Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Love this... Victims...........

“When you operate from a position of victimization, you come into the future with the toxic waste from the past.
“And because your commitment to the issue of offense is stronger than your commitment to moving ahead, the prosperity in your public life and private lives pays a huge toll.  New relationships grind and sputter, new business deals hiss and jerk, suffering like a car being driven with the emergency brake still engaged.  It isn’t that you don’t move forward, but the grinding of your reservations thwarts the creativity and vibrancy you were created to give.”
Let it Go, by J. D. Jakes, p 43, 45


Wednesday, September 30, 2015

We Are Promised.If...

We do not always know how or when blessings will present themselves, but the promise of eternal increase will not be denied any faithful individual who makes and keeps sacred covenants.

Your secret yearnings and tearful pleadings will touch the heart of both the Father and the Son. You will be given a personal assurance from Them that your life will be full and that no blessing that is essential will be lost to you.

As a servant of the Lord, acting in the office to which I have been ordained, I give those in such circumstances a promise that there will be nothing essential to your salvation and exaltation that shall not in due time rest upon you. Arms now empty will be filled, and hearts now hurting from broken dreams and yearning will be healed.


The Witness , BY PRESIDENT BOYD K. PACKER, ENSIGN, MAY, 2014 P 94

Its Inevitable... Hard Times.........


Because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Laminites many had become hardened… and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.
Alma 62:41


It is inevitable that challenges and obstacles and traumas will come into our lives; they are the stuff of which mortality is made.  Hard times come to all of us whether such things will come but when and, more significantly, how we will respond to them.  The question so often asked by the weary or the downtrodden, the answer is simple:  This is what mortality is all about.  More profitable questions that might be asked during times of trial are, What can I learn from this experience? How would the Lord have me respond?  What action and attitude would bring me the greatest insight?  How can I draw lessons from these difficult times that may one day bless the lives of others?  Those who take such an approach find their hearts softened, their trust in the L

“Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and daughters.........

It is immensely helpful to understand that the work goes on all around us and after we have done all we can do….  President Lorenzo Snow stated it so well in General Conference on October 6, 1893. “Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time, … You that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the Priesthood, work and labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the path of exaltation and glory.

This is just as sure as that the sun rose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all your sons and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save our posterity.” (4 November 1893, DW, 47:610.)  (Lorenzo Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, edited by Clyde J. Williams [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984], 195.)

Saturday, September 26, 2015

LOVE THIS, Detaching from the Addicit..

Detaching from the addict (or troubling problem or person) is extremely difficult to do, especially if he or she has just embarrassed you, hurt you, or stolen from you.  But keep in mind that what is most important to your salvation is what you do regardless of their  behavior.  Codependents can measure the level of their recovery by discovering their ability to act and to feel according to their relationship with God, whatever the addict’s or _______behavior.  Achieving some level of detachment (and that doesn’t mean that you don’t care) allows the codependent to add the additional ingredients to an effective strategy.
Hold on to Hope, p 124
Letting go or Detaching means:
Is not to enable but allow learning from natural consequences.
Is not to care for, but to care about.
Is not to fix, but to be supportive.
Is not to be protective, but to permit another to face reality.
Is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.

Is to fear less and to love more.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Concerns About Parents and Spouses of those with addiction..

“We as leaders are also greatly concerned about the spouses and families of those suffering from pornography addiction. Elder Richard G. Scott has pleaded: “If you are free of serious sin yourself, don’t suffer needlessly the consequences of another’s sins. … You can feel compassion. … Yet you should not take upon yourself a feeling of responsibility for those acts.”3 Know that you are not alone. There is help. Addiction recovery meetings for spouses are available, including phone-in meetings, which allow spouses to call in to a meeting and participate from their own homes.”


Protection from Pornography—a Christ-Focused Home , BY LINDA S. REEVES, ENSIGN, MAY, 2014

Ministering of Angels//////


“Let us return to the matter of the ministering of angels.  In doing so, let it be remembered that we have but one gospel and its principles apply to all in the same manner.  If angels came in Bible or Book of Mormon times to aid parents in protecting, directing, and correcting their children, they must come in like manner today.  It is not required that they speak with thunder nor is it required that they cause the ground to quake.  But that they come and that they get the attention of those to whom they come is as much a part of the gospel as baptism, the sacrament, and long meetings.”


“The same principle holds for the Bible-believing world.  In the Book of Malachi (which should have been translated ‘The Book of Angels,’ because that is what Malachi means), we are told that Elijah the prophet is to come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers and that if this does not happen there was no purpose in creating the earth in the first place (see Mal. 4:5-6).
“Well Elijah came, and because he came the right rests with our righteous fathers on the other side of the veil to come and minister to wayward children today just as they did in Alma’s day.  If there is a God, a prophet named Elijah, and the word of the Bible is to be believed, then our pain is shared by our families on the other side of the veil.  They have been granted power, beyond that which we have, to do something about it.  Having made covenants that bind us to generations past and future, we are not going to be left to walk alone.”

Joseph Fielding McConkie, Professor of ancient scripture at BYU in and address given at the Evergreen International 20th Annual Conference, September 18, 2010

You Will See The Tender Mercies.....

The Holy Ghost is a prompter of good works. When opportunities to serve come, do not push them aside with thoughts of your busy schedule or feelings of inadequacy. We can each be instruments through whom the Holy Ghost functions. For example, you may be walking to or from class and feel an impression to call, speak to, or visit someone—perhaps your sweetheart. I have found that immediately acting on these impressions increases my ability to feel them more completely in the future and helps Heavenly Father change my life and the lives of those I love.

Following Heavenly Father's Plan, Larry M. Gibson, BYU, Mar. 11, 2014

“You will see the tender mercies of the Lord in your life as you learn to watch for them and as you come to believe that the power of God can indeed help you recover”.


Addiction Recovery Guide, Step 2 P 8

Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Power of Hope......

The power of hope expressed in these examples is sometimes rewarded with repentance and reformation, but sometimes it is not. Personal circumstances vary greatly. We cannot control and we are not responsible for the choices of others, even when they impact us so painfully. I am sure the Lord loves and blesses husbands and wives who lovingly try to help spouses struggling with such deep problems as pornography or other addictive behavior or with the long-term consequences of childhood abuse.
Whatever the outcome and no matter how difficult your experiences, you have the promise that you will not be denied the blessings of eternal family relationships if you love the Lord, keep His commandments, and just do the best you can. When young Jacob “suffered afflictions and much sorrow” from the actions of other family members, Father Lehi assured him, “Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2). Similarly, the Apostle Paul assured us that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).

Dallin H. Oaks, “Divorce,” Liahona, May 2007, 70–73

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Excessive Expectations.....

“How many of my frustrations and disappointments come from expecting too much!  It is good to set our standards high, but only if we are prepared to accept, with unperturbed serenity, results that fall short of what we expect.

We expect more of the addict than a sick, confused human can deliver.  Once he is sober, we expect a complete transformation.  Above all, we make too great demands on ourselves.

Let me learn to settle for less than I wish were possible, and be willing to accept it and appreciate it.  I will not expect too much of anyone, not even of myself.  Contentment comes from accepting gratefully the good that comes to us, and not from raging at life because it is not better.  This wholesome attitude is by no means resignation, but a realistic acceptance.

“What you have may seem small; you desire so much more.  See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, striving to pull out the sweets.  If they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out and then they fall to tears.  When they let go of a few, they can draw out the rest.  You, too, let your desire go; covet not too much….’  (Epictetus)”


Excessive expectations are the precursors to resentments.

If We Don't Forgive....Our Sin Is Greater........

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Matthew 6:14–15]

That our own forgiveness should be conditioned on forgiving others can be a hard doctrine, particularly if the sin against us is horribly wrong and out of all proportion to any harm we’ve ever committed. Even harder, the Lord has indicated in modern revelation that “he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin” (D&C 64:9). This is a very strong statement: if we refuse to forgive, there remaineth in us the greater sin. How can this be? As I hope to explain, our salvation is conditioned on forgiving others because when we refuse to forgive, what we are really saying is that we reject, or don’t quite trust, the Atonement. And it is our acceptance of the Atonement that ultimately saves us.

Faith to Forgive Grievous Harms: Accepting the Atonement,

James R. Rasband, BYU, October 23, 2012

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

While Emotions are Churning, WAIT......

Have I ever accomplished anything good while my emotions were churning with hysteria?  Am I aware that reacting on impulse—saying the first thing that pops into my head—defeats my own purposes?  I couldn’t lose by stopping to think: Easy does It.  Wouldn’t any crisis shrink to manageable size if I could wait a little while to figure out what is best to do?  Unless I’m sure I’m pouring oil on troubled waters, and not on a raging fire, it might be best to do and say nothing until things calm down. Easy Does it.

Today’s Reminder

It may take a bit of self-control to back away from conflict and confusion.  But its wonderful protection for my peace of mind, unless I can say or do something to quell the storm, I’ll only be inflicting punishment on myself.  And each little battle I win—with myself—makes the next one easier.  Take it easy, for easy does it.  It will all seem much less important tomorrow!


“Quietness is a great ally, my friend.  As long as I keep my poise, I will do nothing to make bad matters worse?

Reach down DEEP...... Faith to answer the call!


“My appeal is that you nurture your own physical and spiritual strength so that you have a deep reservoir of faith to call upon when tasks or challenges or demands of one kind or another come. Pray a little more, study a little more, shut out the noise and shut down the clamor, enjoy nature, call down personal revelation, search your soul, and search the heavens for the testimony that led our pioneer parents. Then, when you need to reach down inside a little deeper and a little farther to face life and do your work, you will be sure there is something down there to call upon.
When you have your own faith, you are prepared to bless your family.

Faith to Answer the Call,  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, July, 2011

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Be Renewed In Spirit.........

It is possible to live with all your power in the present. You can replace old doubts with new hopes. So clean out that closet in your mind and haul a load of needless negative baggage off to D.I. 
You can begin by practicing just three simple exercises in right thinking: (1) Remember that any failure is only temporary in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The decision to carry on in spite of disappointment turns the worst circumstance into success. (2) There can be no self-pity--and that means no self-pity. Nothing dissipates our strength faster or more quickly drives away those who would truly wish to help us than self-pity. (3) Eliminate all "would haves," "could haves," "should haves," and " if onlys." What has happened is past and finished. Leave it there. Profound power will come in living and making things right in the present. 

Be Renewed in the Spirit of your Mind PATRICIA T. HOLLAND Brigham Young University on 6 September 1988

Friday, July 24, 2015

We Are Not Responsible....

We are not responsible

The power of hope expressed in these examples is sometimes rewarded with repentance and reformation, but sometimes it is not. Personal circumstances vary greatly. We cannot control and we are not responsible for the choices of others, even when they impact us so painfully. I am sure the Lord loves and blesses husbands and wives who lovingly try to help spouses struggling with such deep problems as pornography or other addictive behavior or with the long-term consequences of childhood abuse.
Whatever the outcome and no matter how difficult your experiences, you have the promise that you will not be denied the blessings of eternal family relationships if you love the Lord, keep His commandments, and just do the best you can. When young Jacob “suffered afflictions and much sorrow” from the actions of other family members, Father Lehi assured him, “Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2). Similarly, the Apostle Paul assured us that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).


Dallin H. Oaks, “Divorce,” Liahona, May 2007, 70–73

Sunday, July 19, 2015

“God helps those who don’t try to take over His work.”

I have tried everything.  He won’t listen to reason.  I’ve yelled and complained, paid bills, threatened to leave—nothing works”.

Of course not.  This is you applying the force, and that never works.  I suggest you stop taking action.  The only force that can change the pattern is the pressure that builds up inside of him when the family refuses to react any longer.  When he can’t count on your helping him, when you won’t assuage his guilt by fighting with him and you refuse to get him out of trouble then he’ll be compelled to face up to things.  In other words, try inaction instead of constantly figuring out something to do about him.

It is not easy to restrain ourselves from reaction to what others do that seems to affect us.  A healthy detachment brings about the very changes we were powerless to make by continually fighting the problem.

“God helps those who don’t try to take over His work.”

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Healing the Tragic Scars of Abuse,


Know that the wicked choice of others cannot completely destroy your agency unless you permit it. Their acts may cause pain, anguish, even physical harm, but they cannot destroy your eternal possibilities in this brief but crucial life on earth. You must understand that you are free to determine to overcome the harmful results of abuse. Your attitude can control the change for good in your life. It allows you to have the help the Lord intends you to receive. No one can take away your ultimate opportunities when you understand and live eternal law. The laws of your Heavenly Father and the atonement of the Lord have made it possible that you will not be robbed of the opportunities which come to the children of God.


Healing the Tragic Scars of Abuse, Elder Richard G. Scott, Ensign, May, 1992

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Practicing repentance....Like Practicing the Piano....

Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said, referring to President Spencer W. Kimball’s explanation, “The repenting sinner must suffer for his sins, but this suffering has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change” (The Lord’s Way [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1991], 223; emphasis in original). Let’s put that in terms of our analogy: The child must practice the piano, but this practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change.

His Grace Is Sufficient, Brad Wilcox, BYU July 12 2011

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Grace and Sealing Power...

I know young married couples who find out after the sealing ceremony is over that marriage requires adjustments. The pressures of life mount, and stress starts taking its toll financially, spiritually, and even sexually. Mistakes are made. Walls go up. And pretty soon these husbands and wives are talking with divorce lawyers rather than talking with each other. These couples don’t understand grace.
In all of these cases there should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we understand grace, we can, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “continue in patience until [we] are perfected” (D&C 67:13).



His Grace Is Sufficient, Brad Wilcox, BYU July 12 2011

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

suffering Calamities.....


All of us suffer some injuries from experiences that seem to have no rhyme or reason. We cannot understand or explain them. We may never know why some things happen in this life. The reason for some of our suffering is known only to the Lord. But because it happens, it must be endured. President Howard W. Hunter said that “God knows what we do not know and sees what we do not see.”
President Brigham Young offered this profound insight that at least some of our suffering has a purpose when he said: “Every calamity that can come upon mortal beings will be suffered to come upon the few, to prepare them to enjoy the presence of the Lord. … Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation.


James E. Faust, “The Healing Power of Forgiveness,” Ensign, May 2007, 67–69

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Moments in life.....................

Moments in Life

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real!

When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don’t see the one which has been opened for us.

Don’t go for looks; they can deceive, don’t go for wealth; even that fades away.  Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.  Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.  Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

There has never been another you in the history of the world, and there never will be.  You are uniquely designed and gifted, with a core purpose for being in the world.  That was God’s plan, and for you to reject that and say, “I am not good enough” is not ok.

Just sending you some of my favorite sayings that have helped me change my attitude now and again.  Hope you enjoy.   

Monday, May 25, 2015

THERE IS A SOLUTION.....


Back to our basic question: Do you have a problem? Do you deal with something that you’ve tried everything you can think of to solve, and yet it continues and even gets worse? If you have a problem that fits this description, then this course is for you. If you don’t, then you’re probably not ready—yet. That’s the only requirement for being part of this course—that you have a problem that you can’t whip, and you’re ready to admit it.

THERE IS A SOLUTION

Don’t be afraid to admit that you can’t beat this problem on your own. That is the first step to overcoming it. There is a solution, I promise you. And this solution will not solve just the original problem that brought you here but all problems you apply it to.


He Did Deliver Me From Bondage, Colleen C. Harrison, Windhaven Publishing, p 4

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Boundaries in Marriage,......

“When we neglect setting boundaries with ourselves and focus instead on setting boundaries with those we think sorely need limits, we have limited our own spiritual growth.  As in any growth process, spiritual growth proceeds to the level that we invest in it.  When we only invest in changing someone else, they get the benefit of our efforts, but the important work we have to do has been neglected….

“If your spouse is…angry, irresponsible, inattentive, and self-centered, you will not grow if you continue to react to his sins. This is not seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33); it is seeking satisfaction from another person (codependency.)

“We must become more deeply concerned about our own issues than our spouse’s.  We cannot overstate the importance of this idea.  One of the most frightening facts in existence is that God will someday call us to account for our lives here on earth: ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad’ (2 Cor 5:10).  At that meeting we will not be able to blame, hide behind, or deflect to the sins and problems of our spouse.  It will be a one-on-one conversation with God.

“Boundaries with yourself are a much bigger issue than boundaries in you marriage.  In the end, while we are only partly responsible for growing our marriages, we are completely responsible to God for developing our very souls.  You are responsible for half of you marriage and all of your soul. Boundaries on yourself are between you and God.”


Boundaries in Marriage,  Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, p65-66

Friday, April 17, 2015

Caring a Glass of Water..........FHE

A young lady confidently walked around the room while explaining stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone was sure she was going to ask the ultimate question: 'Half empty or half full?' However, she fooled them all.
"How heavy is this glass of water?" she inquired with a smile.

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "That's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden -- holding stress longer and better each time. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night.... Pick them up tomorrow.

"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"


Sent to us by Derrick P.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

To My Grandchildren.......

Years ago a friend of mine spoke of his grandmother. She had lived a full life, always faithful to the Lord and to His Church. Yet one of her grandsons chose a life of crime. He was finally sentenced to prison. My friend recalled that his grandmother, as she drove along a highway to visit her grandson in prison, had tears in her eyes as she prayed with anguish, “I’ve tried to live a good life. Why, why do I have this tragedy of a grandson who seems to have destroyed his life?”
The answer came to her mind in these words: “I gave him to you because I knew you could and would love him no matter what he did.”


To My Grandchildren, Pres., Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, Nov., 2013

How Do I Help.......

How do I help?
(One Day at a Time)

Of course I am obligated, by compassion and a common humanity, to help others.  But this does not mean I should do for them what they ought to do for themselves.  I have no right to deprive anyone else of the challenge to meet his own responsibility.  Although mutual dependence is one of the comforts and rewards of marriage, each partner must do his own job, carry his own share of the burden.  If he fails in his duties, my assuming them will only weaken his will to accept his share of the responsibility.
How can I best help the people in my life?  By not interfering when he gets into difficulties.  I must detach myself from his shortcomings, neither making up for them nor criticizing them.  Let me learn to play my own role, and leave his to him.  If he fails in it, the failure is not mine, no mater what others may think or say about it.

“For though we are made especially for the sake of one another,
still each of us has his own tasks.  Otherwise another’s faults
would harm me, which God has not willed, in order that my

happiness may not depend on another.

Things We Cannot Solve, We Just Have To Survive......

Some frustrations we must endure without really solving the problem. Some things that ought to be put in order are not put in order because we cannot control them. Things we cannot solve, we must survive.
If you resent someone for something he has done—or failed to do—forget it.
Too often the things we carry are petty, even stupid. If you are still upset after all these years because Aunt Clara didn’t come to your wedding reception, why don’t you grow up and forget it?
If you brood constantly over a loss or a past mistake, look ahead—settle it.
We call that forgiveness. Forgiveness is powerful spiritual medicine. To extend forgiveness, that soothing balm, to those who have offended you is to heal. And, more difficult yet, when the need is there, forgive yourself!
I repeat, “John, leave it alone. Mary, leave it alone.”
Purge and cleanse and soothe your soul and your heart and your mind and that of others.
A cloud will then be lifted, a beam cast from your eye. There will come that peace which surpasseth understanding.
The Lord said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).


Balm of Gilead, Elder Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Nov., 1987

Diference Between You and Your Problems....


“So as an old casualty myself, I plead with you to make a distinction between your problems and yourselves—there is a crucial difference. Problems can be painful and dark and disappointing—but we are not painful and dark and disappointing. We are children of God and must see ourselves as God sees us, recognizing the positive in ourselves, the part God loves so much, even as we work on what we may think are our freckles and warts and blemishes and big noses. You can change how you see yourself. You can! That is why a new year is so exhilarating. We have the opportunity to see things better than before. We can, as Shakespeare said, "Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain" (William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 5, sc. 3, lines 40–41).


Be Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind, Patricia T. Holland, BYU, Sept 06, 1988

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Inner and Outer Turmoil....

We will always have some external battles to fight on an exterior front—those battles of life that the Lord in his wisdom allows us to face so we can grow and be purified and become skillful problem solvers….
However, the battle that many of you wage on an interior front concerns me more than these external ones I have just mentioned. Many of us create a civil war within ourselves by internalizing problems of fear, uncertainty, self-doubt, and worry—often over things we can do preciously little about….
The person who is engaged in such a constant internal fight has little energy and power left to win the outside battles. To be successful in the many skirmishes of life, you cannot afford to be your own worst enemy. And taking the battles inside—firing mortal shells into your very soul—is potentially one of the most damaging of all human activities….
Problems can be painful and dark and disappointing—but we are not painful and dark and disappointing. We are children of God and must see ourselves as God sees us, recognizing the positive in ourselves, the part God loves so much, even as we work on what we may think are our freckles and warts and blemishes and big noses. You can change how you see yourself. You can!


Be Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind, Patricia T. Holland, BYU, Sept 06. 1988

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Keys Are In OUR Hands...........

“Sometimes we spend so much time trying to determine what we did wrong in the past to deserve the unpleasant happenings of the moment that we fail to resolve the challenges of the present. Og Mandino wrote in his book The Greatest Miracle in the World, “If we lock ourselves in a prison of failure and self-pity, we are the only jailers … we have the only key to our freedom.” (New York: Frederick Fell Publishers, 1975, p. 61.)

We can let ourselves out of such a prison by turning to the Lord for strength. With His help we can use our trials as stepping-stones. The keys are in our hands.”



General Conference, October 1984, “If Thou Endure It Well” ,Marvin J. Ashton

Friday, January 23, 2015

Feelings of a Tender Parent....

Feelings of a Tender Parent
Every parent faces moments of fear. However, when we exercise our faith by teaching our children and doing what we can to help them, our fears will diminish. Lehi girded up his loins, and with faith “he did exhort [his children] with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them.” And “he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord.”
We too must have the faith to teach our children and bid them to keep the commandments. We should not let their choices weaken our faith. Our worthiness will not be measured according to their righteousness. Lehi did not lose the blessing of feasting at the tree of life because Laman and Lemuel refused to partake of its fruit. Sometimes as parents we feel we have failed when our children make mistakes or stray. Parents are never failures when they do their best to love, teach, pray, and care for their children. Their faith, prayers, and efforts will be consecrated to the good of their children.

Robert D. Hales, “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families,” Ensign, May 2004, 88


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Fix Me?.......


“Initially, I wanted our counselor to explain what had gone wrong so that everything then would be clear—Sam would be “cured” and the horror would be over. I wanted the counselor to take charge of my life, create forgiveness, and insert it into my heart. I learned over the next several years that it is not that easy. I had to be in charge of my own life, no matter how unmanageable it seemed to be.”

My Journey to Forgiving, Name Withheld, Ensign, Feb 1997


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Never Doubt HIS Love....

So how do you best respond when mental or emotional challenges confront you or those you love? Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening: “That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there.”4 Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart. Faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practices that bring the Spirit of the Lord into your life. Seek the counsel of those who hold keys for your spiritual well-being. Ask for and cherish priesthood blessings. Take the sacrament every week, and hold fast to the perfecting promises of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead.


Like a Broken Vessel, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, Nov., 2013

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Position Of Victimization.....Love this........

“When you operate from a position of victimization, you come into the future with the toxic waste from the past.
“And because your commitment to the issue of offense is stronger than your commitment to moving ahead, the prosperity in your public life and private lives pays a huge toll.  New relationships grind and sputter, new business deals hiss and jerk, suffering like a car being driven with the emergency brake still engaged.  It isn’t that you don’t move forward, but the grinding of your reservations thwarts the creativity and vibrancy you were created to give.”

Let it Go, by J. D. Jakes, p 43, 45