Come Follow Me

The Church of Jesus Christ launched a new curriculum home-based gospel learning. Now we have done family home evening and family scripture study nearly every night for 12 or more years.

Tonight we started that curriculum with a lesson about the sowers of seeds. We also had two teen cousins over for the lesson. Now, I am a little nervous. There is help in the book for working with young children and teens, but they are different sections, so it is completely up to me to figure out how to make these lessons workable for us as a family group ranging in ages from 2-45.

So we read the parable of the sower and worked on discussing how we can make ourselves (and our home), our dirt, more fertile for the gospel seeds to take root.

Did I mention, we also love wordplay, puns, and similes, and metaphors and all sorts of stuff like that?

Now add in teen boys. Pretty soon phrases like "You are dirt." and "animal poo" played heavily into the discussion. I think the take away ended up being something like "You need to take in good food to make good poo/fertilizer to make your soil healthy and strong."

So now I begin to understand that I get to play off those ideas all week during our family scriptures study.

Relief Society

I belong to a group called "Relief Society."
The name alone tells you a lot about the group. A society to provide relief.
Although providing relief is always good, Relief Society is so much more.

It is about strengthening us, as women
Strengthening our homes and family
Strengthening our communities
and in extension, lending a helping hand throughout the world.

My Grandma Died

My Grandma died this week. Last Sunday she and Grandpa flew out to visit her brother in Oregon. On Sunday night at 10:40 I got a call, Mom said "Emergency." Grandma had an aortic aneurysm and wasn't expected to live the night.

So I called her, and said my goodbyes and thank yous. My mom and dad hopped a plane first thing in the morning. Prayers ascended to heaven that she would last until my mom was able to say goodbye.

Then Wednesday they moved her from the ICU to a hospice house. She still had a good day or two, and her other living child was able to come and join them.

Grandma didn't die, she thought she might try to live. They had hopes that Jesus would heal her, even though they knew it was her time. The spirit confirmed to my mom while she was messaging me that Grandma's time had come. But she wasn't ready to accept it and instantly fought that impression. I guess that is grief. So it was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

By Saturday they finally accepted it enough to remove her oxygen and let her pass away peacefully. Mom called the funeral home to start understanding the arrangements and such, although she had no idea that it would be that very night that she would pass away.

It is hard to process the grief of losing someone so close to you, even when you know that is only for the short period of our mortality.  I tend to keep myself busy and only processes a bit at a time. If I need to, I find more things to keep myself busy.

Last Thursday or Friday night, while I was helping my Ewan with his homework, I got a call "Come play games with us." But I turned them down. Even though a little voice whispered. "It will be your last time." I pushed that off. Grandma and Grandpa were coming back after their trip for another 2 weeks before heading back to Texas.

Sigh. I learned Grandmas don't keep.

But I see the Lord's tender mercies. In 1 class I am taking my homework is already caught up for the next 3 weeks.

Praise to the Poet

I love the writings of Isiaha, the cadence or rhythm is soothing yet is still like the drumbeat calling us to battle.

The imagery is strong and inspiring. When you catch the imagery and understand the cultural references it reads smoothly, like poetry and draws you into the story.

The story of redemption, of building, of a great time of peace. But first there the dispersal, the destruction, the cleansing. All causing a change of heart.

What beauty! How important the theme and the message and how impressive the wordsmith. I believe both Isiaha and the scribes that translated him had to be inspired to write it.

How beautiful are their words.

Pondering on Mosiah 4:21

So after teaching his people about Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, starts teaching about how to follow Christ. He says, "And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another."

The term substance is easily connected to things we got, specifically needful things like food and clothing, tools perhaps. I have given away lots and lots of clothing, but rarely have I given it away because someone actually needed it. Most of the time I give it away because I needed to reduce the stuff I had. And because I have so much it only benefits me to share. I hope it benefits those give them to, but I am pretty sure their houses are already stuffed with things.

In this day and age, of Walmart and Amazon, I find that what I have that is limited to share is time. Whether it is to show up and support or to actually do service, I do feel it when I give of my time. There is always a large handful of things I could be doing, most of them good things. So how and where do I decide to share of my time?

substance = time

Pres. Utchdorf said something similar: Love is spelled T. I. M. E.

Alma 37:28

Alma 37:28
Applicable for today.

For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed.

A new verse I would add to Alma 33: 5-10

Yea, O God, thou dists hear me when I did cry unto you in my car, for that is the only place I am alone. And thou hast been merciful until me as a whined unto thee about all the challenges of my life. ANd thou hast showed me a better way.