Rachel's Songs

I've written about this before, but my daughter, Rachel, sings and dances all-of-the-time. She mostly sings whatever tune comes to her mind and I am guessing the words are about whatever she is thinking about then. The two recent memorable ones are:

1. I am a pretty princess, and I will grow up to be a ninja.
2. Isn't it funny that my mom is so ugly and my dad is so handsome. Isn't it funny that my dad married an ugly girl. (This was about the drawing she had just made, not about me and John. Good thing too, she is the one kid that looks just like me.)

 

A Seventh Birthday

My little man, Adam turned 7, November 4th! He is my one kid that I tried really hard to get here. He came after 2 miscarriages and 6 months of "trying". The doctors told me that after 2 miscarriages, I had a 60% chance of having a third. I was really nervous those first three months until I saw my healthy little 3 month fetus wiggling around in the ultra sound. Still, Adam arrived reluctantly, 2 days late and my longest labor of 4 hours (I fired that doctor; he wouldn't break my water).

Adam has always been our funny kid. He has been making jokes since he knew about jokes! He is tough and sensitive all rolled into one. He LOVES his big brother, Johnny, and does what he can to be just like him.

At seven, my little Adam tries very hard to be a big kid. He cannot know this, but he does way more and is way more capable than my 3 older children were at this age. Unlike my older 3, Adam picks up giant messes (messes weren't so big back when Ruth was 7),  he clears out the dish washer and loads in dirty dishes; he vacuums; he changes diapers; he dresses little kids. He buckles and unbuckles babies in their car seats. He doesn't know that I have never required this of a 6/7 year old before, and I won't tell him. I need his helping hands.

But, unlike my older 3, he is the only 6/7 year old to stay up late on a regular basis watching movies and playing games with mom and dad. This reminds me, he also tries very hard to like movies and T.V. shows that he really doesn't like-- Just so he can prove that he really is a big kid!

For his birthday, we spent the day with some of his favorite cousins just before they moved to Arizona (sniff, sniff). It was a small party, but Adam really enjoyed the day with his cousins.

A Week About Faith: Final Post

My guest write for Saturday did not follow through, but I have a friend who will write something for me sometime next week. So We will get 7 articles on faith not from me.

I think this has been a very uplifting week. We have been blessed by the stories and faith from six amazing women. As I have read this weeks posts, The scripture from Proverbs 3:5-6 has come to mind over and over.

  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

If I had to sum up the themes from this week. This is what I would say

1. Trust the Lord and  keep the commandments
2. Trust the Lord and follow the promptings one receives from the Holy Ghost.
3. Trust the Lord and know that His will is better for you than your will.
4. Trust the Lord to know that when times are rough, He is still with you and
5. Be patient in affliction.

I want to thank all of my wonderful writers. I could have written my heart out all week and not have come up with so much. So Thank you writers. I have learned a lot. Your writings have helped me to become a better person, and I am sure there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same.

Diane

A Week About Faith: Alida

My name is Alida,  I'm a mommy of 6 little blessings (ages 12, 10, 8, 6, 3, 1), the wife of a pretty great guy (for nearly 13 years), a daughter of goodly parents (I'm their favorite) and a friend to a lot of wonderful people. I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you know "The Mormons." I'm a little goofy, a little nerdy, a little silly, and a lot AWESOME. I enjoy pina coladas and getting caught in the rain....I'm not into Yoko and I have half a brain....(wait a minute, I think that's a song....)  Either way, I'm a pretty fun person, I enjoy blogging and entertaining the masses.  There is always something going on at the Bowles home so come read about my colorful life at Living Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Trust in The Lord

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “We can say: ‘I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things’ (1 Ne. 11:17). There have been and will be times in each of our lives when such faith must be the bottom line: We don’t know what is happening to us or around us, but we know that God loves us, and knowing that, for the moment, is enough” (“Not My Will, But Thine” [1988], 119).

What an uplifting week this has been here on Diane's blog as each of these amazing women have shared their stories of Faith in all things.  Admittedly, I've been struggling this week with finding the right words to share with you the special message that is in my heart.  I have written and then re-written this post several times throughout the week and nothing has felt quite right.  However, I have faith that the Lord knows my heart and he will guide me through this.
It's a beautiful Autumn morning.  I'm sitting by a large window and feeling the warmth of the sunlight as it fills each corner of the room.  It's so still and quiet here except for the cars rushing by on the street down below.  My 10 year old son Brinton is peacefully sleeping in a bed across the room and occasionally I hear the rustling of his blankets as he switches position.  I kind of want to hold on to this moment a little longer.

As I write this I'm sitting in a room at the Ronald McDonald House Charities roughly 3 hours from home, about 150 miles away from my family.  By the time you read this on Friday, November 11th, Brinton will be undergoing major surgery on his spine called a C1-C2 spinal fusion, to help stabilize his neck from a rare spinal deformity called Os Odontoideum.  This will be his 8th surgery in his 10 short years and it will probably be his most life changing.  He faces 3 months of rehab and physical therapy, while learning to live with a halo brace that will prevent him from moving his head or neck while he heals.  This has been a huge test of our faith and this story is still being written....

I know now why I've been struggling to write this post! The story I thought I needed to share is not the message the Lord wants me to share.  So, while I ask for your thoughts and prayers for my sweet son, I wish to move on to another experience that I've had with faith.  (Side note: It's incredible how fast the words are flying out of me now that I've chosen to trust in the Lord and listen to the spirit...)

About four years ago everything was going wrong.  We lived in Las Vegas, NV at the time and although we had been incredibly successful, by the worlds standards, we were falling apart.  Our business was failing, our finances were out of control, our marriage was suffering, our family was struggling, WE. WERE. A. MESS.  I couldn't see even a glimmer of hope or happiness in our future.  I just wanted to run away from all of it.  Then we found out we were expecting baby #5.  This news came as a wonderful surprise and blessing but also added to our struggle.  We decided that we needed to leave Las Vegas, get back to Utah, rebuild our lives, and we'd all live happily ever after.  That wasn't the Lord's plan for us.  Time and time again we'd have job offers only to fall through at the last second, it was a never ending cycle.  The tunnel just kept getting longer.

In January of 2008 my husband attended the temple by himself one evening to ponder and pray what we should do.  His answer: Move to Kansas City.

Um what?

Neither he nor I had ever even been to Missouri or Kansas.  Ever.  My husband often tells the story that he felt like Lehi coming home that evening to tell the family we were moving to the wilderness.  I was still quite dumbfounded by this revelation but in my heart I knew without a doubt it was the right thing to do.  I knew that the Lord would not call me to do something harder than what I could handle and if the last year of struggle was any indication of how strong I was, this move was going to be a piece of cake.  Right?!

Well, that night he sent out resume after resume and within a week he had already lined up several interviews.  A couple of weeks after that we were on our way to Kansas City to look at homes and interview for jobs.  He was offered 2 jobs right away, along with a great sign on package and they were paying to move us across the country.  Our prayers had been answered.  I felt that because of our faith our family was being made whole again.  I thought that this was the end to our trial, that I had finally made it out of the dark.

Knowing that our baby was due March 29th we planned to move the first week in April for him to start work.  I worked diligently to pack all our things, to sell those things which we could not take, to get all our affairs in order.  Each day passed and there was no sign of baby.  The clock was ticking on our move day and still no baby.  There was no way I could travel thousands of miles across the country 39 weeks pregnant.  What would we do?  Our plan B was to have Jeremiah leave to start work (as he could not postpone his start day) and I would stay with my mother until I delivered our son, at which time I would join him in Kansas City.

One night when I could no longer bare the thought of having Jeremiah leave me behind, I knelt down in prayer and I pleaded with Heavenly Father....."Please, please don't let me have this baby without his father here.  Please."

By April 7th we moved to Kansas.  By we I mean my husband and children.....

I stayed behind still waiting for our son to be born.  I believe in trusting my body and letting baby come without induction.  I was planning a home birth and my midwife fully supported my desire to wait for my body and my baby to be ready.  I was questioning my decision with each passing day.  Wondering if I should just go to the hospital and get induced but some how knowing that waiting was the right thing to do.  

I took joy in the time I spent with my mom cooking, taking walks, shopping, watching movies but I was angry with the Lord.  I couldn't understand why, if I had done everything he asked up to that point, he hadn't answered that prayer that my husband be there when our son was born.  I had exercised so much faith and I felt like he left me in my greatest time of need.  One week passed, two weeks passed, I was desperate for my baby, desperate for my 4 children already living in Kansas.  Three weeks passed.

On April 26th, 2008, still very much pregnant with my little boy, my husband flew back to Las Vegas for a business meeting.  He arrived at 2:00 pm, I went into labor a little before 5pm and delivered our son 45 minutes later.  As I held my newborn baby Liam in my arms and looked into his eyes, I had a realization that the prayer that I had called out to my father in heaven, "Please, please don't let me have this baby without his father here. Please." Had been answered.  Not in my timing but in the Lord's.  Here I had nearly lost all faith, I had nearly lost all hope but the Lord followed through in His timing, not in mine.

Sadly, my mother passed away from cancer 9 months after Liam was born.  Had the Lord given me that which I had prayed for in MY time and not in HIS, I never would've had that month with my mother.  The Lord truly does know each and every one of us.  He hears our prayers.  He knows our struggles.  He knows our hearts and what we need better than we do.
I testify that I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  That He is the one true Son of a living God.  That He loves us so much that He bore all our burdens so that we may return to live with Him someday.  You are not alone.  Even when your faith may falter, may waiver, even when you struggle, you are not alone.  Sometimes,  knowing that is all the faith we need.  

A Week About Faith: Montserrat

Montserrat is a farmer's wife, mother of nine, homeschooler, photographer, lover of all things chocolate (except white chocolate, yuck!) and enjoys playing a good game of Scrabble. She is thankful for the trials she has in life that help her come closer to Christ and build her faith even more.

 Faith Enough to Be Healed

Over 12 years ago I had the privilege of visiting teaching a wonderful older sister, Toni, who lived just down the street from me. She was confined to a wheelchair because of the effects of Multiple Sclerosis. Her husband, Don, was so sweet! He always made sure she was comfortable, that she had everything she needed. He escorted her to every meeting and outing she wished to participate in.

One day while visiting teaching her we were discussing faith. The lesson mentioned that if we have enough faith it can heal our physical maladies. Toni, confined to her wheelchair, bore testimony that she knew that was true. My visiting teaching partner who was rather, how shall I say it, blunt at times, asked Toni point blank, "Then why aren't you healed of your MS? Do you not have enough faith?"

Toni smiled sweetly and answered, "Let me tell you a story."

Toni proceeded to tell how in February of 1994 Pres. Hinckley was visiting our area of Nevada. She was just beginning to suffer even more from the MS. The ward had fasted on her behalf, she had received multiple priesthood blessings of healing, and yet she was getting worse not better! She was beginning to doubt that she had enough faith. That maybe she wasn't good enough or worthy enough to be noticed by Heavenly Father. When Pres. Hinckley visited Toni made a special request to meet him and if possible obtain a priesthood blessing.

Her request was granted.

Toni told of the excitement she and her family felt. Finally, she would be healed. How could she not after receiving a priesthood blessing from an apostle of the Lord? The time for the blessing came. She was ecstatic when she heard these words, "Toni, you have enough faith to be healed." This was it!

And then these words, "But it is not the Lord's will. You can be of more service to others in your condition now than if you were whole."

Toni never looked back. She only regretted that she missed opportunities to serve while she spent her time wishing to be made whole.

Two years after she shared this experience with us Toni and Don were killed in a car accident. He died first, instantly at the scene. She held on for three more hours, we believe waiting for her sweetheart to prepare everything for her arrival in heaven.

In Elder Oak's new book, Life's Lessons Learned, the first chapter is about the lesson on faith their family learned during the sickness and subsequent death of his father. His father had also received countless priesthood blessings promising healing and a full recovery. Elder Oaks' shared snippets of letter his mother wrote to his father while he was confined in a TB sanatorium several states away. She wrote, "You shall be healed if your faith is great enough! . . . Recovery is according to our faith . . . The blessing is ours for the faith and asking. . . If our faith is great enough there is no blessing God can withhold from us."

At his father's funeral their stake president spoke these words: "All was done medically and in faith . . .in prayer that could be done for him . . . No doubt the most earnest and sincere prayer that was ever offered was the one offered while the Master was in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed most earnestly to His Father. 'May this cup pass by me' . . . but it closed with these remarks, 'not my will, but thine, be done.' So it was with the Savior Himself. His prayer was not answered because it was not the will of the Lord, and so our prayers have not been answered as we have asked . . .for [Lloyd's] recovery, but we have always said, 'thy will be done.'"

This is an important concept of faith that we must learn. Sometimes it is the Lord's will that we are healed or that some desire is to be ours if we but show enough faith in our actions and prayers. But other times it is not.

Elder Oak's taught: "Faith, no matter how strong it is, cannot produce a result contrary to the will of him whose power it is. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. That is why we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security in our lives. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Security is not born of inexhaustible wealth but of unquenchable faith” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, pp. 72–73).

We will all be faced with times when our faith will be tested. It is up to us to have that unquenchable faith that can heal, move mountains, create miracles but also have enough faith to accept the Lord's will no matter what the outcome. His ultimate desire is for us to be happy. We in our limited view may only see heartache and pain and brokenness. But if we submit our will to His with perfect faith in His timing we will eventually be able to become what He wants us to become and realize that yes, indeed, His plan for us will make us whole and perfect and happy.



You can read more from Montserrat at http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/

A Week of Faith: by LeAnn

LeAnn and her newest Great Granddaughter, Lilly LeAnn

LeAnn is the mother of 6 married children and has 32 grandchildren and 2 great granddaughters. She and her husband are serving a part time Inner City Mission.  They also serve as ordinance workers in the Jordan River Temple.  She loves reading and writing blogs, working on family histories, genealogy, journaling and most of all spending time with her grandchildren.
 

I just finished reading the first two posts for A Week of Faith. The experiences and thoughts were so awesome. I could relate to both of the posts in so many ways.  It was like hey; I have been there and done that too. Life is basically wonderful but we do have those moments when our faith is tested. The Lord wants to know where we stand.  These are the minutes when we cry out to Him and like Joseph Smith we may wonder where God is.  I have had many stand alone hours when I think like the Primary song: “Heavenly Father are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?” I know that Heavenly Father does hear and answer prayers. I think I could write a book of miracles that have shown me through the years that He has answered my prayers. I accept the invitation to walk with my Savior, Jesus Christ.

 
My favorite scripture is Proverb 3: 5-6; “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Whenever I hit a rough spot in the road; I get back on track with this scripture. I have learned to trust the Lord; but that doesn’t mean that I don’t struggle through the oppositions of life.

One thing that has helped me a lot through the years to grow in my faith is the examples of others. Just after I had our 6th child; I became somewhat depressed and overwhelmed. I wondered how I was going to handle all of the needs of my growing family.  My parents had come to stay with us for a week to help me with the children. My mother noted that I was down and told me, just like when I was young; “Find a good book and go to your room and read for a while”.  I chose to read the book, “Mary Fielding Smith- Daughter of Britain”. Don C. Corbett the author of the book made the following statement:   “Mary Fielding Smith’s life was one of conflict. This conflict sharpened her determination, made her a fighter, and drove her to great heights. Without conflict, she would not have attained the eminence that she did. Under the goading of her adversaries, she matched her ingenuity with the obstacles which arose. Under the burden she carried as a widow, she found extra-spiritual support which enlarged her capabilities. Faced with the problems of daily survival, she developed the power for making the right decisions. The vicissitudes of life humbled her and caused her to be grateful for all favors. Conflict was ever present and ruthless. It pounded her until it hurt; spurred her relentlessly to do her level best; energized her to achieve the impossible; wrung her to the breaking point; grieved her to tears; challenged her to the mountain tops; and rewarded her with fame and distinction”. After reading her book I used the mantra; “If Mary Fielding Smith can do it, I can do it”.

The following experience is by no means the only one of course; but it was a faith promoting moment. My husband lost his job after working for a company for 19 years. We were devastated.  At the time we lived in Washington. He was in the older age group where it is sometimes very hard to find a job. It took 9 months to find work and this was the exact month that his severance pay ran out. Now the miracle of the story is that he had interviews with four different companies and we had been in fasting and prayer for a job offer. At this time we were making a trip to Utah for a Wedding of our niece. On the way to the airport he received an offer to work for a company in Fort Worth, Texas. While waiting for our flight to leave he received another offer to work in Kansas City, Kansas. When we landed in Salt Lake he had an offer to work in Salt Lake. Here were 3 different areas and three different job offers. How were we to know which one to take? We had been fasting and praying over many months for a job and here we were with three offers.  After the wedding in the Salt Lake Temple; we decided to walk around the temple grounds and see if we could figure out where we were suppose to go. He had interviewed with all three companies and had looked at all the pros and cons of each area. We sat down on a bench and prayed. A short time after the prayer I just knew we were supposed to move back to Salt Lake where we had family living. However, this particular job was in a different area of management than he had worked before; it would all be new to him. The other fact was it was the highest cost of living and the lowest pay of the three jobs.  Meanwhile, I did not say anything to my husband about my feelings because I really needed Heavenly Father to answer his prayers. As we were walking around the temple grounds hand in hand; I noted that my husband was crying. I look up at him and asked what was wrong and he simply said we are to take the job here in Salt Lake. He told me that the words of a hymn came to his mind and he repeated the words to me. We both started to cry at that point. Here are the words:  “Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strength-en thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, - Upheld by my righteous….omnipotent.”We knew beyond doubt that we were to move here. We later realized that the title of the hymn was “How Firm a Foundation”.  Now we cry every time we sing this hymn at church.  At the time we didn’t know why we needed to be here; but we now know. We know that we were guided here and that our prayers were answered.

This wasn’t an easy move for sure. We had a house to sell and he was to start the job right away. There continued to be little miracles along the way. The first night in our new home we discovered that we didn’t have any hot water. The next morning I got up early to boil some water for my husband to bathe with and the thought came to me; at least I am not a pioneer who had to go down to the creek to get the water to bathe with. Yes, if Mary Fielding Smith can do it; I can do it. Another prominent mantra of mine is “I Believe in Miracles”; and I do”.

You can find LeAnn’s blog @ Living Waters  http://lgwilliams.blogspot.com

Guest Writer at Chocolate on My Cranium

Today, I am a guest writer over at Chocolate on My Cranium. She is Celebrating November with posts about Gratitude and Service. So go check her out, and please scroll down and read what Tristan, Becca, and Julie have to say about faith. My life has been blessed by their faith and their stories. I am sure yours will be too.