Constantly Raining

After several years of significant drought, our area has received much needed and appreciated rain this spring. It has been a joy to pull the umbrella out of the closet and use it as I dash in and out running errands. As I snapped it up the other day, I found myself thinking about a beautiful rain analogy that President Dieter F. Uchtdorf used as he spoke to the women of the Church last fall. He said:

"Part of our challenge is, I think, that we imagine that God has all of His blessings locked in a huge cloud up in heaven, refusing to give them to us unless we comply with some strict, paternalistic requirements He has set up. But the commandments aren’t like that at all. In reality, Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us.

His commandments are the loving instructions and the divine help for us to close the umbrella so we can receive the shower of heavenly blessings." (Living the Gospel Joyful)

Since then, I have tried to keep my umbrella closed and be more aware of and grateful for the many wonderful blessing that my loving Heavenly Father rains down on me.

Marilyn

who is loving the sunshine today

Grateful For...

Sometimes on Thanksgiving, the thing I am most thankful for is the first Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry, Merry Christmas.

-Elin
Who can't imagine what it would be like to have a baby in a stable...

Live in Thanksgiving Daily

Ten Lepers, by James Christensen
"This painting is about gratitude, about recognizing the gifts of the Savior in our lives on a daily basis," Christensen explains. "I think we too often fail to realize the blessings that He gives us and, even in our excitement to take advantage of our good fortune, we forget to acknowledge the source of all good things in our lives."

I have had some glum days recently and have been trying to figure out how to pick myself out of the gloom. I don't even have a reason right now to feel sad! Things are going well. So since we are now officially headed towards the "holiday season," the "most wonderful time of the year", I decided to try to cultivate a little more gratitude in my life and see if that will take the gloom right out of me. As I have been reading and learning about gratitude, two things specifically have stuck out to me. The first is this:

Recognizing blessings from Heavenly Father in our life and then thanking Him for them brings more blessings and miracles into our life.

The prophet, Thomas S. Monson, mentions this principle as he tells the story of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes (Matthew 15:13-28) in this talk.

“And [Jesus] commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

“And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”

Notice that the Savior gave thanks for what they had—and a miracle followed: “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.”

That, to me, is a beautiful thing. The more we recognize and give thanks, the more we find we have to be thankful for in our lives. And the more miracles we see.

The second principle of gratitude that keeps appearing as I study what it really means to "live in thanksgiving daily" (Alma 34:38) is that gratitude makes you glorious. It fills your life and you, yourself, with light and love--and it's contagious. (see D&C 78:19, Alma 26, this, and this)

The best visual example of this idea of gratitude making us glorious is the way George Bailey looks and acts in the last few minutes of the movie It's a Wonderful Life. Sure, he is a bit frenzied in the way he expresses his gratitude--but boy is he full of life and light and just watching him makes me happier.

-Elin
Whose experiment to live in thanksgiving daily and get out of the gloom began 2 days ago. I have had one glorious day and one not so great day. These things take practice, right?

"The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!" President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th Edition

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Sufficiency

I am a chocoholic, but not just any old chocoholic: I am a very discriminating one. For example, chocolate ice cream? Take it or leave it. Chocolate chip cookies? Take, every time. Chocolate chip cookies are my passion.

Over the years I have gathered several magnificent chocolate chip cookie recipes. Believe me, there are some gems out there. Nevertheless, my CCC receptors are highly sensitized to new ones and I am constantly on the prowl.

Funny thing, however, about chocolate-chip cookies and me: one is never enough. And since they are never found under the “Healthy Food” section of books or blogs, that is not a good thing. Sometimes--OK, frequently--I get a hankering for one, and I make a batch thinking, "I'll be good; I only need one." And one is never sufficient. Ever. I don't know if I've ever eaten ONLY ONE fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie in my life. Ever.

If I could have only one dessert the rest of my life, I would beg it be warm chocolate chip cookies.

One of these is never sufficient.

I would be much healthier (and lighter) if I could convince myself that one cookie is enough. One is sufficient. 

Let’s talk about “sufficient.” To suffice means “to be enough; to be equal to the end proposed.” Now let’s talk about “sufficient” in a much more important arena than chocolate chip cookies.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that God sent us to earth without him in order to learn, grow and prove ourselves worthy of returning to his presence. However, even though we are separated from him, God, like every great parent, still wants to be part of our lives, wants to guide and direct and help us as appropriate. He sends all sorts of help our direction: scriptures, prophets, Christ’s original church, saintly people, and personal inspiration, to name a few helps. 

Sometimes in this testing period we sometimes think we need more, and sometimes we’re correct: we need more help, more wisdom, more strength, more resources.  But sometimes, even though we want more, we have, in fact, been given enough.

Sufficient.

The “end proposed” by our Heavenly Father is us back with him, tried, tested, improved and worthy. He offers to help us along the way, but sometimes the best thing he can do is help us understand that we have been given sufficient for our needs. 

When we learn that lesson, we have grown and become, in one aspect of our lives, more like him. Which is “the end proposed.”

--Miriam

Who has a two-year supply of chocolate chips in her storage room