Wednesday Words: Faith and Prayer

Having major writer's block lately.  I don't think it's because I don't have anything to say, it's because I have too much to say and it's all swirling in my head. Although I love to organize, I cannot seem to organize my head.:)

But I am going to try.  I talked about revelation last time, and how I sometimes don't know if I get it.  Sometimes I don't get faith.  I remember at the end of mission I expressed this to my mission president.  I remember this wise man said to me basically it's somewhat of a mystery.  

We can pray in faith for miracles, yet sometimes they come, sometimes they don't.  I remember when I was going through my nightmare last year, at first I prayed, and I prayed hard for the pain to end, and yet I never felt like I was heard.  It hurt to know God was watching me suffer and yet unwilling ( in my mind) to do anything about it.  

So I quit praying.  I know, judge all you want, but in all in honesty, anytime I did anything "spiritual" the torment would increase.  So for survival, I backed off being spiritual which was one of the hardest things to do because living the Gospel is everything to me, and yet I felt unable to at that time.  My daughter asked me about my 2013 Depression (that's what we'll call it) the other day and I said it felt like someone had ripped out my soul.

Now that I'm much much better, I'm back at living the Gospel and loving it, yet as I wrestled with the whole revelation thing last month, I realize my faith in prayer is a little shaky.  Yes I pray, and I pray a lot for others, and sometimes I pray as if it's an after thought for God to fulfill the deep desires of my heart.   It's kinda like, " you know if you have time, and get around to it, please answer this prayer". 

So on Pinterest the other day;), I found a great quote by Elder Holland:

God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.

 That really hit me and I felt of it's truthfulness.  God wants to answer my prayers.  He loves me!  And I need to have faith, but first, I need the Lord "to help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24)  

I am working on it and know my Heavenly Father will have patience with me and is waiting to help me fulfill my dreams.

Wednesday Words: Personal Revelation

If there is a book out there titled "Personal Revelation for Dummies"  I would buy it in a heartbeat.  I mean I think I've figured some of the Spirit, but when it comes to making decisions, I struggle.

For example, one of my offspring is trying to make a decision right now and wrestling with it as well.  She's prayed, fasted, went to the temple (to do baptisms)  and just doesn't know what to do.  I don't either.  Sometimes I'm like you should do this,or no, this feels right.  I don't know what feels right.

I'm also trying to make a decision for my life and even though I know the direction somewhat, I'm trying to grasp the details.

In pondering this situation, I found this great talk that helps understanding the whole revelation dilemma:

"What do you do when you have prepared carefully, have prayed fervently, waited a reasonable time for a response, and still do not feel an answer? You may want to express thanks when that occurs, for it is an evidence of His trust. When you are living worthily and your choice is consistent with the Savior’s teachings and you need to act, proceed with trust. As you are sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit, one of two things will certainly occur at the appropriate time: either the stupor of thought will come, indicating an improper choice, or the peace or the burning in the bosom will be felt, confirming that your choice was correct. When you are living righteously and are acting with trust, God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision." (Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer  RICHArD G. SCOTT)

So there I have it.   Even though there isn't a book titled "Revelation for Dummies", there is one perhaps that could be called "Recieving Revelation for Mere Mortals".

It's the Scriptures, Living Prophets, and our own personal Gift of the Holy Ghost.

And now just a little David Archuleta to help me with my ramblings: 

Wednesday Words: Create and Purge

I'm having a really hard time musing on Mondays, so I've changed to Wednesday Words.  Cute?  I like it.  I was brainstorming the other day.   Should I change it Thursday Thoughts?  I decided on Wednesday Words because I like the potential it has.

Just think about it.  Words.  I have declared myself  as pathetically uncreative.  If you've seen me play Pictionary...you know what I mean.  Yet when it comes to Words, we are all creators.   We have been given this pallet of letters, which form words, which form sentences, which ...okay you know where I'm going with this.  We create masterpieces with words.  We can use them to uplift, or demean.  To inspire or depress. We are creators with words!  First word of the week: 

 Create.

Which leads me to the second word of the week:  Purge

In the Minor household we have been on a purging spree.  Lately I have felt the need to get rid of things that are not needed.  My kids got the Purging Fever and they got rid of a TON OF STUFF!  And it felt good.  There rooms are so clean and organized and they are just happier.  I feel less burdened and less crazy.  And I know my kids do too.  It's been a great experience and in the words of Karen Carpenter "We've Only Just Begun".  

So along with Purging of many of our material possessions, I have been purging my life.  Well in the thinking stages of it anyway.  I plan to get rid of activities that are not in tune with who I am and the person I want to be.  And I'm excited!  Remember my C.R.E.A.T.E goals at the beginning of the year?  Yes I am creating my life to be all that It's intended to be.    Yet I'm finding in order to CREATE, first I must PURGE.

Five for Friday: Summer Loves

Warning:  The use of the word "Love" is overused in this blog, but I attribute that to the English language and my English speaking skills.

Okay, we all have things we love  with all our heart and soul. I hope mine are obvious by the way I live my life:  The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my family and friends.

This post however will share some other loves of my life that I have experienced this Summer.  Where to start?   I love animals.  Cats especially, I loved them growing up, and would always sneak them in at night because cats were not allowed in the house while we slept.  However, a little over a month ago, our good friends Kent and DeeAnn introduced  us to a doggy that needed a new home.  And we gave Koda a new home.  Our home.  And I love that little doggy to pieces!  He is adorable, funny, playful and so loving.  

Here he is posing with the beautiful Chelsie.








 Next Love of the Summer.  This past week we went to Yellowstone with our very good friends Kent and DeeAnn.  I loved it!  I was Awestruck by the beauty of it all.   I love the mountains, I love the Daffodils...really I just love nature particularly the mountains, nature, animals, and Yellowstone fulfilled that love to the brim and toppled right on over.  We took 500 billion pictures, so I plan to devote a whole post and a book to Yellowstone, but here is a sampling of Old Faithful.  

More pics to come!

Third Love:  Certain Broadway Shows, like oh I don't know WICKED.  Yep love the music, story, message, the social perspective, and most of all watching it with, you guessed it:  our very VERY good friends, Kent and DeeAnn.  Thanks guys. It was Amazing!

It has been a great Summer. And it's not over.  I have loved it so far. So in closing I will share a pic of another love:  Ice Cream.  We have a tradition to make homemade ice cream on Pioneer Day.  Here is a new recipe:  Ice cream with Nutella and Oreo Cookies.   Yummy!

Monday Musings: Camping

We just went camping with my family. 

So my question every single year since we have been camping is this:  What are we thinking??

I decided to a pros and cons list about camping, then maybe  then it will all make sense.

 Cons: 

•  It's a lot of work
•  A lot of shopping, preparing food, preparing bedding, and packing.
•  Packing food, packing bedding, packing clothing packing the tent, chairs, medicine, bandaids, toiletries, activities and so on
•  If you have kids or a dog, you are on the lookout constantly making sure they don't fall in a hole or whatever.  
• We spend so much time cooking, cleaning, putting up the tent
•  Defending ourselves against bugs
• Feeling disgusting and willing to kill for a shower
• The only way to feel clean is to wash dishes to get the dirt out of our fingernails.  However, you have to go get the water, heat the water in order to experience such luxury
•   Relieving oneself, you must enter into deplorable conditions, but the other choice is the experiencing nature to the fullest and relieving yourself there. 
•  Cramped in a small enclosure sleeping on air mattresses who loose their breathe by the time early morning comes.  (Marc and I slept on two mattresses and woke up in a taco.   We were flat on the ground while the mattresses were winged up on both sides.)
•  Whatever weather you are experiencing in civilization, it's a lot worse up in the mountains.   And you deal with it.  You can't go to your home that you left, you just do the best you can.  

Pros:  

• You are in nature and with the ones you love.  

 However, that one "pro"  trumps all the cons and will cause us to the same thing next year, and the next year and the next.  Yes we will endure all the "cons" each year because whether we are laughing because we are miserably soaking wet, biking through quaking aspens, seeing a moose for the first time, sleeping... or not sleeping,  we are making memories with the ones we love. 

And  that truly makes it all worth it.

Five for Friday

Chelsie's birthday

Chelsie's Birthday

Chelsie's birthday

Bowling for Chelsie's Birthday

Dance Festival

End of Summer Party

Adam's Wedding:  Wendell being Grandpa

Visiting Mount Rushmore

At the Zoo

Zoo

Zoo

1.  Chelsie's Birthday
2.  Dance Festival
3.  End of Summer Party
4.  South Dakota
5.  Zoo with Auntie Slade

Monday Musings: God Help the Outcasts

Last week I was invited to attend a "Poverty Simulation"  in Provo.  I wasn't sure what to expect...but it was a very interesting experience.

I arrived and they gave me a name tag and a packet of information.  I was a 13 year old girl named Patricia.  I had a twin sister, and an older brother.  My mother had left the family and dad was in jail.  For one hour we had to pretend we were this family basically trying to survive.  The simulation consisted of a "town" where we went to school, the store, the bank, etc.

The point of the experience, well partly, is to make you feel stressed.  And I did.  On a different level because I knew it wasn't real, yet people experience this stress everyday.  Two of the observations I made that were this.

1) Things are a big deal when  you are in poverty.  For example, the first day I went to "school"  I was given a note to take home asking me to bring $4 for a party.  Four dollars.  I was thinking we don't have four dollars.  Now my kids bring notes like that all the time.  My biggest deal is " I don't have the cash."  We have the money though and it's not a big deal.  Four dollars is a big deal when your dealing with survival.

2)  The director of the simulation said we were experiencing the 'top' of the poverty scale.  Top of the poverty scale?  Yet I know what he meant.  I work at the Food and Care Coalition which helps the homeless.  The family I represented at least had a house and a car.  Some of the people I work with do not have either.  Some have health problems.  Some are wounded veterans.  Some have mental illness.    Yet they are dealing with the stress of surviving everyday along with or perhaps because of their trials.

My observation, hopefully, is one of love wtih more understanding  for all God's children.