"For some reason you are being tutored a lot right now."
There are things that occur in our lives at certain times and we don't know why. Then, as we are being taught and filled, ofttimes we feel like a fire hydrant has been opened and we are trying to catch every drop of water that comes out in our mouth.
For the last two weeks I have had water gushing into my face without catching most of it because I felt so overwhelmed. It all seemed to be coming so fast and I wasn't prepared for even a drop of it.
In the same sense, I have been trying to take everything that does come my way and internalize the rushing waters somehow. What an awesome opportunity! I have read so many talks and even finished two books. My soul hungers so much for the spiritual nutrients I have been finding.
I know that the things which are coming now will hold no candle to that which is to come. So, it is up to me, right now, to grow my faith so that I may withstand that which is to come.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Inverse Behaviour
Behavior is a funny thing. Recently I found myself reverting in to some old habits; things that did not help me feel the happiness I had once found.
A few nights ago, I really took inventory of how I felt and it was awful. Since these things have begun to creep back in to my life, all the good things have seemed to fly out the window.
I am not happy with the person I have allowed myself to become again. And I think experiences I have had lately have opened my eyes to that.
My life was so much more full without certain things in it. How interesting it is that the very thing you think you can't live without actually makes your life more empty.
Heavenly Father has a gentle way of putting us straight again. How much simpler our lives would be if we would just stay on the path following the answers He gives to us in our lives!
A few nights ago, I really took inventory of how I felt and it was awful. Since these things have begun to creep back in to my life, all the good things have seemed to fly out the window.
I am not happy with the person I have allowed myself to become again. And I think experiences I have had lately have opened my eyes to that.
My life was so much more full without certain things in it. How interesting it is that the very thing you think you can't live without actually makes your life more empty.
Heavenly Father has a gentle way of putting us straight again. How much simpler our lives would be if we would just stay on the path following the answers He gives to us in our lives!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
The Royal Within You
I found this quote my visiting teachers gave me last month. In listening to a talk today, I thought I would share it and a quote from the talk.
As you read it, think beyond the lines you are reading. It has application to life outside of relationships. Are there things you are too afraid to climb to the top of the tree for? Are you taking the things that are at your feet because they are easy?
"Girls are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. The boys don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apple from the ground that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right boy to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree."
President Harold B. Lee quoted someone in his talk "Be Loyal to the Royal Within You." He is talking about chastity in women, and I believe that virtue can be replaced with any other virtue and hold meaning for the reader.
"But there is a beauty every girl has a gift from God as pure as sunlight and sacred as life. It is a beauty that all men love, a virtue that wins all mens souls. That beauty is chastity... Chastity enshrined in the mold of womanhood will hold true love eternally... The flower by the roadside that catches the dust of every traveler is not the one to be admired and seldom is ever plucked. But the one blooming way up on this hillside protected by the perpendicular cliff is with its virgin perfume, the one that the boy will almost risk his life to possess."
Do you realize you belong to the royal household of God? Whenever we live up to the best within us, we live up to the ideals He gave us. To follow Him brings peace to the soul.
As you read it, think beyond the lines you are reading. It has application to life outside of relationships. Are there things you are too afraid to climb to the top of the tree for? Are you taking the things that are at your feet because they are easy?
"Girls are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. The boys don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apple from the ground that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right boy to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree."
President Harold B. Lee quoted someone in his talk "Be Loyal to the Royal Within You." He is talking about chastity in women, and I believe that virtue can be replaced with any other virtue and hold meaning for the reader.
"But there is a beauty every girl has a gift from God as pure as sunlight and sacred as life. It is a beauty that all men love, a virtue that wins all mens souls. That beauty is chastity... Chastity enshrined in the mold of womanhood will hold true love eternally... The flower by the roadside that catches the dust of every traveler is not the one to be admired and seldom is ever plucked. But the one blooming way up on this hillside protected by the perpendicular cliff is with its virgin perfume, the one that the boy will almost risk his life to possess."
Do you realize you belong to the royal household of God? Whenever we live up to the best within us, we live up to the ideals He gave us. To follow Him brings peace to the soul.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Brandy: On Turning 26
Well, the beginning of the 26th year passed without any details mostly. I went to work stressing about our upcoming leadership conference having not been able to fully enjoy my time away from work; I got my pictures taken (YAY!), which I haven't done since before my mission (holy cow!); then I went to dinner with my mom and sister.
It was kind-of a bummer day because I think I hoped for maybe one surprise, but it passed like every other day. Nobody really remembered and that was pretty crappy...
It was kind-of a bummer day because I think I hoped for maybe one surprise, but it passed like every other day. Nobody really remembered and that was pretty crappy...
Friday, March 14, 2008
Relief of Friday and Views on Perspective
It's been a long week preparing for our bi-annual Leadership Conference. When I got up this morning, I really didn't want to get up nor go to work. I have been sick for the last three weeks and I was so tired.
However, like most days that begin like that, there is something special in store if you put on your courage and get out of bed. As the second day of our leadership conference began, they played a video that was narrated by Dewitt Jones, National Geographic photographer.
There are many things that caught my attention, perhaps because he articulated photo-speak. But is was cool, perhaps one of the coolest parts of my day.
"When we begin to see things differently, we begin to do things differently," he said.
How very true! I also think about it in terms of the gospel. When we truly understand who we are and the divine lineage that is in us, we do things differently. Our attitudes change, our actions change, we change; and all because we see things differently.
Perspective affects a lot. Sheri Dew wrote, "When things aren't going well, when you want to quit, when it seems as though nothing is working, and certainly when your forward progress stops, the solution is often simply to back up."
Jones said creativity is a matter of perspective. Then I began to think about creativity and how I see it.
Sometimes, I feel a creative block. Many times the block comes from stress, a lack of having the spirit in my life. But all it may take to get the block out is to step back and look at life from a different vantage point.
"Creativity comes from falling in love with the world," Jones said. This is where you find your passion and the potential.
This is one of my new goals: To fall in love with the world every day; to bring out my passion and potential for life and the activities I perform. It is all a matter of perspective...
Jones then asked two questions:
- How do you bring creativity out so you can find the extraordinary solutions?
- How can we use creativity every day to make our work and our lives extraordinary?
We must be confident in ourselves that we will find the next right answer; and we can't be afraid to make mistakes. "When you are no longer afraid to make mistakes, that is when your patterns begin to change," Jones said. And it's not that we must destroy the patterns in our lives, but rather question them.
Will you strive to see things differently thereby helping you to do things differently, to question the patterns in your life?
Sister Sheri Dew tells a story about working graveyard shifts one holiday season so the company could fill all of its orders. One morning she decided to leave and run to the store to pick up a treat for all the people who were working that shift.
She was cruising along at about 1 a.m. and the road suddenly got dark. The next thing she knows there is a big clunk. Suddenly, her car will no longer go forward. She searches in her care, unsuccessfully, for a flash light. When she can't find one, she gets out of the car to look under her car and try to discover what she hit. But, to no avail, all she can see is there is something big wedged between the car and the road. Then, down the road she sees a group of people walking toward her.
At this point she calls for a tow truck and they tell her it's two hours at best before they can get anyone out to help her. She continues to explain her plight to the person on the other end and they seem unaffected by her situation and tell her there's nothing they can do.
So, she sitting in her car about to call 911 when she sees some flashing lights behind her. She said she had never been so grateful to see those lights, especially behind her. An officer can to her assistance and helped her look under the car with a flashlight.
When they are able to see, they notice it is a street lantern. "No wonder it's so dark along this stretch of road," he said. To get it out, all she had to do was back up. So simple.
If she had backed up and readjusted her course, it could have saved her a lot of fret.
"Whatever backing up means — and it can mean something different for every unique situation — there are many times in life when we simply need to back up, even just a few inches, before we can hope to zoom forward again spiritually," Sister Dew said.
Life has many experiences of stopping, backing up, making corrections, and then going forward. The scriptures illustrate many examples for us.
Amulek is one of those examples. He was a prominent citizen of Ammonihah who's whole life changed with the appearance of an angel. The angel told him to return home to receive a prophet of God.
Amulek, who was famous, rich, and had lots of friends, wouldn't have been a candidate for such and honor by the world's standards; but the Lord knew differently.
In his writings, Amulek denies ever having known the ways of the Lord. But then he stops, backs up, and reflectively admits, "I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power... Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear, therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God" (Alma 10:5-6).
His is a story for our day. He became consumed in the things of the world, but then he backed up. In this case it meant he had to acknowledge the error of his ways. He had to change his focus, outlook, and attitude, and it required him to turn around and head the other direction.
Amulek went on to preach with Alma and many great things were brought to pass because he stopped, backed up, made changes, and then went forward. Because of this change, he learned how to call upon the power of Jesus Christ.
When we begin to see things differently, we begin to do things differently. Our perspective will change so much and it may just be a matter of backing up, moving to the left or right a few inches, changing the lens you see out of, being confident you will find the next right answer.
"Train your technique and then put yourself in the places with the most potential," Jones said. The right answers will keep coming; be ready to take advantage of those windows of opportunity; have patience to focus on the vision, your personal vision; persevere.
"The light that lights my photographs is not the light on the outside, it's the light from within," he said. "That perspective is always there if we are open enough to see it."
However, like most days that begin like that, there is something special in store if you put on your courage and get out of bed. As the second day of our leadership conference began, they played a video that was narrated by Dewitt Jones, National Geographic photographer.
There are many things that caught my attention, perhaps because he articulated photo-speak. But is was cool, perhaps one of the coolest parts of my day.
"When we begin to see things differently, we begin to do things differently," he said.
How very true! I also think about it in terms of the gospel. When we truly understand who we are and the divine lineage that is in us, we do things differently. Our attitudes change, our actions change, we change; and all because we see things differently.
Perspective affects a lot. Sheri Dew wrote, "When things aren't going well, when you want to quit, when it seems as though nothing is working, and certainly when your forward progress stops, the solution is often simply to back up."
Jones said creativity is a matter of perspective. Then I began to think about creativity and how I see it.
Sometimes, I feel a creative block. Many times the block comes from stress, a lack of having the spirit in my life. But all it may take to get the block out is to step back and look at life from a different vantage point.
"Creativity comes from falling in love with the world," Jones said. This is where you find your passion and the potential.
This is one of my new goals: To fall in love with the world every day; to bring out my passion and potential for life and the activities I perform. It is all a matter of perspective...
Jones then asked two questions:
- How do you bring creativity out so you can find the extraordinary solutions?
- How can we use creativity every day to make our work and our lives extraordinary?
We must be confident in ourselves that we will find the next right answer; and we can't be afraid to make mistakes. "When you are no longer afraid to make mistakes, that is when your patterns begin to change," Jones said. And it's not that we must destroy the patterns in our lives, but rather question them.
Will you strive to see things differently thereby helping you to do things differently, to question the patterns in your life?
Sister Sheri Dew tells a story about working graveyard shifts one holiday season so the company could fill all of its orders. One morning she decided to leave and run to the store to pick up a treat for all the people who were working that shift.
She was cruising along at about 1 a.m. and the road suddenly got dark. The next thing she knows there is a big clunk. Suddenly, her car will no longer go forward. She searches in her care, unsuccessfully, for a flash light. When she can't find one, she gets out of the car to look under her car and try to discover what she hit. But, to no avail, all she can see is there is something big wedged between the car and the road. Then, down the road she sees a group of people walking toward her.
At this point she calls for a tow truck and they tell her it's two hours at best before they can get anyone out to help her. She continues to explain her plight to the person on the other end and they seem unaffected by her situation and tell her there's nothing they can do.
So, she sitting in her car about to call 911 when she sees some flashing lights behind her. She said she had never been so grateful to see those lights, especially behind her. An officer can to her assistance and helped her look under the car with a flashlight.
When they are able to see, they notice it is a street lantern. "No wonder it's so dark along this stretch of road," he said. To get it out, all she had to do was back up. So simple.
If she had backed up and readjusted her course, it could have saved her a lot of fret.
"Whatever backing up means — and it can mean something different for every unique situation — there are many times in life when we simply need to back up, even just a few inches, before we can hope to zoom forward again spiritually," Sister Dew said.
Life has many experiences of stopping, backing up, making corrections, and then going forward. The scriptures illustrate many examples for us.
Amulek is one of those examples. He was a prominent citizen of Ammonihah who's whole life changed with the appearance of an angel. The angel told him to return home to receive a prophet of God.
Amulek, who was famous, rich, and had lots of friends, wouldn't have been a candidate for such and honor by the world's standards; but the Lord knew differently.
In his writings, Amulek denies ever having known the ways of the Lord. But then he stops, backs up, and reflectively admits, "I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power... Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear, therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God" (Alma 10:5-6).
His is a story for our day. He became consumed in the things of the world, but then he backed up. In this case it meant he had to acknowledge the error of his ways. He had to change his focus, outlook, and attitude, and it required him to turn around and head the other direction.
Amulek went on to preach with Alma and many great things were brought to pass because he stopped, backed up, made changes, and then went forward. Because of this change, he learned how to call upon the power of Jesus Christ.
When we begin to see things differently, we begin to do things differently. Our perspective will change so much and it may just be a matter of backing up, moving to the left or right a few inches, changing the lens you see out of, being confident you will find the next right answer.
"Train your technique and then put yourself in the places with the most potential," Jones said. The right answers will keep coming; be ready to take advantage of those windows of opportunity; have patience to focus on the vision, your personal vision; persevere.
"The light that lights my photographs is not the light on the outside, it's the light from within," he said. "That perspective is always there if we are open enough to see it."
Friday, March 07, 2008
Adventures of Tresspassers
There is always one thing I can count on when I visit my dad: I will have at least one adventure... Well, this morning was what may just be the beginning of a weekend full of adventure.
It is 1:15 a.m. and I am working on some photos in my dad's front room. When I see him come out and start to open the door. I am thinking he got a tow call and ask him what he is doing.
He says, "There's someone out there." I proceed to ask if he's called the cops to which he replies, "No." I tell him to call and wait because the first thing that comes to my mind is that the trespasser has some kind of weapon with him.
My dad opens the door and watches the people for a moment, then he goes out side with a bat in hand. I get up to stand on the porch just in case anything happens.
My dad instructs the male to get on the ground and not move as he walks toward him.
To which the kid replies that he is looking for medication and they have tried to call to get in with no answer (my dad's phone hasn't rung since I have been here at 10:30 p.m.).
The kid is told to get down on the ground again and tries to push past my dad. Then he finally gets on the ground and my dad kind-of pushed the bat at him. Then the kids on the outside start to shout that their friend has been hit with a bat. But I can guarantee you that it that id had been hit by my father, he would be in a whole lot more pain than what he was claiming.
Of course, the expletives start to fly and all three start to just get ignorant. Finally, the officer arrives and arrests the kid because he can't hold his tongue, and oh yeah... he was trespassing on private property. The other kid on the outside also got detained, but he was let go with a citation for trespassing and interfering with an arrest...
The funny thing is the trespasser's truck was state impounded about 5 p.m. today. He was driving eradically on the road and two women ran him off the road and held him until police arrived. He was then arrested for a DUI. Whatever "meds" he was searching for were probably seized by police...
Idiot child... He is now going back to jail... oops...
It is 1:15 a.m. and I am working on some photos in my dad's front room. When I see him come out and start to open the door. I am thinking he got a tow call and ask him what he is doing.
He says, "There's someone out there." I proceed to ask if he's called the cops to which he replies, "No." I tell him to call and wait because the first thing that comes to my mind is that the trespasser has some kind of weapon with him.
My dad opens the door and watches the people for a moment, then he goes out side with a bat in hand. I get up to stand on the porch just in case anything happens.
My dad instructs the male to get on the ground and not move as he walks toward him.
To which the kid replies that he is looking for medication and they have tried to call to get in with no answer (my dad's phone hasn't rung since I have been here at 10:30 p.m.).
The kid is told to get down on the ground again and tries to push past my dad. Then he finally gets on the ground and my dad kind-of pushed the bat at him. Then the kids on the outside start to shout that their friend has been hit with a bat. But I can guarantee you that it that id had been hit by my father, he would be in a whole lot more pain than what he was claiming.
Of course, the expletives start to fly and all three start to just get ignorant. Finally, the officer arrives and arrests the kid because he can't hold his tongue, and oh yeah... he was trespassing on private property. The other kid on the outside also got detained, but he was let go with a citation for trespassing and interfering with an arrest...
The funny thing is the trespasser's truck was state impounded about 5 p.m. today. He was driving eradically on the road and two women ran him off the road and held him until police arrived. He was then arrested for a DUI. Whatever "meds" he was searching for were probably seized by police...
Idiot child... He is now going back to jail... oops...
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