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Prayer of a selfish child…
24 Saturday Sep 2011
24 Saturday Sep 2011
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06 Tuesday Sep 2011
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Acapella, Family, Father, Friend, God, Gospel, Jenny, Jesus Christ, Marriage, Miracles, Random, Relief, Shel Silverstein
-Sometimes we just need a new perspective on ourselves. Learn how to see ourselves and others as God sees us.
-There is something soothing about grabbing a yogurt and a small spoon, walking out your door, and going for a walk on a blustery day. Tut tut, looks like rain!
-Sometimes you know that God is watching out for you. I had an overall good day if looking at the events that happened. Although by the time I called it a night and walked out of the library my thoughts had me emotionally feeling pretty low. In the distance I heard a faint yet soothing sound of singing. Guitars? Drums? Nah, Acapella! I don’t know who they were or why they were singing outside at 10:30 PM but they made me smile. Dynamite by Tao Cruz never sounded so good. Thanks random Acapella group! It sounded something like this except with a female in the mix and not just one guy:
-Why is the internet still not working!!??
-There comes a time in life when you just need a friend. Someone you can call at any time even when you really have nothing to say. Someone to just sit beside you to do homework with, someone to workout with, someone to just be a friend. Thanks Jenny! Cheers to you!
-The best mental relief often lies in a good physical work out. Thanks P90X!
-So I’m in this preparation for marriage class at BYU by Jason Carroll and it’s AMAZING! I really love his focus on what’s most important. I appreciate his teaching style and the way that he engages his students. Most of all I appreciate how he has, so early in the semester, inspired me to be more Christlike and BECOME more of a disciple of Christ. Some thoughts that I loved from the readings (the bolded ones are my favorites):
The Challenge to Become by Elder Oaks
– “In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the Gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.”
– “Final judgement is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts, what we have done. It is an aknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts – what we have become.
– “Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships – even more than our Church callings – are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.”
– “Our needed conversions are often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquility.”
“Except the Lord Build the House…” By Elder Gordon B. Hinckley
– “To those of you who, with glad hearts, dream of marriage and establishment of a home, I wish to repeat what was said of old: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” (Ps. 127:1)
– “True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well being of one’s companion.”
– “The voice of heaven is a still small voice; likewise, the voice of domestic peace is a quiet voice.”
Here’s a shout out to my dad! He is a perfect example of the following quote. I want to be like him.
– “A father can do no greater thing for his children than to let them feel that he loves their mother.”
More thoughts from this class to come….
-Shout out to Shel! A poem that I think applies to all of us…
Do we throw away good things because of trivial matters? If we focus on what is most important, the little problems should fall away, right? I hope I’m not throwing away the best thing. (Elder Oaks talk “Good, better or best has some great insight on this)
-Protein shake and blogging…. love it!
14 Sunday Aug 2011
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Caught on blacktop roads that had long retired after a hard days work, I longed to be home sleeping in my top bunk. I anxiously pulled up to a multiple light intersection and I faithfully sat, watching, waiting, fixating on the bright red blaze radiating in the darkness ahead. All concentration focused on the expected green illumination permitting me access to the high speeds of freeway travel. I waited, and waited. My right foot slowly let off the break peddle as the light to my right switched from green, to yellow, to red. Still no signal to advocate my pillow desiring case. The light to my LEFT promptly turned green. I waited, and waited. The light to my left then turned from green, to yellow, to red. Again, my break lights disappeared as my foot slipped in anticipation. The light to my right again turned green. Frustrated being the lone car on the road and not seeing any other vehicle to take advantage of the color changes taking place to my left and right, I contemplated moving ahead despite the incorrect coloring that laced my view. Like an owl, my head swiveled to and fro searching for the black and white of the police that was positively hiding in the shadows. I felt devious as I inched forward ready to ignore the light ahead but my conscious overcame me as I came to an abrupt stop. Five more minutes and several yawns later my light finally gave way. Luckily on this night I was able to maintain my status as a law-abiding citizen.
I’m sure that if you’ve ever taken the place behind a steering wheel past midnight you’ve had a similar experience. Even if you haven’t, take it from Shel, he knows.
Are we crazy? The malfunction of a light kept me from my precious dreams several minutes longer than necessary. How often do we allow strict obedience to a malfunctioning system triumph over our logic? Is that ok?
“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
12 Friday Aug 2011
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Today is a special day my friends. I am posting the first poem of an inevitable string of poems by this man…
The one and only famous children’s poet, Shel Silverstein. As I’ve devoured two of his books in the past week, I’ve come to realize that the creative and silly poems that I loved as a child aren’t as trivial and meaningless as I had once thought. There is often a deeper meaning, or as my dear old friend Aesop would say, a moral. I’ve marked these poems with torn dull yellow pieces of lined paper and they will slowly but surely be shared with you in this blog. Sometimes the poems alone will be posted for your own interpretation. At other times the will be accompanied with my own thoughts, ideas, or points to be proven.
I had the pleasure of attending Julia’s graduation today and it got me to thinking about how we use the skills/talents/gifts/achievements that we work so hard to attain once we’ve obtained them. With that thought, I’m posting today’s poem in the form of a shout out to all of everyone who has ever graduated from anything. I guess that means YOU. With no further delay….
Congratulations Julia!
“Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast.”
-Epictetus Roman