Pillars Of Strength

I had the chance to see a publication by a certain company this week entitled "Pillars Of Strength".
It referenced the difficult economic times we have been having in the United States and then reminded us that as difficulties arise we need to connect with our personal "Pillars of Strength".
 The rest of the book was different leaders in their organization highlighting what they felt were their personal "Pillars Of Strength".   As I read over stories of parents serving in World War II, family bibles passed down through generations, family farms producing more than just vegetables and community churches I thought about my own personal "Pillars Of Strength".

With my recent struggles several of them have been highlighted, they are the connections and memories that have pulled me through.

My personal relationship with my Father In Heaven.  To me He is more than a god.  He is my guide, my support and my strength.  It is because I know that He loves me that I keep working to be all I know He knows I can be.  I find peace and happiness in all seasons of my life.  Even when I sit on my office floor bawling my eyes out in shame for having realized I could be doing better, I have a sense of peace.  I am grateful everyday for the forgiveness He grants to me through the atoning blood of His Son, my older brother, Jesus Christ who is my second pillar of strength.

My third should be easy to figure out.  It is my church.
My church is more than a building, it is a congregation of over 14 million people who daily seek to serve those around them.  It is a sense of knowing that whenever I need something I or my family cannot provide I can call on anyone of those 14 million people to support me.  I have received from the abundance of being a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints across the globe.  I cannot even begin to express the power of being a member of a church that is so strong.  I look forward to joining all of them in listening to the prophet and our church leaders next weekend (as for all first weekends of October and April)  as we listen via satellite, tv, internet and radio.

My fourth pillar of strength is my family.
For all their quirks and idiosyncracies it is strengthening to me to know they love me.  They attempt to accept me but they deeply love me, even when I am learning how to create new boundaries and act and treat them in a way that is more in alignment with the "true" me (which they are still learning to understand)  They LOVE me.   I am so blessed to have so many siblings, parents, cousins, grandparents, nieces, nephews, in-laws, step-sons and grandchildren.  I am blessed to have many ancestors who chose to write down their histories.  Their stories give me strength and courage to keep moving and writing my own personal story.  All of my family from generations before me, after me and with me are deeply and wholly a large part of why I continue to love this earth and pray I can be here for many decades to come.

My fifth pillar is the Word Of God.
I LOVE to read the words of life.  I love to hear them spoken by people of all faiths.  I love to connect with their message when it is written on the hearts of people who have never even opened the printed book.   I am so grateful I learned at a very young age to read the Word Of God daily so I can quote it and share it's message with so many I meet.   I am eternally grateful for those who have studied the word and share it with me on moments when I need it!

With Love For All My Brothers and Sisters in every nation!

Marian Collier Hobson

Pray For Your Enemies....Cause I Might Need It

I have always been touched by the story of Christ praying to His Father,  "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do"  but I have a VERY new perspective on it today.

You see I have just been through one wham-bahm boozle of a month.  While I won't go into details part of the month included a life changing experience which I had recalled and reacted badly to the recollection.

I did things I don't actually remember doing.

I have had people come up to me, call me or question me about things that I did during the week after it happened that I can't remember.   I have heard things that I said or wrote that I am personally turned off by.

I can't really even begin to ask forgiveness of some people who were touched by me that week.  I did not know what I was doing so I don't know who I touched.  Others I touched but I'm not even sure what I said.  Others I ..... anyway.  It just might be that I am your enemy right now and you have every right to be mad, angry or hurt AND I ask that you pray to be able to forgive me.  I was crying out for help that I didn't even consciously acknowledge I needed.  Instead I got a "up yours" attitude and started attacking in all directions.

I have gotten support, I have worked through the main part of the issue and I'm continuing to work through the rest.   If you weren't touched by me that week, maybe just take the lesson.  It could be that the person who hurts you, offends you, or cuts you off in traffic either doesn't know what they are doing or, like me, they are crying out for help and bringing negative attention to themselves is the only way their subconscious can make them find the help they need.

I will pray for my enemies in a whole new way the rest of my life.

It's Not About The Nail

My Life Is Grounded In Eternity

Our Sunday lesson today was on obedience.  I spent a good deal of time thinking on the questions the teacher put on the board:

How has your personal obedience affected your life?
How has the obedience of others affected your life?

While the answers I thought of at church were important it wasn't until I got home and read a Facebook post from my Father (then finally watched the video I've seen floating around)
that I truly came to understand why obedience is so important to me. 





You see obedience is the KEY to enter the temples of our church.  It is there I am able to connect with God at a deeper spiritual level then I can anywhere else on earth.  It is there I can connect with who He wants me to be here so I have an AWESOME eternity. 
I am so grateful I made the decisions I made that kept me on an obedient path so I could first enter the temple AND the decisions I am making that will allow me to always attend the temple.

While you may not understand what a temple is to a Latter-Day Saint just know that when I say "I went on a church retreat to South Carolina"  or  "I need to take a few hours to commune with God at the temple" that it is my grounding place.  My place to retreat and feel His love and acceptance.

Here is a great video that describes the sacredness of Temples for us.

You may not have 16 minutes to watch it.  I hope you take the time anyway.  The part I love the most starts at 14:45 with "when I see a sacred shrine of any religion".... " I am moved to admire the deep feelings that lead them to build it"...

I hope everyone who meets me knows I admire what they believe.  I don't have to believe in the things they teach to be moved.  I also hope and pray that my worship moves them to worship God more.