woodedcove

[woodedcove]

A Better Me

Years ago I was told by a young man whom I had a crush on that I had a lot of problems. And it was true. Physical, mental, emotional, I had a gaggle of about a bazillion problems. Still do, though maybe not quite as many as I had then. I’d like to think that I’ve worked through a few. But back then, this news was devastating. How was I ever going to get married? Who would want a person with so many problems? How was I ever going to find someone to share my life with if all men could see in me were my problems? There had to be a solution and I had to find it. So, I set out on a quest to find the solution to my problems and to make a better me.

I tried therapy, I read self-help books, and I spent oodles of dollars and time delving into my past to find the reason why I was such a mess. I explored my psyche and my past, I tried conventional therapy and new age and pretty much anything that was under the sun that the world had to offer. What did I learn? I was messed because of the way I was raised, or because of something a teacher did to me in front of a class, or because I was bullied at school or because of the way women were portrayed in the media. Seriously, there were so many things that I could point to and say “this is what did it” that I would never run out of excuses for my behavior or shortcomings. What I learned was if I spend all my time blaming others and excusing myself, I won’t have the ability or even the time to learn how to change. All I did during this period of self-examination was drag up events that happened in my life that made me feel angry, bitter, and helpless. It was more depressing to go through this process than to just live with my problems. Only one person, in all my searching, helped me find ways to cope with some of my problems so that I could function better. It helped, but it didn’t solve or cure my problems. that person just gave me some workarounds.

See, the trouble with talking to someone else about my problems is they only have the information I give them according to what I remember of my experiences. But what if my memory is inaccurate or tainted by some of my other experiences. Then the person trying to help me will only have faulty information to go on. And while I have given that person events as I perceived them, there still may be elements of the truth that aren’t brought to light, elements that could help change my perspective. If I don’t relate any of that information to the therapist then the therapist won’t have all the information needed to help me. And again, I could spend forever digging around trying to find all the junk that made me what I am and never get around to doing something that would help me be a better me.

There is only one who knows me better than anyone: Jesus Christ. He knows me through and through, even better than I know myself. He is the only one truly in the position to help me and heal me.

But how does He do it?

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a man named Boyd K. Packard, an Apostle of the Lord, said this.

“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.

“The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior, ... that is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel.”

When I was fourteen years of age, my family was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The missionaries taught my family that we had a pre-mortal life and we are all spirit children of God. Though this rang true to me, really believing that I was a beloved spirit child of God, and someone who was precious in His sight, has taken a long time to sink in. It has been hard to imagine that God would even want to claim someone like me, a kid who often did things wrong, was yelled at, was bullied, was passed-over or ignored, and never seemed to meet anyone’s expectations. Why would God want to claim me as a child?

But as I have slowly allowed Heavenly Father to be my Father, and to be the one I look too when I’m struggling to overcome something or to heal from some hurt I’m feeling, I have begun to understand that my Father in Heaven’s love is the kind of caring, lifting, encouraging and supportive love that we all desire to have from our parents and those around us. I also have learned that the expectations of my parents or others are no longer expectations I need to fulfill. I am freed from these expectations because there is only one that I truly want to please: my Father in Heaven.

Understanding that we are spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father is one of those doctrines that, if understood, can change behavior. Knowing that I have a loving Heavenly Father who is gentle with me and loves me changes my behavior toward myself as well as toward others. It is humbling and it gives me a greater love for my Heavenly Father and my Savior.

Then comes the next step. The Savior told us “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)  So If I want to show my Heavenly Father and Savior that I truly love them, I’ll work on learning and then keeping the Savior’s commandments. These are more doctrines that when understood will change my behavior.

Some have mistakenly believed that the commandments given to us by God are too restrictive, or that they are man-made. Some feel that they’re an arbitrary set of rules that can be set aside whenever the commandment doesn’t suit them, and some even seem to wonder how a God who has no idea of what it is like to be a human being could have the right to require us to keep commandments that He has never had to keep himself, (which is a topic for an entirely different discussion). But may I suggest to any who have felt or believed any of the aforementioned that you might be missing the point? Keeping the commandments requires a change in behavior. As I feel love for my Savior and my Heavenly Father and try my best to keep the commandments my Savior has given me, I invite the Spirit to be with me always. And when I have His Spirit with me, then my Savior, the one who has not only atoned for all my mistakes and sins, but has taken on himself all of my pain, my sorrows, my hurt, and my problems, can begin to heal me, to change me, to rid me of my problems. That is when He can make me into that new person, that better person that I desire to be.

Trying to live by Christ’s commandments over the years has helped me become more patient, less self-centered, more caring of others, more disciplined, and more even-tempered. And, wouldn’t you know it? Some of the problems that I used to have, just don’t seem to bother me anymore. Not that I’ve consciously worked on them, but because the Lord has quietly been healing me until those problems are no longer a part of who I am.

So if you have problems that you would like to overcome, come to Christ, learn of His love for you, and then learn to show Him love in return by keeping His commandments. And when someone tells you, or when you are tempted to feel that the commandments God has given are too restrictive or too hard to follow, remember that by keeping these commandments you are changing your habits. You are handing the Lord the thread that will slowly unravel all those knots of pain, sorrow, anger, and hurt, you are giving Him the ability to reach in and heal you. He is the only one who knows all the truth about you and therefore knows how to heal you. That is why he gave us commandments to follow! To help us work on changing ourselves while He works on healing us so that we can change.

[woodedcove]

Acknowledging and Remembering the Miracle of Hobble Creek

Pressed Flowers by Yoshi Miyagi, a sweet neighbor from Hobble Creek

Hobble Creek is a beautiful canyon in Utah that lies just beyond the small town of Springville. Filled with Maples, Boxelders, Aspens, and Utah Junipers, this small canyon is a glorious place to view the fall colors while listening to the thrum of crickets. The days in September still carry the last vestiges of the summer warmth but the chill in the evening air holds the promise of the impending winter. I had the joy of buying my first home up in Hobble Creek. When Dave and I got married, we lived in that little home, worked on fixing it up, and truly enjoyed that peaceful, beautiful canyon.

Yesterday, through Facebook, we found out that our beloved canyon was on fire. With the temperatures in the 90’s, (unusually warm for September), and a hot, brisk wind blowing, the fire spread quickly up the canyon and grew so fast that everyone in the canyon, about 500 households, were told they needed to evacuate immediately. Dave and I sat up until 1:00 am EST and watched as things in the canyon went from bad to worse. Finally, we prayed aloud a fervent prayer for all those people, many of whom we know. In the prayer, we prayed for rain and cooling temperatures, and all those conditions that would help the firefighters put the fire out.

When we woke this morning, we read on Facebook the most amazing thing. Around 2:00 am MST it started to rain and the temperature there had dropped so dramatically that there was snow on top of the mountains just above where many of the people in the canyon live. The fire was all but out, those who live in the canyon were safe, and, as far as I know, not a single structure was burned. This was a true, bonafide miracle. It was an answer to the prayers of hundreds of people and it showed that our Heavenly Father is there for us. He loves us and He wants to help and protect us.

I was going to write about something else this week, but I decided to write about this because I want to remember this blessing, this prayer that has been answered, this miracle. It’s so important for us to acknowledge to the Lord that we recognize His hand in our lives and so important to remember what He has done for us. Not because we may offend our all-powerful God if we don’t, but because remembering what the Lord has done for us gives us sturdy ground to stand on when we feel shaken in our faith or when our commitment wavers. Remembering the precious blessings the Lord has given us, those miracles that came in times of need, reminds us of the love our Savior and our Father in Heaven have for us. Remembering makes it easier to be patient when going through a trial. It allows us to ponder the timing of the Lord and marvel at his compassion and grace.

In the Book of Mormon there was a sign given to the Nephites to help them know when the Savior was born. There would be a day, a night, and another day that would be as if it were all one day. The sun would set but it would still be light all through the night and into the next day. When it happened the people were amazed. But they quickly forgot this sign and in about nine years were in a horrible mess again.

The children of Israel were told to celebrate the Passover in remembrance of a miracle that saved their first born sons. Nephi often remembered the miracles that freed the Israelites from the Pharaoh. Helaman taught his sons, saying: “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your your foundation”, and a Spencer W. Kimball, a modern day prophet, often spoke of the the word “remember” being the most important word in the dictionary. 

It's so important to remember the many ways that our Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to keep a journal. Maybe this is the reason why.

#Miracles #Remember #Heavenly Father #Love

[woodedcove]

Check Your Source

I wonder how many people who believe in God still believe that there is also a devil. And if they do, do they recognize when he might be working on them? There is so much anger and hatred in the world today that I feel the need to remember that there is one who loves to encourage these negative emotions in us and it isn’t God.

What helps me is to recognize who may be influencing some of my thoughts and feelings. Certain thoughts and feelings are more likely to be from God, such as charitable thoughts. A thought or desire to do something for someone, to help someone or to be kind to someone, without receiving anything in return, is a thought I can trust has come from God. He is the one that inspires charity, love, kindness, selflessness, and caring.

Thoughts of hope, faith, willingness to try, or feelings of humility or joy are also from God. Indeed, Paul wrote, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...” (Gal 5:22-23)

Moroni wrote some of the words his father, Mormon, had spoken which further clarified the way to tell if something is from God. He wrote:

“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge, for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

"But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” (Moroni 7:16-17)

Something revelatory for me was realizing that Satan cannot do good. Some seem to think that he could or would do something good to lead a person to something bad, but that isn't the case. The Savior told us that a house divided against itself can not stand (Matthew 12:25). Satan not only has no desire to lead someone to do good, but he can’t lead someone to do good. Not if he wants to achieve his goal. His goal is to make us miserable like himself and ultimately he wants to destroy us. Why on earth would he take the chance of leading us towards something good if it might lead to our salvation? Doing good invites the Spirit of God. If Satan led us towards doing something good he would lose power over us. It is not his desire nor is it in his nature to lead us to do good.

The same is true of our Savior. He would never lead us to do something that would risk our salvation. His whole desire is to save us and give us the marvelous gift of eternal life! Then why would he lead us to contend with our neighbor, rage at the TV news, or argue over political candidates, religious beliefs, or anything else? Why would he inspire us to put others down, call them names or belittle them? The answer is: the Lord wouldn’t. The Lord would never lead us to treat our neighbor with less love and respect than we would hope to receive ourselves. He would never instill in us a feeling of envy or jealousy. He would never fill our hearts with rage, fear, or discouragement. And He would most certainly never invoke the kind of pride that demands one to be acknowledged as the one that is right no matter what. No. The Lord would never do this. But Satan would. The Savior said in 3 Nephi 11:29

“For Verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

“Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.”

I have to wonder what would happen if everyone stopped and thought about who was influencing their angry thoughts and feelings? We want to think that all our thoughts and feelings are all our own. But how many times have you had a thought go through your head and then wondered “where did that come from”? Satan is clever and often speaks in our own voice. But remember his only purpose is to stir up contention, hatred, and every other negative thought or feeling so that he can lead us down to becoming miserable, even like himself.

I know that there is also the temptation to feel justified in our anger, because someone did something to us, or because we feel that we’re the ones that are right and it’s the other person that is wrong. But in 3 Nephi 6:13 Mormon wrote:

“Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God.”

The word “railing”, as used in this sense, means “to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings.” It also has many synonyms. Some of them are: berate, chastise, chew out, lecture, rag, rant, ream, rebuke, reprimand, reproach, scold, and upbraid. And the reason some would return “railing for railing”? Pride!

So the next time we feel a set of emotions rise up in us, or we have a train of thought running through our minds, do as the Lord has told us to do. “Look unto Me in every thought, ...” and then let us ask ourselves, “does this lead me to think of Christ and to believe in Him. Or does it take me further away from Him? If it is taking us further away, then it comes from the wrong source and we should drop those thoughts and run away as fast as we can!

One last thing: please understand, I have not written these words so they can be used as a weapon against someone that is deemed to be an enemy or at fault in any way. I have written them to be used as a guide for self-examination. The Lord has told us not to judge those around us. Why? I have found that when I am willing to honestly examine myself, I will see that I have been guilty of the same, or at least a very similar, sin. This makes sense when you think of it. Otherwise, how would it be fair for us to receive the same judgment with which we have judged? As the old saying goes: It takes one to know one. Instead, let us practice the wise Proverb, " A soft answer turneth away wrath ..." (Proverbs 15:1) Perhaps if we do this there will be a lot less anger and hatred in the world.

The beautiful photos for this post are provided by my Sweetheart, Dave Hogan

#Good #Evil #God #Jesus Christ #devil #emotions #negative #positive #thoughts #feelings #discerning #Scriptures

[woodedcove]

Coincidence or Miracle?

At the beginning of my third year at CalArts, I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to afford the fourth year. I needed to graduate at the end of the year and get a job. This was in the late 1980s. The places to work in animation at that time were Disney, Marvel, DIC, and Film Roman. There were some small commercial houses but I wasn’t aware of them at the time. There were also places to work in Korea or possibly Japan. But there weren’t any gaming studios and computer animation was still in its infancy. So, jobs were limited and not easy to come by.

I was worried. I had a lot of school loans I would need to pay back after leaving CalArts and, without a job, making payments was going to be pretty hard to do. So I prayed about it. In my prayer, I told Heavenly Father, “Please, I will work as hard as I possibly can this year. Please, will you get me a job at the end of the year?” I admit, deep in my heart I said: “at Disney’”. That was where I really wanted to work, but I figured I shouldn’t be picky when asking for divine intervention. I wanted to be willing to take whatever job the Lord would give me.

Before I go any further in my story, let me explain a few things. At CalArts, students were expected to start and complete their own personal film every year so that by the time they graduated, they would have made four films. This meant that the student would have to come up with a story, design the characters, storyboard their idea, draw all the backgrounds, record voices and sound effects, splice the soundtrack together, do something called “read” the sound which was a way to transfer dialog to a sheet of paper so the animator could sync the mouth movements of the character to the dialog. Then the student would animate the characters and, on a special camera called an Oxberry, shoot the animation one frame at a time on to 16mm film. These bits of film would then be spliced together and made to sync up with the sound by using a machine called a flatbed. The final step was to send your sound reel and your picture reel out to a compositing company to have the sound and picture put together as one film. It was a lot of work. Most of the students found themselves living in their cubicles by the time the composite deadline came. Some wouldn’t complete their films but would get their films composited anyway. Then at the end of the year, they could put their films in the CalArts Producer’s show. Producers, animators, and directors from anywhere in the US would be invited to the show and this was how many students had their work seen and received their first jobs.

Now back to my story. After having prayed, I got to work. But a lot of things went wrong that year. The new Director of the Animation Program, Bob Winquist, had decided that unless the student's film was completely finished, he was not going to show it in the Producer’s Show. But that year my story ideas just weren’t working. When I finally thought I had my story figured out I showed it to my animation teacher who told me that he wasn't interested until I introduced a little kitten towards the end of the story. He encouraged me to build my story around the cat and the main character, a burglar. That night, while walking back to my dorm room, I just so happened to see a couple of upperclassmen, Bruce and Russ, and we had an impromptu story meeting right in the parking lot. The story was rewritten on the spot. The next day I boarded it out and started working on character designs.

My next challenge was to find a voice for my burglar. Several weeks went by and but I couldn't find a voice for the character. Then one evening, my animation teacher did an imitation of the character he was animating at work. I knew the instant I heard his voice that it was the one I was looking for. The next day I got up the courage to call my teacher at work and ask him if he would be willing to record the voice of my character. He agreed and that night, me and a couple other students got together with him and he recorded the voice in one complete take. It was perfect! He added so much to the character and I could just see what the animation needed to be in my head. I sent the recording out with all the other student's recorded sound to be put on 16 mm mag. But when everyone’s sound came back, mine wasn’t there. I had checked it before I sent it out. The recording was perfect. But somewhere between the school, the transfer place and back, my sound had been lost. I had to call my animation teacher and ask him if he would be willing to come back in and re-record the sound. He did, but this time it just wasn’t the same. To make it worse, I kept trying to get my animation teacher to give the same performance he did the first time by reminding him of what did or said. Well, that just ended up getting him really frustrated. After five or six takes he was ready to leave. That was when it came to me to ask him to forget everything I had said and do just one more take but have fun with it. He did and the take was perfect.

I don’t remember how the first semester and part of the second had flown by so quickly. I remember that I animated like a fiend the last month or so of the school year, I remember shooting the animation on the gigantic Oxberry camera in the middle of the night and I remember reading all my sound during spring break. I remember working and reworking my animation as my teacher critiqued it. (My animation teacher looked at one shot I had done, then set it aside and said “let’s start over”. Sadness. ) I remember the composite deadline looming over me and then passing me by and I was still nowhere near done. I was discouraged. How was I going to get a job now? My film wasn’t complete and so it wouldn’t be in the Producer’s Show. I thought about giving up. But when I had prayed, I had told Heavenly Father I would work as hard as I could. So I clung to that and kept working though it looked like no one would ever see my film.

A couple of weeks after the composite deadline, and just a couple days before the Producer’s Show, while everyone else was taking a well-deserved break, I was still busting my butt, working on the flatbed, piecing my film together. The Associate Director of the Animation Program, Dale MacBeath, just so happened to walk by outside the flatbed room and heard me working. He came in and asked what I was working on. I rewound my little film and played it for him. He seemed kind of touched by it. He told me to wait there, he would be right back. When he came back, he had the director of the animation program, Bob Winquist, with him. They asked me to play my film again, so I did. The director of the animation program liked it so much that he decided the film had to be in the Producer’s Show. I told him that I had missed the composite deadline and my film still wasn’t done. I didn’t know how they would be able to include it in the show. In the same room was a pencil testing machine that had a huge old video camera on it. Dale grabbed the video camera and videoed my little film off the tiny screen on the flatbed. My film was shown in the Producer’s Show and I was invited to apply for an internship at Disney that summer because of it. I threw together a portfolio in one night, sent it to Disney, and that was how I got my first job.

There were quite a few “just so happens” that happened that year. Dale “just so happened to see my film and tell Bob about it. I "just so happened" to run into Bruce and Russ in the parking lot and have an impromptu story meeting. My animation teacher just so happened to have the voice I needed and the performance abilities I needed for my film. But one of the biggest just so happens was the animation teacher I had that year was Glen Keane, who just so happened to be one of the finest animators in the industry. A talented and knowledgeable man the Lord provided for me for just that one year. As far as I know, Glen, though he has since given many inspiring lectures, has not taught a full class again. I was one of the very few that received the full benefit of having him as my animation teacher for a year.

The Lord knew what I needed, and knew what it would take to get me where I needed to go. What’s more, I think it was the place the Lord wanted me to go at that time as well. He knew even before I prayed, what I would pray for. Perhaps He even inspired me with what to pray. I was able to pay off my school loans and work in the animation industry for the next ten years because the Lord gave me these blessings, these ”just so happens”. It took me a while to recognize that those "just so happens" were actually God's miracles, giving me the help and guidance that I needed in order for him to answer my prayers. I can’t express my gratitude enough for what he had done. 

Have you had any "just so happens" in your life? If so, take a closer look and you may see the hand of God working in your life as well. If you do, bow your head and give Him a prayer of gratitude!

P.S. Yep I’m in all of these pictures. Good luck finding me!

#Miracles #coincidence #answered prayers

[woodedcove]

Let Your Light So Shine!

I knew a young woman who had Muscular Dystrophy. At an early age, she had to have surgery to place a rod along the entire length of her spine to help her sit up straight. By the time I came to know her, she was completely confined to a wheelchair. Breathing was difficult for her and she would often take short breaths to finish a sentence. Reaching for things was impossible. She didn’t have the strength to hold her arms out in front of her. She had to have help getting in and out of her wheelchair. She needed help with the simple things we take for granted, like showering, putting a frozen dinner in the microwave, or getting in or out of a car. Her muscles were so weak that she couldn’t do just the basic things necessary to take care of herself.

And yet, she was a happy person. Bubbly and beautiful and full of life, she was a great listener and fun to be around. I’m sure she had her share of hard days. We all do and she was no different. But one thing she did that particularly impressed me was that she exercised. She knew that the best she could ever hope for was to slow the progression of the disease she suffered, yet she still tried. I found this to be one of the most amazing things about this young woman.  I was so impressed and inspired by her willingness to fight the uphill battle against her unbeatable foe.

We all have some battle we’re fighting, some relentless foe that hacks at us until we are down on our knees and desperate for help. We all have weaknesses to overcome or struggles that we’ve gone through again and again and again. None of us are perfect. That is the reason that we so desperately need our Savior, Jesus Christ. What I have told you here is just one small encapsulation of a wonderful young woman’s life. A short story that only a few people know but we're inspired by. I know she certainly inspired me.

Another person who has inspired me is my Mom. Mom was a very beautiful woman, but she had a very hard life. She suffered from depression along with other health problems. Our poverty didn’t help her situation. It can be very difficult to live with someone who has clinical depression and yet when I look back on what my Mom had to go through I am amazed. I know I could never go through the trials she faced. Her life was mostly devoid of hope. But there were things that she did that I will never forget. I remember a winter when migrant workers were harvesting oranges in the orchard surrounding our house. One of the young men working outside our hall window had no socks. Even though we had very little ourselves, Mom found a pair of socks and gave them to him. I remember her sewing clothes for my sister and me late into the night. She often gave up buying new clothes for herself to make sure my sister and I had something to wear. I remember her budgeting what money we had and making meals out of practically nothing. Mom also had an ulceration on her ankle for years that caused her a great deal of pain yet she still managed to smile and laugh and many times do things without a word of complaint. Mom’s willingness to press forward even with health issues and pain was an inspiration to me. This didn’t mean that all her days were bright and sunny. With depression, she had many dark days. She had a lot of struggles, but there are still many times when I can look to the memory of my mom and see things that are truly admirable and inspirational.

I know a lady from church who, as soon as Covid-19 emerged in the state of Virginia, started making masks to hand out to people in need. To date, she has made and handed out over 560 masks. How cool is that?!

I was reading a post written on Facebook by one of my former students. As I read the comments (Also from former students) on her post, I found myself yet again learning from them. I can’t tell you how many times I have learned more from my students than I could ever teach. They are an inspiration to me and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to share in their lives even for just a little while. One student in particular who has shown stunning faith has inspired me to change my whole outlook in trusting the Lord to take care of me, for which I will be eternally grateful.

I

 have been writing some of my stories, things that I’ve gone through and the lessons I’ve learned because I hope that somehow they will inspire others. It isn’t because I’ve lived a perfect life or know what to do in every situation. I’ve done a lot of stupid things and participated in my fair share of rebelling against the light of God. I am not a saint and deserve no adulation. The dark days I write about are seen with the perspective of hindsight. During the times I was living them, I certainly didn’t see anything inspirational or admirable in my experience. The reason why I say this is because I want whoever is reading to know that you are writing your story right now. All the pain, suffering, or misfortune you go through are just plot points in a larger story. Whether the story ends as a tragedy or a triumph is still up to you. But the epiphanies, the things you learn that lead you towards our Heavenly Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, those things can be shining lights in an ever-darkening world. Be willing to share those insights, those lessons you've learned. We so badly need those lights shining on the hills to help others see their way. Don’t wait, thinking you’re not good enough or you have nothing to say. We have so much negative in the world today, so many angry posts, so much negative media about the things we feel need to be fixed in the world. Why not post something positive, something beautiful, something edifying and uplifting? You have the ability to do so. Go out and flood the internet with something good, unifying, peaceful, something that shows kindness, hope, and light. The Lord has told us to let our light shine. Let us trust Him and be the shining lights for all the world to see!

#Inspiration #uplifting #Jesus Christ #Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints #God #Life

[woodedcove]

All These Things Will Give Thee Experience

This abstract was given to us by a wonderful friend and hangs on our living room wall. Unfortunately I don’t know who it was painted by.

The past couple of days I’ve been having problems with Trigeminal Neuralgia. Some have described this pain as one of the most severe that a human can suffer. I don’t know if that’s true but I can say it doesn’t feel good. Imagine a Kitchen Aide mixer scrambling your brain while a cattle prod polks your face, now imagine it happening at random moments throughout the day and you’ll have the idea. I’ve struggled with this pain off and on for the last two and a half years. It could be a complication of  Ankylosing Spondylitis or a side effect of the neck surgery I had a couple of years ago. It also could have developed all on its own.

So why, on top of all the other forms of pain that I experience, do I have this? Perhaps some might think God is angry with me because of something I've done. Others might wonder how I can believe in God when the things that have happened in my life has been so unfair. I’ve had one person tell me once that all my trials had made her lose faith in God. But my faith in a loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ allows me to have hope and teaches me humility. Let me explain.

Faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a wonderful thing. It is a miracle. But the miracle doesn't end with Christ's resurrection. Jesus Christ suffered and died so that we may live again. That's so amazing that words just don't cover it. My faith in Jesus Christ teaches me that I will live again and I will be pain-free. My body will be restored to me but it will be renewed and perfected, with no Crohn’s, or Ankylosing Spondylitis or Trigeminal Neuralgia. I will be able to turn my neck. I’ll be able to run and I won’t be fatigued all the time. My body will be able to regulate itself and hot summers and cold winters won't bother me anymore. What's more is I will be able to be with my loved ones, hold them, talk with them, and share eternity with them. All of this gives me great hope and that hope carries me through the hard times.

But how does pain teach me humility?

Job was a righteous man, yet he lost everything; his children, his property and his health. Even his friends turned against him and his wife told him to curse God and die. But when Job finally did complain to the Lord, the Lord said to him:

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding.

“Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

“Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof?

“When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)

Job repented and humbly replied " ... I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me which I knew not." (Job 42:3) In the end, the Lord blessed Job with more than he had in the beginning. 

Sometimes, though we’ve been trying to do everything we can to be good people and  to live according to God’s commandments, things still go wrong. But Our Heavenly Father sees the big picture. He knows the experiences we need to help us reach our full potential. 

Another example is Joseph Smith. From the time that he saw a vision of the Father and the Son, he was persecuted. Joseph was beaten and thrown in jail without cause, he was tarred and feathered several times, and  he was dragged from his home and had poison shoved down his throat. All of this persecution would have stopped if he had simply said that the vision he had and the Book of Mormon were lies, but he never did. And because he refused to deny what he knew to be true, he was thrown again into jail where he, his brother and two other men were kept for four months during the coldest part of the Missouri winter. Finally, in Joseph’s darkest moment he pled with the Lord:

“Oh God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covered thy hiding place?

“How long shall thy hand be stayed and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?” (121: 1-2)

The Lord’s reply to Joseph was:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121: 7-8)

The Lord reminded Joseph that he was not yet as Job because his friends hadn’t turned against him. Then the Lord instructed Joseph with words I have clung to throughout all my life. He said:

“If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;

“If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;

“And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

“The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (Doctrine and Covenants 122: 5-8)

The prophet leader Benjamin explained to his people what Christ would suffer for us this way:

“And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than a man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and abominations of his people” (Mosiah 3:7)

And Christ himself described the suffering He went through while offering His atoning sacrifice this way:

“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit - and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink -

“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19)

I have gained a lot of experience in this life even as the Lord told Joseph he would, through the things that I’ve gone through. And maybe, in the very tiniest degree, I have experienced a pain that is about as close to our Savior’s suffering as I can get. Maybe. When I think of this and think of the unimaginable, unfathomable pain my Savior has suffered just for me, my heart is humbled and I am convinced of His incredible love for me. Maybe that’s what all my pain and suffering is about. To help me understand, to become convinced, and to be converted to my Savior’s love, His gospel, His good news. If so I will be patient, try to be humble, and pray that I learn my lesson well.

[woodedcove]

Waiting for the Blessing

Mom, Dad, Nana and Gaga

Since the age of fourteen, I had wanted to be married. Ever since I had received the Gospel of Jesus Christ and understood that marriage can be eternal and families can be forever, it was one of the greatest desires of my heart. So I prayed about it.

Time passed. I left home and went to CalArts, received my BFA, and started working in the animation industry. I had boyfriends and even a couple of relationships that were fairly serious. But when my parents asked me whether any of these young men were “the one”, if I looked down deep into my heart, I knew they weren’t.

"The one" had a special meaning in my family. See, when I grew up I heard the story about how my Grandfather first saw my Grandmother at the boarding house that was run by her aunt and how, without knowing her, my Grandfather told his brother that she was the one he was going to marry. He finally got my Grandmother’s attention when he sat down at the boarding house piano and played “The Rustic Dance”. He just knew she was "the one". They met and the rest was history. 

A similar thing happened when my Dad met my Mom. He was a traveling salesman selling school supplies and my Mom was a teacher at an elementary school. Dad had just finished his presentation and was putting away his materials in a room adjacent to my Mom’s classroom. He had the radio blaring while he packed up, so my Mom came in and told him off for disrupting her class. Later, after her class was dismissed, she came back and apologized. They ended up talking for hours, so long, in fact, that my Grandfather drove over to the school to check on her because she hadn’t come home. Before she left my Dad asked my Mom out on a date and she said yes, but she didn’t tell him where she lived. She figured if he wanted to go out with her, he would figure it out. So, on that fateful night, my Dad drove three and a half hours from L.A. to the tiny town of Orange Cove in thick San Joaquin Valley tule fog, found my Mom and they went out on their first date. They went out for Chinese food and after they ate, my Dad proposed to my Mom because he knew she was "the one." She accepted. 

Both were beautiful romantic stories about how they just knew “the one” when they met. I guess I thought I would have the same experience.  But, no. Not even in the slightest.

One summer, while I was still going to CalArts, my friend and roommate and I worked for an amusement park called 6 Flags Magic Mountain. I remember one night, while we were munching down some McDonalds, she was lamenting about not having a boyfriend. Only a few days later she met a guy named Dave. Nice guy. Talented. Funny. Cute. They hit it off and it seemed her prayer had been answered. She wanted me to get to know him so she introduced us to each other and we became friends. They ended up getting married, but after several years my friend decided she wanted to end the marriage. Dave was pretty devastated but he slowly got over it and moved on. Meanwhile, we were still friends. Now and then we would go fishing or stargazing or just get together, have lunch and gab. I would tell him my latest adventures in dating he would do the same. He also watched over me, took me to the hospital, or brought me home from procedures. It was comfortable being around Dave. We were buds.

Dave with Applets and Cotlets.

On the way to the Swan Princess wrap party.

Meanwhile, at church, I remember hearing a talk about prayer and the phrase “weary the Lord” with your request stuck in my mind. Okay, I thought, I’ll just pray for a husband until the Lord blesses me with one. So, morning, noon, and night I prayed for a husband. I prayed with sincerity and I'm sure I tried to present my case from every angle like a little kid trying to convince their mom of the reason they really needed a new X-Box. It didn’t take long before my social life brought me into contact with a bunch of guys that ... had issues.  Among those men was a stalker. No really, a bonified stalker who knew everything about me before I had ever even met him. I went out on one date with the guy. When he took me home he hugged me. That was okay, but then he didn’t want to let go. Thankfully, my roommates at the time had a dog who started barking at the door. When one of my roommates opened the door he finally let me go. He called a few days later and asked when my roommates would be out. Fortunately, he took the hint when I told him I didn’t want to see him again. I had another guy who was married but had decided that I was his soulmate so he started sending me videos in which he talked about what our life together would be like. And I had another fellow, about forty years older than me who had emphysema and was on oxygen. He had a “revelation” that I was supposed to be his wife. Funny, Heavenly Father didn’t tell me about that. That was when I stopped praying for a husband. Instead, I waited.

While I waited, I learned some important things about getting along with people. The first thing was that “bridling “ my tongue was a really good thing to do. I learned that, once the words were out of my mouth and they’ve injured someone, I had no control of when that person would forget or heal from what I had said. Even if I apologized, the wound is still there. It is always better to wait, pray, and try to calm down, then say what needs to be said. Most of the time I found I didn’t need to say anything and then I was so glad that I kept my mouth shut.

Dave with Bear

Another thing I learned was that, even though we all speak “English” in America, it doesn’t mean we’re speaking the same language. People and Families, communities, and regions have different ways of using words. Meanings of the same word can change and baggage can be attached to a word or a phrase that will press a person’s buttons and send them off in a rage. So I had to be careful. If something I said made someone else angry, then instead of reacting, I needed to humbly ask what I said that made them angry. There may be a miscommunication and by doing this I could avoid an argument and possibly damaging a relationship. These lessons were vital for me to learn if I was to maintain any form of relationship, but they were especially important for a marital relationship.

When I was forty-three I was given a wonderful opportunity to move to Utah and teach at BYU. I took the job and as I was packing my friend Dave came to lend a hand. When the time came for him to leave, we hugged each other and he asked me to please not get married to some idiot within the first six months of being Utah. I promised I wouldn’t, and he left. The next day I grabbed my cat and a couple of friends and set off in a caravan made of one CRV and one Uhaul truck. After I was in Utah and unpacked, my friends had left and the only familiar face living in Provo was my cat’s, I started to wonder what the heck I was doing there. I had some pretty long conversations with Dave as I tried to overcome culture shock. My friend of 23 years was someone I missed and it felt good to talk to him. Then I went back to L.A. for Thanksgiving and Dave and I began to realize that we might have something more going on than friendship.

Dave visits me in Utah.

We talked about what kept us from taking our relationship further and one of the reasons was religion. Dave offered to convert to my church, but being a member of my church is not a good idea if you don’t know what you’re getting into. When a person is baptized, they make a promise to the Lord that they are going take upon them His name and do their best to keep his commandments. It's important to understand what those commandments are before committing to such a promise. At the same time, a lot of people who, while well-meaning (at least some are) have very wrong ideas about what we believe. I also have had quite a bit of literature given to me telling me I was going to hell because of things I supposedly believed and bigotry born of misinformation was not uncommon. In the end, Dave offered to go to church with me and I have tried not to push him. So, at age forty-four, I was finally married. And you know what? When I asked myself the very same question my parents used to ask me, it felt right. Why? Because Dave was “the one”.

What it all comes down to is this. The Lord knew what I desired. He knew the importance of marriage even more than I did. But He also knew that there were things that I needed to learn if I was going to have a lasting relationship. And perhaps there were things that Dave needed to learn as well. So though the Lord knew what I wanted, He also knew the timing in which things needed to happen and what I needed to learn along the way. 

It can be so hard to wait when you’re lonely and when it seems everyone has someone but you. It can be so hard to be patient when there’s a dream that you’re chasing but it always stays just one step out of your reach. But the Lord sees the big picture as well as the microscopic picture. He knows the beginning to the end. He wasn’t punishing me (though I sometimes wondered if He was) He just knew what best for me. I’m not alone in this. The scriptures are replete with examples of people who have had to wait on the Lord. But when they waited, they were always blessed with something even greater than what they hoped for. 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a man who is an apostle in my church, said this:

“Patience is a process of perfection. The Savior Himself said that in your patience you possess your souls. (Luke 21:19) Or, to use another translation of the Greek text, in your patience you win mastery of your souls.  Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most. This was true in the time of the Savior. It is true in our time as well, for we are commanded in these latter days to ‘continue in patience until ye are perfected.’” (Doctrine and Covenants 67:13)

Again, the Lord loves us. He loves us so much that He wants to give us the righteous desires of our hearts. But those blessings need to happen in His time because that is when it will be best for us. I can’t imagine being with anyone other than Dave. He’s my best friend and my sweetheart all rolled into one. All I had to do was wait.

#Waiting #Patience #Faith #Timing #Love

[woodedcove]

Let Us Not Shrink

1992 was a terrible year for me. Within ten months both my parents died, I was laid off from my job, I became very ill and I found out that I had two incurable autoimmune diseases (Crohn’s Disease and Ankylosing Spondylitis, a form of arthritis) that I would have to live with for the rest of my life. Oh, and my truck died. It was the icing on the cake.

My doctor prescribed Prednisone. It was one of the very few medicines they had at the time to treat people who had these diseases. The only problem was some of the side effects could be very severe. Among them were the rare side effects of mental confusion and psychosis. Unfortunately, these were the ones I experienced.  It started with not being able to concentrate and feeling depressed. The quality of my animation work went downhill. When I arrived home from work I would go back out and walk five miles every day just to level out my mood and clear my head. I complained about the side effects I was experiencing to my doctor but he didn’t want to take me off the medicine. So I continued to take it and the side effects continued to get worse. By the time I was taken off prednisone, I was near catatonic. The doctor had to hold my head in place to keep it from drifting off to the side and a voice told me to tell the doctor I was hearing voices. I remember the event as if I were not inside my body. I was only vaguely aware of how frightened the doctor looked. He immediately threw me into a hospital and placed me on antipsychotic medication, (the kind they give to those suffering from schizophrenia), while they tapered me off of the Prednisone. 

The first night in the hospital I suffered from hallucinations of some invisible creature placing pressure on my chest and trying to squeeze the breath out of me. The only way I could stop the feeling was to turn on the light and read the scriptures.  Long term use of Prednisone stops your adrenal glands from functioning so as I came off of the medication and my adrenal glands started functioning again I began to suffer from debilitating panic attacks. I remember when I returned to work I was so overwhelmed by the regular stress of my job that I would roll myself into a little ball in a corner of my cubicle and shake. It was only later when someone described drug withdrawal to me that I made the connection and understood that my coming off Prednisone was the same kind of experience. My reaction to Prednisone had been so severe that my doctor sent me to have an MRI done to make sure I didn't have late-onset schizophrenia. The test came out negative. But from the time my adrenal glands started functioning again I have had to live with an elevated level of anxiety and depression. 

There were other problems as well. I couldn't focus. What I had learned about animation seemed to have disappeared and I felt as though I had to learn how to animate all over again. I had a terrible time reading. It took at least a year for me to be able to read the scriptures, retain and comprehend anything in them again. It took even longer for me to trust that I could receive answers from my Heavenly Father. The experience made me feel more alone than I ever had felt in all my life. I couldn’t feel the Spirit and I couldn’t feel my Savior’s love. I remember crying one night as I wondered how I would ever find my way back to God when I couldn’t feel His Spirit. 

As I slowly recovered from the devastation this drug had reaped upon my mind, all the things that I had not fully grieved for before I was placed on Prednisone came back to me and I experienced them all, the loss of parents, the loss of work, and the loss of health as if they had happened in one day. On one particularly dark day, I remember sitting on my bed with my Dad's gun in hand. I had inherited it after he died. It had occurred to me that I could end all the suffering I was going through with just one bullet. That thought scared me so much that I took the clip out of the gun, walked out to the huge community garbage dumpster, and threw the gun inside. 

That experience was and remains to be, the most horrible experience I have had in my life, yet throughout this trial, I continued to turn to God. For a while, I wondered why I had to go through it all. But when I began teaching I started to see what that experience had given me. I could recognize in my students the various emotional struggles they were going through. I could tell when a student was suffering from depression or anxiety. It was easier for the Lord to show me why a student was struggling. I even recognized the signs of schizophrenia in a couple of students because I had been there. I knew what it was like. So many of the experiences college students go through I had experienced first hand, and this was just one more experience I had been given to help prepare me to teach. It was horrible and it was hard but it gave me a set of unique tools that helped me work with my students in a way that I would not have been able to do before the Prednisone experience.

Years ago, Neal A. Maxwell, a man who was an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was diagnosed with Leukemia. For 46 days and nights, he endured debilitating chemotherapy which left him weak and fatigued. When he asked the Lord why he was going through this trial the answer he received was simple. The Lord told him, “I have given you Leukemia so that you can teach my people with authenticity.” And when he was later asked what lessons he had learned through this trial of having Leukemia. His answer was "I have learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving."

Just before the Lord gave his magnificent Atonement, He prayed that the cup Heavenly Father was offering Him might be removed. Then He did something that most of us still find impossible to understand. Without a word of complaint, or insisting on knowing why He humbly bowed to His Father's will. "Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done." (Luke 22:42) Knowing that what He was going to go through would be so hard that it would cause him to be "sore amazed" (Mark 14:33) and to "tremble because of pain and to bleed at every pore" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18) our Savior chose to submit to the will of the Father, trusting His Father, more than Himself, to know what was going to be best for Him. as well as all mankind. When our Savior understood that this was the path the Father had for Him to travel, He moved forward and completed the Atonement for all mankind.

In the Book of Mormon, Alma 7: 11-12 it says:  

“And he (Christ) shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

“And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

I am willing to bet that there are going to be a lot of people that will look back on 2020 and say "that was a terrible year". There is fear and anger caused by the coronavirus, and Covid-19, the new disease that plagues our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. Jobs have been lost because of the pandemic and homes are in jeopardy of foreclosure. There is racial unrest, economic upheaval, and injustice all around us. And then there are the personal trials that seek to tear our very souls apart. But I can also say, from my own experience, that if we are willing to turn to our Heavenly Father, there will be a day when healing will take place, meaning will be given to suffering, what was lost will be found and wisdom will grow out of grief. So let us not shrink. Let us move forward with faith in our Father in Heaven and His knowledge of us and what we need. Let us not murmur but sing praises to Him all the day long for His wisdom is greater than anything man knows our trails will be consecrated for our gain and we will be cleansed and become worthy through the great Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

#Trials #adversity #health #2020 #encouragement #faithful

[woodedcove]

Your Side, My Side, and the Truth: the Manipulation of Media

When I was a kid my Dad would often tell me that there were three sides to a story: your side, my side, and the truth. It was good to remember that no matter how I perceived a certain event, I was seeing it through the filter of my faults, shortcomings, or even desires for good. But the very same event experienced by another individual with their own set of faults, shortcomings, or desires for good may perceive that event in a completely different way. So then which one of us is right? Which one of us knows the truth? Do you begin to see how making judgments on our perceptions could be a dangerous thing to do?

The question then becomes how do we know what is true? Or how can we know if someone is telling us the truth?

Two things need to happen before one can proceed. First: we need to be honest with ourselves about what motivates our desires to know the truth. President Ezra Taft Benson, a modern prophet of God, said “Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.” Can we honestly say that what motivates our desire is to know what is right? Or is there some part of us that only wants the facts to align in a way that we are proven right? It is a significant difference. Pride only wants to be proven right But when we are humble we will only want to know what is right even if we will be proven wrong. We must have and cultivate within ourselves the honest, humble desire to know the truth. We must love the truth more than ourselves, more than our need to fit in, be right, look good, or to get anything that the world can offer.

Second: we need to be willing not only to pray, asking Heavenly Father to reveal the truth to us, but we need to be willing to receive His truth and act upon it no matter what our prior opinion might have been. This prayer can be for any matter about which we need to know the truth. Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth, and the light" (John 14:6). Therefore, all truth may be found through Him.

Once we can honestly say that we desire to know the truth, we can then apply the words of our Savior to the test for truth.

“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit.

“Oh generation of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matt 12:33-35)

What lies in the heart but one’s motivation? How do we begin to understand a person’s motivations but by his actions and words? A person can say things that may be pleasing for us to hear to gain popularity, fame, or even monetary gain. But their actions and words (especially when that person is caught off guard), will always reveal what is truly in their hearts.

Now a word about the media.

Having worked in the entertainment industry and having taught students about the creation of stories for any form of media, I feel I must disclose a troubling truth. The good storyteller is manipulating their audience. They will tell you something sad or heroic or something lovable to entice you into pulling for the hero. They want you to believe in him. They want you to want him to win at the end of the story. The good storyteller will use everything in his or her power to paint a picture for you that will make you see their hero the way they want you to see him. Does he come from a slum? Does he have abusive parents? Is he kind to animals? Or is he just so dang cool that you wish you could have an ounce of his coolness? All of these things can be used to play on our sympathies and to help us empathize with the character.

While this manipulation can be harmless in cases where the main character is truly someone to be admired, this same technique can also be used to cause us to sympathize and admire characters that really aren’t worthy of sympathy or admiration. We see the extenuating circumstances and feel that it’s okay for the character to do what they did even if what they were doing was breaking the law, hurting other people, causing anger or hatred, or giving the enemy of our souls a chance to work within us. While some storytellers simply want to tell a good story with a fairly innocuous theme like “follow your dreams", there are also many who enjoy getting us to root for something wrong. And there are many more who don’t care what we’re watching or rooting for. They have only one motivation: money.

We may think, “well sure, that’s entertainment”, and we would be right. But the problem is it doesn’t end with just movies, games, television shows or video clips on YouTube. News programs, news nets, and newspapers are driven by the very same motivation. They figure out what their readers or viewers want to read or watch and they pander to their audience. As their viewership or readers increase, so does the amount of money they can charge their sponsors. And the more sponsors see that certain programs have the viewers they’re trying to sell to, the more they are willing to pay higher prices for the opportunity to have their commercial shown to that audience. What this means is that those who are involved with reporting the news are just like those that are involved in entertainment and it all comes down to the almighty dollar.

Let’s go one step further. The people who work in news entertainment know that words are very powerful and can stir our most negative emotions into a bubbling, frothing, or even explosive rage. So let's say one person brushed their shoulder against another person. We don’t know why. We just know it happened. If the reporter says the first person tapped the second person with his shoulder it sounds boring and no one wants to read a boring story. But if the reporter says that the first person slammed their shoulder into the second person, well now people are going to want to know what happened. In using the right choice of words, the reporter grabs the interest of the reader or viewer. Now let's take two reporters reporting the same shoulder tap. One reporter is sympathetic to the first person so he writes the second person as the villain. Meanwhile, a second reporter who is sympathetic to the second person paints the first person as the true villain. Now we have two news sources reporting the same boring event and pitting their two audiences against each other. this can not only increase their audience but by heightening the anger of their audiences they could incite one audience to take action against another and thereby create more news to report.

Understand, I’m not saying that reporters are lying. They’re doing something far worse: they’re reporting half-truths or exaggerations. We want to believe that the news we watch wouldn’t do this. That we can trust them. The news the other guy watches might be untrustworthy but the people we watch or read are telling us the absolute truth. But think, if the purpose of the newspaper, news net, or news program is to make money (which it is), is it always in their best interest to report the absolute truth?

Here is one thing we can know. If what is being reported is stirring us up to anger, to feel hate or resentment, or to act out against another individual, no matter what their race or creed or political leaning, if it makes the Spirit flee and takes us further from Christ, then what we’re feeling is not from God and therefore whatever we’re watching or reading is something we should turn off or throw out. But if what we are watching or reading makes us feel justified in the anger we have felt towards a person or group or makes us feel like we have been proven right, that may not be from the right source either. Again, the test is: can I feel close to Christ and still feel justified in my anger or my enjoyment over someone whom I deem to be proven wrong? If not, then these feelings have come from the wrong source and I need to stop watching, or stop reading and repent.

What we need to remember is that there is one out there whose only desire is to destroy our peace, our happiness, and, if we let him, our souls. He is the one that wants to pit us against each other. While he may have enlisted some on this Earth to work for him, I am willing to bet that many don’t even know they are in his service. So then, why do they deserve our wrath? “Oh be wise, what can I say more?” (Jacob 6:12) This is sad advice that I feel I must write, but please, don’t trust the media, and don’t grow angry with any group of people that the media is using to make news or the adversary is using to stir up anger. But let us search for the truth individually and be at peace with and love our neighbor. If we can do this in humility, then it won’t matter who is right or wrong because the truth will always prevail in the end.

[woodedcove]

Happy Father’s Day

When I was about eleven years old, we lived in a house with no water. Why did we live in a house with no water you might ask? Well, it had water when we first moved in, but California was having a drought and the water table fell below the depth of our well. Our landlord didn’t want to dig the well any deeper, we didn’t have the money to dig the well any deeper ourselves and we didn’t have the money to move. So, for two and a half years, we lived in a house without running water.

What we did to survive was drive into town to the house of my Dad’s friend with about a hundred empty one-gallon milk jugs in the back of Dad’s beat-up truck. We filled them up and used that water for everything we needed.

I went with Dad on a lot of these “water runs”. As we drove to his friend’s house, Dad and I would sing, laugh, and talk, and we would just be generally silly, so to me going to get water was something that became fun! It was a hard time for my family, one of the hardest times we had gone through. But the way Dad shifted my focus away from the struggle we were going through and made this time a time of bonding for us has forever changed my view as I look back on this difficult trial.

I never realized the gift my Dad had given me, in teaching me how to shift my focus until just recently, while I was in the shower. If someone were to break into our house while I was in the shower they would think there was a crazy woman in the bathroom. I’ll be in there, singing, clucking like a chicken, mooing like a cow, and being very silly. I stopped one day and wondered why I behave like a total wing nut when I’m in the shower and I realized it’s because I’m in pain. Sometimes, taking a shower means I’m going to be in pain. Don’t worry. I have an aversion to becoming sticky with filth so I’m not going to stop showering. But taking a shower sometimes means I’m going to have to endure pain. So what do I do? I get silly, just like Dad taught me to do years ago. It makes me wonder if his silliness sometimes was helping him cope with his pain.

See my Dad was no stranger to pain. Though it was never diagnosed, I’m pretty sure he had the same health issues I have, which was one of the reasons why he had a hard time providing for his family. But even before then, my Dad, for the first ten years of his life had lived in Kansas during the Great Depression. He had experienced the worst man-made natural disaster in recorded history: the dust bowl. He knew a lot about deprivation, disappointments, and broken dreams.

So how was he able to still laugh, and sing and have fun with his kid? Faith.

President Russel M. Nelson, a man whom many believe to be the Lord’s prophet on the Earth today, taught this:

“The prophet Lehi taught a principle for spiritual survival. First, consider his circumstances: He had been persecuted for preaching truth in Jerusalem and had been commanded by the Lord to leave his possessions and flee with his family into the wilderness. He had lived in a tent and survived on what food could be found on the way to an unknown destination, and he had watched two of his sons, Laman and Lemuel, rebel against the teachings of the Lord and attack their brothers Nephi and Sam.

“Clearly, Lehi knew opposition, anxiety, heartache, pain, disappointment, and sorrow. Yet he declared boldly and without reservation a principle as revealed by the Lord: “Men are, that they might have joy.” Imagine! Of all the words he could have used to describe the nature and purpose of our lives here in mortality, he chose the word joy!

“Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials, and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy?

“Yes! The answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible? And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in store for us?

“My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

“When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, ... and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening —or not happening —in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy.

“Just as the Savior offers peace that “passeth all understanding,” (Phil 4:7) He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension. For example, it doesn’t seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you. Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant, assuring us that our “afflictions shall be but a small moment” (D&C 121:7) and be consecrated to our gain. (2 Nephi 2:2)

“Joy is powerful, and focusing on joy brings God’s power into our lives. As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” (Heb. 12:2) Think of that! In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy!

“And what was the joy that was set before Him? Surely it included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us; the joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent; the joy of making it possible for you and me to return home—clean and worthy —to live with our Heavenly Parents and families.”

The scriptures are replete with stories of those that have gone through every kind of struggle whether spiritual, emotional, or physical. And yet, as those people changed their focus to their Savior, their pain was swallowed up in the joy of Christ and all the incredible gifts that He has given us through His Atoning Grace.

Life is hard. We knew it would be before we came here. Heavenly Father made sure we understood that it would be. But he also gave us many things to help us cope with the difficulties. He gave us friends and family, He gave us music, and creativity, He gave us clouds and trees and flowers and birds and all the beauty of the earth. And most of all, he gave us the gift of His Son. Sometimes we get so caught up in the man-made things, things that men tell us we need to be happy. But if we will shift our focus and look to Christ, in every thought, (D&C 6:36), we can have joy. Heavenly Father will teach us what we need to do to cope with the struggles of life, just like my Dad taught me.

Thanks Dad

Thank you Heavenly Father

And thank you Lord Jesus

[woodedcove]

Stereotypes, Bigotry and the like

Photo provided by my sweetheart, Dave Hogan.

If I was going to rely on a stereotype of white trash, I can see why many people would place my family in that category. My parents had bad teeth and almost never went to a doctor. The kind of medicine that I grew up with mostly came from old wive's tales. We lived in run-down rented houses out in the country or the poor side of town, drove old cars, and yes, we had a dead car lot along with a lot of other junk both inside and outside the house. Someone shot out my dad’s windows in his old pickup truck which he used to get to the jobs he was working and we couldn’t afford to fix them, so in the winter our dad drove the truck with a garbage bag in the window on the passenger's side to cut down on the freezing wind while wearing a cheap coat and hat to protect him from the cold coming in on the driver's side. Oh, and our dad did own several guns. All of this fits very neatly into the “white trash” stereotype that so often we were considered to be.

But anyone that would take the time to know us would have found a different story. My mother had a college education and had been a teacher, but decided to stay home to raise her children. My father, though he didn’t have a college education was a person who read quite a bit and taught himself many things. Both my sister and I were encouraged to go to school and complete an education. There was music in our home. We had a grand piano, though it was ancient and many times out of tune ... or at least until we could get a piano wrench and learn a little about tuning it ourselves. Our dad played the saxophone, clarinet, and guitar, our Mom played the piano. We were encouraged to play any of these instruments and to sing. When our parents saw that we both had artistic abilities they encouraged us to develop those abilities by providing pencils, paper, paints, and brushes. Our mother taught us about opera and kept a small library of books for us to use when we needed to do research. Our dad liked to experiment with food and taught my sister and me how to raise a garden. Both my parents could be very kind people and we often saw them do things that were compassionate acts for people no matter what their race, creed, or financial standing might be.

Do you begin to see the dichotomy?

I used to be infuriated by people I met who dismissed my family as “white trash” when they had never taken the time to get to know us. This is why I think stereotypes are for the intellectually lazy and empathetically bankrupt. They describe neat little boxes of information in which one can place a whole group of people, and there is where their mental exertion towards that group ends. They don’t have to think about it again for the rest of their lives.

Some may be tempted to say “well, stereotypes come from somewhere”, and yes, I will agree to this. But usually, stereotypes focus on the negative traits found in a small sample of a much larger group. They often are taken from those that misrepresent that group by being the “bad seed”. This isn’t right and it is something that needs to stop. Unfortunately, it can’t be stopped through legislation. We want to think that one protest or one law passed will end this sort of thinking but it won’t. It’s going to be harder than that, a lot harder. The fight against bigotry is going to take personal daily effort on the part of every individual on this planet. It’s going to require introspection and study and a willingness to reform our attitudes and throw out those things that we’ve relied on to make quick and easy judgments. It’s going to take compassion and a desire to reach out and understand those around us. It will take turning off the TV, or YouTube, where a lot of shows feed into those stereotypes. It’s going to take people openly talking to people, no matter what their background, color, or creed and maybe even helping them out. It may be difficult, and sometimes inconvenient, but it can also be a humbling and enlightening experience.

The following was part of a statement from a man named Russel M. Nelson. He is a leader in my church and we believe that he is a prophet of God:

“The Creator of us all calls on each of us to abandon attitudes of prejudice against any group of God’s children. Any of us who has prejudice toward another race needs to repent!

“During the Savior’s earthly mission, He constantly ministered to those who were excluded, marginalized, judged, overlooked, abused, and discounted. As His followers, can we do anything less? The answer is no! We believe in freedom, kindness, and fairness for all of God’s children!

“Let us be clear. We are brothers and sisters, each of us the child of a loving Father in Heaven. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, invites all to come unto Him—“black and white, bond and free, male and female,” (2 Nephi 26:33). It behooves each of us to do whatever we can in our spheres of influence to preserve the dignity and respect every son and daughter of God deserves.”

What will bring about change? We will. As each one of us reaches out in love with a willingness to serve we, by the grace of God, can bring about change. Pray about it and the Lord will show you what you can do.

[woodedcove]

A is for Ambition

Ambition is nothing more than the desire to accomplish a goal and the discipline to follow through on all the steps it takes to reach that accomplishment. Many times I’ve seen the word “ambition” as negative because some people who have been described as “ambitious” have been willing to sacrifice their character and their integrity to accomplish their goal. But ambition is also necessary to accomplish positive goals. So what do you do if you feel lethargic or uninspired or, as some would say, have a lack of ambition?

From my experience, the first thing to do is to pray about it. Counseling with your Heavenly Father is always the best place to start. He knows what you can accomplish and He knows what would be best for you.

The next thing to do is notice what you feel. For instance: maybe you desire to feel the Spirit more in your life. So, you go to your Father in Heaven and tell him your desire. Then you listen to your feelings. You may feel an urge to clean up your room. So you clean it up, you feel good when you’re done because you’ve accomplished that thing and your obedience has invited the Spirit to be with you.

The next thing is a big one: practice discipline. Practice it every day. If you’re not sure where to start, here are some possibilities. First: ask your Heavenly Father. Yep, we’re told to council with our Heavenly Father in all things. So start with Him.

Then find one thing that you really don’t like doing, something that needs to be done every day. It could be as simple as flossing your teeth, making your bed, or writing in a journal. Whatever it is, make yourself do it every single day. Then allow yourself to feel good about that one thing. If you get to the end of a discouraging day, one you look back on and feel like nothing was accomplished, look to that one thing and allow yourself to feel good that you’ve been consistent in doing that one thing. Remember that it felt good to be able to look back on that one thing when the time comes to do it the next day, and then do it again. This is how you build discipline.

Now a word of warning: Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t accomplish that one thing every single day. That will not help you to meet your goal. Instead, all it will do is give you permission to not do that thing the next day and the next, because you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do it, or you’re no good, or you’re not capable of practicing discipline. That is simply not true. You are a child of God and He is the most disciplined of us all. That means you have what it takes to be disciplined. Instead, go to your Heavenly Father and tell him you’re sorry that you didn’t follow through on that one thing, ask for His forgiveness and then request His help to accomplish that one thing the next day. Then keep practicing.

As you practice doing that one thing every day you will start to notice that other small things that need discipline become a little easier to do. This is a process that can be used over and over, by starting with one thing and becoming consistent with doing it. This is one of the reasons why keeping the commandments is so important; because when we keep them we help ourselves learn how to be disciplined, and because the Lord gave us the commandments and they are righteous commandments, the Lord can help us through His grace to keep them, and thereby help us develop discipline.

Ambition isn’t bad if guided by the Spirit. All it takes is a goal, and discipline, discipline, discipline. So, practice, practice, practice.

#Ambition #Practice #Heavenly Father #Goals #Discipline

[woodedcove]

Gratitude during Adversity

Photo by my sweetheart, Dave Hogan. Taken in Stanley Park Vancouver, B. C.

I write this post from bed today because my body doesn’t have the energy to be up and about. It’s one of the adversities with which I’m afflicted and I have to say that sometimes I find it pretty difficult to deal with. Then again I think it would be safe to say that most people find adversity to be a very unwelcome guest. Yet, in Mosiah 26: 38-39 The Lord gives the commandment to “give thanks in all things”. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks”. When in the midst of a struggle this seems like the last thing we should be expected to do, yet it’s a commandment. How can we do this? I don’t have the answers for everyone, but I do have a lot of experience, and being older has given me a bit of hindsight.

When I was around 16 years of age I started having severe backaches and I was often sick to my stomach. It wasn’t until I was 28 years old that I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (a form of arthritis that affects the spine, eventually fusing it into something that looks like bamboo) and Crohn’s Disease (a disease that causes pain, inflammation,  and ulcerations in the small and sometimes large intestine). It was quite a blow to realize that I had two diseases that I would have to live with for the rest of my life. No matter how many blessings I received, prayers I said, or cures I tried, the Lord hasn't released me from these trials.  They have been my companions now for nearly forty years.

Some might be tempted to believe that the reason why I have these diseases is that I’ve done something wrong and that I’m being punished. But that just doesn’t fit with what I understand about God. See, I know that God loves us; we are his children and He wants us to grow and become more like Him. That’s the reason why he gave us commandments and scriptures; to help us, to teach us, and to bring us closer to Him. Yes, when we choose to ignore those commandments we can bring adversity on ourselves, but I also believe that when we truly repent the Lord will take from us the shackles of bondage sin can bring. So, if I'm not being punished then why do I have these health problems? How do they fit in the picture of a loving God?

Looking back I can see some of the many choices I could have made that would have taken me in a very different direction. I was interested in opera and wanted to go to Milan Italy to study opera there. But my Dad and I had a sincere talk about my future and he pointed out that I was often sick, and that many times I lost my voice. This would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to sing. I also knew that sometimes I had a really hard time getting a deep breath. This was because the Ankylosing Spondylitis wouldn't let my rib cage expand so that I could take in more air. Again, not something that would help me sing opera.

I had also thought about going into acting, (something that I see now would have been a major mistake as I think I could have become spiritually lost very quickly in that field). At the time I was thinking of this profession, my neck stopped working and my spine became stiff, both problems which were due to arthritis.

So I chose animation. It was a good direction and it seemed to be the direction that the Lord wanted me to go for a time. But there came a time when the Lord wanted me to go a different way. A way that I really didn’t want to go. It would mean I would be teaching and I was scared to death of having to get up in front of a bunch of people and teach. But, with teaching came consistent health insurance, and with health insurance would come access to a very expensive medication, one that improved my ability to move tenfold. So I started teaching and learned that I actually enjoyed teaching more than working in the animation industry. I also started to learn that the Lord might, just might, know what was best for me. I began to trust Him.

The time then came for me to leave teaching. A serious kidney infection put my life in danger so I was given a very strong antibiotic that, while it cured the kidney infection, it also destroyed my energy. I have never regained the energy I had before that infection. Instead, the treatment left me with a plethora of added health issues that made it impossible for me to keep up with the demands of my job. I was heartbroken. I had been teaching students that I truly loved and now I couldn't do it anymore. Every time I've tried to do the amount of work that I would usually do in a normal workday ten years ago, I pay for it by having to recoup in bed for several days. What can I do in bed? I’ve tried drawing, but even that takes more energy than I have sometimes. So, I write.

Do you see how the Lord has used these health trials to guide me, to help me be open to trying a different direction or to doing his will? I can be pretty stubborn. Yet He helps me through giving me what I need to bring me unto Him, even if it means giving me a trial. Why would He do this?

Good timber does not grow with ease,   The stronger wind, the stronger trees, The further sky, the greater length,   The more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow,    In trees and men, good timbers grow.

Years ago there was a leader in my church that told this story:

Sixty-odd years ago I was on a farm in Canada. I had purchased the farm from another who had been somewhat careless in keeping it up. I went out one morning and found a currant bush that was at least six feet high. I knew that it was going all to wood. There was no sign of blossom or of fruit. I had had some experience in pruning trees before we left Salt Lake to go to Canada, as my father had a fruit farm. So I got my pruning shears and went to work on that currant bush, and I clipped it and cut it and cut it down until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps ... As I looked at this little clump of stumps, there seemed to be a tear on each one, and I said, “What’s the matter, currant bush? What are you crying about?”

And I thought I heard that currant bush speak. It seemed to say, “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as large as the fruit tree and the shade tree, and now you have cut me down. And all in the garden will look upon me with contempt and pity. How could you do it? I thought you were the gardener here.”

I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. If I let you go the way you want to go, you will never amount to anything. But someday, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to think back and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”

Ten years passed, and I found myself in Europe. I had made some progress in the First World War in the Canadian army. In fact, I was a field officer, and there was only one man between me and the rank of general, which I had cherished in my heart for years. Then he became a casualty. And the day after, I received a telegram from London from General Turner, who was in charge of all Canadian officers. The telegram said, “Be in my office tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”

The next morning  "I walked into the office of the general. I saluted him smartly, and he replied to my salute as higher officers usually do to juniors—sort of a “Get out of the way, worm.” Then he said, “Sit down, Brown.”

I was deflated. I sat down. And he said, “Brown, you are entitled to this promotion, but I cannot make it. You have qualified and passed the regulations, you have had the experience, and you are entitled to it in every way, but I cannot make this appointment.”

Just then he went into the other room to answer a phone call, and I did what most every officer and man in the army would do under those circumstances: I looked over on his desk to see what my personal history sheet showed. And I saw written on the bottom of that history sheet in large capital letters: “THIS MAN IS A MORMON.”

Now at that time, we were hated heartily in Britain, and I knew why he couldn’t make the appointment. Finally, he came back and said, “That’s all, Brown.”

I saluted him, less heartily than before, and went out. On my way back to Shorncliffe, 120 kilometers away, I thought every turn of the wheels that clacked across the rails was saying, “You’re a failure. You must go home and be called a coward by those who do not understand.” And bitterness rose in my heart until I arrived, finally, in my tent, and I rather vigorously threw my cap on the cot, together with my Sam Browne belt. I clenched my fist, and I shook it at heaven, and I said, “How could you do this to me, God? I’ve done everything that I knew how to do to uphold the standards of the Church. I was making such wonderful growth, and now you’ve cut me down. How could you do it?”

And then I heard a voice. It sounded like my own voice, and the voice said, “I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to be. If I let you go the way you want to go, you will never amount to anything. And someday, when you are ripened in life, you are going to shout back across the time and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”  

I don’t know all the reasons why people go through what they go through. All I know is that my adversities have taught me about patience and waiting on the Lord. They’ve taught me that the Lord knows my worries and concerns and that He also knows what I can be. They’ve taught and are still teaching me that the Lord knows what’s best for me, that he sees the whole picture, the eternal plan, and that I can trust that He will do what is best for me. And that is something that I can truly give thanks for even during adversity.

#adversity #trials #troubles #gratitude #God #Lord #faith

[woodedcove]

How do I hear Him 2:  Phone Home

I was fortunate enough to grow up not only living near my grandparents but also having grandparents that were kind, loving, and intelligent people. During the summer months, I would often spend a few days with my grandparents. My grandmother (whom we always called Nana) taught me a little about watercolors and painting, helped me learn how to identify flowers and other plants, and read articles and stories to me. My Grandfather, (whom we always called Gaga) would play checkers and catch butterflies with me, teach me Morse Code and we would go on walks together.

Gaga taught me that a person can learn no matter how old they are. Nana taught me that a person can learn from anyone no matter how young they are. Case in point, one day Nana was reading an article to me and she mispronounced a word. I, being in high school at the time, corrected her. She stopped, went back to the beginning of the sentence and read it again, but she still pronounced the word incorrectly. I corrected her again. Again, she stopped, went back to the beginning of the sentence and reread it, this time pronouncing the word correctly. I remember sitting there as she continued to read and being completely amazed that she would listen to me and learned from me, someone that was 50 years her junior.

Years later, when I was in college, I came home to find out that Nana had breast cancer. It was scary but we hoped that the doctor had caught it early enough and that after the surgery to remove the cancer she would be fine. The rest of the year passed and I thought all was well. My parents hadn’t really kept me up to date on what was happening with Nana because they wanted me to be able to concentrate on my studies.

That summer, I had decided to stay in the LA area, rent an apartment with a couple of friends and work at Magic Mountain. So we found an apartment and at the end of the school year spent our Saturday moving in. One of the things we had to take care of in our move was setting up a landline phone service (there were no cell phones back then). I arranged for my phone service at school to be shut off on Friday. But our phone service in the apartment wouldn’t start until Monday which meant we were going to be spending the weekend without a phone.

Sunday, I went to church. But when I came home I was so tired from the move the day before that I decided to take a nap. While I slept, I had a dream. In my dream, I was sitting in a hospital room next to a bed where Nana lay. We were talking quietly while I stroked her hair from her forehead. The dream was so real and made so deep an impression on me that when I woke up, I got into my car, drove to the nearest payphone, and called home. As soon as my Dad answered he said, “You better come home right away. We’re taking your grandmother to the hospital.” Again, I had no idea that Nana was so sick.

I got back into my car and drove like a maniac to get from the LA area to my home town in the San Joaquin Valley of California, pushing my little Chevy Vega to 90 miles an hour as I came off the grapevine. Of course, I was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol. Through tears, I told the policeman that my grandmother was dying, but I guess he’d heard that excuse too many times and I got a ticket. At this point, I had completely forgotten about my dream. I set the ticket aside and tried to drive within the speed limit the rest of the way to the hospital.

I arrived and found the hall which held Nana’s room, Mom, Dad, and Gaga were outside in the corridor. My Mom told me that Nana was calling for me and encouraged me to go into the room and see her. When I went inside, Nana was sleeping. I sat down on a chair that was placed next to the hospital bed and began to softly stroke her hair from her forehead. Nana woke, looked at me, and said, “You’re here. You really are here. I thought it was just a dream.” And then I suddenly remembered my dream. It turned out that the surgeon hadn't gotten all the cancer. It had metastasized and gone to her lungs and brain. So this moment that I spent with her was one of the last times that Nana spoke before she passed away.

Why I was given this special experience? I’m not sure. But I do know that we have a loving and merciful Father in Heaven who, knowing that Nana wanted to see me before she passed on, gave me a dream, a warning that made me phone home. He gave us an opportunity to say goodbye.

I know that dreams are one of the ways our Lord can speak to us. Look at how many times in the scriptures the Lord has told someone something in a dream. Lehi was warned in a dream to flee from Jerusalem with his family before the people could kill him. Joseph was a dreamer of dreams and interpreted Pharaoh's dreams that warned of an impending famine. Some dreams are very direct and easy to understand, others may take prayer, perhaps fasting or maybe just time before the meaning becomes clear. Whatever the case, the dreams that deeply impress you, the ones that seem to be coming back to your mind, again and again, those may be the dreams that are worth writing down and pondering over. I would encourage you to do so because maybe the Lord is trying to speak to you.

#Hear Him #Family #Scriptures #Dreams

[woodedcove]

How do I hear Him?

Hearing the voice of the Lord, recognizing it, and taking action on it is a lifetime goal. It can be hard at times, especially when my will is not in accordance with the Lord’s. I would like to write a series of posts and share some of my experiences that have been slowly teaching me how to hear the voice of the Lord.

I’m dyslexic. No really, letters scramble themselves within words and words jump off of opposite pages and insert themselves into the sentence I’m reading. It made learning to read a real nightmare. I actually had to memorize the shape of a word to read it. That way I wasn’t looking at the letters. But not seeing the letters and how they were arranged in the word did not help my spelling.  My performance in spelling competitions was dismal and my greatest fear in elementary school was that the teacher would ask me to read something to the class. When it came to book reports, I struggled to get through the first 20 to 30 pages of the book, then gave an oral report, taking so much time talking about the details that the teacher would finally tell me my time was up and have me sit down. That was my workaround. Nobody knew I was talking about every minute detail because I couldn’t read the book during the allotted time.

Nobody knew I was dyslexic. I’m not sure anyone knew what dyslexia was when I was a kid. All I knew was, like my Dad, I couldn’t read out loud and that it took me at least four times as long to read anything as it did the rest of my class.

So, why do I tell you this? Shortly after I turned fourteen, my family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. when I was baptized and confirmed a member of this church I was given the gift of the Holy Ghost. A few years later I attended a fireside meeting, a meeting that is usually held for a specific reason or a specific age group. At this meeting, someone said that the minute a person received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost goes to work on that person. Later, while on the drive home, I pondered what the speaker had said and wondered what was the first thing the Holy Ghost did when He started working on me? Immediately my mind reflected on a day when I was in high school. I was in the band room during lunchtime. No one was there. It was just me, sitting at the band podium eating my lunch. On the podium was the daily bulletin that had been read aloud by a student that morning. I picked it up and looked at it. And then, for some reason, I tried to read it aloud. It was really, really, really hard. Really. I sucked at it. But then I tried it again. And again. And again, until finally I could get through a short paragraph without stammering or inserting the wrong word.

Well, as I thought about this event in my life, I wondered, ‘Really? This was the first thing the Lord chose to work on through the Holy Ghost?’ For years I wondered, why this was something the Lord wanted me to learn? I’ll tell you why in a moment, but first let me tell you the two ways that I learned from this experience of how I hear the Lord.

The first was through reflection. One definition of reflection, according to dictionary.com, is the act of reflecting or casting back a light ... I like this definition because I feel like this one of the ways the Lord was working with me. Thus, I see reflection as a form of remembering which causes my mind to look back on something in such a way that it enlightens my current situation. One of the ways in which the Lord speaks to me is by helping me to remember. In John 14:26 the Lord said: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” So the Lord will remind me of what He had said or done. Why? In Doctrine and Covenants section 6, verses 22 and 23, as the Lord spoke to Oliver Cowdrey, He gives me the reason. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?” The Lord helps me remember in order to build my testimonies, to strengthen our faith. Wow. That is so cool!

The second, and I hate to say that I didn’t recognize it until I was writing this post, the Lord was teaching me through the Holy Ghost. I received grace from Jesus Christ that gave me the strength, the persistence, and the patience to do something that I would have otherwise avoided like the plague, and the Holy Ghost taught me how to get around my dyslexia in such a way that I could actually read out loud.

So what happened? Though I worked as an animator for several years, there came a time when the Lord wanted me to leave the animation industry and instead teach animation to some of the most amazing young men and women I have ever known. That required me to be able to read out loud on occasion. Then, after 44 years of being single, I ended up marrying my best friend, a great man who had very few positive experiences with religion. I was prompted by the Spirit several times to read the scriptures to him before I finally followed that prompting. It wasn’t always easy. If my mind was distracted I would forget to use the techniques taught to me by the Spirit. But when I remembered to use them my reading would improve. And as I read, I saw his faith grow.

The Lord does everything with a purpose and He knows the beginning to the end. So think today, has the Lord ever spoken with you through reminding you of something? Has He helped you to ponder, reflect, or "cast your mind" upon something? Have you ever found yourself willing to do something that normally you would avoid, or having more patience or strength than you normally would? If so, maybe write those experiences down as a way to show the Lord that you acknowledge what He has done for you and that you really appreciate what He has done. 

[woodedcove]

Andy and a Prophet

When I was a kid we had a hive of wild bees move into our neighbor’s pyracantha bush, a large bush that produced an abundance of both little red inedible berries and long spiky thorns. Every day, somewhere around three in the afternoon, these bees would swarm everywhere.

One of the cats we had at that time was an outdoor cat we had named Andy. Andy was an adventurous cat who sometimes got himself in trouble so, when I saw him walk inside this huge cloud of swarming bees I was worried that he would get hurt. Without a second thought for my own safety, I followed Andy into the swarm calling after him. He walked all the way through the swarm, then turned around and came back to me while I was still in the center of the swarm. I don’t remember if I picked him up or not. What I do remember was standing in the middle of the swarm, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of bees flying around me in a droning hum of rage, and not being the slightest bit afraid. With all this frantic buzzing around me, I was at peace.

Right now we have tons of voices seeking to be heard; angry voices spewing forth opinions from each ecological or political clime. Some are saying “Lo here,” while others are saying “Lo there.” Each voice is seeking to gather followers; each is seeking to turn their followers against their opponents by using inciting words and issues to stir our emotions to favor their “cause”. Can you see it? Has it been scary to you? It has been to me. I’m old enough to remember a time when it wasn’t this way. People could disagree without coming to verbal blows, and some people could actually apologize and admit they were wrong.

There was a time in the early 1800′s when the people of America had been stirred into a religious fervor. Some were preaching “lo here” while others preached “lo there”. Each religious group was gathering followers. Under the pretense of making sure everyone was “saved”, they strove fervently to prove the correctness of their belief while condemning the doctrines of others. Amid this tumult there was a fourteen-year-old boy who sincerely wanted to know God and wanted to know which church he should join. In James 1:5 he read that if someone lacked wisdom they could ask God for help and God wouldn’t scold or be angry with him. So he went to a quite grove of trees and knelt down to pray. The answer to that boy’s prayer changed the history of the world. That boy saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. He became a prophet, the first of many that have been on the earth in these latter days.

Now, I know that there may be some who read this that don’t believe in prophets. Perhaps you believe that God has done His work and now we are on our own. But, as Isaiah would say, “come now, let us reason together”; has there ever been a time in history when the world has had greater need for prophets? If the wisdom we need comes strictly from the scriptures, then why are there so many interpretations of them and so many denominations that have formed because of these different interpretations? If the Lord is the same yesterday, today and always; if He spoke to his prophets in the past; if “surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets”, (Amos 3:7) why wouldn’t there be prophets on the earth today? Doesn’t God love us and want to guide us as much as He did during the times of the Old Testament? Didn’t Peter, after the crucifixion of Christ, need to receive revelation for the Church from Jesus Christ to understand that the gospel was not meant for only the Jews but was meant for everyone? Isn’t that what a prophet is; a man, chosen of God, who receives revelation from God for the world?

I know there is a prophet on the Earth today. He and the apostles that work with him are lead and guided by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And because I have this knowledge, I can follow our prophet and not fear. I can stand in the midst of the swarming opinions, the thousands of voices buzzing, raging, screaming to be heard and be at peace. If you don’t have this knowledge and you would like to know more, then I invite you to find out more by going to churchofjesuschrist.org. Having this knowledge made a huge difference in my life. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

#Jesus Christ #Prophet #Pyracantha #Cats #Truth #Story #Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

[woodedcove]

Two stories and a point

I have two stories I want to tell. They may seem unrelated but if you stick around to the end I hope you’ll see my point.

Buddy

Years ago I decided I wanted to get a cat. So my roommate and I went down to the local pet shop where one could adopt a cat to see what they had. There was a black Maine Coon who was about three years of age, big, furry and friendly. I was kind of partial to him. But then my roommate pointed at another cat and said: “I like that one.” when I turned to see which cat she was pointing at I became a little concerned. The cat was a six-year-old tiger stripe tabby that looked scrawny and sickly. The name that had been given him was Buddy.

We asked the store attendant if we could see both cats. When she brought them out, the Maine Coon sat looking a little fearful. And Buddy? He wobbled over on shaky legs and swatted the Maine Coon across the face. We came home with Buddy.

Buddy had a sad story. He had been abandoned and possibly abused, leaving him with a face that was squished on one side. He had been taken to the pound where he sat in a cage for months until he was rescued on the day he was going to be put down. Then he sat in another cage in the pet store waiting to be adopted for several more months. But being six years old and sickly, no one wanted him. During all this waiting in cages, Buddy contracted cat herpes which made his eyes watery and ruined many of his teeth. He also ended up with ear mites and worms and to top it off, Buddy smelled bad. When we got the poor little guy home he was so weak he couldn’t even jump onto the bed.

I took Buddy to the vet several times, got medication for the worms and ear mites had some teeth pulled and gave him L-Lysine for his herpes. In a short time, Buddy became more energetic and playful, he started to gain weight and his eyes cleared up. He actually became a pretty cute cat.

Buddy turned out to be the most awesome cat in the world. A true and faithful little friend who saw me through some dark and lonely times. Buddy was okay with wherever we went, so long as I was there. My heart still breaks whenever I remember Buddy’s last day on this earth, ten years after we had first met. Indeed, Buddy was the perfect name for him. I have to wonder though, would I have had my little Buddy if I didn’t have a friend and roommate that could see past the scrawny, sickly, smelly exterior to the amazing cat inside?

Zacchaeus

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is a brief one found in the book of Luke. It was about Zacchaeus. He was a short fellow buy very wealthy. He was the chief tax collector for the Romans in Jericho; though he was a Jew and a son of Abraham by birth. Unfortunately, any Jew who worked for the Romans was considered by his fellow Jews to be a dishonest man, a traitor and a sinner worthy of excommunication. So while he held a position of some status among the Romans in Jericho, Zacchaeus was an outcast among his own people.

But Zacchaeus was an honest man, never taking more from the taxpayers than what was due. If he made a mistake in his accounting, he found the person he had wronged and paid them four times the amount of whatever he accidentally took. Zacchaeus was a generous man as well, giving half of everything he earned to the poor and the needy. If you consider that he was a wealthy man, the the amount he gave away must have been a fortune.

One day, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing through Jericho. What he had been told about Jesus we don’t know, but whatever he had heard had ignited a desire in him to see this Jesus. So when the crowd gathered around Jesus, Zacchaeus was one of the crowd. But the people were so close together that they were pressing against each other just to get a glimpse of the one some were calling the Son of David, the long-awaited Messiah. And, because Zacchaeus was a short man, he really didn’t have a chance to see anything past those in front of him. He was undaunted, however. He turned away from the crowd and looked around. There, up ahead along the path that Jesus would surely be traveling, was a sycamore tree. Without a second thought about what others might think of him, how the Jews might laugh and make fun of him or how the Romans or his co-workers might think his action unseemly for a man of his station, Zacchaeus ran and climbed up that tree.

Perhaps he thought that the Lord wouldn’t notice him there. Perhaps he thought that it would be best if Jesus didn’t see him. After all, he was a sinner, an outcast to all the Jews. Surely this man of holiness, this prophet, this Messiah would feel the same way. Maybe Zacchaeus thought that he would just quietly observe the Savior as he passed by, staying out of his way but still having that opportunity to see him. Imagine Zacchaeus’ surprise when Jesus, perhaps passing under the very branch on which Zacchaeus was perched, looked up and called him by name! And not only calling him by name but telling him to come down from the tree because he, Jesus, the Savior of the world, was going to stay with him that evening?

There were those in the crowd that were surprised by this declaration. This man, this holy man that was to be their Messiah was going to sup with this sinner? But when you think about it, who in the crowd really showed their desire to see the Savior? The effort of those in the crowd was of the sort that would satisfy a curious onlooker; a squeeze between others for a small glimpse. But that wasn’t enough for Zacchaeus. In his heart, he wanted to see and he wanted to know who this man from Nazareth was. He wanted to know if this man was his Savior. And the Lord knew Zacchaeus’ heart. Indeed, Zacchaeus had shown the Lord by his actions what his true desire was.

I love the story of Zacchaeus because the Lord saw in him what no one else could or would see. Because of their bias, or hatred or judgment, Zacchaeus was never going to be seen for who he really was; a kind, honest man who wanted with all his heart to be closer to God. But Jesus saw this in Zacchaeus and therefore made his abode with him that night.

The Point

Here’s  is what I see in common with both of these stories. Both Buddy and Zacchaeus where being judged by what was seen on the outside not by what was in their heart. Both needed someone that would give them a chance, get to know them and be willing to see who they really were.

Have you ever wished you had someone who could see beyond your exterior? Not just the physical exterior, but the exterior that everyone else sees, the one that you present because of insecurity, the one you feel you must portray in order to be accepted. Have you ever wished someone would just look into your heart and see you for who you really are?

I testify that we have a Savior who knows us, even better than we know ourselves. He see our hearts, our hurts, our sorrows, our wishes and desires and dreams, our disappointments, our fears. I testify that he wants to be with you, spend time with you, help you and be your friend. All He asks is that you come follow Him. Reach up to take His hand and He will show you things about yourself, your potential, what you can do and what you can become that you may have never dreamed possible. Don’t look to others to try to find your worth. Jesus Christ gave an infinite Atonement for you. That makes you of infinite worth. Look to Him. He will see you and love you as you are and  He’ll show you who you really can be.