Sunday Share

We had Stake Conference this weekend, which is basically when a large group of LDS churches in the area who share a leader come together and hear the leaders speak.  This conference, we were reorganized and got a new leader, so there were General Authorities (leaders over the whole church) who came down to do interviews before they decided who the new leaders would be. 

Anyway, one of the General Authorities (Elder Ringwood of the First Quorum of the Seventies, I believe) was speaking about the tests and trials that we go through, and it got me to thinking about something in particular.  Think about Abraham being required to sacrifice his son Isaac and what a terrible requirement that would be.  Why would God require that?  I think that question can elicit some important thoughts about the way God works.

Abraham had very nearly been sacrificed to an idol by his own father and was saved by Jehovah on the altar.  He must have had some serious concerns about human sacrifice.  Still, his faith was such that when God required, he did as he was asked.  We know God spared Isaac and did not require his death, instead providing a ram.  If He wasn't going to require Isaac's death, why would he require Abraham to do that?

One answer is this: God needed to know that Abraham would do it.  That's possible, but I think God already knew.  He knows the intents of our hearts.  He knew that if He asked it, Abraham would obey.  So why would He ask it?

Another answer that satisfied me until recently was this: God wanted Abraham to know it.  This is probably true.  God knew that Abraham would obey, even sacrificing the cherished son he had waited all his life to have if God asked it of him.  Abraham, though, needed to know that he would obey God in all things, even the hard things; especially the hard things.  That's a good answer, and I think a true answer, but I think not the whole answer.

Yesterday at conference, my thoughts were directed to the passage in Alma in which the wicked are casting the wives and children of the believers into a fire:

10  And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.


11  But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

Alma and Amulek had the power of God, and God could have stopped this tragedy, but He did not.  Again, many ask why God allows such wickedness to occur.  I know it pains God to watch His children suffer and to watch his children cause suffering.  Sometimes, though, God allows the wicked to perform wickedness so that they may be held accountable for their crimes. 

Similarly, I think God must allow people to overcome great trials and show great faith.  In his willingness to sacrifice his greatest treasure to the Lord, Abraham shows his faith in the Lord.  Just like the wicked who burned the women and children will be punished, Abraham now has the opportunity to be blessed.  He will be rewarded for his faith and obedience.

All of us have trials and tests that we must overcome in our lives.  Few of us will be asked to sacrifice our children, but our tests will be personal and difficult.  Instead of asking how God could allow this to happen, remember that there are great rewards in store for us when we overcome.  Follow the example of Job, never giving in and cursing God in his great trials.  Once he made it through to the other side of his test, the Lord blessed him more than he was able to imagine.

Your Puter a Splode

That's what Homestar Runner would say about what happened last night. 

My computer restarted for no fathomable reason while I was in the middle of doing something.  Then, after I let it reboot, it did it again.  This time, though, it would only load in safe mode.  Then, it did it again.  This time it wouldn't start up at all.  Finally, it refused to turn on any more.  So, I'm short a desktop.  This doesn't make me as upset as it should, because I have been a part of a writing group.  All of the work I've done thus far on my novels has been emailed out to my group every week.  Thanks to the wonderful properties of Gmail, I have copies of my works at every chapter. 

I've also uploaded all of my pictures to Picasa, so I didn't lose them either.  I did lose about 500 words on two separate novels, but I can handle that.  If I'd lost the whole novel thus far, I think I might have a heart attack.  So thanks, Writing Group, for making me back my work up.

I read Anthem by Ayn Rand yesterday.  It's pretty short, only 100 ish pages of a paperback.  It took me less than an hour, but it was very good.  If you haven't read it, I recommend it.

 I've also read The Fountainhead by the same author, which has similar themes.  Ayn Rand writes about collectivism and why it destroys your soul.  Her religious views are very different than mine, but I find it interesting that our moral and political stances are very similar.

S'mores

Well, I was able to teach at school today with my actual voice, so plus.
By the end of the day, I had a killer migraine.  Minus.

In the end, I think the minus was bigger.  I laid on the couch all afternoon trying not to die while still watching my kids.  They were not happy at trying so hard to be quiet, and I was miserable because the littlest noise was like a drill in my skull.  So, didn't make great food today, didn't have a daily adventure, and didn't bother getting dressed into decent clothes.  Although, we did make s'mores in the microwave as 'dessert' tonight.  Real healthy, I know.  At least that part was fun.

Meanwhile, I have to go do some laundry to prevent going to work tomorrow naked.

Soccer and Dune

Well, first things first.
I managed to stick to the meal plan pretty well, but I never did get around to making cookies.  I did the dishes and picked up some laundry.  I felt like I did a lot of cleaning, but I guess it wasn't that much.
Our Daily Adventure today was playing soccer.  Strawberry did not understand that you don't pick up the ball in soccer.  Pea was not happy about this.

Tonight was Family Night, and we played a round of Rummikub, or Number Squares as Pea calls it.
Farmboy got to ride in a helicopter at work, and he told Pea all about his adventures.  She can't wait until she grows up so she can ride in a helicopter, too.
My voice is slowly but surely coming back.
We sang verse 2 of Nephi's Courage and read about Nephi building a boat.

Ah, yes. I have also started reading Dune by Frank Herbert.  Review to follow in the next week or two.

What I'm cooking this week

Okay, Round One of What We're Eating:

Here is my menu for the week:

We shall see how this goes this week!

Sunday Share

Today Farmboy and I read from several sections that were about charity.  We stopped for a while to talk about Paul's comments in 1 Corinthians 13.  

3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the ^apoor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

We're pretty familiar with the treatment on charity later in the chapter, but verse three is interesting in its own right.  If you were to ask 10 random people what 'charity' means, probably at least 8 or 9 would say 'giving things to people who are poor' or something to that effect.  Paul clearly states here, though, that giving things to people is not charity.

You can give all your goods to the poor, you can sacrifice your life for someone, but if you don't have charity, then it doesn't matter.  

What a statement.  If that isn't good enough, then what is?

The answer is found in  Moroni 7:47:

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Charity is the pure love of Christ.  We must love others the way Christ does.  Not the way we love ourselves, not the way we want to be loved, but the way that Christ loves them.  That is a tall order, friends. 

I pray that I may and each of you may be able to love those around us the way that Christ loves.

This is MY story

This is MY story, and I'm the best one to tell it.

Setting: 
Middle-of-Nowhere, Arizona, near Yuma.

Characters:
Liz - Mother of two, wife, high school teacher, writer
Farmboy - Engineer, raised to a farming family
Pea - 4 year old princess whose brain runs a mile a minute
Strawberry - Almost 2 year old

Plot:
I've decided to make some changes in my life and think this would be a great place to document them.

The way we eat:  We eat way too much junk food.  Unhealthy, fatty, sugary foods.  Eating out because we're too tired to cook.  Well, this is going to change.  Sundays I'll post my goal menu, each day I'll post what we actually did.

The way I look:  I don't always take time to make myself look decent.  Therefore, I'll be taking a picture of myself every day so that I can make sure I put forth some effort.

My organization and cleanliness:  For those of you who have seen my house, it's a disaster zone.  If you haven't seen it, I promise you don't want to.  Wednesday will be the weekly report on the house.

Learning activities:  I have a tendency to let the girls watch TV instead of interacting with them.  We are going to have a Daily Adventure, whether big or small, that is just me and the girls doing something together.

Spirituality:  I often put off my spiritual development.  No longer.  Expect a daily thought about something I've read or learned that day.