Best baby video

Sometimes when I have work to do on my computer, I open up two windows, and let Mickey sit on my lap and watch an episode of Teletubbies or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse from You Tube.  It entertains him somewhat.

Today I had some pictures from my camera I wanted to upload to my computer, and as I was searching for a certain quote, I came across this video.  Mickey was spellbound on my lap.  Maybe it was the touching pictures of the Savior, maybe it was all of the sweet pictures of children.  Probably it was a combination of both, but he was so excited about this video that he was trying to jump off my lap to get close enough to point at Jesus on the screen.

Enjoy,

"If Ye Are Prepared Ye Need Not Fear"

My son Joey is in 1^st grade, and they have been talking in school recently about fires, disasters, and what to do in case of an emergency. He came home last week and said, “My homework is to talk about what to do if we have fire in our house. I need to know three ways to escape.” We talked about it with him and our other two children. We came up with different escape routes, and how to exit the house in case of fires located in different places in our home. I thought the conversation went very well.

Maybe I was wrong though, because a couple of nights ago, Joey came into us long after we had put them to all to bed, and said, “I just can’t sleep. I’ve been in my bed worrying about everything that can happen to us. What if our house collapses on me while we are asleep? What if there is an earthquake. What if there is a fire in front of the door.”

We listened to all of his concerns, and gave him reasonable solutions for each of his disaster scenarios. But inevitably he would come up with more frightening situations.

Finally, I gave him a big hug, and we explained to him that most likely none of those things would happen, but if one of them did, we were his parents and we would take care of him and he’d make it through just fine because we would make sure of it because we love him so much.

Surprisingly enough, he went to bed after that, and slept peacefully through the night.

I think maybe that is what all of us need to know. We know there are going to be challenges ahead of us—some of them seem scary. But when we know that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us and is determined to see us through them, send an abundance of love, and help us through whatever we may face, the challenges ahead seem okay.

Joeyissm

We have a family tradition that whenever we drive past a temple, we all start singing "I Love to see the Temple."

We were driving yesterday, and Joey said, "There's a temple!"

I smiled and said, "That's just a church, but it does have a big steeple, doesn't it?"

Joey paused for a minute then said, "Can we sing the song anyway?"

I said "Sure," and we sang the song. Then my little thinker was quiet again for a minute.

After a few minutes he whispered, "I think I can feel Jesus.....It feels really good."

He's right. It's the best feeling in the world.

Nothing compares.

Joeyissm

Last night we went to the mall. It was a family outing. As we walked into the mall we turned into the first store, because we had gone there for a specific purpose.

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Somehow, Joey missed us turning into the store, and continued walking into the mall.

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We'd been there for probably 4 or 5 minutes, talking with the salesperson, when I noticed Joey wasn't with us. Joey is a quiet kid, and he flies under the radar a lot.

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Joey is really into electronics, so I figured he was probably wandering around the store inspecting everything, but he wasn't. So I went out into the mall and started calling his name. I looked down further and saw him walking around crying.

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I ran to him and hugged him. He looked up into my face and the first thing he said to me is, "Mom--I forgot to listen."

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As I looked into his sweet face, his eyes brimming with tears, my heart swelled with love for this child of mine. I was so happy to have him with me.

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I've been thinking about his words to me all day today, "Mom, I forgot to listen." I want my kids with me always. I want them near me, and I want to be able to help them. I think that must be how our Heavenly Father feels about us. But sometimes we forget to listen. We let the distractions of the world cause us to lose our focus. We find ourselves wandering. And then often we find ourselves in tears, crying out for our Heavenly Father.

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I'm so thankful to know He's always there for me. That He loves me unconditionally, even when my focus wanders. That despite all of my inadequacies and short-comings, He looks into my tearful eyes, forgives in an instant, and fills me with His love.

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And I hope I can remember to listen.

"We must lengthen our stride..." Spencer W. Kimball

I was so amazed on Saturday while watching the women's Olympic marathon. Constantina Tomescu from Romania just ran her little heart out. It gave me chills to watch. She's 38 years old, mother of one, and she had quite a lead for the whole race. There was no one even close to her, and yet she somehow found the strength and motivation inside of her to push herself faster and faster. It was almost like she was racing only against herself, oblivious to the other racers.

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After running for 2 hours, I'm positive it would be all I could do to keep on going. And yet she never seemed to slow down, if anything her mile splits seemed to be getting faster, and her stride widening. How is this possible?

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The hair was standing on end as I watched her sprint that final lap, cross the finish line, and win the gold medal. She deserved it! And then instead of collapsing in a heap at the end (which I'm sure I would have done), she continued running around the arena in a victory lap with a joyful smile on her face. It was glorious.

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I remember President Spencer W. Kimball, the prophet of my youth, encouraging us to lengthen our stride. He posed the question:

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“I wonder if we are doing all we can. … Are we prepared to lengthen our stride?” (“When the World Will Be Converted,” Ensign, Oct. 1974, p. 5).

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Am I doing all that I can? Some days, yes. But a lot of days, no. If I want that gold medal (that I know Heavenly Father yearns to give to all of us, if we'll just put in the work) I need to do more, and be more. When life gets tiring and difficult, which it does, that is not the time to lie down and give up. It's the time to lengthen my stride. Just do it. (Another one of Pres. Kimball's famous mottos.)

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I often feel so exhausted as a mother. I rarely get enough sleep, I spend every waking hour cooking and cleaning and washing for my children, usually several times in the same day. I feel sorry for my tired self.

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Enough already.

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Time to just do it. Lengthen my stride. Push through my weaknesses, and do what it takes to build up His kingdom.

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Life is short, and it is precious. I don't want to waste it. Lengthening my strides, starting now.

Sunday Snippet: Refine me

Today's Sunday School lesson was so great. We were studying in 1 Peter, and I felt so inspired and touched. We had a really great discussion about trials and the refining process.

I love the analogy of our souls and the refiner's fire. The refiner's fire is the very hottest and most powerful of its kind. The refiner's fire is made especially hot by carefully selecting just the right fuel, concentrating the heat and flame inside an oven where it grows hotter and hotter, and then feeding those roaring flames with oxygen so that the fire will rage more ferociously than ever. It takes intense heat and pressure to refine gold of its impurities. So it is with us. Sometimes as I'm gasping for air, I think I'm not being refined, I'm being consumed by my trial. The fire is hotter than I can handle. But the Lord is truly mindful of us. He has a plan for us, and He knows how to make us who He knows we can be. We might be satisfied with staying in our rough, raw, unpolished state, but He sees our potential and He knows what we need to become great. And the end result is a marvelous thing.

I was reminded that God is not a warm glow somewhere off there in the corner of our lives. God is a consuming fire and that fire rages within us until the frail and shakable things are burned away. In the fire of God's love the most beautiful things are brought forth. So from the fires of desire there is born a stronger and deeper faith within my soul. It is from the fires and the trials of life that my faith is kindled.

It's so interesting to me to hear other people's comments and perspectives. One person in our class that I really look up to admire made the comment that when they're in the middle of trials, all they can see is their faults, and how bad they feel about themselves. I was so surprised, I never see this person having any faults or insecurities. And although I can totally relate--I feel like I have so much to work on--I forget that other people feel that way too. I don't see other's insecure feelings, because mine are blaring in my brain 24/7.

I felt like today was such a positive day. I left church wanting to be a better disciple of Christ, but in a really positive , optimistic spirit. I really feel like I can't wait to dig in and study the scriptures. I can't wait to re-read these passages of Peter tonight. And in Relief Society we read a verse from Alma 5, and I'm dying to go read the whole chapter tonight.

Like a refiner's fire, it's sometimes uncomfortable and hard to go through this life, and rid myself of all of my impurities along the way. But I know God has a plan for me, and I know if I'll listen and do what He asks, His plan is greater than anything we could imagine for ourselves.

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 1:9)