life

As we go through this life we experience a lot of ups and downs.  I mean A LOT!  From birth til we die we are hit with things that are usually out of our control.  We can however decide what to do with those things.  Some of us are blessed with amazing childhoods.  Others are not.  Some have successful marriages.  Some do not.  Some are successful in business and with monetary things.  others have to work 3 times as hard and still not have "enough".  Some of us will deal with the death of a loved one that died way too young.  Some of us will have to deal with abuse whether sexual, physical, verbal, etc.  Some of us will have to deal with infertility.  Why is life not fair that way??  Who knows.  Is it because God does not love us??  Not at all.  Is it because he loves (seemingly) more successful people more?  Not even close.  He loves us all the same.  Is it because God does not exist?  I believe very strongly that we have a loving God and we are given exactly what we need.  Whether its good or something horrible.  Everybody has their own challenges.  Just because we don't always see other peoples does not mean they are not there.  What we have to remember is, it is what we do with it that counts.  If we decide to let it eat us alive or if we decide to learn and grow from it.  If we decide to play the victim or if we decide to let it go.  I am telling you (and myself) that if we just trust in God, if we put our whole trust in Him, we will come out ahead of the game.  He will strengthen us.  He will teach us.  He will guide us.  He will comfort us.  Everything we deal with is for our own personal growth.  It is also so we can help the people grow around us.  I pray that we can all look at the bad things that go on around us as a stepping stone to learn what we need to learn.  That we can find the positive in it.  That we can find the joy in it.  That we can find the peace that can be ours if we seek it out.  Life isn't fair.  It never will be.  But we all have an unfair life, so i guess if you think about it it is fair.

inspiration for today

Last night as I lay in bed one of my friends sent me this article and as I read through it it hit me really hard.  LOVED IT!  I usually don't share things like this but its all I can think about today.  Hopefully it will touch someone in the same way it was able to touch me.  This is an article on faith.  I believe it is beneficial to anybody who believes in faith no matter what religion.  After all thats why we are here...to learn faith and to learn what it is.  To come closer to our Savior so we can learn to be like Him.  We are all in this together!

But if not...

I asked her where she had found this and she sent me a link to a blog that referenced it.

Iron Dean

These are such good reminders that He is there for us.  He loves us.  This life is a test for us.  We need to rely on Him to help us.  Its so simple which makes it so complicated for so many of us.  I echo so many of the things this sweet lady wrote.  I KNOW there is peace and JOY in our trials when we rely on Him.  He can make us who we need to be.  We just need to trust and have faith in Him...and I also believe in order to have faith in Him we need to have faith in ourselves.  That we can have the faith it takes,  that we can have the strength we need, that we can find the peace and comfort in our path by allowing that faith and trust in Christ to take over.

I hope this makes sense.  Talking and writing are not among the spiritual gifts I have been given.

funeral

We had the opportunity to go to a funeral the other day. Im not a big fan of funerals. I don't like that people seem to forget to celebrate the life that was once lived. It gets too depressing sometimes.

The thing I do like about funerals is I sit and ponder about my own life. One of the talks at this particular funeral talked about how we all have a birth date and an end date on our headstone. With a little dash in between. That dash is really what matters in our life. What we do during that dash tells about who we are, what we achieved, and so on. It really made me want to work on my dash. Make sure Im living how I want to live and being the parent I want to be. Take time out to really enjoy my children so when they stand at my funeral they can say all the things I would want them to be able to say (honestly).

Reminder to me: take time it passes too quickly

also during this funeral there was one line that really hit me. The son was talking about his dad and an experience they had together that stood out. The son was at a crossroads with his life and had a big decision to make. His dad came up to him and looked him squarely in the eyes and said, "Look, I dont care what decision you make but you do have a responsibility to get on your knees and ask your Heavenly Father."

I think too often we think we can do everything ourselves but its not true. If we want our lives to go in the direction they should we should constantly be asking for direction from Him. He will never let us down or lead us in the wrong direction.

Reminder: we do have a responsibility to Him....let Him lead....ask Him for direction