"This is not my doctrine..."

Last week for our traveling Family Home Evening (commuting gives us a variety on where we hold FHE), we had Book of Mormon Trivia. It was AWESOME! We opened with this question:

What did Christ say was NOT his doctrine?

We heard a lot of ideas.

To steal? To lie? To be mean?

And the answer is.....

3 Nephi 11:29 - 30.

"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."

So this week, these verses have caused for a lot of thought. And, so, I will blog these thoughts

The devil will to stir his pot and throw families in the mix of it. And, frankly, I don't want any of it.

I can see why the Lord commands us to pray for Charity...

Moroni 7:44-48

"...he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.


And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

because it doesn't come naturally. Even in families.

Mosiah 3:19
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

In Relief Society today, we discussed Elder Scott's talk from April General Conference entitled, "The Eternal Blessings of Marriage" A story (click here to read the full text) was shared about a couple wanting to marry in the temple. They went through a lot of hardships before they actually made it to the temple. The teacher posed the question:

"Why, if all these hardships happened, did they continue to try and reach that goal, to be sealed in the temple?"

Good question! So, re-wording the question:

"Why, especially with my family, do I continue to try and reach that goal, to have charity?"

Because as a mother, I can help create a place where we can love to be. And, because I believe the words penned by John Hugh McNaughton.

There is beauty all around,
When there’s love at home;
There is joy in every sound,
When there’s love at home;
Peace and plenty here abide,
Smiling sweet on every side,
Time doth softly, sweetly glide,
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Time doth softly, sweetly glide,
When there’s love at home.

In the cottage there is joy,
When there’s love at home;
Hate and envy ne’er annoy,
When there’s love at home;
Roses bloom beneath our feet,
All the earth’s a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete,
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Making life a bliss complete,
When there’s love at home.

Love becomes a way of life,
When there’s love at home;
Sweet, insistent end to strife,
When there’s love at home;
Glad submission each one’s gift,
Willing pledge to love and lift,
Healing balm for every rift,
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Healing balm for every rift,
When there’s love at home.

Anger cools and pressures cease,
When there’s love at home;
Children learn to live in peace,
When there’s love at home;
Courage to reach out in grace,
Meet a stranger face to face,
Find a reconciling place,
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Find a reconciling place,
When there’s love at home.

There’s no question you can’t ask,
When there’s love at home;
There is strength for any task,
When there’s love at home;
Sharing joy in work or play,
Confidence to face the day,
Knowing love will find a way,
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Knowing love will find a way,
When there’s love at home.

Kindly heaven smiles above,
When there’s love at home;
All the world is filled with love,
When there’s love at home;
Sweeter sings the brooklet by,
Brighter beams the azure sky;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.


So, I am commiting these verses to memory, to heart, to soul.  Hoping in the internalizing of these verses that in those moments of irritation and frusteration and disappointment, I can remember His doctrine.

White lines on a cross walk

I was walking with one of my children today.

An apology walk (as prompted by the Spirit...because I wanted to drive her).

The kind of walk that where we talked along the way before the apology...and then talked again after the apology to say in so many words, "You're doing okay. I love you."

Well, on the way, we crossed a street with 3 painted cross walk lines.

The two main lines were painted very distinctly. But, there was a third partial line, partially painted and partially worn to the outside of the lines. Looked like an "oops" line.

And the following conversation ensued:

Daughter-  Mom, I'm different than other people. I feel like that line right there (pointing to the partially painted partially worn line).  And it feels like everyone else is the perfect line (pointing to the white disctinct line).

Me- Really? You know, you may feel like that, but really, we are all like that line you think you are most like.

Daughter- Really?

Me- Yup. It may look like everyone else is "perfect" but none of us is. We all make mistakes.

Daughter- And those nice white lines are like Heavenly Father and Jesus?

Me- Yup!

Daughter- Because they ARE perfect.

And after the apologies happened, and we walked through the crosswalk lines again, the conversation continued.

Daughter- I feel terrible.

Me- Why?

Daughter- Because I always make mistakes.

Me- Honey, we all make mistakes. That's why there is a BIG word that can help us.

Daughter- Repentance?

Me- Yup. That's the word. We're like these crosswalk lines. There are times when we we are painted bright because we repent...but then we make mistakes and the lines look faded. That's why we have Jesus Christ and repentance. Then we can be painted bright again.

Daughter- Really?

Me- Really.

And so, I'm thankful for the Spirit who knew she needed to talk about feeling inadequate, and for Jesus who can heal us and help us remember...we are inadequate...and that's why we have Him and His atonement. And that HE loves us and wants us to come to Him. And hopefully, a little bit of this conversation has been tucked in her heart. And she will Remember Him.

Alive in Christ

Yesterday I was feeling very blue.

At some point, I curled up in bed to take a nap hoping to sleep off some

of the sleepy sadness I was feeling.

It felt familiar...depression of not too long ago.

As I lay in bed, I reached up for the scriptures and read where I had left

off the night before.

Mosiah Chapter 3

A beautiful chapter on Jesus Christ's atonement.

When I came to verse 19...which reads:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

...my spirit felt the need to reach for the Atonement to heal and lift and

pull me from the place I was in.

I had been relying on my dear husband to help pull me out of the blue and

depressed state in which I felt stuck.

And when I read this verse, I knew to Whom I needed to turn.

Only in Christ can my burdens truly be lifted.

So, in that quiet moment,

I poured out my heart...

and waited...

and listened....

I felt His peaceful reassurance,

and comfort

that coming to Him is the only sure Way to find peace.

Sometime later, after sleeping for just a short while,

I woke,

my spirit lifted,

filled with hope and reassurance of God's and Christ's love for me.