Isn't that the truth??

First I must ask if there is anyway I can be a Mormon and Southern Baptist??? Cause that would be amazing!

Today I attended the funeral... no, the Homegoing services.... of a dear friend and colleague, Ms. Sadie King. She was the parent liaison at the high school I work at. We have shared an office for the past two years. She has lost her job twice to budget costs..the last time just a few weeks ago. And rarely did I hear her say a negative word. She worked incessantly to help students and their parents. She ran a group called, "Dreams do still come true" - a group to help student mothers stay in school. She was classy, intuitive, and caring. We often had conversations about how to best reach children and their families and 'what was wrong with the world today.' She took a vested interest in my life and always expressed genuine concern and love for me. As was mentioned this afternoon... she was an angel standing near.

The Homegoing was like nothing I have ever experienced in my entire life. There were at least a thousand people there. Most of them African-American. It was by far the loudest service I have ever been to. There was praising and hallelujahing and clapping and yeah-ing and general giving glory. It was reverent.... not in the way we Mormons tend to think of as reverent. There were few people with their arms folded and heads bowed and mouths shut. Quite the contrary, actually. Hands and faces were raised toward heaven, mouths sang the praises of the Almighty and His Saving Son, hands clapped in rejoicing and as a witness that God lives and that He loves us. I was surrounded by people who wanted to do no more than revere their Lord. That's what I mean when I say I saw more reverence in that two hours than I often see in months of services in my own church. It was beautiful...and a moment to learn.

In the eulogy, the pastor talked about how Ms. Sadie saw the Mission not just the missionary. She was an active member of her church who participated in several outreach ministries and the choir. He was describing her exuberant and convincing personality and reminded us that Ms. Sadie was never afraid to live her faith. He described how sometimes we think we are 'Secret Agents of Christ' and that we need to live quietly and discreetly so that no one knows. Of course that's not how it works at all... and Ms. Sadie exemplified that! She praised God all the time and in every action she did. She was an 'Out loud' agent of our Savior!! May I live to rise her example and help others see the Mission rather than just the missionary.

I'll miss you Ms. Sadie...the office just isn't the same without you. But I know that as a valiant disciple of Christ, you have entered into His rest. I'm sorry I didn't tell you more about what I know to be true. I hope you'll forgive me one day. I'll try to be a better 'out loud' servant of my King. Because of your life and example, I have been changed for good. (I can hear you now... saying, "Isn't that the truth?") Thanks for being such a great example. Thanks for being so wonderful. Thanks for showing me grace and dignity and perseverance. May the Lord bless and keep you...

Not Sure

I'm not quite sure how to take this...

A kindergarten student just walked into my office and asked,

"Have you been sleeping well?"

Just not sure...

Kentucky Derby

Yes,

I know it was the

Preakness

this weekend

and not the

Kentucky Derby

but let's just say

I got a late start....

and probably won't

win this race.

But at least I have

an awesome hat!

True & Honest Heart

I was in the temple tonight and I was helping with initiatory. All week I had been wondering how I could be a better Relief Society President, better live the commandments, and be a better person in general and was somewhat worried that I wasn't living up to par.

There's a part that mentions having a true and honest heart... and how living up to the temple covenants with a true and honest heart will lead to your sins being forgiven. It really touched me tonight and knew it was a message from my Heavenly Father that the faults I see in myself and my desires to be better are coming from my true and honest heart and that because of that... even if I'm not living up to par at the moment... that if I keep trying, I'll get there.

For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

Prayer

Today's Relief Society lesson was about Prayer. I had the thought late last night that I needed to read over the lesson because 1) I just need to do it, and 2) I always have this back of my mind fear that the teacher won't show up and I'll have to teach. When I first looked around Sacrament meeting this morning, the teacher wasn't there. She still wasn't there at the beginning of Sunday School, so I did a little prepping while the lesson was going on. She showed up, but during that brief moment of panic, I gleaned my first little nugget of goodness.

In the Bible Dictionary, the following paragraph really stuck out to me:

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7: 7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

Especially the part about prayer becoming a natural and instinctive action on our part. There have definitely been times in my life when prayer has not been natural and instinctive and it is in those times that I often questioned my divine role, my place in the world, whatever you want to call it. I didn't feel right, worthy, or whatever to have prayer in my life. Nonsense. I know... now.

Anyway... then during the lesson, a comment by one of the sisters in Relief Society, really lightened up the latter half of the Bible Dictionary entry. It says that prayer is a form of work... What Kaila (the sister in Relief Society) pointed out though, is that prayer is the only communication with God where we have control of the content (at least partially). The scriptures are printed and given to us... as is the Ensign, General Conference, whatever. Prayer is the only opportunity we have to open our mouths and directly communicate back to God.

Then... a little bit later in the week, I was talking with my good friend, Lisa Young. She had had the same lesson of course and we were talking about it. She said that she'd brought up the point that we must wait and listen to what the Lord has to say back to us. If we don't it's like calling someone on the phone, saying "Thanks for everything. I need this. Okay. Bye" and hanging up. Without giving God the proper response time we're more than likely short changing ourselves on promptings, blessings, and the like.

The other thing that hit me at the end of my own Sunday lesson was that I need to better pay attention when people are praying for the group. They are acting as my mouth piece, yet half of the time, I'm in la-la land and not paying attention to what's actually being said. I searched "group prayers" on the lds.org website and found out that seeking the Spirit and receiving revelation from those group prayers is the primary responsibility I have during them. I definitely haven't been living up to that expectation!!

Along those same lines, when we say 'amen', we're not just saying 'so it be' or agreeing; we're actually making a covenant with God that we will follow the principles that have just been taught. Wowzer! That's pretty deep.... slight tangent here - I once studied about sustaining our church leaders, I learned that when we raise our hands to the square, we are also making a covenant.

Some thoughts to think on. Some things to do better. So much to be grateful for.

Salad Green

I had a yummy dinner tonight!

It was yummy not just because I marinated some chicken all day...

or because I used the grill to cook some tasty kabobs...

or because it was a beautiful North Carolina evening.

It was yummy because of the salad.

Yes. The salad.

Isn't it pretty?

And you know where those pretty lettuce leaves came from??

MY GARDEN!!!

In the Middle of Crazy

This fired me up this week...

a lot...

so hopefully blogging about it

will ease the flame of

indignation...

but probably not

Here's the article:

April 28, 2010: ARNOLD, Md. -- With enrollment surging at community colleges, Anne Arundel Community College is taking a novel approach: midnight classes. The college will offer a psychology class from midnight to 3 a.m. Thursdays this fall. It's being dubbed "Midnight Madness." (Click here for the full story)

Here's why I'm fired up:

1) I believe in God as the Creator

2) I believe that as part of the Creation, He created divine laws that make Earth run like it should...

for example: gravity, seasons, food chains, etc

and most importantly for this rant...

circadian rhythms

3) Humans are

a) one of God's creations and

b) animals

which means that we are susceptible to God's divine laws...

including circadian rhythms.

4) There is plenty of research out there to show that not honoring God's rhythm of life (that's not how they put it, but that's how I'm putting it) causes increased stress and fatigue, decreased muscle tone and organ functioning, weight gain, often leads to seasonal affect disorder or delay sleep phase syndrome, and can even cause kidney failure.*

5) On the other hand, there is also plenty of research out there to show that honoring God's rhythm of life probably means sleeping between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It's also important to not get too much sleep. 18-45 year olds need only about 8-9 hours of sleep per night. According to some researchers, your brain is most alert (neurotransmitter wise) at around 10 a.m. You have the best physical coordination early in the afternoon (around 2:30). Your blood pressure and temperature raise in the late afternoon... in preparation to wind down for the night.**

6) Any good psychologist would know this***

7) and would not plan a midnight class...

...in psychology.

Honestly!!!

Some things just make me crazy!

And now to go practice what I'm preaching... I'm off to bed.

Good night!

*With that being said, I'm generally against shift work... but realize that hospitals, law enforcement, etc are needed all the time. To them I say thank-you, and that I hope they are taking the proper measures to make sure they keep a consistent sleep cycle and are therefore healthier and happier.

**My favorite 'evidence' of the importance of this principle comes from D&C 88:124

*** They would know the research part... not necessarily the divine law part.