Experiment

An experiment was conducted by Wendy Watson Nelson.  For two weeks, she asked women to do a simple exercise, and the results were stunning.  Here’s what the women who participated in the experiment reported:

• An increased desire to de-junk their physical environments.
• A greatly reduced desire to watch TV.
• An increased desire to reach out to others and follow through on commitments.
• An increased desire to be kinder, gentler, and more patient.
• An increased desire to take care of their bodies by living the Lord’s law of health more fully.
• An increased ability to see how they could have handled situations better.
• An increased mental focus.
• An increased ability and desire to really study and learn.
• Old habits of backbiting, gossiping, and cynicalness falling away.
• A dramatic increase in their physical energy, because energy-draining negative emotions were gone.
• An unbelievable reduction in stress.
• Profound changes in their conversations with others.

What would cause such dramatic results?  Something so simple.

“For five days in their morning prayers, they were to pray with concerted effort for the Holy Ghost to be with them that day.  Then, throughout the day, as they encountered any difficult, tempting, or trying situation, they were to pray for and really picture the Spirit being right there with them.”  --Wendy Watson Nelson

Anyone up to try this with me?

Faith vs. Fear

It is hard being the mom of teenagers.  They think they are so grown up and want to make their own decisions.  And they should.  But it’s hard to watch them make bad decisions.  I know it’s part of Heavenly Father’s plan that we each get to make our own choices.  I know that I wouldn’t want to be forced to do things that I don’t want to do, even if they are righteous things.  But it’s still hard to have to sit back and not have any control.  All I can I do is pray and talk to them and give them my opinion and hope they make the right choices. 

It sounds easy, but it’s not.  I have been stressing about my kids for quite a while.  And last night, I realized that I have been living in fear.  I have been fearing the decisions they will possibly make instead of having faith that Heavenly Father will watch over them and take care of them. 

And He will.  He will not take away their agency.  He will let them make their own choices.  But He will always be there when they need Him.  He will not desert them.  They just have to ask.  And I have to have faith that things will work okay. 

They might make choices that take them down the wrong path.  I don’t have control over that.  But I have control over what I teach them.  I will continue to hold Family Home Evening.  I will continue to have family prayer.  I will continue to have family scripture study.  I will continue to take them to church.  I will do everything that my Heavenly Father has told me to do to teach them and show them the right way.

Child: Teach me to walk in the light of His love;

Teach me to pray to my Father above;

Teach me to know of the things that are right;

Teach me, teach me, to walk in the light.

Parent: Come, little child, and together we’ll learn

Of His commandments, that we may return

Home to His presence, to live in His sight.

Always, always to walk in the light.

Both: Father in Heaven, we thank thee this day

For loving guidance to show us the way.

Grateful, we praise thee with songs of delight!

Gladly, gladly we’ll walk in the light.

I will have faith.  And I will pray.  A lot. 

Passports

Back in 1997, I had the feeling that I needed to go back to school.  I didn’t know why, but I just knew that I had to get my degree.  I did, and I was blessed because of it.  Not right away, but I was blessed.

Well, for the last 1 1/2 years, I have had a feeling that I needed to get passports for my family.  I don’t know why, but I have had an intense feeling that I needed to get them. 

So when our trip to California came up, I used that as an excuse to get them.  I could roll it into the cost of the vacation, so I bit the bullet and got them.  I cannot believe how much money it cost, and the paperwork and time.  And the pictures.  Seriously! 

If we don’t use them, I’m okay with that.  But now, if something were to happen, we have them.  They are paid for and we wouldn’t have to wait.  And it’s much easier to renew them.  Plus, The Teenager’s passport is good for 10 years, so if he goes foreign on his mission, that is one less thing we will have to worry about. 

Sometimes you don’t question why you are prompted to do things.  You just do them and wait to understand why.  So I wait.

Blue Hair or The Day that I Got Offended

The following is straight out of my journal. 

September 13, 2008 Saturday

The Teenager wanted black highlights in his hair, so I did that tonight. And when we washed it out, they were blue. Blue. Darker than royal blue, but lighter than navy blue. Blue. I at first freaked out, but decided they weren’t that bad. He is trying so hard to find his place and be cool.  I should have listened to my gut.  Turns out it was the Holy Ghost trying to tell me something.

September 14, 2008 Sunday

I came very close to walking out of church today. And it scared me. Let me start at the beginning. Last night, I wanted to strip the blue out of The Teenager’s hair. But I didn’t. I didn’t listen.

Today, we got to church and The Teenager prepared the sacrament, but when he was getting ready to sit down, the Bishop told him he couldn’t pass. Not with hair like that. I got mad. And madder. And madder.

Who was he to say The Teenager couldn’t pass? The Teenager was in shock, and then embarrassed, and then mad. He came and sat down and didn’t lift his head the rest of the meeting. I was mad. I took The Princess out during one talk because she “had to go to the bathroom.” And then the Bishop stood up to give a talk. I was so close to walking out. So was The Doctor. I was furious. The Teenager is a good kid. So what if he had blue hair? Who’s it hurting?

After sacrament meeting, the Bishop called The Teenager into his office. The Doctor waited for him while I went to Primary. He came down a little while later and told me that the Bishop had said that The Teenager was still worthy, and can still prepare the sacrament, but he can’t pass. The Doctor said that if the Bishop won’t let him pass, he can’t prepare either. He won’t separate the two. I agreed.

When we got home, I was still mad. But then our home teachers came over. And I know they were inspired to say what they said. They had no knowledge of what had happened. But they taught us about the 9^th Article of Faith:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

So do we really believe this? Our prophet has said that priesthood holders should dress conservatively and modestly so as not to draw attention to themselves. They are to do their priesthood duties quietly and in the background. In other words, if The Teenager has blue hair, when he passes the sacrament, everyone will be looking at his hair, and not concentrating on the sacrament.

I felt like a bomb had hit me. What had I been doing? I had been ready to leave. Not just leave church, but leave the church. I was that mad. What if I did leave? It would affect my children, their children, and on down the line. Was I ready for that responsibility?

After the home teachers left, we gathered the kids and talked about it. We told them we needed to repent. They knew we were angry, and it scares me to think about how this could have affected their lives, let alone my own. We talked about how the Bishop speaks for God, and when we disobey him, we are disobeying God. That was scary for me to think that I was defying God today. I cried about that.

The Teenager was still angry. He kept talking about how much money he has spent on hair color, but I know he is more upset because he doesn’t know who he is, who he wants to be, or how to rebel. We talked off and on throughout the night, and he just kept saying he didn’t want brown hair. That was the recurring saying all night long. I told him it doesn’t have to be brown, it just has to be a color that hair is naturally. Finally at one point, he said, “Well, can’t I have it brown with blonde highlights?” YES, YES, YES! So I will get him an appointment to get it colored.

The Doctor called the Bishop tonight to apologize, and guess what? The Bishop didn’t even know we had been mad. I had sat there in Sacrament Meeting, my jaw clenched, my arms tightly folded, ignoring him and he didn’t even notice. So who had been affected by our being mad? Not him. Just us.

It’s not the little things that will pull us down, but the simple things like blue hair. I have heard stories about how people get offended and quit coming to church, and I always thought so little of them. I never, in a million years, thought that would ever happen to me. But it did. And I feel like I passed a huge test today.

My testimony has been strengthened.

Faith

I want to document this experience because they were very important to me, and I don't want to forget them.
In the summer of 2007, due to many things in our lives, I had to start working.  I was miserable.  I had been a stay-at-home mom for 15 years.  I didn't, and still don't, understand why it couldn't have waited 2 more years until The Princess was in school. 
Anyway, I started working during the summer, so my boys were able to baby-sit The Princess.  I worked M-F from 1-5.  I would get home and just grab my kids and hold them and try not to cry in front of them. 
When school started, I was faced with a dilemma.  What do I do with The Princess?  I really didn't want to put her in day care.  I wasn't making enough money to even be able to do that.  I just prayed that something would work out.
I had talked to a sister in my ward during the summer about the situation, and she volunteered to watch The Princess for me.  She had a little girl the same age.  But by the time school started, she told me she could only watch her one day a week.  That left me 4 days that I didn't know what I was going to do.  After she told me, I cried the whole way to work.  I just prayed and prayed, asking for help.
Just before I left work that day, my boss called me into her office.  She then asked me if I would like to work from home at all.  I just about cried.  So we agreed that I would work one day a week from home.
After I had been home for a while, I "got the thought" (translated: Heavenly Father inspired me) that maybe people would be willing to trade piano lessons for babysitting.  I was giving lessons to 3 different families at the time, and when I called them, all 3 agreed to trade!  I truly know that I was being blessed.  It happened so fast and so easily. 
I owe so much to those sweet sisters, none of whom even needed to trade, but were willing to do it to help me out.
Amber
Holly
Heidi
Heidi
Thank you from my very soul.  You are angels in my eyes.