The Temple Is Peace

We attended a performance where Laurel and Natalie were both participants.  It's their annual performance at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, in Salt Lake City, Utah.  It was a nice evening with very nice music.  We listened and were reminded of this season of the year.  Following the performance, we were reminded of the temple and what it represents to us as a family.  We took a couple of pictures to remind us continually that the temples of God can always be with us.

 

 



I am very grateful for the meaning of the temple in my life.  If we will keep the promises we made with God in the temple, our family is promised that we will live together, forever, after this life.  The joy that we felt just the other night at the performance, and every other day, will be ours for eternity. 

What a blessing that is!

It Means Alot

A recent conversation revealed the reality that a person I know doesn't feel like his life is worth all that much. 
I don't know about the rest of you but I believe that my life is everything!
It is worth the few minutes to me to express some of the things that make life truly valuable and worth living for. 
David Letterman has made famous his Top Ten List and I felt it appropriate to verbalize my own Top Ten Reasons Why My Life Rocks.

10.  I awaken every morning and get to enjoy the beauty of the world around me.
  9.  My health is good and I can see, hear, smell and taste.
  8.  I can feel the love of my family and those others who are close to me.
  7.  I have a home that is filled with love and harmony and where peace and safety dwell.
  6.  The act of gratitude brings peace and perspective to everything life has to offer.
  5.  Our parents.  They have taught and continue to teach me every single day that being a good boy is the best way to be!
  4.  Our four children: Natalie, Laurel, Brady, and Danny.  They are a joy to me personally.
  3.  I have Becky who loves me and cares for me more than any other person I know.  She brings me comfort and a lot of happiness.
  2.  Jesus Christ is my Savior and it is only through Him that I can return to the presence of my Father.  What He did for me allows me to fix the mistakes that I make and become stronger through the trials of life.
  1.  There is a clear and divine plan laid out by a loving Heavenly Father that allows    
perspective and direction.

I love my life and it is because of the experiences of my life that I am the person today who is trying to do what is right and trying to make continuous progress. 

I'm Feel Thankful For Modern Blessings

I need to reflect for just a few minutes on the things that we so commonly overlook and focus on the importance they are in our lives.
It is beginning to get quite chilly in the evenings here in Utah.  I am thankful for our home that blesses us with shelter and warmth from the cold.  We have comfortable beds with thick blankets and soft pillows.  Whenever we need to go somewhere we are able to climb in one of our cars and drive to our destination.  How convenient!  There is delicious food placed before us and we consider ourselves richly blessed.
Our love spreads from one person to another in our family.  We feel the security in our family that love provides.  We are devout in our love and we do the things that uplift and edify each other.
Our faith is our life.  We have promised to serve our Father in Heaven and to take care of His children through our selfless acts of love.  We will do all that is required to do His will.
We live in a beautiful time in the existence of this earth.  Times are exciting and there is a lot to learn.
We are continually blessed with goodness.  It is a wonderful life!

Modern Medicine...Thank You

I spent some time in the hospital and how thankful I felt to have doctors and nurses who were trained and schooled to deal with the various ailments that our bodies sometimes endure. There was one particular nurse, Tyanne was her name, who took the time to get Becky comfortable with the excruciating pain she was feeling. She was detail oriented in her job and did it very well. I have to tell you something really funny. A male nurse came into the room because he was given the task of starting an 'IV'. It has always been difficult to find good veins in her arms and so normally she has to get pricked a couple of times in order to get the 'IV' in correctly. After several minutes of examining both arms, the man told us that he wasn't comfortable with doing it and that he would get somebody else to do it. Not even a minute later a female nurse came in and promptly looked at Becky's right arm and began to quickly prep her arm and in no time had an 'IV' started and that was that. There are always people who are very good at their jobs and can do specific things very well. I was so grateful for that nurse and her expertise. We live in a wonderful time. We are so blessed with so many different things. I am so thankful to live in this time and I hope that you are too.

One Blessing After Another

I am so amazed at all of the millions of blessings that I receive.  One of those unique blessings, is my body.  Have you ever really stopped to look at the complexity of the body.  The capability is trully incredible.

When each of our children were babies, I would take the 'night' feeding and once the bottle was gone, I would get them completely settled for the night and spend the next little while rocking them in my arms.  I would look at their precious faces and all of their unique features.  I was amazed at their size and realize that one day they would grow to be adult men and women.  The inner workings of the body are a modern-day miracle.

"Each organ of your body is a wondrous gift from God. Each eye has an autofocusing lens. Nerves and muscles control two eyes to make a single three-dimensional image. The eyes are connected to the brain, which records the sights seen.

Your heart is an incredible pump. It has four delicate valves that control the direction of blood flow. These valves open and close more than 100,000 times a day—36 million times a year. Yet, unless altered by disease, they are able to withstand such stress almost indefinitely.

Think of the body’s defense system. To protect it from harm, it perceives pain. In response to infection, it generates antibodies. The skin provides protection. It warns against injury that excessive heat or cold might cause.

The body renews its own outdated cells and regulates the levels of its own vital ingredients. The body heals its cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Its capacity for reproduction is another sacred gift from God.

Be we reminded that a perfect body is not required to achieve one’s divine destiny. In fact, some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail or imperfect bodies. Great spiritual strength is often developed by people with physical challenges, precisely because they are so challenged.

Anyone who studies the workings of the human body has surely “seen God moving in his majesty and power.”  (Elder Russell M. Nelson~ Quorum of the Twelve Apostles~ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

I am so grateful for my body and all that it is able to do.  I am most thankful to be blessed with good health and strength.  The blessings seem to come one after another and I am humbled by His love for me.

What A Blessing

When I awakened this morning, I thought about all of the things that I take for granted.  I am able to get out of my bed, when the alarm goes off.  I go into the bathroom to get ready for the day.  I do these things without a second thought given to how they all happen morning after morning.
This has been on my mind all morning.  I find it a complete miracle that I am able to accomplish all that is required of me each day.
I work as a assembler of the main instrument panel that goes into the cockpit of the Boeing 737 commercial airliner.  I wouldn't say that the work is hard but it does take recognition of detail and the ability to assemble each part the way that the engineering drawing requires them to be.  I don't even give a thought to what I need to accomplish.
Three weeks ago, I was at the store and I noticed a young boy who was just learning how to walk.  He could walk but in a very wobbly and slow way.  He had that new walking look on his face.  There was fear written all over his face that at any moment he could fall down.  It is the skill and confidence combined that allows us to do what we can do.
I need to pay clearer attention to what I am able to do without taking the things of life for granted.
When I awaken, in the morning, I am going to start my day off by giving more thought to all of the things that I am richly blessed to be able to do throughout my life.
I am the luckiest guy alive!  I thank heaven for my life.

We Are All Very Rich

A number of years ago, Becky and I traveled to the Mexican Riviera with my parents.  It was a wonderful time.  We enjoyed seeing a different section of the world with a varied culture from that of our own. 
I must preface this conversation by stating that Becky and I weren't completely content with our home at that time.
We took a day tour into the jungle of Mexico and were amazed at the poverty we soon encountered.  We passed by a home where an older woman was sweeping the dirt that we would call the walkway leading to the front door of the house.  She didn't seem the least bit dissatisfied with what she had.  We felt like we were being ungrateful because of our 'rich' circumstances.  In reality, the beautiful home that we have was a mansion in their eyes.  Since we arrived home from that wonderful vacation, we have felt extremely blessed for what we have been given.  As a matter of fact, we have made improvements so that our house has become our home. 
It is truly a blessing to see and experience another culture.  Our lives are blessed over and over again.
Contentment is a blessing too. 
There is a church song that I sing with our boys.  One line from the song is good sound advice.
"Count your many blessings, name them one by one."
Give it a try.  Maybe it will surprise you how many blessings are actually showered upon your life.
We are a blessed generation with opportunities that are never-ending.  I love everything that is done for our immediate family out of the love that our extended family and friends have for us. 
Have a great day!