Monday Messages-The Coat

I love this little video with no words.  It is profound.  Even as we contemplate our blessings and are grateful for what we have, it is more wonderful to give to others.  There is greater joy to be had by giving something to someone who is in greater need than we are.

Monday Messages-baby bird hatching

If you help the baby bird hatch from the egg, it will not have the strength to survive.  Even though you really feel like a little help wouldn't harm it, you must refrain from taking away it's trial in order to help it reach it's full potential.  Can you imagine how much restraint it must take our Heavenly Father when we cry out in agony for Him to remove our trials.  But He is so wise and can see the bigger picture and knows we will be stronger for having endured them.  He must be so pleased when we go a step further and overcome them.
Here's a poem about hatching that I really like:

Coming Out

Some hatchings hurt…

And the new learning

softness

is so very tender.

It’s frightening to be

nothing more

than palest puff

that peeps.

And so remember

and remember

clarion call

to shelter:

“I will gather…

as a hen

gathereth

her chickens

 under her wings…”

 A place to grow

in strength.

(Dianne Dibb Forbis, New Era, Dec. 1977, p.7.)

SEE D&C 29:1-2

Monday Messages-Anchored in Jesus Christ

I have felt my anchors being tested.  I agree that if we are anchored sufficiently in the Savior, we will not drift and no matter what the storms of life threaten, we will hold steady.  I am grateful for this knowledge and can testify that being anchored in the gospel of Jesus Christ makes life so much easier.

Monday Messages-How being a Christian is like being a pumpkin

Monday Messages-Christlike Attributes video

These are the things that will not only make us more like the Savior, but will bring us happiness and peace in this life.  I know that the more we develop them now, the smoother life will be and we will be ready to embrace Him when we meet Him.

Monday Messages-You Never Know

My daughter showed me this video and I cried.  She cried too and she had already watched it.  It makes me feel better that we can only do what we can do and if we do what the spirit leads us to do, we can feel good about what we did get done and not beat ourselves up for what we didn't get done.

Monday Messages-flashes of revelation

As I heard this idea from President Eyring, I immediately realized that I need to seek more continuous revelation than just when I need a specific answer.  I have had those flashes of light and in some ways I do have a continuous light, but I want it brighter.  I know that in order to do this, I need to draw closer to God and Jesus Christ by increasing my scripture study, my temple attendance and my pondering.  Then my prayers will have more substance and my communication will be more attuned.

Monday Messages-Finding out for myself

This Mormon Message is about a girl who asks God for truth to be made known to her, just as Joseph Smith asked of God.   I love that my son will soon be sharing this message with the people in Atlanta.

Monday Messages-General Women's meeting

My favorite talk from the meeting Saturday night was President Uchtdorf.  Here are some of the parts I liked best:
"He knows everything about you.   He sees you clearly.  He sees you as you REALLY are...  Do you think outward attractiveness, your dress size or popularity make the slightest difference to the one who created the universe?"
(I would add that He also created YOU!)

He also related God's blessings to rain in a constant flow in our lives and the umbrella we put up to block the blessings is of our own doing.  The blessings are there and he is just waiting for us to remove the obstructions in our lives so we can feel the blessings that come from keeping the commandments. 

Monday Messages-Listening

Emerson's quote makes me ponder how often I really listen.  Sometimes I do just wait for my turn to talk.  The best way I know to make sure we are really listening is to reflect back to the person what they just said-but not in a parroting or patronizing way.  Maybe in a personal absorbing kind of way.  Like we have really heard and taken it into our heart.  Also, when we look into the person's eyes when they are speaking, we are connecting better.  It's something to work on.

Monday Messages-Choose This Day

Henry B. Eyring says in this message that each day we can choose to follow God by saying a prayer and reading in the scriptures first thing in the morning and be directed for the day.  He also says we can sometimes become complacent in what we have and not seek divine guidance.  Or we can become overwhelmed with all the demands of us.  But if we will ask God what we CAN do and should do, we will feel His spirit and feel accomplished because we have done good things.

Monday Messages-Using stores of Sunshine

As I mentioned yesterday, I am finding myself in need of some sunshine.  When I am experiencing difficult times, I find it helpful to go back to a journal or keepsake box or something to remind me of who I am and how I have overcome things in the past.  As I read through my old posts, it's like a boost of things that make me happy.  I wish I had it in book form though because I noticed that some things like videos and pictures aren't on there any more.  Hmmm.  I'll try to figure it out.

Monday Messages-the beauty of Mathematics and God

This is just fun and fascinating.  I'm sure someone who loves math came up with this.  But it also had to be someone who loves God.  Hmmmm

Monday Messages-True Love

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the
girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, butwith the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.
The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. "You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel." So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen.
I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened:
A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured. Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be, grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.
"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard,and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are."

Monday Messages- The Park Bench

The Park Bench

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree. Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown, for the world was intent on dragging me down.
And if that weren't enough to ruin my day, A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play.
He stood right before me with his head tilted down and said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"
In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight, with it's petals all worn, not enough rain, or to little light. Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I faked a small smile and then shifted away. But instead of retreating he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with overacted surprise, "It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too. That's why I picked it; here it's for you."
The weed before me was dying or dead. Not vibrant of colors, orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need." But instead of him placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without reason or plan. It was then that I noticed for the very first time that weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.
I heard my voice quiver, tears shone like the sun as I thanked him for picking the very best one. You're welcome, he smiled, and then ran off to play, unaware of the impact he'd had on my day. I sat there and wondered how he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree. How did he know of my self-indulged plight?
Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight. Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I vowed to see the beauty in life, and appreciate every second that's mine. And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose. And smiled as I watched that young boy, another weed in his hand about to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

Monday Messages-shrinking the earth's population...

If we could shrink the earth's population

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.  There would be:

57 Asians

21 Europeans

14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south

8 would be Africans

52 would be female

48 would be male

70 would be non-white
30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

(ONE)1 would be near death;

(ONE)1 would be near birth;

(ONE)1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education;

(ONE)1 (yes, only 1) would own a computer.

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

And, therefore . . .

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.  

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

As you read this and are reminded how life is in the rest of the world, remember just how blessed you really are!

Monday Messages-The Things Which Matter Most

This Mormon Message by President Monson is simple and short, but so profound and such a great reminder to us all.  I love that he tells us to "Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved."  And he reminds us to give our kids a hug, give our parents a hug.  Tell our dear ones we love them.  I doubt that anyone on their deathbed regrets saying "I love you" too often, but there are many who regret not saying enough.

Monday Messages-How to be alone

This is a fascinating video about how to be happy when you are alone.  I find this so interesting and hope that some of my single friends will gain something from it like go to the movies or go out to eat instead of always getting takeout and a Redbox  Even those who are not single but have difficulty being alone may be encouraged to do things alone instead of hibernating or waiting for their spouse or kids to get back home.
I remember a time when I felt really lonely right before my second year of college, before any of my friends or roommates had arrived.  No TV, before the days of cell phones, and no car.  I was lonelier than I had ever been in my life and one thing that made a huge difference was taking myself to a movie.  I'll never forget it.  The movie was "The Trip to Bountiful."  It was a strange movie and I barely remember it, but something happened to me as I treated myself to popcorn and watched it among other people, but by myself.  I think it made me realize that I can be good company for myself and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.  I learned that I like myself and it's okay to do things with just me.

Monday Messages-One armed Judo champion

Sometimes your greatest weakness can become your greatest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

The boy's greatest weakness had become his greatest strength.

Monday Messages-Time video

This is a great visual to follow up on the quote from last Saturday.  The only part I wish I could cut out is the part about time is money.  While I agree that money can be lost, if we are using time wisely, there are quite a few things that rank higher than money to me.  Time spent with my family is time well spent and I would tend to put money lower than anything involving helping other people.  I would put money lower than educational things and spending time in nature.  I know money is valuable and a commodity we need in this world, but I just don't rank it as high as this video does.