2008

A New Year begins.

With that beginning is a host of promise and opportunity.

Then, there is also the inevitable beginning of things best left undone. I cannot help but think that the rush to be accepting of sin as a lifestyle choice is just plain wrong. To encourage by inference and certainly to allow by law the joining of people into marriages who were never meant to be married is just evil.

Marriage is meant to be and ordained by God to be a union of one man and one woman. With the noteable exception of times when God allowed men who were righteous to marry more than one woman to procreate a righteous progeny unto Him, the definition of marriage is one man and one woman united in a solemn ceremony and oath before God.

But now, the politically correct fear reprisals if they stand and say 'that's wrong'.

I don't fear them.

I fear and reverence God.

When can we look forward to a shared presence with Him who created all that we have and are and the joy in the presence of His Son, Jesus Christ, when we have abused their laws?

I firmly refuse to believe that we will be granted any special dispensation to sin just because we aren't hurting anyone's feelings in the short term.

Instead, we will be hurting the feelings of those very people long term to allow by inference and law the very conduct that will hurt them for all eternity.

We can't force the human mind. But likewise we cannot allow that politically correct trap to push our actions into the path of blind stupidity for the sake of popularity.

May this new year offer us the opportunity to be brave enough to say "NO" and be willing to mean it for the long term.

3 O'clock in the Morning

Monday mornings are generally not greeted with a great deal of elan. They are normally a day to reflect on the chores and obligations that another turn of the calendar page brings to the next new week.

But now, with a boy overseas, Monday also means that on this day off, I can instant message and email with him to see how life is treating my favorite missionary.

I realize that he isn't a child anymore. But I also realize that he will always and forever be MY child. It is a strange and precious thing to think that a tiny baby who entered the world at 8 pounds and some ounces is now on a voyage of discovery of self and sharing of personal testimony with people who prior to November 19th were strangers to him and he to them. And that baby is no longer a helpless baby wiggling on a pastel blanket but a self-assured man who is learning to take his place in the world while leaving room in the world for others, too.

Those few moments at an unseemly hour of the morning are precious moments indeed. A rare commodity lacking in the usual substance of life. It is a time where we just talk. Nothing is offbase or unworthy of the few moments of time where we can share the intersection of his life and mine.

I must admit to also being somewhat greedy in this particular form of communication. I do not awake my husband to share the moment. Perhaps I should, but the specter of his tired eyes trying to drive all over creation for various job related activities is just too much of a danger. And I am plain selfish.

Seeing the little postings is like a tiny reminder that I matter to him as much as he matters to me. Nothing can rob me of that special time and I would gladly sacrifice the sleep anytime just to be able to hear from him if only in this medium at this time.

While we did get to talk to him on the phone at what I am SURE will be an exorbitant cost for Christmas, our next opportunity to speak to him will not occur until May sometime around Mother's Day.

I can wait.

I get to chat with him on Monday mornings. Albeit at 3 a.m.

This week, I have to ask him if he has received word of a transfer. He might have the opportunity to stay in the town he currently serves in and continue the work that has been occupying his time to this point. Or, he may have been given the freshly minted adventure of moving to another port of call to share the teachings of Jesus Christ with an entirely new audience.

Either way, it is only through the voice of the Holy Spirit that those who listen are touched with the truth.

And as the conduit to invite that Spirit to come into the lives and homes of those whom he teaches, my son shares a kindred moment with the Savior, whom he represents. He is standing at their door and knocking, admitted by choice of the resident of the household, and sharing a message that they WANT to receive either in part or in full measure.

It is through this sharing of light, from one lamp to another and from one flickering candle to light the path as we spread the light behind carefully cupped hands, sheilding the tender flame from the winds of adversity that the message of the restoration of the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will fill the world with a light beyond measure.

I think that is why I like Monday the best. I get to hear about his light being spread to those who hold out their candle and wait in the darkness with only hope to help them keep their candle aloft.

Totally Committed

I read an excerpt about becoming totally committed to a course of action. This particular item was specific to the ideals of serving a worthy mission, but I think that it all applies across the board to life in general.

"I, the Lord am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D&C 82:10).

What a breath of fresh air to meet a new missionary who does not have HIS OR HER OWN RULE BOOK. When you signed your acceptance letter, you told the Prophet in effect, "I WILL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO" and "I WILL DO WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO". Don't go back on your commitment!

Every missionary who got off the plane seemed to be 100 percent committed to keeping the commandments and the mission rules. During their first day in the mission, they committed to continue to be "MTC obedient". The excitement level was high, and we felt that these were the ones who would conquer the world. During their first round of zone conferences, I interviewed each of them. They would express their commitment to TOTAL OBEDIENCE. I would commend and encourage them.

By the second month, they had discovered how difficult it is to obey all the rules, ESPECIALLY IF THEIR TRAINERS OR FELLOW MISSIONARIES WERE MORE RELAXED THAN THEY HAD COMMITTED TO BE. Many were still determined to set a record for obedience. By the third month, they had experienced their share of hard times: difficult areas, challenging companions, frustrating news from home, rejection by investigators, and the pressure of learning all they were required to learn.

AT THIS POINT, THE MEN WERE SEPARATED FROM THE BOYS, AND THE WOMEN FROM THE GIRLS.

THE TRUE MISSIONARIES OF CHRIST WERE DETERMINED ENOUGH AND STRONG ENOUGH TO REACH THEIR GOAL OF 100 PERCENT OBEDIENCE IN SPITE OF THE DIFFICULTY OF THE TASK.

The others started making excuses why they couldn't keep all the mission rules. "Nobody else is totally obedient" was one of the most frequently used rebuttals. "My companion and others tease me because I'm trying to obey all the rules, which bothers me. And I just don’t understand why this stupid rule is here. I'm not going to live these dumb rules" - these are two other weak attempts to justify disobedience.

I would remind these missionaries that the Lord NEVER said, " I, the Lord, am bound if ye do 80 percent of what I say"! IF FAITHFUL MISSIONARIES WANT THE LORD TO BLESS THEM AS PROMISED, THEY NEED TO BE 100 PERCENT OBEDIENT.

(Randy L. Bott - from the book "Serve With Honor: Helps for Missionaries)

When do we get to a point at which we come to realize that we have to choose and we have to be 100% in order to experience success in ANYTHING? It's hard.

Change and commitment require a willingness to realize that what you have been doing all along isn't getting you anywhere. And to make a difference, there must be changes that will have to be made permanent in order to experience success.

Just a few thoughts for today . . . must be time to make resolutions. . .

Electronic Mail

What a wonderful age in which we live that the bits and bytes of the minutia of our lives can be transported through the flotsam and jetsam of the air to someone miles and miles away.

Not only the minutia but also the love.

With family so far away during not only holidays but everyday, a certain poignant longing for a more personal touch makes all forms of modern communication all the more important. We can't always drop what we are doing to fly around the country or even around the world to see those whose faces we long to see, to hold the hands of the ones who hold our heart or to simply be near the ones who mean so much to our days and nights.

I believe God inspired someone to find a way to keep in touch. Even though we cannot touch physically at all times, we can, through the various forms of communications touch through our hearts and that is enough to sustain us until the next time that we meet.

During this time of the year when hearts are drawn to home and family, it makes all the more precious the opportunity to tell those whom we love that we do indeed love them and that they mean so much more to us than we normally allow ourselves to say. Well, unless you grew up in my family, where telling people exactly how you feel is the soup du jour. There is no such thing as a bad time or the wrong way to say how you feel and to tell the ones who pull the strings of your heart just how much they mean and how deep love can grow within for those who may have started as strangers but have chosen to grow as family.

God bless us that we may see beyond the close called kith and kin and draw to ourselves the family of man who most assuredly needs the love we can offer and the warmth of our heart.

Merry CHRISTmas!