God Has REALLY Good Hearing

As in, sometimes he hears things you've only thought about and not yet verbalized. :-)

So, obviously, it's been awhile since I've posted anything here. A brief recap of the downward spiral that was my personal life: In mid-November a sleepy driver crashed into and totaled both my car and my husband's. A week later I came down with H1N1. Ten days after that, my husband came down with it, too. Two weeks later we flew to Ecuador to visit my parents, and - while we had a great time - my poor spouse picked up a weird intestinal bug. Once back in the US and beginning a new year, we had to buy cars. STRESS! At the beginning of February my dearest darling had his first (and hopefully only) experience with a kidney stone. A few weeks later he had a wisdom tooth pulled. Meanwhile, life at school was getting progressively more tense as we neared the beginning of state standardized testing (grrrr......) All of which culminated in my Heavenly Father speaking to me through my best friend (another post) and me going to the doctor and trying out antidepressants.

(Note: as a Type 1 diabetic since the age of 3 1/2 I firmly and fully believe that modern medicine is a gift from God and that he gives us the tools we need to fight - and WIN - our personal battles. It's our choice which to pick up and use, just as David had the choice to use the stones when he went up against Goliath.)

ANYWAY.....life is very, very good, and I am richly blessed. I've been thinking recently that I want to be more involved in serving others in general and also in our congregation, but I hadn't said anything about my thoughts.

Well, last week the Bishop came over to visit, (and I'm clueless enough that I really thought he was just visiting. Doh.) and he extended a new calling to me. I accepted, and spent the rest of the week musing. On Sunday morning I thought to myself "I should probably pray for personal confirmation about this", but really, I didn't need it. When I started to pray I told Heavenly Father I felt like I should seek confirmation, because, you know, it's just what you do, and then I said "But I don't need further confirmation, because I KNOW the ponderings of my heart were heard and that Thou gave me this calling because it's what I need right now."

Since I'm not sure this makes any sense, let me sum it up: Heavenly Father knows you, fully and intimately, and He knows what you want and what you need. And He provides.

Grateful for Knowledge

A little girl from my school passed away on Sunday. She was a student in the grade I teach. Last year her teacher noticed she couldn't hold a pencil and was having difficulty with other motor skills - both fine and gross. The teacher brought this to the parents' attention, and when they took her into the doctor they discovered a brain tumor. She had surgery and chemotherapy, and continued to keep in touch with her class. (The teacher looped with her students, so they all stayed together for another year.) This little girl joined us on Halloween for our costume parade, and came to school the last Friday before Christmas break to decorate Christmas cookies with her classmates. Then, on Sunday, she died.

Our principal requested that each teacher discuss her death in class today. It was exceptionally odd to have a discussion regarding death without the framework of faith to support comprehension. How do you answer questions like: "How did she get cancer?"; "WHY did she get cancer?"; "Can I get cancer?" and "Where is she now?"

I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the knowledge it gives me of who I am, where I came from, why I'm here, and, especially today, what happens to me when I die.

Alma 40:11-14

11 Now, concerning the ^astate of the soul between^bdeath and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are^ctaken ^dhome to that God who gave them life.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of ^ahappiness, which is called ^bparadise, a state of rest, a state of ^cpeace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

13 And then shall it come to pass, that the ^aspirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the ^bdevil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer^cdarkness; there shall be ^dweeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

Easy Like Sunday Morning.....NOT!

Yesterday I groggily opened my eyes to check out the clock and got a real wake up call when I saw the display read 8:35.

1. My church services start at 9:00.

2. I conduct the hymns for our congregation (meaning, I need to be there early or at least on time for the first hymn!)

3. It takes a minimum of 10 minutes to drive from my house to the chapel.

The math stars in the audience will have figured out by now that I had 15 minutes to make myself presentable and hit the road.

The blessings in this situation?

1. I DID (somehow, blessedly) manage to get ready in 15 minutes. Hair, makeup, clothes - I was good to go.

2. When I got to the first light and it was red I pretty much threw away every hope of arriving on time. Usually in this situation I would be frustrated and raging at the traffic light. This time, however, I knew I had done my absolute best to make it to church on time. So I told Heavenly Father that, and sat back for a nice, relaxed drive.

3. Whaddaya know? Every single light after that was green! And yes, I made it to church in the nick of time.

Moral of the story: Sometimes you have to hit a red light so all the other lights further on have a chance to turn green.

Gratitude

A great message for Thanksgiving:

"Gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade

Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time

Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need
So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight

Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace
But Jesus, would You please . . .

Car Wreck

A sleepy driver crashed into my parked car and destroyed it on Thursday morning. What is there to be grateful about here? First, I was nowhere near my car when it happened. Second, the other driver has insurance (a BIG BLESSING, indeed!) Third, the other driver's car is gone, but he's okay, too. Fourth, although I wasn't particularly wanting to escape my lease, I'm now free of it and can do whatever I want (and/or can afford) regarding a car.

Basically, even though there are a lot of negative aspects to this event, if you look for them, the positive ones are there, too.

Princesses

Yesterday as I was walking home from work I saw two little girls in glittery Disney princess dresses playing in their front yard. Their dad was there with them, and one of the girls told him it was time to dance. He obliged by not only twirling around the yard with her, but also sang the Sleeping Beauty waltz song, as well. It was one of those perfect, out-of-time moments and it made me smile.

I am grateful for my wonderful family and especially for my own Prince Charming father. I am greatly blessed.

Trivial and Important

Yesterday my co-worker asked me what an antonym for important might be. I came up with trivial. The funny thing is, it's a perfect title for this post.

First, the "trivial" (if any sort of blessing could be so described). On my way to Tiffany's, every single one of the nine stop lights in my route turned green right before I got to each intersection. It's the only time I can ever remember driving straight there without having to stop at all. And yes, this made me happy.

Second, the important. Yesterday was a very stressful day and I pretty much had a breakdown near the end of it. Today started out depressingly similar, and by recess I decided I couldn't take it any more. Consequently, I sent my students out to play, closed the curtains over my doors, turned off the lights, and knelt down to pray.

It was more of a "I don't know what's wrong with me but please help me, please help me, pleasehelpmepleasehelpme pleasehelpme" kind of a prayer than anything else, but guess what? Even when we're at our wits' end and feel like we don't have it in us to move onward - let alone be nice to the people around us - we can. If we ask for help, Heavenly Father will wrap us in His love and give us the strength (or patience and love) to get through whatever it is we need to get through.

It was, on the whole, a most extraordinary few minutes that had a huge impact on my day (and on my students, as well!) Truly awesome, and I am grateful.