I Didn't Think This Was My Favorite Conference Talk....

Today's "assignment", if you want to call it that, for the 40-day challenge is to pick a favorite Conference talk from October 2013. That in and of itself is a challenge, picking just one, or one that is supposed to be my MOST favorite, when there are so many that are equally fabulous.

I could have easily picked Elder Holland's talk (couldn't we all!), "Like a Broken Vessel". I remember where I was when I heard it as he delivered it that Saturday afternoon. I remember what (else, besides listening) I was doing, and the very physical reaction I had to his words.

But, I went another direction today and landed on Elder Christofferson's talk, "The Moral Force of Women". I remembered it once I began watching it again, just not quite with the detail I remember Elder Holland's talk...

Oh BOY was it a good one. It could very well be my new favorite. If you haven't decided on a talk for today, and are working your way through the challenge, I highly recommend it.

Watch it here:

I love his use of the words "moral force", how morality brings authority and that to have a moral influence as women in particular is vital. 

I love that we as women can cultivate, preserve and protect the moral environment in our homes by what we watch, what we say and what we wear and by what we allow others to do while in our home.  

What stands out to you in Elder Christofferson's talk? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy!!

xoxo

Genealogy vs. Family History

Do you ever go to your own page on Facebook and just scroll?

Scroll and remember?

Remember as you see and read the pictures you've posted and the comments people've made?

I have been using the "only me" feature for a while, posting things I find in my news feed that I want to keep but don't want to bother everyone else with. Like the lemon brownies recipe or the list of uses for apple cider vinegar. Stuff like that.

I was looking through the last month's or so of posts and came across some comments from around my brother's birthday at the beginning of April.

A friend who knew our parents before we were born commented about her memories of both of our births. This is what she wrote:

 I remember all of the details from yours and [your brother's] births... I looked up to your parents as my "pseudo-brother and sister!" Grandma called me here in Dallas (I was 10 1/2 and in the 5th grade) to tell me that [your mom and dad] a baby boy today ...  I thought she was playing an April Fools joke on me... Lol

On the evening of [your birth], Grandma & Grandpa had taken me and my visiting aunt and uncle to eat dinner at The Summit House on Sandia Crest (which, for the last 30 years, has been High Finance)... Anyhow, while we were eating, we got paged for a phone call. They brought the phone to our table and it was your dad... Maryhelen Elizabeth Evans was born! I was sooooo excited!! 😀 Great memories!! 💕

April 1 at 7:51pm · Like` 

The year she was talking about was 1975....WAY before cell phones. To have a phone brought to the table is impressive to me. To me it shows how excited my dad was and how important it was to him that he reach these people.

It's these kinds of remembrances that set family history apart from genealogy. Genealogy is the facts: names and dates and places, while family history is just that: the history of your family. Pictures, stories, memories. 

My friend's comment helped me to know better the excitement that not only she felt but also that my dad was feeling the night of my birth. Since I don't remember one single thing about that night myself, it's wonderful to hear a first-hand account from someone other than the principle players.

And maybe, help me love my dad just a little bit more. 

Working to learn as much as we can about our long-ago family will help us know them when we finally meet them. I have lots of questions and lots of hugs to give. I'm sure there are many generations of grandmothers who are watchful over me, and I look forward to spending time with each one of them. 

We can deepen our understanding of who we are by searching out our family history. We will be bettered for all of our efforts. Once again it's evident that the things the Lord asks us to do are really for our benefit. I haven't found one thing he asks that isn't that way. Pretty amazing.

Good luck to you as you start or continue to learn about your family. 

xoxo

General Conference 40-day Challenge

You may have already started your own 40-day General Conference Challenge, but if not, you can jump in today!

The challenge I'm participating in started last Wednesday (the 16th) with Elder Corbridge's talk on The Prophet Joseph Smith.

You can find the entire 40-day list that I'm following here. But there are others, like this one, that accomplish the same thing, just in a different order.

It has been a wonderful several days, getting to review one talk at a time. Sometimes, I've watched it, then read it, then had it playing in the background, several times throughout the day. It's a wonderful thing to bring the spirit of General Conference back into my home.

Last night I had to play catch up from a busy weekend and turned on Saturday and Sunday's talks. My daughter was nearby cleaning the kitchen and I loved that she came in when each talk was over to ask "which one now?". She was listening, even while doing the dishes.

Today's talk is by Linda S. Reeves and is entitled, "Protection from Pornography -- a Christ-Focused Home". I couldn't help but think that just the exercise of participating in the challenge helps me feel like my home is more Christ-Focused. I'm sure you'll feel that sort of spirit by participating, too.

Find Sister Reeves' talk here. Watch it, read it, do both separately or at the same time. Then come back and tell me what stood out to you.

I loved her quote from President Kimball about spouses (read the talk to find that quote).

I loved how she spoke directly to the youth, including her 13 grandchildren who were in the audience that day.

I loved how she shared her own experience of being a stretched-thin mom, and how she learned where her priorities needed to be, and where ours need to be also. I appreciate her testimony of doing those simple, necessary things in her home and the power that comes from doing them. I can add my testimony to hers of the power of those things ~ daily prayer and scripture study as a family and weekly family home evenings. I feel the same sort of comfort in knowing we're trying to do the things we've been asked to do so that when challenges do come we can call on Heavenly Father with a sense of peace as we've done first what He's asked us to do.

Enjoy this talk, and the others in the challenge. Don't be afraid to jump in today, and don't worry about needing to catch up or that you're behind somehow. You're not. Nothing magical (or terrible) happens on the official end date of the challenge that will take away your ability to see/read any talk. Just go back then and take a few extra days to review the ones that you missed.

xoxo

That Thy Days May Be Long

I remember a lesson in Young Women's a few years ago.

There was a sweet girl there this particular day who was a foster daughter of a couple in our ward. It was interesting that whatever our lesson was on during one of her few Sundays with us included something about the fifth commandment. It's the only one of the ten that has a promise attached for keeping it. It's found in Exodus 20:12 and says:

              "Honour thy father and thy mother;
               that thy days may be long upon the land
               which the Lord thy God giveth thee."      

This dear girl was in the foster care system for a reason and I felt these words fall like a lead brick on her poor head.

As we sat listening, I wanted to help her with this principle when it felt obvious she was not seeing much to honour in her parents.

And a thought occurred to me that has recently come to my remembrance.          

It's that it's interesting to me what this doesn't say. It doesn't say to honour our parents if they make good choices.

If they're fun to be around.

If they treat you well.

If  your mom makes you dinner every night (whew - I'd be in trouble here).

If you can count on them.

If they like you.

If....

There are no contingencies here. Only a promise that our days will be long in the land when we honour our parents.

So then what does the word 'honour' mean?

I think that respect is a vital part of what it means to honour.

We show our respect by speaking kindly to and about our parents; We speak kindly when they are in the room and when they are not; We learn from their failures and resist our upbringing by propagating their serious mistakes. We can take negatives and turn them into our own positives.

Nowhere in honouring our parents are we asked to put ourselves in dangerous situations, whether that danger is physical or emotional or spiritual.

Of course not everyone has parents that are hard to honor. But when it's easy, we don't necessarily pay attention to the deeper meaning of what we're asked to do.

I sure wish I knew what happened to that girl. I do know that her time in Young Women's was well spent and that she heard what was taught.

Maybe it's as we get older that we're able to appreciate the promise of this commandment. Even light-heartedly as we realize our days are longer because our parents didn't throttle us when we were teenagers. :)

I believe our in-laws become another set of parents to us, making this commandment applicable to them as well as our own mom and dad.

And the same kind of 'ifs' are missing as we navigate our relationship with them.

What does it mean to you to honour your father and mother?

xoxo

Getting To Know Yourself

I've always had a struggle with feeling refreshed, even after a relaxing evening with my husband or girl friends. Even after a quiet afternoon when the babies are napping and I've been able to complete a thought and accomplish things around the house. Even after a whole week's vacation away from real life.

And I didn't know why none of those things left me feeling like I was ready to jump back in and tackle my responsibilities.

You always seem to hear that these kinds of things are the stuff people seek when they're looking to relieve the stress in their lives. And they seem to work for other people...

Why not me?

I honestly don't know the answer to that, but what I have discovered is that there is a way to find out what works for each of us, when the things the world offers just aren't working.

Our family situation currently sees five little people scoot out the door throughout the day to school. The youngest scooter leaves for the afternoon to attend Kindergarten, leaving baby brother and I at home. Alone. (insert the hallelujah chorus here)

He takes a nice long nap during that time, giving me a prime opportunity to replenish my personal stores and be ready for the evening dashing. 

But I was finding that closing my eyes for a few minutes or catching up on emails while listening to the money guy on the radio or folding laundry while watching a favorite "mommy" show, wasn't leaving me the kind of refreshed I wanted it to. All of those things are wonderful and I enjoy each of them, but I was looking for more.

So, in a certain kind of frustration that comes from doing what you know should be working but isn't actually working, I started talking to God. 

"Lord, what should I do? What is right for me?"

The answer came quickly. It, in and of itself, is less important than the fact that it came, but what I heard was "you need quiet".

I knew what that meant ~ it was more than just the background quiet I was enjoying with everyone off doing their own things. I needed the kind of quiet that comes from stillness, from sitting, pondering, listening to both my heart and the voice of the Lord in my mind. 

All of this happened not very long ago, but I'm so impressed with the results already. 

And I LOVE how we can continually get to know ourselves, by conversing with the One who knows us perfectly. 

I am sure that the Lord is in the details of our lives and that His concern for us reaches to every nook and cranny and thought and care and concern that we might have. 

He loves us and we have access to His power, simply by asking.

xoxo

The Sabbath Day

As the universe was organized, on the sixth day, Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden. God the Father and Jesus Christ then "rest from their labors for a season" and leave Adam and Eve to tend to the Garden. It was a peaceful time, free of the cares of the world yet to come and full of quiet comtemplation.

This "day of rest" is of course today our Sabbath Day, or Sunday. I love that we have the example of the Garden of Eden as a model for our Sabbath Day observance and that it can be quiet and wonderful and spiritually strengthening.

We've created a list of Sabbath-friendly activities as our children look for things to do with their day. These come after "go to church", which is always the day's first priority, in order to partake of the sacrament, which we feel is the most important thing we do with our Sunday - renewing our baptismal covenants.

The rest of our list includes journal writing, Personal Progress, watching or reading a conference talk or session, taking a walk, and helping to plan FHE. I should also say that "take a nap" is on the list, and that is often a favorite!

Your list of activities may differ from mine. And these aren't the only things on our list, but a representation of the list overall.

My point in sharing some of the things on our list is only to help to find things that are restorative and strengthening, so that our Sabbath day observance is one that is beneficial to us.

How have your Sundays gone recently? With small children, "quiet" isn't usually a good word to describe the day, but we can make sure that the common e-mail-checking things that occupy our time during the other six days of the week aren't taking over and not leaving time to renew and refresh ourselves.

The Sabbath is such a blessing if we let it be.

xoxo

Follow Dad

We have a variety of sizes of little people in our family, with the youngest being a very energetic 2-year old. I noticed recently when we're walking together as a family how often I say "follow dad" to any number of my short ones. Because he has longer legs, he'll typically take the lead and I will bring up the end of our little group.
From one of the first times that I said it, I've always been grateful at how fabulous it is that the instruction I give my children to "follow dad" doesn't just apply to physical things. He is a great role model and example and worthy to be followed in so many ways.
But last night, as we were walking to the van from the water park, I realized there's a little more to this sweet observation than I'd noticed before.

Dad was carefully making sure those precious little people were following after him, too.

It was a simple gesture and I'm sure he's done it most every time we fall in to this pattern. But last night as I told them one more time to "follow dad" (thus getting their attention back to crossing the parking lot safely), he turned around and made sure they were behind him, with a quick "come on guys" to keep them moving in the right direction.

In addition to my heart swelling at little at this amazing man I married, I can't help but think that this is how our Heavenly Father works as we follow after Him.

We have to listen to the teachings of His prophets and our other leaders to follow after Him, but of course he is ever-checking in and concerned that we are where we are supposed to be. And because, like my children can trust their dad to lead them to safety, we can trust our Heavenly Father to lead us safely, following after Him always brings blessings and peace to our lives.

Are you in the right place today, following after the One who promises peace and joy?

xoxo