Gratitude!

These are wild turkey eggs. There are a lot of wild turkeys in our part of Montana. A flock of the them strut around my neck-of-the-woods, (see "Not-so-Wild Turkeys) and there's a flock a mountain over that hang out by my parent's place. That could be partly due to the  grain Dad throws out for them! One of the hens laid these by their house. I saw this picture today and thought about how much we have to be grateful for! Nature is plentiful. 
 

I once heard a quote:

 

“If you aren't grateful for what you have, then you aren't likely to be grateful for what you will get.”

How true that is! When we are always dissatisfied and discontent because we don't have the things we want, then we will never “arrive” at satisfaction and contentment, because we will always want more. We become “stuck” there. Working for more is a great ambition. It's human nature to continually strive for better. The key is to be grateful each step of the way, and still keep striving. 

A lot of us are feeling increasing urgency to stock up a little and be more prepared as we hear about growing food shortages. If your resources, space or energy will only allow you to stock up one month's worth of food and other needs, then realize how blessed you are for that! You can know that if a crisis occurs in your life, you have everything you need for an entire month! Perspective is everything.

So instead of feeling stress for all the things you don't have, feel gratitude for all the things you DO have, and each new thing you receive or accomplish! Gratitude creates peace of mind!

Hope In Hard Times

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a great summer so far. I have found it necessary to take some sort of a little hiatus to deal with a few crisis and a trauma or two. But as I thought about my blogging friends today, I wanted to share a very beautiful message of inspiration and hope that I heard recently, that lifted my spirits. These are hard times and only seem to be getting harder. I hope this short message lifts you as much as it did me.



(Let it load ahead a few seconds if it keeps stopping.)

Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am God"

Psalm 46:10

I've always read this verse as two commands, given to us from God.
1. To be still
2. To know that He is God

But while studying the scriptures recently, I had the understanding that perhaps it is actually more a statement of "cause and effect".

We live in a frantic-paced world -- unique to any time in history. Media of all kinds competes for our constant attention. We have fast food, instant messaging, rapid trasit, and on-demand information and entertainment. With the touch of a button we can communicate instantly with the other side of the globe. We're offered every magic solution to lose weight now, get rich quick, and swallow this pill for an instant fix. Many of us hit the floor running in the morning and drop into bed exhausted at night. How can we come to know God?  It's difficult to feel peace at such a pace.

Yet God speaks to us in "a still small voice". (1 King's 19:12)  How can we hear a still, small voice through the commotion and attention demand of cell phones, TV's, computers, MP3 players, ear buds, texting, and twittering? Those things are not necessarily bad, if they are used wisely. Any one of them could be used destructively - or as a tool to do good. It can be a challenge to know when even "good" is no longer good because it takes the place of "better". With all that distraction, we can lose sight of the real purpose of our lives.

This life is a time to prepare to meet God. He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to show us the way. He taught His gospel and set the perfect example, so we could know how He wanted us to live. But how can we focus on Him, and becoming like Him, when all these things of the world are consuming our time and attention?

We have to plan some time for "listening" to His voice. I hear myself say that my highest priority is to serve and obey God, and yet sometimes realize that I have planned and scheduled everything except time for Him. We "listen" to His voice when we study His words written by Holy prophets. We "listen" for His voice when we allow some quite time to ponder. I learn the most from the scriptures when I ponder, or sit and think about what I just read. The "whisperings" of the Spirit come to me when I am driving with the radio off, or walking through the woods, or stay on my knees for a little while after talking to Him - just "listening".

It seems so easy to fill our time with appointments, to-do-lists, meetings, and schedules. I have learned to schedule a set time to read, study, pray and ponder. And amazingly enough, when I do, the day seems less stressful and I feel more productive. The demands of daily life feel lighter, and I enjoy all that I accomplish, more than feel like a slave to it. A wise man named Neal A. Maxwell said, when we "plan some time for contemplation and renewal, we will feel drawn to our work instead of driven to it." Having had this experience, you would think that I would live this way every day! I don't. It's an on-going effort to discipline myself and not always give the "squeaky wheels" all the grease!

In all our talk about getting prepared for the events that may come in our lives, there is no greater perspective to keep focused on, or event to prepare for, than the return of our Savior and our reunion with God.

(Painting by Simon Dewey)

In Honor of Veterans and Patriots

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
--- Joseph Campbell ---

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
--- John F. Kennedy ---

"...we remember today that all our gentle heroes of Vietnam have given us a lesson in something more: a lesson in living love. Yes, for all of them, those who came back and those who did not, their love for their families lives. Their love for their buddies on the battlefields and friends back home lives. Their love of their country lives."
--- Ronald Regan ---

"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
--- Thomas Payne ---

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
--- John Quincy Adams ---

"A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men? Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of Society?....The Scriptures tell us "righteousness exalteth a Nation."
--- Abigail Adams ---

"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world."
--- Daniel Webster ---

"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them.
--- George Washington ---

"The said constitution shall never be construed to authorize congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
--- Samuel Adams ---

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
--- Patrick Henry ---

Sunday Renewal

Aren't Sundays wonderful?! It's like stopping at the filling station to make it through the journey of another week! Meeting together with friends and family, with a common purpose - to worship God and learn how to become more Christ-like. We give each other support and strength. Some days we may give more, and some days we may need to receive more, and that's the beauty of it! We become like a grove of Aspens, woven together to help each other remain standing when the storms hit us and the winds are the strongest.

A small stick is easy to snap in half. But if you take a bundle of those little sticks and bind them together with love and unity and faith in God, the bundle cannot be broken. Alone we are weak. Together we are strong. That is why God put us in families! That is why we have friends. And that is the blessing of a "church family."

Here are a few bits of encouragement and wisdom that others shared with me today:

Be prepared to step in and render service - before any request is made. When we are serving others, we are serving God.

Honesty is like pregnancy. Either you are, or you aren't!

When obedience ceases to be an irritant, and becomes a joy - THEN are we empowered.

 I hope we all find many opportunities to serve others this week - and a wonderful week it will be!

The Light of Christ - Our Responsibility

Matthew 5: 14-16

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Christ has given us the sacred responsibility to let our light - the Light of Christ within us - shine to others. We do that by striving to be like Him. When we serve others, we are serving our Father in heaven, and we glorify Him. It is our responsibility to help others, lift others when they are down, teach others, share goodness and the light we have within us with others. 

We also have the responsibility to be humble enough to receive, because that is how we help others share their light.

Lessons From Edgar Guest

One of the many important benefits I love about Home Schooling, is the ability to choose your own texts and literature to teach your children from. The Holy Bible was a primary reading text in schools at one time! I have old history books that tell the stories of God protecting George Washington from bullets, and of General Washington praying to God for divine intervention, which he received. And so many more stories of the faith of our founding fathers and others who built the foundation of our great country.This painting by Arnold Freiburg hangs in my house.

I especially love the old English readers. Each lesson taught a moral or value while it taught the children to read, spell and comprehend. Here are a couple of gems from the great American poet, Edgar Guest:

True Nobility

Who does his task from day to day
And meets whatever comes his way,
Believing God has willed it so,
Has found real greatness here below.

Who guards his post, no matter where,
Believing God must need him there,
Although but lowly toil it be,
Has risen to nobility.

For great and low there's but one test:
'Tis that each man shall do his best.
Who works with all the strength he can
Shall never die in debt to man.


Results and Roses

The man who wants a garden fair,
Or small or very big,
With flowers growing here and there,
Must bend his back and dig.

The things are mighty few on earth
That wishes can attain.
Whate'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.

It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses.

If the children in America had continued to learn these kinds of lessons, our country would be very different today. There would be no welfare state or entitlement mentality. There would be greater respect, integrity, dignity and honor. Today's generation of children, will be tomorrow's lawmakers and rulers. Teaching our youth real values and morals, with Christ as their exemplar, is the best possible way we can prepare for "tomorrow".

The Bridge Builder

Self-Reliance is Responsibility. When we are able to take care of ourselves, we don't add a burden to others. We are also able to help others when they are in need. I think this poem says it well:




The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near,
"You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

We really do have a responsibility to our fellow-man, neighbors and strangers. My mother taught us that we should leave every place we've been, better than we found it, and every person we've encountered, better than before we encountered them. Think what our world would be like if that were everyone's desire.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Morning Inspiration

I want to live in such a way that when I get up in the morning, Satan will cry, "OH NO! SHE'S AWAKE!"


This inspiring thought is taped to our bathroom mirror! It's our reminder and motivation for the day.
(Photo from Google Images)

Following the Ants

We have 2 of the biggest ant hills I have seen around here, on the hillside behind our house. They are each about 2 feet tall and getting bigger every year. This picture is of one of them. (Click on it to see the detail.) They fascinate me, and I sometimes go out in the summer and sit for a while watching what goes on there. One little black ant will struggle for hours just to carry one tiny twig to the top of the hill. They are completely focused on their work and are deterred by nothing. I protect their little masterpieces. When my boys' friends come to visit, I tell them "Don't you dare touch my ant hills!"

I remember my mother reading to me the story of the ants and the grasshopper. As badly as I always felt for the grasshopper, I completely understood how he had chosen his plight. It made an impression on me. Here is a thought taken from The Book of Virtues:

The ant, like the bee, has long been held up as a paradigm of industriousness. As Proverbs 6:6-8 in the Bible says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."

They have no taskmaster, no President, no laws and police force. They just simply do what needs to be done, and they are prepared. Nature is a beautiful teacher. I hope we can all be just like the ants when we grow up!

Beautiful Wisdom on Self-Discipline

I love this poem by Samuel Longfellow:

Go Forth To Life

Go forth to life, oh! child of Earth
Still mindful of thy heavenly birth,
Thou art not here for ease or sin,
But manhood's noble crown to win.

Though passion's fires are in thy soul,
Thy spirit can their flames control,
Though tempters strong beset thy way,
Thy spirit is more strong than they.

Go on from innocence of youth
To manly pureness, manly truth;
God's angels still are near to save,
And God himself doth help the brave.

Then forth to life, oh! child of Earth,
Be worthy of thy heavenly birth,
For noble service thou art here;
Thy brothers help, thy God revere!