Life: The ordinary miracle

Yesterday a family friend passed away suddenly. Last week was the 10 year anniversary of my Father's passing. My friends just got out of a very long relationship. My other friend's wife walked out on him. There are wars, crime, and violence all around.We live in a world that is not exempt from things that are sad and hard. As I have been pondering these events a beautiful and simple scripture has been coming to my mind. Said the Savior, "Blessed are those that mourn, they shall be comforted." At first I wondered how on earth someone could consider mourning to be a blessing, but as I reflected on my life's experiences I gained a testimony of this principle. Mostly I came to understand for me at least, the value of comfort.  In John 14:26-27 we read:    26  But the  a Comforter ,  which is  the  b Holy Ghost , whom the Father will send in my  c name , he shall  d teach  you all things, and bring all things to your remembr...

Sometimes in life you find yourself in what could become a sticky situation.Tonight I was asked to teach a class about Google+.  Beforehand a presentation was made and practiced, activities were prepared, and it was scheduled to be smooth sailing. Fast forward to 3:45 PM, the precise moment when I showed up to give this said presentation. I walk in and upon further inspection I realized that the room I was teaching in didn't have a computer. Within about 6 minutes students started showing up. So, what did I do? That's right I went old school and taught a class about social media using a white board and a marker. What I learned from this situation comes back to the age old adage, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, or "Come what may and love it" from Joseph B. Wirthlin. I think that life can be a lot like that classroom at times. We get going on a path and we think we have everything planned out and prepared and then the good Lord uses his sense of humor and m...

Recently my family was blessed with the opportunity to wait a what seemed like forever for the birth of my nephew James. My poor sister-in-law was 15 days past her due date. The baby was fully grown and had been close to entering the world when some complications occurred and his progress digressed. After waiting and waiting our family finally hear good news... She went into the hospital to get checked and the decision was made to admit her and get things going. We were told that baby would be born by tomorrow morning. When the morning came we all gathered together and went to the hospital by 8:30 am. When we arrived they told us that James would be there in about 30 minutes. Then they said in an hour. Only one more hour they would say. Again, and again, for the next nine hours we waited and waited. Finally, after a c section our newest addition arrived in the family. Perhaps it was because of the season, but I began to think about the long awaited birth of our Savior Jesus Chr...

Dear Mr. President, Though I doubt you will ever read the letter found on a blog post, I still feel the need to write to you as if you will actually listen. You see, I know that you are a person too and as a human you must have some sympathies to feel human emotions. I’m sure you probably feel you’ve done an excellent job in your roll as president, and actually that’s not what I am writing for today. I am writing to ask you for your help.  You recently created “Obama care” which is supposed to allow all US citizens the right to insurance.   I wonder if you have considered at the time of its creation what some of the side effects would be for this decision. I write to represent myself, but also so many others that I know.  Do you know how hard it is to find a job these days? Have you tried it out Mr. President? (Obviously not, because you have a job and a salary and government provided healthcare) As a recent college graduate, I put 10 resumes and applicat...

I've known my friend most of my life. We grew up together. We went to youth camps, tennis matches, church dances, and anything in between.We were next door neighbors. We would go for a walk as often as we could and on those walks we dream, hope, and plan for the future.  We chose to be college roommates where she put up with my crazy habits! We helped each other through the moving out of home phase. We wrote letters as we both served as missionaries for our church. We've just always stayed really close.  Through the grace of God we were put in the same place once again after all this time and she continues to be a living example to me.  Today I had the special chance to be with my friend when she found her wedding dress. As we searched and found I just felt a profound sense of joy come over me. It was as though I could see God helping things work out smoothly for her. It filled my heart in a way that words can't describe. All those days of dreaming and planning s...

Once upon a weekend I had the opportunity to spend 12 hours alone in a car with a couple who recently became engaged. As a single adult admittedly there may have been moments when I wanted to hit my head against the window, but when I truly stopped and observed I was surprised at how much I learned! Ironically, I ended up being extremely thankful for those precious hours. God is good to let us learn through experience. So here it goes ... time to dish the good, the bad, and the ugly for those less fortunate than I who missed the experience. First, basic linguistic research (done by yours truly) showed that the most commonly asked question by either party in the relationship was the level of their comfort. Simply,"Are you comfortable?"  Sometimes this would go back and forth about 5 times in a two minute time period, which may seem excessive, but actually when you think about it, is quite remarkable. In a world so focused on selfish tendencies we often forget to check on peo...

What if you were never born? Yes, you! How would the world be a different place? What would the impact be? Have you ever thought of the value of one life before? How many people do you meet on earth? Well, today I was pondering what difference just one person could make in the world. Of course I thought about some of the most influential people like Joseph Smith,George Washington, Martin Luther King jr, Rosa Parks, and Amelia Earhart. More recently, Seth Adam Smith, and Ben Arkell to name a few. ( if you don't know who these men are or what they have done check out these websites ( http://sethadamsmith.com   and  http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBookofMormon2day ) These people impacted thousands, and their influence continues to live on today in hearts and history books. But what about an ordinary person who hasn't reached the famous status? How much influence can they have on the world? I thought about some of the most dear and influential people in my own life and I was t...