DAY 3

The scripture for the day is 2 Nephi 31:19 "For ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with ushaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save." I wanted a better understanding of the scripture, so I read the whole chapter.

I am so thankful for my understanding of the Savior. I can not remember not knowing I had a Father in Heaven who loved me and a Savior who died for me and cared about me. I had to do some deep soul searching to come to a surety not just a belief, but I can now say I now my Savior died for me and through prayer I can get answers to my earthly trials and reassurance with decisions I make.

So now I know I am on the strait and narrow path what more do I need to do? According to the scripture it is to rely wholly on the Savior. Again prayer seems to be the answer and studying the scriptures so we learn more about what he wants from us.

I look forward to conference this weekend. There always seems to be someone talking straight to me when I go seeking guidance. I can't wait to go to the temple. I was planning on going yesterday and found out Snowflake temple is closed for cleaning. I just need the peace you find in the temple right now.

I already feel so much closer to my Savior after only 3 days of soul searching and pondering more than quick scripture read and prayer.

I am really excited to get to Mallory's and snuggle a new baby. Can't wait to see you guys.

Blake and Holden showing off their diplomas.

Such handsome boys.

Today is day 2 and the scripture for today is 2Nephi 12:11. The question is What problem have I sought to solve myself and how peaceful or permanent your efforts have been.

I would hope at this point in my life I have learned to take the serious problems to the Lord in prayer, but it is the day to day things I am not so good at. It goes back to that react thing. I think I have to go about fixing things when even the smallest solutions might be best guided through prayer. Stop, breath, pray. The prayer might help my approach in solving problems that involve others.

When we are truly humble, which life has away of humbling us, we turn complete control of our lives over to Jesus Christ. I need to learn to do that with the simple things I think I can solve myself. Maybe I need to learn to pray before approaching someone with my solution or opinion that may be different than theirs and try to remember they have a good reason for doing something a certain way or thinking a certain way.

Now for those of you who want to see pictures here are a few of our summer activities.

Yes Lyman Lake was fun this summer. Unfortunately when mom was here the wind blew and made it a little cold on the water.

This is dad quilting on his birthday. We had a reunion to celebrate his 72nd birthday

The son-in-laws

Blake receiving his eagle. Thanks everyone that came.

And last of all proof we won the big blue ribbon even though it was gone on Saturday.

He Did Deliver Me From Bondage

I am not very good at blogging because I think I need pictures and I don't take the time to download them or my kids put up pictures and tell about family outings which means I don't have to and I just don''t do it. But I do like to type and feel like this course I am taking might be worth changing, so the next few months, maybe, I will blog about my experience in this course. If you like it great if you don't well I am suppose to write, and I thought this might be a good place to share my thoughts. Of course some will be to private and will not be put here, but the basics and things that I feel important I will share here.

I have been wanting to take this course for several years and have just put it off. Once I am home on Sunday it is really hard to go out again, especially at 7:00p.m, but I just felt at this time it was worth my time and I need to do something just for me. The class is Heart to Heart. For those of you who have never heard of it it is sponsored by th church and is a 12 step recovery class. You can find it online by googling lds heart to heart.

No I don't have some great addiction. I just felt a need to understand the atonement and improve my life. My goal is not just to be happy but to reflect happiness. You know those people who you look at and that alone makes you feel happy. They just always have a smile and seem to be laughing. I am not sure that is my nature, but I really want to reflect the happiness the gospel brings in my everyday countenance. I am at peace in my life because of the gospel and my relationship with my Savior, but that doesn't guarantee an easy life or always make problems easy to deal with.

Each day there is a scripture and a question, today's being How am I carnally minded, 2 Nephi 9:39. I think I probably react to situations instead of stopping, pondering and praying I am sure my kids are all agreeing at this point. This behavior affects my relationships with others and for now just verbalizing that is a point in the right direction. I don't think that trait reflects happiness when it causes contention, or defensive reactions from others.

The other thing I learned from my reading is we need to focus on our relationship with Christ and not dwell so much on our weakness:

"When we put God (and the spiritual life) first, alll other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord (must) govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. (Ezra T. Benson Ensign, May 1988,p.4)

This advice was given to me by a wise Bishop in 1982 when I was down and out and on a path of repentance. That advice changed my life. It worked and life has been peaceful ever since. Sure we have had our trials in our family, but peace is always found when I seek the Lord through prayer, scriptures and fasting.

The book is "He Did Deliver me from Bondage" by Colleen G. Harrison