Illuminated through trials.

Often I find myself trying to understand why life is so hard.  It feels like if I'm doing what is right I should be blessed for it, and I am, but that doesn't take away the trials in life.  I was taught the reason for this in my New Testament class this week.  My teacher showed us  Hebrews 10:32 Which says: "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;"  He explained that the whole book of Hebrews is a list of greater than statements.  The one in this scripture is persecution > ease. God loves me more than he loves my comfort. There is so much to learn from being tested and tried through our afflictions. The things that we learn cannot be learned through ease and Heavenly Father knows this.  Thus he loves me enough to let me be tried and to go through hard things.

If you are going through a trial.  Don't blame God.  He is showing you how much he loves you by letting you grow and learn by experiencing affliction.  We are "illuminated" by our trials.  I know that I have learned so much about relying on my Savior and his atonement during my hard times.  During times of ease I sometimes get lazy and too slow to turn to God. We should always turn to the Lord, but sometimes we need to be knocked down to realize that there is always a hand to help us get back up.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ always have their hands stretched out towards us.  We just need to be willing to stretch out ours and grab a hold.

Know what you want.

Dating.  Isn't it just everyone's favorite thing?  If you didn't pick up on the sarcasm, let me just tell you the plain and simple truth.  Most people that I know dislike dating and the "dating game".  It's not fun trying to get a guy that you like to ask you out.  It's even harder to figure out how fast to take a relationship.  What can you do to show interest without being too forward and also avoid giving the wrong impression to certain guys are all things to think about.  It takes a toll on you emotionally and mentally.

Now, I may be young, but I've had my fair share of dating experiences to have learned a little bit.  What I want to talk about is knowing what you want.  Dating is pointless if you don't know what it is you're searching for from it.  It brings to mind the principle from Alice in Wonderland, where Alice isn't sure which road to take.  The Cheshire cat asks her where it is she's trying to get.  Alice responds that she doesn't know.  To that the Cat replies, that it "then it doesn't matter."   This is very similar for dating.  If you don't know where you want to end up, it really doesn't matter who you date.  If you know what you want, then it definitely does matter!  The type of people you date are the pool of people that you will have to choose from for your eternal companion.  If you know you want a temple marriage, then date people who are worthy to enter the temple.

Knowing what you want is more than that though.  You need to figure out what you want so that you can be careful of other people's hearts.  I want to relate a story about this.  Last year I didn't really know what I wanted from dating.  Was I just dating for fun or was I looking for someone I could start a meaningful relationship with?  I had no idea.  I started hanging out with a great guy in my ward.  He was nice and funny.  We always had a good time together.  Since I wasn't sure about where my life was heading, I was just enjoying the ride.  A little too late I realized that the boy was invested and He wasn't the right guy for me to build a lasting relationship with.  Because I didn't know what I wanted, but kept moving forward, I ended up hurting this guy so much more than if I had known from the start and not let it get too far.   When you are unsure of what you want, be gentle with the people you are dating.  They might know what they want and you moving forward without that knowledge ends up in them getting burned.

Now, I don't mean to discourage moving forward with faith.  If you are praying about things and are not getting any indication that the relationship is wrong, move forward!  Don't hold back because you are not 100% sure that the relationship is going to work.  What I am saying is that your actions should be in accordance with your thoughts and feelings.  You shouldn't kiss someone just because you are afraid of losing that opportunity, while at the same time knowing that you are not ready for a commitment.  Let your actions be honest.

Having said all of this, I urge everyone to pray and ponder and figure out what their goals are for life.  If you are not at a point where you are searching for a meaningful relationship, be honest about that.  You will be so much happier and so will the people you date.  If you feel like you are ready for something more serious, look for that.  Make it a priority, but don't act with more affection than you feel.  That's where I feel the Jane Austen character has it wrong in Pride and Prejudice.  Don't ever act in more reassuring ways than you are feeling.  If it is a good thing that is supposed to happen, you won't lose it by taking your time and letting things grow slowly.

Good luck with all of your dating!  Don't let the "games" get you down.  It's all going to work out.  I hope my advice helps at least a little bit.  Anywho.  "Let the games begin!"

So that's how the spirit speaks to me!

Alright, if you're anything like me you sometimes wonder what the spirit sounds like.  How do you know if the feelings you are getting are the spirit or just your own thoughts?  Well, I recently found something that gives me a lot of peace.  2 Timothy 1:7 says: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of peace, and of love, and of a sound mind."  I needed this scripture in my life this semester.  Dealing with certain decisions, I have felt terrified.  Sometimes I felt as if the fear was taking control of my life.  I would sit and wonder if the fear was a sign that I was making the wrong choice, but that never felt right because I've had other experiences pointing that it was the right decision.  So what is a girl (or boy) to do?

The answer I came up with, using this scripture, is that fear doesn't come from God.  Life is full of scary things.  We have to make decisions and they can be extremely frightening, especially when we don't want to mess up.  The good news is that if we're not supposed to go in a certain direction, God won't make us scared of that possibility.  God would give us the peace and the "sound mind" to make the correct decision.  God gently leads us and also lets us make our own choices.  Knowing that God doesn't give me fear helps to me to make better decisions in my life.  It's not going to be easy to remember this, but through practice I know that I will be able to better recognize the hand of the Lord in my life and how the spirit speaks to me because it sure isn't through fear!

The Armour of God

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)  What does it mean to put on the whole armour of God?  Is it just being protected by God by keeping his commandments?  I used to think that.  Really, is applying protection to specific areas that Satan attacks, through following what the Lord teaches us.  In Ephesians Paul goes through a lists the specific pieces of armour that we need to have.  I would like to cover this list.

1. "Loins girt about with truth." (vs. 14) One of the major purposes of our life here on Earth is to get married and have children.  We must have truth.  This truth comes from knowing what the Lord teaches about sexuality and about God's plan for his children.  We are taught in The Family: A Proclamation to the World that marriage is between a man and a woman and that children have the right to both a father and a mother.  Knowing this can protect us from the lies that the world tries to teach us about sexuality.

2. "Having on the breastplate of righteousness" (vs. 14) The breastplate covers the heart.  We need to protect our feelings.  By being righteous we will not be hurt by the pains of serious sin and we will have promises of being able to return to our Heavenly home after this life.  We won't have to feel the pain of complete separation from God.  By being righteous, we truly put on a breastplate that protects our hearts.

3. "Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" (vs. 15) Our feet lead us to where we are going.  By having the correct cover on our feet, we are protecting the way to get back to our Father in Heaven.  I also love how it says "with the preparation of the gospel of PEACE" (emphasis added.) when we are prepared and following the the Lord, we will feel peace and we will be prepared for all of the things that we need to do.  Also, the gospel provides a plan and a path for us to follow.  We need to prepare ourselves for the journey.

4. "Above all, taking the shield of faith" (vs. 16) We have an added layer of protection.  When we have faith it stops doubt and other "fiery darts" from even reaching the rest of our armour.  Faith is the first defense.  We don't always know or understand everything in the gospel, but when we have faith, we don't need to worry.

5. "And take the helmet of salvation" (vs. 17) We all must turn our thoughts heavenward.  We need to protect our minds.  An application for this would be to turn of the movie that isn't the most appropriate, or stop playing the video games that have a little bit too much violence, or to not date a person that pushes your boundaries because each of these things pushes your mind into the gutter.  Protect your thoughts.

6. "and the sword of the Spirit" (vs. 17) the sword of the spirit is the word of God.  It is our scriptures. It's the word of the prophets.  It is patriarchal blessings.  When we have these gifts from God we can defend ourselves.  We can cut down the lies that try to attack us from all around.  The word of God is there to defend us.  We all just need to use it every day, keep it sharp by reading the scriptures and the words of the prophets.

We can all do better to put on the armour of God.  I'm going to leave you with verse 18 from Ephesians 6.  I hope that we can all do this: "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."  Let us all pray and continue to strengthen the armour that we are already wearing.

Correct Timing

Lately I've been thinking a lot about timing.  How certain things happen at certain times and they need to happen at that specific time.  I've also been thinking about how much I would love to control when things happen.  I want my own timing.  I don't want to wait around for something good to come around, I want it now.  Most people have this attitude about life.  They want to do everything in their own timing.  The interesting thing is that most of what we want are good things.  A good job, a husband (or wife), children, a house, and many other worthy things.

In new testament class this week we learned a little bit about timing and using correct timing.  In Acts 22:18 Paul sees the Jesus Christ and is told to not stay in Jerusalem to teach because the people would not hear his testimony.  Paul wanted to do something good.  He wanted to preach to the people in Jerusalem, but the timing wasn't right.  Knowing that the timing wasn't right helps me to feel a little better about my own experiences where I have wanted something good, but the timing hasn't been right.  God has his timing, it's just a matter of us relying on him and letting him guide us.

In my Stake Conference yesterday, I had this very powerfully taught to me about something good that I've been frustrated with not coming in my own time table.  My stake President got up to address the members of our stake.  He told us that he had changed his topic to be about recognizing and preparing for opportunities for marriage.  This has been on my mind a lot. I finally feel ready to move forward and work on having an eternal family.  I've been doing my fair share of dating around and getting to know lots of different guys, but one thing right after another has not worked out.  I recently broke up with my boyfriend.  He felt like for some reason it wasn't right to be dating me.  It's important for me to remember that having it not work out, doesn't mean that my goals and aspirations to an eternal marriage are not important.  It just means that the timing isn't right yet and I need to follow the Lord's timing.  Paul wasn't able to teach the gospel to the people at Jerusalem, but his goal to preach the gospel was still a worthy one.  The timing and possibly the people weren't right.  Just like for me and my dating life.  I need to put my trust in the Lord that in his timing I will be able to go to the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity.  Plus, it will be so much better when it is at the right time, in the right place, with the right person.  I can't wait!

Who do you trust?

My thoughts this week are split between two different things that I learned this last week, but surprisingly they work well together.  The first part comes from Romans 1:16 and the second part comes from Romans 8:38-39 in the KJV of the Bible.

Romans 1:16 says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth...." My new testament teacher told our class something that I absolutely love.  He said that the word "believeth" comes from the greek word "pistoo'-oh" which means to entrust ones well being to another person.  I find that so interesting.  Believing someone means that you are trusting that person with your well being.  It really makes me wonder, who do I trust?  I have been reading Believing Christ and it strikes me as interesting that there is a difference between believing in Christ and believing him.  We need to believe the words he said and the things he taught.  When we do that, we are putting our trust in Christ.  That is what we are supposed to do.  my very favorite scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says "trust the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy path." When we believe Christ he cleanses us from sin and directs us to the right path.  We just need to put our trust for our well being in him and he will take care of us. 

Now, that leads me to my second thought.  Romans 8:38-39 In these verses Paul tells us why we should trust the Lord.   He says "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  God loves us.  Christ loves us.  Just like our parents love us and watch out for us.  That's one of the reasons why I trust my parents.  People who love us will watch over and protect us.  That is why we should trust Christ because he loves us.  When we do that we have "the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16).

My wonderful parents who love and support me so much!