Did you know...

I was reading about Christ's second coming. He wants me to learn this lesson.

I know I have read this before...but it hadn't clicked till today.

I didn't realize how VITAL caring for the poor, the afflicted, the stranger, the helpless, the lonely was...is...until reading from Matthew 25. 

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.


34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:


35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:


36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.


37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?


38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?


39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?


40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.


41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:


42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:


43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.


44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?


45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.


46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.


I suppose the second testimony of these words are in Mosiah 4


15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
 16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.


17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—


18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.


19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?


20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.


21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.


22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.


23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.


24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.


25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.


26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

Taking care of the poor, the afflicted, , the sick, and the lonely is Christ's way.

I see the Hand of the Lord today

I see the Hand of the Lord today.

This morning, when I felt too tired to get out of bed and study together with DH,
I felt the tug of the Spirit to go,

and

heard the tender words of my husband
that his day runs so much smoother when we have our study time,

and so,

I listened.

This morning, as he and I read together,
I learned from Lehi's example,
that in all things and in all times I can show gratitude to Heavenly Father.

This morning, when the girls came up for prayers, breakfast and scriptures,
they were willing, and cheerful,
albeit tired.

This morning, when I knelt to pray, 
I felt the Spirit's comfort.

This morning, before our children left for school,
their grandma gave each of them a hug
and an "I love you!"

Have you seen the hand of the Lord in your life, today?

Just recently, after evening family prayer is finished, my husband and I have been asking our children "Did you see the hand of the Lord in your life, today?" 

Last night, I asked the question and was overcome with emotion at the answers of our children.

Our oldest daughter had her first Sunday in Young Women's. She was so nervous to go. We told her that we thought she would discover that this a wonderful new experience. She was still hesitant to leave primary.

Her experience in seeing the hand of the Lord "I was really nervous to go to Young Women's. But when I got there, it was wonderful. I wasn't afaid at all."

Our almost eight year old shared hers:
She was putting together some kind of lego invention and couldn't figure out how to do it (I was rocking the baby and could hear her at the table mumbling, and almost whine-crying because she couldn't figure out how to fit the pieces she wanted to fit together). This went on for some time.

She said, "I was trying to to make this lego thing at the table and it wasn't working. So, I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me. And He helped me figure it out. And I finished putting it together."

Last night I could see the blessings promised by President Eyring:

"My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

Joy in Becoming...Feeling God's love

Moses 1:39

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

A few days ago, my oldest daughter came home from school, overjoyed that they were offering orchestra classes.

"Oh, Mom, I was listeing to the High School orchestra (they visited her school), and well it didn't take the breath out of me like listening to the bagpipes...but almost! It was so beautiful! I've decided, I'd like to play in the school orchestra. Please?! And I know what  I'd like to play...the violin."

I've been waiting and watching...
wanting to know what makes her heart sing...
what talents she wants to develop...
what her interests are (besides art and reading).

And so when she came home, filled with this desire to want to create beautiful music, and watching her reaction to what she heard and her hope to develop talents filled my heart with soooo much joy. 

My feelings of wanting to help her become everything wonderful Heavenly Father KNOWS she can become filled my heart. And I want to giver her every chance to develop this gift.

I felt like this little part of JOY I felt watching her reach to and want to develop something beautiful inside of her is just a piece of what Heavenly Father feels for me when I discover the gifts He has given me and love them and develop them.  And He let me feel it...He gave me a taste of His love for me...for her...for all of us.