Crescendo through life

Choosing the right is not difficult. Nor is it possible for you to sink beyond the reach of the healing arm of the Savior Jesus Christ. The renewing power of God's love and the miracle of his grace summons you to allow him to change your life for the better. There is no dream in the unfolding of time and eternity that cannot be realized. The Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. 

When we feel lost and without hope, we are forgetting that the Redeemer has already paid the price. Our task is to nurture our relationship with him, so that we can be healed, lifted, and edified especially in the midst of hardship.

Allow me to remind you of the beautiful sonnet "Footprints" that is so well known the original authorship of the poem is disputed, with dozens of people claiming to have penned it. Though this incident is fictional, the principle is sure and the message eternal.

This popular text describes a dream in which a person is walking on a beach with God. Two sets of footprints appear in the sand in their stead. The tracks pass through various stages of this person's life. Looking back at the difficult times in life, the two footprints change to just one, especially at the lowest and most hopeless moments of the character's life. Believing that God abandoned his follower during those challenging times, the person questions God "Why when I needed you the most would you leave me?" God responds "During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

He will never forsake us. He waits for us to accept his gift.

It Is Never Too Late

Origin

Daily disciplines

Perhaps one of the blessings of farm life was the consistent, repeated lessons taught through the days, weeks, months, and years of effort. The daily disciplines taught us there were consistently, repetitiously ingrained in our hearts and minds, which has now become a great blessing throughout my life. 

Endurance is sometimes the only difference between success and failure. 

Our experience in Castle Valley and Sunflower Hill Bed and Breakfast Inn didn't come about because it was easy. Years of effort, decades of patience, and literally bags of money have been used to bring about the goals of the ventures started so many years ago. And what do we have to show for it. Millions of dollars? Buckets of gold? Chests of worldly treasures? No, but that was never the goal. So what has all the hard work, resources, time, and effort brought us? Here are a few of the perhaps less obvious benefits of these ventures:

• Love of work
• Blessings of obedience
• Learning from mistakes
• Importance of family unity
• Haven of the gospel

We can accomplish anything we put our minds to. The road to success is fraught with challenges that may keep us from being the best we can be.

Remembering to seek the kingdom of God first is the answer. Then there is no way you can fail.

Alma 37:6

Cherished memories

I love this time of year for many reasons: surrounded by family, involved in fun activities, remembering Jesus Christ's birth, feeling the importance of his Atonement. Giving and receiving gifts. The memories we make together carry us through the challenges of life. I remember convening at my parent's farm for family gatherings. Sometimes it was holidays like this and other times it was for family reunions or simple visits. The fun always came to an end though. Of course, we have all experienced these feelings some time or another, but for me the emotion is particularly poignant because I remember my young son wishing these gatherings could last longer. And a few tears were always shed as we drove up the long driveway and off their property. Fun gatherings with family and carefree getaways can't last forever, at least not in this life. But that is exactly why we make the choices that we do now, so we can reap the benefits here and now, which continue into life everlasting with the ones we love. In this life we just get glimpses of this experience, but in the hereafter, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can enjoy the good things of life everlasting with all those we love in a state of perpetual joy. Because life is hard--and easy carefree times fleeting--we can appreciate and hope for the blessing of eternal happiness and peace in the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus Christ taught that he would prepare the way for us, mansions in heaven. Doctrine and Covenants 59:1-4, Mark 10:30 

And we know with surety that we can rely on his word. He is patient, kind, and loving. He has prepared a way for all men to come unto him and receive the reward he has prepared for them.

I was always amazed as a child when I heard the experience of the Israelites who were bitten by the serpents and died because they would not look to the brass serpent lifted up on a pole. It was a simple solution that could have saved their lives. This is a similitude for us that we might learn from their experience and look to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation in this life and eternal life in the world to come. Our Christmas 2014 in Cancun will be a memory we can hold on to and cherish the rest of our lives, and when you remember these 10 days spent in Cancun, remember it's by the Savior Jesus Christ who made this all possible and because of him, the joy we will experience heretofore will exceed your fondest expectations now and through eternity. So no tears necessary. Our joy need never end. 

As I have loved you

I had the good fortune of attending BYU while Jeffrey Holland was president of the university. He and Patricia Holland would address us often in devotionals. It was a real treat. Of course this was before he was called as an apostle. Yet, I became familiar with and accustomed to his powerful messages and oratory.

Today he is one of my favorite apostles--if its okay to have favorites.

I concur with his testimony of Jesus Christ.



Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is the only lamp by which you can successfully see the path of love and happiness for you and for your family.

My goal is to emulate His life and love as he loved.

How do I love thee? As he does... for that way never faileth.

Elevated

This is an article I enjoyed recently. It was good to read a perspective from someone outside of Utah. I think you will enjoy it as well.

The trick to being more virtuous

We can be the passive beneficiaries of moral elevation. Or we can actively pursue it by rejecting bad and seeking good.

I commit to better help others, uplift the downtrodden, and embrace civility.

Our examples often speak more loudly than do our words.

Living in Thanksgiving daily

Recently, I have taken up exercising. Camilla encouraged me. And it has been great. All during my youth, it was automatic keeping fit, but in recent years not so. My exercise of choice has been to go walking every morning. Your mother walks and hikes daily with friends and has acclimated to strenuous climbs and lengthy distances. I am now in a small way following her example.

During my early morning walks, I have had time to think and plan for the upcoming day, weeks, and months ahead. Even in the midst of my health goals, I have found many other benefits of walking like vitality, invigoration, and spiritual edification. I learn new things every day. And they have the unique ability to help, prepare, and sustain us. When Alma addressed Korihor, he said “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it.” Probably the most unexpected benefit of my early morning walking is that for a few minutes each day, I have a chance to reflect on our abundant blessings and contemplate the world and God’s majesty.

One day when I left the house I saw the majestic spire of the Mount Timpanogos temple in the valley. I thought that’s where I’ll walk today. Rhetorically speaking, I have been there a million times, so following the typical route was going to be easy, so I didn’t. I took some less-traveled roads, which were more serene, quieter and not so busy with traffic. But before long, I was on unknown paths that obscured my view of the temple. The trip took much longer than expected because of diversions and obstacles I didn’t anticipate. But the goal was the temple; time didn't really matter anymore. I continued through the dark, across the ice, past the trees, and up the hills. And I made it.

The temple is a beacon in our lives. This ensign can help us through life’s obstacles, motivate us when we are lost, and inspire us when we need help most. I have always known that, but living it one morning helped re-establish this fact in my heart and life.

The Savior Jesus Christ set a perfect example to encourage and motivate us to follow him. His life and Atonement give us hope in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. Sometimes a detour from our typical planned route seems like a setback when in reality we are being prepared for something much greater. I have always loved CS Lewis’ writing in this regard:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

I am more in tune with my Father in Heaven. I feel more passionately the hope we all have through Jesus Christ. Walking every day has really turned out to be a blessing.

Living in Thanksgiving daily is an invitation to enjoy the abundance all around us.

The Race of Life

The following story is not my writing, but it embodies my commitment to honoring those whose examples inspire, uplift, and sustain us just by reading about them.

During the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, John Stephen Akhwari placed last in the marathon, yet major sports magazines named him as one of two “top international Olympians” that year. While losing the race, Mr. Akhwari won the admiration of untold thousands because he embodied the spirit of a true Olympian as he finished despite setbacks.

Track and field athletes that year faced a common challenge when they arrived in Mexico City: its altitude. At 7,350 feet, it was the highest elevation at which any Summer Olympics had been held. From Mbulu, Tanzania, where the altitude is -3.85 feet, Mr. Akhwari suffered leg cramps early in the race. Yet he continued to run.

He collided with another runner and fell, dislocating and badly cutting a knee and injuring a shoulder. He got up and he continued to run.

By sunset, most of his 56 fellow competitors had finished the race. Wounded and in pain, he continued to run. Most spectators had left the arena where the marathon’s finish line was located.

Those who remained noticed lights flashing on a vehicle escorting a lone runner and cheered as the Tanzanian hobbled along the track in his own victory lap to cross the finish line more than an hour after the winner.

It’s doubted that anyone present realized they were witnessing a great moment in the history of the Olympics. Many journalists and people posting on various media have told the story of Mr. Akhwari’s personal victory. In a New York Times article upon the death of Bud Greenspan in 2010 is this account:

“Mr. Greenspan, an eight-time Emmy Award winner, often distilled his view of the Olympics into an incident from the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City. He was shooting the marathon, which was won by an Ethiopian, Mamo Wolde.

“But what mesmerized him was John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania. … When Mr. Greenspan asked him why he continued to the end, Mr. Akhwari was incredulous at such a question. ‘My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race,’ Mr. Greenspan often recalled him saying. ‘My country sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race’” (Richard Sandomir, www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/sports/olympics/26greenspan.html)

Finishing the Race (read more here)

We have all been sent to earth to complete a mission. Though challenges and obstacles engage all of us, enduring to the end is our call.

With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are never alone.