What to do when facing a trial

I like this from Carol Tuttle:
When you are being challenged and starting to feel down here are some important steps to take to help you.

1. Ask God, "what lessons am I to learn from this experience?"

2. Ask God to take your trial(s) and bless them to come to a positive outcome so you will grow and increase in wisdom and knowledge.

3. Ask God to help you bear your challenge with patience.

4. Ask God for an increase of faith to make you equal to what seems hard.

5. Ask God to bless you with the spirit of comfort, so as you move through your trying times you can feel comforted.

Say this week:
"I am grateful for all my experiences in life. I am learning to receive the good from all of life. I am blessed with added faith and strength and the knowing that everything will work out."
You can make it. Imagine you are three months into your future looking back and saying...."I remember when I was going through that challenge, I am grateful to be in a better place."

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights...James 1:17

Be silent as to services you have rendered, but speak of favours you have received. --Seneca

...ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss...James 4:2-3

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
--Epictetus

October Blessings

God ministers to us so gently, so stolenly, as it were, with such a quiet, tender, loving absence of display, that men often drink of His wine, as those wedding guests drank, without knowing whence it comes – without thinking that the giver is beside them, yea, in their very hearts. (George Macdonald)

No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring-cleaning… (Oswald Chambers)

In our religious striving, we are usually looking for something quite other than the God who has come looking for us. (Eugene Peterson)

This past month I have been grateful for:
.knowing there is more to this life than - this life. There is another, where I will "see things as they really are"
.the Book of Mormon. I finished it for the second time this year and have begun again. I am learning some things about myself and the Lord I haven't known before
.my quiet times
.General Conference - especially Elder Oaks, Elder Porter, President Eyring's talks
.my fall cleaning is almost done!
.teaching Gospel Doctrine lessons: Being wrung dry every week, but then being filled in return
.Stake conference - regional meeting where President Hinckley talked to us about relationships
.testimony building experiences
.missionary meetings, convert baptisms, and new friends
."a wound in my roots from a zealous hoe...a strange new stretching with the flow of nourishment...Sun and rain by turns appear: growing season must be here."
.illness turned into needed insight and recommitments
.sharing in Doug's bishoping experiences and increased love for my neighbors
.someone to talk to when I'm lonely - Jeri & Chaunntel have helped and encouraged
.spiritual talks with Theron & LaDean
.my daughters' continued righteous choices and strength in adversities
.Beth being okay and Heidi being able to help her
.a little tiny boy named Matthew

September blessings

I like this thought from Wordsworth and will repeat it here again:
When [man] is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something. He has been put on his wits, on his manhood, he has gained facts, he has learned from his ignorance, been cured of the insanity of conceit, has got moderation and real skill.
I've been thinking how good it will be to learn from my ignorance, to recognize and then be cured of the insanity of my conceit and pride, to learn moderation and real skills (beside nunchuks) so I can then be of use in the world and to God. Part of my schooling comes in learning to be grateful. This month I have been grateful for:

The beginning of my return to school - English 220
Grape juice made straight from my backyard Concord grapes
Preach My Gospel reading
I have purposely chosen to spend time with good friends who will uplift and heal me:
..zoning with Gloria
..discussions with Chaunntel
..talking and temple attendance with Myrna
..learning with Colleen
..movies and shopping with Jeri
..classes with Carolyn, Jeri and Carol
..fun excursions with Nancy
A husband who keeps listening
Some progress in my understanding about illness
Improvement in my health and faith
A writing desk
My daughters' happiness and progress
The Book of Mormon

August blessings

Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

This past month I have been grateful for:

Walks in the morning
Two trips to Star Valley
Places where you can still see the stars at night and enough space around you to breathe
A lessening of the usual concerns
Fresh garden tomatoes, corn and beans
Getting Meg settled in school
A few days with Matthew and Catlin
Fun days shopping with Robin
Gospel Doctrine lessons
Book of Mormon insights
Getting visiting teaching done (ambush-style)
New notebooks
Exercise, book, movie groups in Relief Society
Working with Doug on talks and lessons
An enjoyable 30th year high school reunion
Good things to read
Goals, plans, and looking forward

July Blessings

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. (Epictetus)

I'm slow in getting this written, but I still want to write down the things I have to be grateful for this last month:
An enjoyable family reunion
Zone therapy
New friends
Old friends
My daily reading of the Book of Mormon
A little boy named Matthew
Childhood memories
A lightening of the spirit
Good books to read
A growing garden

June Blessings

I am grateful for:

-A little boy named Matthew
-His extra-extra good mom and dad
-My beautiful daughters
-Getting to know them better the older they get
-My friend and husband, the bishop
-Doug's new calling. I think this will be a great thing for both of us.
-My garden: fourteen tomato plants, four squash plants, five pumpkin plants, grapevines and raspberry bushes, green beans and hot peppers, two kinds of cucumbers, eight potato plants, and about 20 stalks of corn!
-The book, The Blessings of Abraham. This will be one of my life-time favorites
-People who handle themselves well and are examples to me of maturity, selflessness, and kindness
-Book of Mormon insights
-Walks in the morning before the sun comes up
-Cousins and reunions
-A friend to take me to the dentist
-A kind dentist and his even kinder assistant Rebecca
-My approaching birthday

May Blessings

My gratitude list for May:

Matthew’s safe arrival on Planet Earth
Catlin’s health and well-being
A nice Mother’s Day, with thoughtful words and gifts from my family
Meg found summer work
Doug’s new calling
A class on energy healing I attended, and that Robin went with me
Good books to read
Peas in the garden
Warm weather
Finely tuned sewing machine
Handbags and aprons to sew
Spiderman 3

April Blessings

The month of April brought me some new blessings for which I am grateful:

Finishing the Book of Mormon
Beautiful music by the Utah Symphony in the Tabernacle
Singing with Robin
Radishes and peas in the garden
Health of Catlin's baby
Some lessons for Meg and extra good grades
Institute graduation for Catlin and Joseph
General conference talks
Re-doing and Finishing of the Bathroom
But most of all - some insight about prayer and a little peace of mind

March Blessings

This month my gratitude was slow in coming, but yesterday and today the feelings have finally come, as I read Helaman 5:4-14. The word remember appears 15 times in these verses. I decided to take this very seriously and try to remember as Nephi and Lehi were taught to do.
I am thankful to the Lord for:

the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane;
His resurrection;
the doctrine of forgiveness;
my parents' teachings;
childhood memories;
the love of aunts and grandparents that surrounded me in my youth;
good friends who live the gospel to this day;
kindly bishops and patient teachers;
family reunions, large Rich ones and small Ames ones;
rekindled relationships with my Ames cousins;
the ability to have a garden (peas and radishes are up);
my children Robin, Catlin, Megan. I am honored to know them;
Megan's success and well-being at college;
Catlin's pregnancy;
Robin's job and the help she received in getting it;
my health;
this time of my life;
Doug's health and providing for our family;
proofreading Conference talks;
Ann's friendship and our knitting days;
visits with Aunt Wilma where I learn so much and feel a connection;
scripture study;
the temple's close proximity

He who gives thanks for little things

Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things, and forget to give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if, on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together)

February Blessings

This month I have felt gratitude for:

Sunshine after snow!
New washer and dryer
The scriptures
Illumination on some of my weaknesses
Protection for my down-town daughter after the Trolley Square shooting
Time to sew, knit, and create some fun things
A new church bag to hold everything
Catlin's baby
I finished the knit hats!
Help in teaching Gospel Doctrine classes
The curio cabinet - I redid the finish on it
Book club
Having my kids home over President's weekend
My children's goodness
Fresh pineapple - there are no words to describe it...

Guilty as Charged

When God gives us a potted miniature rose in full bloom, many of us feel both blessed and cursed.
"Where can I put it? How long will it stay in bloom? Do I know how to care for it? What if I make a fool of myself by killing it?"

There is hardly any blessing that we humans cannot easily turn into a cursing. Our natural minds make us enemies to God and gratitude.

(H. Wallace Goddard)

January Blessings

This month I am thankful for:

My three daughters
The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon
Doug and I have set 2007 goals and are doing them
The Lord's help in teaching Gospel Doctrine classes
A new curio cabinet
Carpet cleaners
Ann's help with knitting
Chaunntel's help with decorating
Good books to read
Robin's patient tutoring with my blogs
Weekly lunch with Rob at the COB cafeteria
Robin's visits home
Meg's phone calls
Meg's class notes and gospel discussions
Catlin's willingness to forego taking offense
Robin's new recipes and ideas
Catlin's pregnancy going well
Joseph's fun personality
Catlin's faith and positive attitude
Conversations with Cat about Mitford
Meg's flair with fashion and decorating
A good hair cut
Kizmet
Robin's well-earned acceptance into grad school
Meg's 100% on her interior design project
A patient husband