God's Hand of Providence

 

Columbus Day was on Monday, and it seemed to kind of come and go without even a thought.

What are your feelings about Columbus?

To me, he was a man who was guided and directed by God who had an important work to do in his time. And he did what he was fore-ordained to do.

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi actually had a vision of a man who we believe to be Columbus.

1 Nephi 13:12 "And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and ^awrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land."

* note that the Spirit came upon him

Others, like Columbus were also led by the hand of God:

1 Nephi 13:13 "And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters. "
 

The Lord had a purpose for His children and for this earth, and these people were key in that plan.

President Gordon B. Hinckley in his talk Building Your Tabernacle said this about Columbus:

"I recognize that in this anniversary year a host of critics have spoken out against him. I do not dispute that there were others who came to this Western Hemisphere before him. But it was he who in faith lighted a lamp to look for a new way to China and who in the process discovered America. His was an awesome undertaking—to sail west across the unknown seas farther than any before him of his generation. He it was who, in spite of the terror of the unknown and the complaints and near mutiny of his crew, sailed on with frequent prayers to the Almighty for guidance. In his reports to the sovereigns of Spain, Columbus repeatedly asserted that his voyage was for the glory of God and the spread of the Christian faith. Properly do we honor him for his unyielding strength in the face of uncertainty and danger."
 

To add another perspective, in the Book of Prophecies [a book I want to own] Columbus tells how he was visited by an angel. Did you know also that Columbus was a Jew?  Kind of interesting!

George Washington prays while at Valley Forge

Columbus wasn't alone in this.

 George Washington says he was visited by an angel while at Valley Forge.

These were men of God, who trusted Him and had an important mission to perform on this earth. So important that "an angel visited them" !  Very awesome thoughts.



Other miraculous experiences :

• Paul Revere claims to have been "saved by the moon" during a lunar anemone which caused the moon to go to the south behind some buildings which allowed him to go by in a boat-undetected.

• Weather played a significant role in the revolutionary war in protecting our troops such as the freezing of the Delaware.

• Balls of the Revolutionary War would bounce off of the ships and fall out. The Hand of God definitely at work.

 As we think back to the days of Columbus, George Washington, the Revolutionary war, Civil War,and so on... we are awe-struck by who they were and  the times they lived through.

 We are living in times that THEY would have wanted to read about and see. The times we live in now are as exciting and epic as in any time time period in history

The Lord has always had His Hand of Providence over His people during all time periods of the earth.

He is in charge--a very comforting thought.

Good, Better, Best in Motherhood

Alyssa is in the middle

This week we have added in two new activities. Our daughter Alyssa who is just ending her Cross-Country running season, started piano lessons today, and starts the high school swim team tomorrow.  She is a Freshman in High School and the girl is busting with talents.

Many times she has to choose between several good things.  That can sometimes be the hardest choice.  What do you choose?  What do you leave out? They are all good.

She really wanted to be in the Jr. High play.  Really badly.  It is all she has talked about since the last play she was in. She has always liked to be up in front of others.  She also has been waiting for 2 years to join the High School Swim Team.  If that wasn't enough, Alyssa also decided she needed to up her expertise on the piano by taking lessons from a hard teacher.  OK!  All good, right!

With all the good choices in front of her, we had to help her choose the BEST choice for the BEST reasons. 

It was hard.

There were tears.

There was heart ache at leaving one choice behind, but feeling good at choosing another.

The question arises:

How involved do we allow our children to be in extra activities?

What do we consider too much?

Here is my checklist:

• Do I feel like this is right for them,  and our family?
• Do they have a true gift?
• Do we have enough money in our monthly budget to incorporate this expense?
• Does their activity schedule make sense for our family?
• Is there benefits involved like, scholarships, part-time jobs, building self-esteem?
• Is this strengthening our family?
• Is it strengthening them?

 If I have to answer no to any of those points, then we need to re-evaluate our purpose and priorities.

As mothers, we all want to see our children excel and do well in life. We want to give them every opportunity we can.  We want to see them reach their full potential! 

What is good? What is better, and What is the best?

Elder Oaks talk: Good, Better, Best is a must read talk about establishing priorities and purpose with all that the choices and activities we have in families.


He states:

"We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them."

"In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best."

"The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be over scheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated. Parents should act to preserve time for family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, and the other precious togetherness and individual one-on-one time that binds a family together and fixes children’s values on things of eternal worth. Parents should teach gospel priorities through what they do with their children. "

A paragraph from The Family: A Proclamation to the World resembles this above statement:

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations."

Soul-searching questions for parents:

• Are my child's extra-curricular activities  for me so I can "fit in" with the motherly trends of the day?
• Do they want to do this?
• Am I doing this so my child will be popular? 
• Is there anything about this choice that I have to keep secret from my husband? [like the total cost, uniform cost, expenses for out of town trips]  I would encourage  you to stay up front about all of it, before signing up.
• Is the atmosphere, of the activity or peers they will associate with, where I want my child to be?
• In 10 years will this be a positive experience and memory? Will I have any regrets?
• Is this bringing us to Christ now?

Choosing between many good things, is one of the hardest choices we have! 

 

My twins and two of their friends feeling pretty happy!

God's Way/My Way

I know it is tempting sometimes to want to make all of our decisions alone ["My Own Way"] It is interesting though, that the picture depicting  two signs," God's Way" and "My Own Way" are perpendicular signs, not parallel. One denotes pride and the other humility.

Now we don't consciously WANT to do everything alone. We think we know what is best and what we want. There are times when  we don't want anyone getting in the way to tell us different because we know. We forget to turn to the Lord and rely on Him.  In that case, we are doing it alone, or our own way.

I have personally been reminded several times, to rely on the Lord. Which leaves me with the same "a-ha" moment:  "oh, YA!"  It is so easy to forget that there is someone who knows better and more, and we should rely on His wisdom more than our own.

God is our Father in Heaven and has known us before we were born for an infinite amount of time.  Think about that for a moment.  OK here is the next principle:  our Savior Jesus Christ, Atoned for our sins, our pains and sufferings of life. He also knows what it feels like to be us, and what we experience. He has felt it.

 In Doctrine and Covenants 38:1-2  it describes how God has the whole picture before Him at once.  He sees the whole picture from the beginning to the end and knows how to succor us, lead and guide us for our greatest happiness.

1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great ^aI Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made.

2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;

God knows all. Sees all.  All at once. This can be difficult for our mortal brains to understand.  'All things are present before His eyes.'   He sees our pre-mortal past, our earthly past, the present, and our future in one view. AND He can do this  without ever touching our free agency to choose.  Mind boggling isn't it!

Let's use this description taught to me by a friend: 

God is standing on top of a mountain where He can see endlessly in all directions. From where He is standing, He has the whole view before Him at once. He sees the past, the present, and the future.

We, on the other hand are at the bottom of the mountain  where all we see is what is directly in front of our eyes:  the rocks, the trees, and part of the pathway.  Our view is extremely limited! 

Sometimes this theory plays tricks with my mind and I get mind boggled over it!  But I know it is true.

The Lord has the whole picture.  He knows us, knows what we are going through, and will go through.  If we turn to Him, and choose His way, He will write a story for our lives that is better than anything we could ever come up with on our own. 

In the Strength of the Lord

In the Strength of the Lord

This whole concept of grace is fairly new to me.

For years I have heard the word "grace"in church and while reading my scriptures,  and had no idea what it meant. I am not totally embarrassed to admit that because we all learn line upon line, precept upon precept. We all seem to hear, see, and understand what we are ready to and we all do it at our own pace.

What a powerful principle this is.  I know I have not used "this divine means of help and strength, this enabling power,"  like I should have, because I didn't even understand what it was.

I think we may get confused and think the Atonement is for sins only, and do not understand it is for good people trying to be better. It also covers all of our emotional pain--all of it. The Lord never intended for us to do it all ourselves and to try to get through life through sheer grit, will power, discipline, and with our many limitations.  

The power of the Atonement is there for all of us to use, and I think because we don't fully understand certain principles of it, we do not have access to it's full power in our lives.

Elder Bednar uses the example of Nephi from I Nephi 7 and how he understood and used the enabling power of the Savior.  In this story Laman and Lemuel, have bound Nephi with cords and left him to die in the wilderness.  In verse 17 it says:

 "17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound."

Elder Bednar also points out that Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances changed (get me out of this mess), but instead he prayed for "the power to change his circumstances"   He did this because he understood and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement (grace) in his life.

"I do not personally believe that the bands magically loosened.  Rather I believe he was blessed with both persistence and personal strength, beyond his natural capacity that in the strength of the Lord he was ultimately enabled to break the bands" -Elder Bednar

Isn't that how the Lord works in our lives as well?

Now, that I know what grace is: that it enables us, strengthens us, gives us the power to change our circumstances if need be; it is like a brand new best friend, and it is written in the front pages of my scriptures, highlighted and underlined.  I see it everywhere and notice, how much I need this enabling  power in my life on a daily basis.

I love grace and am grateful for the blessings of the Atonement.

Mothers Who Know

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have been one of the mothers of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors described in the Book of Mormon, Alma Chapter 56.

Like Queen Esther, they were the right mothers, at the right time in history, with the right preparation to do what the Lord needed them to do.