Come Follow Me: March 25-31

Mark Chapter 6:

45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people.

46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.

48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.

49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

Matthew Chapter 14:

22 ¶ And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

This time I noticed that Jesus had asked his apostles to get into the ship and sail to Bethsaida.  The apostles were obedient to what Jesus asked them to do, but still found themselves in the midst of strong winds and waves.   There are the general commandments that everyone is supposed to be obedient to, but the Holy Ghost prompts us to do specific things in our lives.  We are counseled to continue to seek the Holy Ghost as our constant guide to direct us.  But just like the apostles, we need to be aware that just because we felt prompted doesn't mean that there won't be wind and waves.  The opposition will still be present.  

I have felt like I have been in my little boat--sometimes alone, sometimes with my family--and I have felt the "toiling in rowing" and that "the wind was contrary unto them" and the feeling of being "tossed in waves".   I appreciate what the apostles went through because there have been many times when I literally felt like I was rowing against the wind and waves, and felt so exhausted, even considering giving up.  But I love that in Mark 6:28 it says that "He saw them toiling".  When the apostles were out in the sea in the middle of the night, I can imagine that it was extremely dark and can't see much around them.  But Christ could still see them.  He was watching, he was aware, he knew.  So when you feel surrounded with darkness, toiling in moving forward or tossed in waves of life, hang on and remember that Christ is watching, and he is also walking towards you--even walking on water. 

Afraid of the Dark

For the longest time, for years, I have felt something in my heart but never quite known how to explain it to others in a way that they would understand.  I would try, but it just didn't come out right and then they would believe what I said which didn't really communicate what I really felt.  It has caused me a bit of frustration and also caused me to pull back from some people that now believed me to be indifferent, aloof, and avoidant. 

Until yesterday, when I a read a simple sentence here that summed all these years and thoughts and emotions up.  At the core of it all it's this simple:

I am not afraid of the darK

It’s not that “I don’t care” like I may have said a few times.  I do care, but I’m not afraid, I’m not worried about it.  I don’t need to wallow in it or mass email it out to everyone in my contact list. 

I know that I am a daughter of God, I know that Jesus Christ will come again.  I know this world is going to continue to get more and more evil and scary, but that’s just it, it’s supposed to.  That’s what prophets forever have been prophesying about.  So I’ve never understood why people go into shock and loose their footing when they see the world worsening. 
It’s true, when you hear my words it almost does sound like I don’t care or I’ve removed myself from the situation so that I don’t have to deal with it.  But believe me, I am in the situation, I experience it and I feel it.  But I’m not afraid of it.  I don’t let it stop me.  I don’t let it change my focus.  Everyone is quite aware of the evils and bad things that happen in the world, so why do they need one more person repeating it to them and spreading the echo of the evil. I won’t. Why should I when I can do good. I’m not a global organizer, but I can still change the world if I help, one person at a time.  I live in a diverse city.  There are many people of other cultures and faiths and I love getting to know them.  I love finding the good in them and the principles of truth that guide their lives, which strengths me. 
The website I was reading that sparked this post for me said:   

"Last October President Russell M Nelson quoted Boyd K. Packer as saying this: “We need women who are organized and women who can organize. We need women with executive ability who can plan and direct and administer; women who can teach, women who can speak out.”

In the original address President Nelson then added, 

“Today, let me add that we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world.”

The website continued: "As our friend Fiona Givens recently told us, “We need women who are not afraid of the dark.”"

It’s not enough anymore to ignore the dark spaces, the problems, the wounded on the side of the road. We can’t pretend they’re not there. Nor can we be afraid. In order to fight the dark we have to face it. We have to organize, direct, teach, speak out, and lead. We have to be willing to educate ourselves and others and use our faith to make important things happen.

We have to use our faith to make important things happen.  We need to trust the Lord enough to put some action behind the principles of the gospel we study. 

Ways to start:

·       If you have the opportunity to serve or to help someone—Do it! If it’s going to be inconvenient—Do it anyway! You’ll find that it always works out.

·       If you receive an email that spreads fear or evil—Decide to delete it and go do something kind for someone in your community.

·       If you see a posting that spreads prejudice or hate—Don’t get angry, if you do, you have just given Satan more points in the battle. Instead, look around you in your community and befriend someone that is different from you.  Look for the good guiding principles in their life and focus on the good that you can learn from them.  You will feel enriched.

If you look for the evil, you will find it.  If you look for the good, you will find it.  I choose to look for the good.  And it’s a beautiful world.

Family

The family is the basic unit of society. The praying family is the hope of a better society.  Gordon B. Hinckley

Rethinking Resolutions

This year—2016—I set my new years resolutions differently. First of all I didn’t nail down what I wanted them to be until about March. After thinking about what lofty goal I wanted to reach for, for months, something someone said or I read caused me to reverse the way I was thinking on setting goals. I began to evaluate my areas of weakness and had a desire to strengthen those areas.

Previous years have been filled with numbers. Attend the gym 3 times a week. Study Scriptures daily. Pray Morning and night. Be kinder to others. And on, and on. I was left with a giant checklist which was overwhelming and proved unattainable. By March I had realized that I needed to focus more on just one word, one principle, instead of detailing out every single thing I should be doing.

Consistency

That was it. I had finally figured out what I wanted to work on, focus on, improve on, make progress on during this year—Consistency. And interestingly enough, once I had realized the principle that I wanted to work on, doing all those things that had been on my list for years, now became easier because I had motivation. Once I realized this method of goal setting I quickly realized there was one other goal I needed to work on as well.

Fear has unfortunately been a motivator in my life. And, instead of giving into my fears I knew I wanted to begin fighting my fears by embracing change, challenges, and even blessings that are available to me. I needed to stop dragging my heels when I knew what I needed to do. I needed to EMBRACE it.

Embrace

Change, Challenges, & Progress

Like Ted Talks on Steroids, can I say that?

I have enjoyed Ted Talks and have many friends that absolutely love TedTalks, and if you love Ted Talks, you need to check out this conference!! I have already watched the first session and it is absolutely inspiring!  There is nothing better that the feeling you feel when you hear these servants of the Lord speak.  I feel the strength to go on, to be better, and to do more.  And I feel God loves me.

How to Protect Your Children Against Pornography

I've discussed how we need to place picket fences around our homes.  But what about when the adversary gets past the fence?

I just had a friend reach out to me about a friend that contacted her (if you can follow that twice removed relationship).  My friend remembered a video that I sent out about how to talk to our children about pornography but couldn't find it to share with her friend.  I resent the video to her to share and realized even more people than I realize are dealing with this issue.  It breaks my heart that children and families are being attacked with this destructive thing.  I wanted to offer this mother more resources to help her family.   I have found this resource for families that have been effected by pornography.  The website Overcoming Pornography gives a lot of information and help for individuals and families. Please if you know someone that is struggling with pornography, there is help.

Of Grace and Faith

"The more we rely on the Savior’s grace, the more we will feel that we are on the track our Father in Heaven has intended for us."  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

As I was studying this morning this quote struck me.  It succinctly expresses a principle that has been in my heart and mind for a while lately.

Life is a summation of choices.  There have been times when I know my choices were guided by God and I was in the right place at the right time.  And then there are times when I haven't had God with me and I was just trying to do it all on my own.  But most difficult for me has been two moments when I felt the influence of the Lord to do a certain thing and I wanted to, but I hesitated. I didn't choose not to follow it, I just hesitated, out of fear, what if it works out, what if it doesn't and I hesitated.  And then the opportunity was gone, someone else acted immediately and it was gone.  It is one of my regrets in life.  And the hardest thing is that it doesn't just effect me, but it effects my children's lives too. The weight of this choice, is causing me to really self evaluate what I can do so that I don't do this again.  That next time I receive guidance I will act on it.

When I read this truth this morning it pointed the direction that I need to learn to take in my choices.  When I make my choices I seek guidance from the Lord, but I need to "rely on the Savior's grace".   I need to consciously have faith and put my fears aside and rely on the Savior's ability to make things work out.  I need to start with the small choices, intentionally practicing, to develop the faith to be able to rely on the Savior's grace for the big decisions.   And then I will be back on the track Heavenly Father has intended for me and my family.                

The complete address is "Of Regrets and Resolutions" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf.