to God his greatness? What about expressing understanding of his magnitude, his omniscience, his power over heaven and earth, over all the evil in the world? What about recognizing him as the creator of all things, even listing them specifically? I recently put the suggestion to practice to be more worshipful in my prayers, and I admit I was a little timid at first. It was taking a step out of my prayer comfort-zone and, while I am careful to try not to be rote in my praying, this was a new kind of mindset.

The experience has not been a disappointing one. A friend's recent Facebook post was one I could nod in agreement to: 'don't tell God how big your trial is; tell your trial how big your God is'. Simply starting to acknowledge God's greatness to God himself, has made me so much more aware of that greatness. In return, bits of anxiety that I experienced at differing times has eased; worry is easier to shake off. It's also easier ~ and I'm not sure I can explain this one yet ~ to see people as the Lord sees them. Having voiced his greatness, my mind is better aware that He is in control. Grumpy people are more easily dealt with and my desire to keep up with someone who has thrown an emotional jab is less.

Acknowledging the greatness of God and expressing our admiration, love, appreciation, and reverence for our loving Heavenly Father is powerful and a spiritual experience. I'm sure that it pleases Heavenly Father to be praised, and in return He has blessings to pour out.

My encouragement today is to give it a try. Take a few extra moments during your next prayer to tell God how great you know He is. I promise that there will be a special and poignant awakening to your soul. I promise you will be blessed.

xoxo

About Iron

My head ran away with the similarity between iron and women the other day after hearing the words "male and female" used together. I mused at the 'fe' at the beginning of the word, and wondered where the root of the word came from, and then my science background brought me to iron, and it's root as "ferrum". There's that 'fe' again.

'Fe' is the atomic symbol for iron. Iron is known for it's strength, and used in everything from car frames to bridges to handrails. All of these require integrity ~ lives are at stake if the iron doesn't deliver and remain strong.

Iron is not maintenance free however. If left out in the weather, to be beaten down by the wind and the rain and fried in the heat of the sun, iron will be overtaken by rust. Rust that not only takes away from the aesthetically pleasing aspect of the metal, but also begins to undermine the integrity of the metal. Rust eventually will lead to structural weakness, severe enough to cause a total breakdown of the iron.

As women, we are so much like iron. Strong and versatile. Tough and beautiful. And like iron, we must maintain our integrity, as certainly lives are at stake ~ most importantly the other lives within the walls of our own home.

Also like iron, we must be watchful for signs of rust in our lives. Watchful that apathy or busy-ness or willfulness doesn't crowd out our ability to respond from and to and with our spirit. We must make sure that our own needs are being met, and that we bring out the personal steel wool regularly to get rid of any little spots we might find in our lives.

The world is a lot like the harsh weather can be, able to wear us down, tempt us and freeze us and bake us, all within the course of a single day sometimes. We have to have fortified ourselves before the weather comes in order to successfully withstand all we come in contact with.

Iron is an amazing metal, one that the world would not be the same without. Like iron, we as women are amazing creatures, saved as the final creation of our loving and omniscient Heavenly Father.

I am taking a closer look at the spots of rust in my life, prayerfully discovering and being reminded of what I really need to succeed in fulfilling the purposes I am here on the earth to accomplish, and using my 'steel wool' to scrub away the distractions I can do without.

I Know Why I Love Sheri Dew (finally!!)

I have long been a HUGE Sheri Dew fan. From the first time I heard her speak as a member of the General Relief Society Presidency, I was a fan. Eventually I proclaimed myself the President of her unofficial fan club. These days it means I am a fan on Facebook.

I was sick recently, which gave me more time than I usually have to lay in bed and read (while Mr. Wonderful took care of the rest of the house ~ thank you darling!).

On one of my brief trips to the kitchen for water, I grabbed my copy of "If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard" and read it that afternoon.

Sometimes I struggle watching friends, dear dear women, who lament over the fact that they have not yet married or had children ~ the dream of their childhood and the goal they expected to have attained by this point in their lives.

For me, marriage came young and children came quickly and are now five deep. While they struggle with the lack of these things, sometimes I feel my biggest struggles are because of these things.

And so I try not to complain really, because I know that it is within our greatest struggles that our greatest triumphs and victories are to be found. I know that is also true for my single friends.

Of course we know that Sister Dew is single. I've heard her speak enough on the topic to know her story pretty well. Being over 50 and single is definitely not something she planned on as a young woman.

Having met Sister Dew on a couple of occasions, I tried to plan out my compliment before I got in front of her and risked completely falling all over myself. I knew that her words resonated with me, and felt like those sounded like an intelligent combination of syllables. But I never really thought that captured exactly what it was that made me love her so much.

But now I know.

In all of her talks that I've heard and read, in all of her books and CD's I've listened to (and I have them all), I have learned more about motherhood and it's importance from Sister Dew than from vitually any other earthly source. And I find myself going back to her for reinforcements sometimes when I might need that little push or extra encouragement. And I am never disappointed.

Hearing that she was going to be released from the General RS Presidency was the first and only time I hesitated in raising my arm to the square. I had no desire to let her go ~ as if my lack of vote from my livingroom would change anything!

Sister Dew's words have helped me discover and remember who I am, who I have always been (that's a great talk, if you're looking for one), why I am here, and helped me learn how to discover what my mission here is and how best to fufill it.

I'm so grateful for the path and life Sister Dew has been caused to take, though I know her heart has ached and broken because of it. I do not rejoice in her pain, only in the initiative she has taken in the face of her adversity. I know I and surely many, many others are benefitted by it.

All I Never Wanted, Part 3

I remember the day my oldest, then about two said, "I don't want to go to Aimee's today" on the drive to my friend's house. Not really wanting to leave her either, I said, "ok" and we turned around and went home.

I ended up working through my second pregnancy and had plans to work a few hours a week after the baby was born, but a move and new job for Mr. W allowed for my coming home.

I'm sure I needed to learn this lesson this way, for when the times have come that I've considered going back to work, whether due to Maryhelen-itis setting in, or because I thought we could use the money, my heart tugs me back home again (as does the feeling that it just wouldn't be the right place for me to be).

Based on the example I had in my own mother ~ who went back to work when my brother was 6mos old (this was 1969) because she was BORED at home ~ and in light of my original career plans, feeling this much emotion wasn't what I expected.

I am a firm believer that as much as we plan our lives, the Lord also has a plan. Can I just say that I love the fact that Heavenly Father and I are both planners!

The plan the Lord has for us is full of what we need to become who he needs us to be. It is a plan that stretches us and builds us in ways that are bigger than anything we might ever come up with on our own. A great story reads something to the effect of how we work to build a little shack (with our lives), where the Lord builds a mansion.

As overwhelming as days can be with five very busy children and a fabulously busy Mr. Wonderful, I have great peace in knowing that I am in the right place, doing what I need to be doing. And because it's where I need to be, it's also where I want to be, looking for ways to doing my work better and to be the person I want/need/ought to be in order to do my work very well.

Not every day is deemed a success, but with Heavenly Father's guidance and help, I am living a full life ~ full of all I never wanted, but am so grateful I have.

xoxo