…the parched land shall become a pool, and the thirsty lands springs of water…(Isaiah 35:7)

Natural Consequences

Do we really believe that the love of God will not only help us find eternal life, but will also shield us from the natural consequences of our choices? Is the result of faith a wall of protection that keeps us untouched by the things that happen when we make choices?

Why Am I Here?

In times past, however, a lot of things have been said about me and to me. Sadly, the things that have been said to me are worse than the things said about me. Well, that’s life among the imperfect.

Trusting in the Promise

On 7/21/2017, I had come home early from work because Barbara told me that our daughter Melissa and the triplets were coming over and I wanted to help make dinner for them. I baked some biscuits and then kept part of the dough to make wiener wraps for them. I got the biscuits done and […]

Object Lessons

Art and creation is a process and nearly always an opportunity for growth and development. Quite often, creating anything though is bound to get messy. 45 people like this post. Like Unlike

Till the Day Christ Found Me

In 1947, the song writing team of Lerner and Loewe created a musical called “Brigadoon.” It’s a fantasy that takes place in the highlands of Scotland in a village that only appears once every 100 years. One of the songs that I’ve always loved and always brings tears to my eyes is called “There But […]

New and Everlasting

I grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and knew that genealogy was an important thing. When I was very little, I didn’t know why, but my mother was into it, my aunts were into it, and my grandmother was really into it. She lived in a trailer behind my […]

When God Thinks We Are Brilliant

The First Vision isn’t just a piece of history for us. It is a pattern for how we learn truth. Yes, we believe that The Bible is the word of God. We also believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We have other scriptures too, but we do not use them as the sole guides for the decisions of our daily lives. For the more personal things, our spiritual practice is to pray about them and ask God what we should do.

That Lonely, Unfrequented Way

Somehow, I think that everything God asks me to do is supposed to somehow be comfortable. If there’s hardship, I start thinking I made a mistake. I’m stubborn about it, because I always find that there was a greater purpose in choosing the uncomfortable ways.

Light Thoughts

I would bet that every person reading this has felt the frustration of having something to say and everyone else too focused on their own thoughts to really listen. Yet, even though we’ve all felt the sting of being misunderstood, very few of us make the effort to understand before we give our opinions.

Dark Thoughts

I wish I knew how to create an environment where young people with dark thoughts feel like they can talk them over with people who can help them. How much violence could we prevent is we were more open and young people felt they could trust us? How much pain could we soothe if young people who have experienced abuse felt they could tell us about it?

Oh What Songs of the Heart

Matthew’s death was sad and unexpected and it caused in me some deep reflection. He isn’t the first friend or family member I’ve known to have died. As I’ve prayed for his family and spent time in the temple over the last couple of weeks I’ve found comfort and peace.

The Platitude Attitude

That’s the problem with these platitude-laden verses. They just sound so true, so inspiring, and yet, they leave out God. In fact, upon close examination, it dismisses God and declares him to be irrelevant, useless, and inferior to the individual.

Because He Lives

I know that there was a time in my life when my course was leading to death. It’s not that I was going to die any time soon, but there were very few healthy places that my behavior was heading. I didn’t want to go there.

In Nameless Ways Be Good and Kind

When such things in my head are hymns, I’ve learned that these are opportunities for me to reflect on my life.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

…I don’t really get depressed much. I like life, even with its bad memories. I think in that moment, it was just a realization that I was getting too old to really have the kind of Christmas excitement I had when I was a child.