My Soul Hungered 11/100

Today I'm thankful for...

Today I'm feeling very grateful for good friends.

Last night was our (usually) monthly recipe night.

We get together to share recipes, food and fun.

I always love spending time with them

and being silly with them. 

They are amazing friends who can always be 

counted on even if we don't see each other 

as often as we wish we could.

I am truly blessed!

The Word...

Enos 1:3-8

"Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart. And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my foice high that it reached the heavens. And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed. And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away. And I said: Lord, how is it done? And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, who thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole."

I've always loved reading in the book of Enos.

Reading it today there are a few things that struck me.

His soul hungered.

He prays.

After some time,

He is forgiven and told he will be blessed

BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH IN CHRIST.

He was broken, but his faith in Christ

MADE HIM WHOLE.

How many times have I felt 

Broken.

Guilty.

Not enough.

Too much.

Horrible.

Sinful.

But.

BUT!

Having faith in Christ and his 

sacrifice and Atonement

has put me back together again.

Has helped me see the person

He created me to be.

Faith.

A simple solution.

It's not just believing something to be true.

It is an action.

I can't just believe I'll be put back together

by my Savior.

I have to put the work in.

Enos prayed "all the day long...

and when night came [he] 

did still raise [his] voice high 

that it reached the heavens."

I can't just say I have faith.

I get to put in the work.

I get to act to be made whole again.

I get to uncover the strength

I have been and can be

given through my Savior!

ACTION!

FAITH!

On my heart...

So today I was going through

the goals I had set for April

I realized that I was trying to

do some things that were not really

what's important for me,
My soul hungered.
Hungered for more than what I have been doing.

So after some thinking and some prayer

I realized I need to simplify.

I get to focus on the important things.

Instead of having a bunch of goals

that filled up my tending list,

I decided to choose a few to

focus my energy on.

My Handsome Guy was asking

me a few weeks ago

what I wanted to do now

that I've accomplished my old #1 goal
of getting married and having a baby.

At the time I didn't really have an answer.

Thinking about it today, 

I realized I still get to work on that goal

of having a husband and family.

It gets to continue on as we work together

to make it back to our Heavenly Father

and live as an eternal family.

Funny enough, my getting to read

The Christ-Centered Home

right now has been perfect for this time.
It has me thinking more

about what we are doing in our home

to work towards that goal.

All my goals for 2016 fit into that,

but I want to make sure that

when I write my goals for each month

that they align better with that goal.

What can I do to help my family 

create a Christ-centered home

that will help us be better and

remember the Savior.

So I have fewer goals this 

month, but they help me 

to work with my family.

Here are my daily goals:

*Write on Uncovering Strength.

*Daily scripture study.

*Keeping a prayer in my heart all day long.

*Daily chores to keep our house clean and inviting.

*Write in my Book of Evidences.

Weekly Goals:

*Christ-Centered FHE

*Date night/Family fun time

Monthly Goals:

*Finish reading the October 2015 General Conference addresses.

*Go to the temple.

I'm not quite finished thinking about it, 

so there could be more, 

but those are my goals to start with for this month.

God is good! He is there to help us accomplish anything!

Learning! 10/100

Today I am thankful for...

This guy. I was blessed with the best siblings ever. Brian graduated with his bachelor degree today and I couldn't have been more proud of him! We haven't always gotten along, like that time when he pointed a BB gun at my chest and pulled the trigger..., but we love each other!

The Word...

"...seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;" ~Doctrine and Covenants 109:7

Knowledge is power! Learning everything we can now will help us as we continue on in our eternal progression. And it's fun!

L reading a book...upside down. Man, she's got skill!

On my heart...

Today was a busy, but good day. Brian's graduation, lunch and fun times with the family, and girls night with my besties. I am so blessed. When I was telling my BFF about this whole 100 day project, I realized that it's been helping me.  I've been doing better at studying my scriptures. I'm praying with more intent. I'm feeling happier. I feel like this whole thing is exactly what my Heavenly Father needs me to be doing right now to help myself. And maybe just maybe someone else out there will learn something with me. I was going to write about my goals today, but it's getting late so I think I'll sign out for now and come back to it tomorrow. 

God is good! He loves me and leads me in the paths he wants me to go!

Love 9/100

Today I'm thankful for...

Today L has been in a very silly mood.

She has been laughing so hard

and being noisy and silly all night long.

I'm grateful for her silliness.

It makes us laugh so hard,

and it reminds me that the world

is a great place to be.

The Word...

Romans 8:35-39

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us for the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Nothing can take away or separate us from the love of Christ.  He gave everything for us. He loves us especially in our imperfectness. He knows how we can grow from the imperfectness.  He knows how we can grow from trials and challenges.  He walks with us daily. He is there carrying us, cheering us on, and celebrating with us when we finally succeed!

On my heart...

Today I have been quite busy, 

but in the busyness I've been

doing a lot of pondering.

I've been reading 

The Christ-Centered Home

by Emily Belle Freeman this week.

It has been amazing to learn from 

and to see things I've never thought 

of before.  I'm excited to start studying

it with Burk next week.

I've been realizing that there is 

so much more we can do to make

our home a place of refuge and 

a place to learn about and remember

the Savior everyday.

I have been feeling like if we

can start doing some of these

things now, when L is older

we'll have already been doing things

to help build her armor and

to help her resist temptation 

and be a righteous daughter of God.

I want that for her.

I know that it will be great for

Burk and I as well as we invite

the Savior to be the center

of  our home and our lives.

We will learn and grow and 

become stronger.

I've also been thinking about the goals

I set for myself for this month.

How many of them did I accomplish?

I'm going to dig in to my Powersheets

tomorrow and let you know then:0)

It's funny how life changes and

all of the sudden things start

working out without any help from me.

God is good!  He loves me unconditionally!

Slobbery Baby Kisses and Increase in Love 8/100

Today I'm grateful for...

Slobbery baby kisses:0)

L is so cute.

She has been in a grouchy mood

for me the last few days,

but this morning we were

having fun and playing and

she was giving me the slobbery

open-mouthed baby kisses.

I am so glad I have a happy baby.

Even her grouchy days

are not bad at all.

While I don't enjoying getting up

in the middle of the night with her,

I do love the baby snuggles I get when I do.

P.S. Usually she sleeps through the night 

(another thing I'm super grateful for).

It is only occasionally that she wakes up,

and it normally doesn't take her long

to go back to sleep again.

The Word...

"Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:43)

On my heart...

Today was a hard day for me.

Yesterday I discovered that one 

of my students has been stealing from

our reward boxes all year long.

It is a student that has a hard time

making mistakes.

He often blames other people

and refuses to say he did anything wrong.

I've had several conversations 

with him about things, and

they always end with me getting

nowhere with him.

It makes my heart sad because

I know that if he has that kind 

of thinking when he gets to be an adult

he is going to have a hard, sad life.

I dreaded having to have a conversation

with him about the stealing,

but obviously I couldn't ignore it

because that wouldn't have helped anyone.
Yesterday I tried to give him a chance to
make the first move by telling the
class that I had discovered that
someone was stealing things out
of the reward boxes.
I knew who it was, and I was really sad
about it and I hoped the person or persons
would do the right thing and put the
things back and come apologize.
He did not take that opportunity
which is when my anxiety about
talking him started.

Today I prayed fervently before having

a chat with him that I could know

what to say to best help him.
After thinking on it some more,

I really felt like I needed to give him
a chance to come to me first,
so instead of pulling him out of his
music class, I decided to wait and talk
to the whole class about honesty.
I gathered them at the carpet and we
had a chat about what honesty was
and how it was better to admit when
we make a mistake than it was to
keep it inside and not tell the truth.
I could see this student's face the
whole time. He knew I was talking to him.
At the end of our chat I just
encouraged whoever had taken the rewards
to come talk to me at recess and be honest with me
because that would be making the right choice.
The time between our chat and recess
we worked on math.
This student was being really nice to me
and excited about what we were doing.
We were playing a game that only
two people could play together
and we had an odd number of students,
so I decided to play with him.
I didn't say anything about the issue,
but instead I had fun playing this game
with him and letting him see that I knew
he had made a mistake, but I still loved him
and valued him.
Recess came and he waited until all the other
students had left and he came and gave me
back the things.
I was very emotional, which now a days
isn't to uncommon.
I told him how proud I was of him
and how he told the truth.
I also had to tell him that even
when we make a mistake and
tell the truth there are still
consequences for what we did wrong.
We talked and came up with some
consequences together.
He left still feeling bad because he
was afraid to get into trouble at home,
but I felt like I was able to reach a new
level of connection with him.

After school, I started feeling anxious
and like maybe I hadn't handled it right
because he should have felt more like it was
a bad choice on his part, but then
the scripture above came to mind.
"Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon
by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards
and increase of love toward him whom thou hast
reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy."
I knew then that what had happened was because
the Spirit was trying to help me teach this
student what he needed to learn,
in a way that would work best for him.

It got me thinking about how my
Heavenly Father helps me when I make a mistake.
He knows just how I can learn and grow
and will do everything He can to show me that
He loves me even while He's trying to teach
me to be better in a way that I may not like.

Yes, Heavenly Father loves us no matter what mistakes we make!
He wants us to learn and grow from our mistakes
and become better today than we were yesterday.
I'm grateful for what I learned through this situation.

God is good!  He loves and teaches me daily!

Grace in the Little Things 7/100

Today I am thankful for...

Today I'm feeling really thankful

that I'm able to read the book

The Christ-Centered Home.

Yesterday when I was writing 

about tender mercies it got me

thinking about all the little things

in the day that help me know He loves me.

Today I was reading in the chapter

"A Household of Grace"

and saw the quote above.

I'd never thought to hard about

this, but those tender mercies

are a form of His grace.

The word...

GRACE in the Bible Dictionary

"The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ...It is...through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold to eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."

When we have

FAITH in the ATONEMENT and REPENT,

the Lord's Grace will

STRENGTHEN us

and ASSIST us

in doing good works that we 

wouldn't be able to do by ourselves.

Everyone needs grace to make up

for all the stuff we can't do by ourselves.

It ENABLES us to keep our covenants

and to do all the things Heavenly Father

wants us to do.

I  CAN'T DO IT ALONE! 

I need the Lord's Grace to make up

for all that I lack!

It is a huge part of finding and receiving

strength to make it through the hard times

and even the not so hard things.

On my heart...

So something else I read in The Christ-Centered Home

in the same chapter as above,

was a great idea about a "Book of Evidences."

It was a book she started with her family

where they would write down all the evidences 

of the Lord's Grace and tender mercies 

throughout the week/day.

I realized that I have a notebook that

I've been using as my gratitude journal recently.

I'm going to go one step further and instead of 

just writing down one thing I'm thankful for,

I'm going to start making lists of 

daily tender mercies that remind me 

the Lord is taking care of me.

I'm going to include a few things

big and small:0):

prayers that have been answered,

little things I'm grateful for,

how I feel when I receive promptings

from the Lord,

how I feel when I follow those promptings.

It's amazing how much love and goodness

you can find in your life when you really

look at all the little things.

Will you join me?

Here is my list so far today:

L's sleepy smile just before she closed her eyes to sleep.

A few quiet minutes I had to study my Book of Mormon.

Learning more about grace in The Christ-Centered Home.

No rain during recess today!

A class who listened very well today.

Math lessons went smooth today.

God is good! He loves and strengthens me!

Tender Mercies 6/100

Today I am thankful for...

Today I was thinking to myself
(really it was the Holy Ghost)
to take a break from Math today
and to move on to Science.
We were starting our rock unit.
I had a really good lesson plan,
and I love doing rocks!
We had just started,
when in walks the assistant principal
to observe me.
I'm thankful for the prompting
to do science because it went a lot
better than math today.
Normally it wouldn't bother me
to be observed anytime,
but at this new school I've
been feeling like I'm not really
the great teacher everyone
thought I was at my other school.
It's been rough to look at my observation
scores and see less than I've gotten at
my old school,
so having a good lesson while
I was being observed was good:0)

The Word...

"And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him (Lehi); yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away.  But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you the tender mercies of the Lord over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."  ~1 Nephi 1:20

How amazing is this scripture.  Here's Lehi, a prophet of God, being persecuted and people planning to kill him, but Nephi saw all that happened and wrote about the tender mercies the Lord extended to Lehi and his family because of their faith.  He made them mighty and delivered them. They didn't get delivered into the perfect life.  They didn't get delivered directly to the Promised Land.  After escaping Jerusalem, they still had many YEARS of travelling and bearing burdens and going hungry and so much more. It didn't happen instantly, but it did happen in the Lord's timing.  If you read the rest of their story (which I highly suggest! Click here to get a free copy of the Book of Mormon), you can see all the little tender mercies throughout their journey are there to remind them that the Lord loves them and that he is having them go through the hard stuff so they can learn and grow in the Gospel.  It's good stuff!

I know that my life is a lot like that.  I'm on my way to my own Promised Land. The Lord is leading me on a journey that isn't always easy, but He leaves little love notes in the form of tender mercies, reminding me that He is journeying with me and He loves me and wants me to learn and grow and to become the best me I can possibly be.

On my heart...

I've shared with you my word for 2016
RISE
and my scripture
"Arise and shine forth."
I was thinking today that I haven't shared
the song I decided on for this year.
Coincidentally it is actually the song
that gave me the idea for the name of this blog.
I wish I could say I did it on purpose...
wait, no I don't.  I love it when things
happen like this!  It was meant to be.
As I was trying to come up with a name
for this blog, I basically went through
all the inspiring songs on my phone
writing down phrases from them
and then I narrowed it down from there.
I had about 6 big post-it notes filled.
It came down to Uncovering Strength
and something I can't remember about miracles.
Obviously I picked Uncovering Strength!
Here's the song:

That's Who I Am
by Hilary Weeks

I can feel myself breathe
Really breathe again
Gonna let myself dream
Truly dream again
I won't ever stop trying
This is my story
And I'm still writing
I'm uncovering strength
I've never felt before
There's a fire inside
That's never burned before
My fears are all dying
It's time to spread my wings
And start flying

This moment is mine and I'm gonna take it
Today is a gift and I will embrace it
I am strong and I believe that's who I'm meant to be
Every step that I take is lifting me higher
Every corner I turn the future is brighter
I am brave enough to face the storm
And still stand
That's who I am

It's not about the race
It's not how fast I run
It's finding out what's inside
And who I can become
It's all about letting go and holding on
It's about taking chances
And staying strong

This moment is mine and I'm gonna take it
Today is a gift and I will embrace it
I am strong and I believe that's who I'm meant to be
Every step that I take is lifting me higher
Every corner I turn the future is brighter
I am brave enough to face the storm
And still stand
That's who I am
That's who I am
That's who I am


I love this song because it reminds me to be who I am.  I've been through a lot and I know that every step I take is leading me to discover more of who I was created to be.  Sometimes in the overwhelming and hard times of my life, I forget who I am, but the Lord leads me to the people, places, and things that remind me. It never happens immediately, but with time I make it back to who I knew I was and even a few steps further in to discovering more of myself.

God is good! He loves me!

Nothing is Impossible

 Today I'm thankful for...

Today I'm feeling super grateful 

for my fabulous Mother!

If you don't know her you're missing out

She has been my biggest fan

and has encouraged me in 

working on following my dreams. 

She prays for me and I know that 

Heavenly Father hears and answers 

those prayers.

The Word...

How amazing is this scripture?!

No matter what we're trying to do 

And how hard it seems 

WITH GOD

nothing is impossible!

Do you believe that?

I love how reading through 

the scriptures you can see the

Truth of it through the stories of

Prophets and people. 

On my heart today...

I had some awesome thoughts I wanted to record earlier today, but of course I can't remember a thing. 

Grace over perfection. 

I'm sure I'll remember when I go to bed. 

Until then I'm enjoying the evening with my family:0)

Expect Miracles!

Today I'm thankful for...

Today I'm grateful for the rain

and for quiet moments of reflection

on rainy days while sitting in the car.

I'm currently reading a book by

Emily P. Freeman 

(not to be confused with Emily Belle Freeman

the LDS author).

The book is called 

Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living 

in a Fast-Moving World.

In it she says "What gives moments

meaning is not the moments themselves 

but the presence of Christ with us

in the midst of them" (page 47).

Today I had such a moment.

I had run to the dollar store

to pick up a cheap potato masher

to use when I make Jam later today.

While L and I were in the store,

it started to rain and

by the time we had gotten home

it was pouring.

L had fallen asleep and

I didn't want to wake her

by taking her out to get rained on

between the car and the house.

So I sat in the car for a little while

waiting for the rain to at least die down a bit.

While I was sitting there,

I started thinking about rain.

Rain is amazing!

It waters plants and helps them

stay green and healthy.

It helps flowers grow and bloom

and trees grow delicious fruit.

It provides water for us to drink,

which helps us to live.

It cleanses.

It purifies.

Rain is like the light of Christ.

He is Life.

Without him we are nothing.

He helps.

He gives us nourishment,

He cleanses.

He purifies.

I'm thankful for this short moment

I had the chance to ponder and learn.

The Word...

Oh my goodness, friends!
Can I tell you how much I am enjoying this book
The Christ-Centered Home: Inviting Jesus In 
by Emily Belle Freeman!
I've got it all highlighted and written in!
I'm only two months/chapters in and I
have already been touched by the Spirit!
Today's scripture comes from the Chapter
called "The House on the Borders of Tyre:
A Household of Faith, The Second Month:
Expect Miracles.

Mark 7:24-30 (with JST added in here)

"And from thence he arose, and went into
the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into 
an house, and would that no man should come unto him.
But he could not deny them; for he had compassion
upon all men. For a certain woman, whose young 
daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, 
and came and fell at his feet: The woman
was Greek, a Syrophenician by nation;
and she besought him that he would cast forth
the devil out of her daughter.
But Jesus said unto her, Let the children
of the kingdom first be filled: for it is not
meet to take the children's bread, 
and to cast it unto the dogs.
And she answered and said unto him,
Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table
eat of the children's crumbs.
And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way;
the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
And when she was come to her house,
she found the devil gone out, and
her daughter laid upon the bed."

So Christ travels to the Gentile regions.
A Gentile woman hears He is there
and comes to see him.
She falls at his feet.
and implores urgently for him
to cast away the devil from her daughter.
He tells her that the children of the kingdom
of God must be filled first.
"...for it is not meet to take the children's bread,
and to cast it unto the dogs."
I think he was testing her faith.
Seeing if she would let it lead her
to having faith in Him.
Her reply, "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs
under the table eat of the children's crumbs."
Basically she says, I'll take whatever you
would give me even if it is only a small crumb.
He saw her faith and granted her petition.
Her daughter was healed.

I love what Emily says about this woman.
She went to the Lord expecting a miracle.
I don't know about you,
but I don't always expect a miracle
when I ask for things.
As I've thought further on this
faithful woman's story,
I see that Christ did not give her a miracle
right away.  He made sure her desire and faith
were there and then he gave her the miracle.
How often do I ask for something
and it doesn't happen right away.
Instead I get to wait and stay faithful.
Believing in my Savior
and having faith that in His perfect
timing He will grant me a miracle.
I'm going to start expecting miracles
and being happy for any small crumbs.
I'm going to be patient while I wait
for the Lord's timing for those miracles.

On my heart today...

I've been thinking about how
miracles don't have to be something
big and grand and flashy.
Sometimes they are the little things
 that go unnoticed in our everyday lives.
A baby's laugh in the early morning hours.
A flower blooming in the sunlight.
Making it through a hard day.
The rain on the windshield while I
ponder on the Lord's grace.
The little crumbs He gives me daily!
The tender mercies that let me know he cares!

My Feet on His Perfect Path for Me

Today I'm thankful for...

Today I'm embarking on the journey
of loving my body again.
Today I'm choosing to
be thankful for my feet.
They have done so much for me!
They've carried me through life.
They explore the farm,
the neighborhood, and school
when I was child.
They've traveled to China where
they walked on paths old and new.
God put my feet on that path,
so I would be able to become
a teacher and change lives.
They've run a marathon, many half marathons,
relay races and a few feet to comfort family
and friends in need.
They've carried the weight of so much.
They are scarred and callused,
but are amazing!

The Word...

I have searched everywhere to find the artist of this painting, but haven't found him/her.
If you know who he/she is, will you please leave a comment or email me!

"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples
to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side,
while he sent the multitudes away..." (Matt. 14:22)

"And when even was now come, his disciples
went down unto the sea,
And entered into a ship, and went over the
sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark,
and Jesus was not come to them.
And the sea arose by reason of
a great wind that blew.
So when they had rowed about five and
 twenty or thirty furlongs, they see
Jesus walking on the sea, and
drawing night unto the ship and they were afraid.
(John 6:16-19)

"But straightway Jesus spake unto them,
saying, Be of good cheer; it is I;
be not afraid. And Peter answered him
and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come.
And when Peter was come down out of the ship,
he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid; and beginning to sink,
he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand, and caught him,
and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
And when they were come into the ship,
the wind ceased."(Matt. 14:27-32)


On my heart today...

So I used two different books of
scripture to record this story here.
I did this because I feel that they
each told different important
details that the other book did not.

I've been wanting to write my thoughts
about this scripture and picture
for weeks, but was having a hard
time sitting down to write.
I was talking to a friend about
how I had been feeling depressed
and because of this I was feeling
guilty because I have the tools
to use to help myself,
I knew they would help,
but I couldn't seem to find
the motivation to do anything.
Then I remembered this story
and a similar story after Christ
has been resurrected and Peter
jumps out of the boat and swims
to the shore.
I interpret that to mean that Peter
knew how to swim that day
he walked on water and then
began to sink and called for the
Savior to save him.
I felt like I could relate to
that because I feel surrounded by
these boisterous waves and I know
how to swim, but I'm sinking and
about to drown.
I could use what I know, but
I can't seem to remember how.
When I am feeling this way,
there is only one way to survive,
call on my Redeemer to save me!
He will "immediately" stretch out
His hand to save me.
He will pull me from the water
and walk with me back to my boat,
even while we continue to be surrounded
by the storm and the waves.
I love that part too.
The storm doesn't stop when Christ
pulls Peter from the water.
It continued until they got back to
the boat.

Just because our lives/trials continue on
after we've cried for help,
doesn't mean the Savior hasn't saved us!
He is walking next to us,
asking us to trust Him!
Isn't that the most beautiful
 thing you've ever heard!

Arise and Shine Forth

Today I am thankful for...

I was flipping through the photos

on my phone this morning

and found this.
It's a bit fuzzy
since it was dark in the room.

It made me smile.

I'm so grateful for this

little ray of sunshine in my life!

This was the morning 

I woke her up at 2:45 a.m.

to change her diaper.

She wouldn't sleep 

without me holding her 

after that.

I thought around 4:30

that she finally was asleep

in her own bed,

but as soon as I climbed in

my bed she started crying again.

My-Handsome-Guy got up with her.

But when he had to get ready for work,

I took her to cuddle in my bed,

which I never do because

I'm hoping not to have

a kid who climbs into my bed

in the middle of the night.

I was just too tired.

She fell asleep and stayed asleep

for a couple hours.

When she woke up

she was super happy.

We laid there laughing

and giggling and

cuddling.

It was a good moment.

Looking back on it makes me smile:0)!

The Word...

"Verily I say unto you all:

Arise and shine forth,

that thy light may be

a standard for the nations."

~D&C 115:5

Every year I choose a word 

to help inspire me for the year.

This year no matter what

word I tried it never felt 

quite right.

Until I saw a post from 

a friend sharing her word 

for the year: RISE!

It totally spoke to my heart!

God is so good at

helping us find answers!

Rise is the perfect word

for my 2016.

I've been feeling

down in the dumps

and get to find help

through my Savior to 

RISE 

up and shine.

To be who He created

me to be.

On my heart today...

Today I saw an old picture of myself

from four years ago.

It made me really depressed and sad.

It was a picture of my sister-in-law, her sister and me

right before we ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon.

I looked super skinny.

I realized once again that I have gained

almost 40 pounds since I got pregnant with L.

Most of it I gained after I had her last July.

After allowing myself to be sad about it,

I realized that I need to be more thankful

for my body and all it has gone through since

November 2014.

It grew a 5 lb 13 oz baby for crying out loud!

Then it fed that baby for 8ish weeks.

It has gotten up many times 

in the middle of the night

to feed, comfort, and cuddle

that precious spirit.

It's probably never going 

to be the same as it once was.

I get to work on treating it better.

Feeding it better.

Exercising it, so it can have more energy.

Being grateful for the little miracle

it gave me named L.

It gave me one of my biggest dreams.

It gave me one of my biggest blessings.

So today, I am choosing to be more

thankful for this body 

I call home.

This temple I get to live in!

I know from experience that

when I am more thankful for it

and treat it well

that it can do more 

than I ever dreamed possible.

Time to shift my mindset!

The 100 Day Project

A couple weeks ago,

my daughter L started

pulling herself up on things.

The first time she did it

(pictured above),

she stood there for a minute

and promptly fell down

giving herself a bruise 

on her forehead.

After comforting her,

she crawled off my lap

and went straight back

to the same spot

and started climbing again.

Being a mother has been

so many things,

but one of my favorite

things is all that she teaches me

about myself and God.
I hope I get to teach her
just as much as she's
teaching me!

When I kept watching her 

pull herself up and fall

over again and again,

I realized that I am doing

the same thing in my life.

Five years ago,

my life was changed 

by a path Heavenly Father

led me to start.

I learned so much

about myself and life.

I learned to love myself

and trust in God's plan for me.

It  was a huge milestone in

my personal development.

It was my first moment of

pulling myself up.

I was able to continue 

living my life this way

for a short amount of time,

but eventually fell down

into my old self.

It hurt because of

what I knew I could 

really do and be.

After letting myself 

feel the pain and 

finding comfort in 

the Lord's Grace,

I pulled myself back up again.

Just like L I keep falling,

but keep getting back up
again and again.

Since L was born I feel

like I fell long and hard

and have ended up in a place

that is deep and dark.

I've been trying to pull

myself up,

but I keep falling back down.

After having a huge breakdown on Sunday,

I've been thinking this week

that there is something I'm missing.

After contemplating it,

I've realized that I 

did miss something.

When L falls,

there is someone there to 

help her and comfort her.

I have this as well.

I have a Father 

who wants the best for me.

He wants me to learn and grow.

He doesn't leave me alone,

but instead is there to catch me

and to comfort me.

He's here to help me

heal and mend my heart.

The only way I can do it 

is through my Savior

and his Grace!

I'd like to share my journey

on this blog. 

It's going to be a huge

undertaking, but 

I'm not doing it alone.

I'm choosing to lean in

and allow my Father

to help me get stronger.

I need his strength

added to my strength,

so I can uncover myself

again.
So I can uncover
the strength
I have with Him.

God put it on my heart
to share my journey,
and I've been stuck
lately not knowing
the words to use
to share.

Yesterday I came across

a project on Instagram that

a friend is doing.

It's called #the100dayproject.

It started yesterday,

but I'm going to start today.

It is a chance to start something you

will do everyday no matter what

and share it on Instagram.

My project will be #uncoveringstrength.
I'm going to be writing
daily on this blog,
sharing scriptures
and gratitude
and other things that
are on my heart.

Here I go!