Thank You

I want to say thank you to those that have made our Christmas so wonderful.

General Conference is This Weekend

I absolutely love listening to General Conference. You can view it at http://lds.org/, too!

It's a wonderful time to listen to the Prophet and Apostles. You can feel the love of God through their words. I know that there is a Prophet on the earth today. I know God speaks to the Prophet, who is Thomas S. Monson. Please listen, it's wonderful.

Endurance and Trusting in God

These are two things that I've been learning about lately. I've been trying to find a better job to support my family and haven't found anything in 7 months of looking. I've been trying to trust in God, but until this past little while, I don't think I really have.

I think I've just been hoping in God.

Also, the hard part about enduring this is that I don't see the end. I can endure anything if I can see when it's going to be over, but when I can't, it makes it so much harder. God probably wants it that way so we rely on Him more.

I am grateful for this opportunity to grow. I think I've learned a lot, especially about myself and my faith level. But I just hope I can learn what I'm supposed to.

God really is there. I know He is. And I know in those dark times of despair, He is there. He will put His arms around you and say "You will make it, just a little longer, I love you".

Faith

I think it is really hard to have faith. Yeah I have faith that everything will work out, but exercising faith, a lot harder.

I feel that I try to take things into my own hands and unfortunately leave God out. I know that I'm supposed to do my part, but I think I could trust in God a ton more than I do. So, I'm going to try to trust in God.

We Can Help

We can help people, even without a lot of money. All it takes is time.

Father's Day

Today I was home alone for Father's Day. I missed my kids and wife immensely.

But you know what, it was a grate day. I got a call from my kids at 9:15 am. I got to talk to my wife for a while.

I think the one thing that made it even better is that I was able to go visit different people. I visited with a really nice man at the local retirement home. We talked about the area, he's selling his house, he sees his son, and other things. It was a blast talking to him.

I also went and visited with one of our neighbors. We also talked about lots of things.

I learned that it makes me so happy to help others. Right now, all I can do is offer a listening ear. But it sure was fun.

Do we treat our family better than we treat others?

A good book, or at least the first chapter

Trusting Jesus by Jeffrey R. Holland

The first chapter gives me hope that I can do it.

How do you trust in Jesus?

Kids

The small things. I love coming home from work and seeing my two kids standing in the doorway, looking out the screen door. When they see me, they start laughing and jumping up and down.

It's moments like that in which I really love being a dad, husband, and having wonderful children. Sometimes it is hard. Like when they both want me to hold them and when I try to set them down because my arms are getting tired, they start crying.

Lose Thyself? What?

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it."
- Mark 8:35

Okay, so I have read this scripture and heard it a thousand times, but am now just barely starting to understand what it means. (this scripture must be important because there are at least 3 other scriptures that say the same thing)

I have been thinking lately a lot about myself. What am I going to do, what job am I going to get, what my future is going to be like, me, me, me. Honestly, I am being selfish, (I still am, I'm just working on it now).

If we try to find ways to think about others, to help others, to serve others, to bring a smile to other people's faces, then God will help us discover ourselves. We will discover who we are and find a place in this world. We all desire to have a purpose, and we can't have a purpose if we are only thinking about numero uno. This life is very, very, very short. Think about the limited number of years and days we have here. God didn't let us come down here to only think about ourselves, He sent us here to learn, grow, and trust Him. We can't do that if we don't think of what others need.

It may be hard, but sometimes that people that we serve live in the same house that we do. (spouse, children, parents, siblings)

Life is full of struggles and things that we could always do better at. Think about others and see what happens.

Dori Said It All

One of the best movies ever, "Finding Nemo," says it all.

'Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming."

When life is hard, confusing, or just is, sometimes the only thing we can do is 'Just keep swimming.'

Kids

Kids are so wonderful, love-able, and kissable.

Yes, they give us some many things to choose to be upset about, but they are a true gift from God.

Choose to say I love you three times today to each child. Even if they may not understand, at least we will be in the habit of sharing our feelings with them when they do. I don't ever want my children to doubt that I love them.

God loves us so much that He gave us Jesus Christ. So we know He loves us.

Don't Delay

The reason I say don't delay is because I had a really good idea, that I think I felt guided to write about, but didn't. So now I can't remember what it was.

If you think God tells you to do something and it is something that is going to uplift you or others, don't delay. (If it is something that will not help others, take a moment to make sure it is from God.)

I think I was going to write about something cute that my daughter did. Oh yeah, I love coming home from work because I get this great big hug from my 2 year old daughter. She sees me, yells Daddy, and then comes running to give me a hug.

Kids are a blessing that we are never worthy of.

Yep, Life

Yes, that's what happens when you let it.

That is why I haven't written in a while. I think when I do write, I look for God more in the little things.

Like in:
My daughter's smile
My wife's laugh
My son when he is crawling around
The blessed job I have
That the cars work
That I can walk, breath, see, hear, smell, talk, taste(oh I love to eat my wife's food)
When my daughter wants me to read stories to her
When my son cuddles with me
When I am holding both of them in my arms, at the same time
The kisses I get from all three of them

God is wonderful. I praise him that he has blessed my life so much. I am humbled by these blessings. Thank you Father, in Heaven.

Life

I think that life is very hard.

Kids can get to you sometimes. But it is not their fault that you got upset. It's your fault.

When my children are running around, screaming and I have patience, I love them more because I enjoy watching them run around. When I don't have patience...

God is there and blesses us every single minute of the day. We have so much, it's, wow. Count Your Many Blessings. I am grateful for everyone in my life that helps me be a better person, most especially my wife.

A Good Book to Read

I was given a book for Christmas. When I first opened it, I didn't know what to think because I had never heard of the book before. I hope I acted excited.

But now after reading it, I am very excited I got it. The book is called The Go-Giver. It is a parable about a guy who is trying to get ahead in life, financially. (Hey, that sounds like me.) It talks about five principles that are good for making extremes amount of money. The funny thing is, though, that each of the principles are very applicable to how to serve and treat others, or your family.

I'm not a book critique, but of the books that I have read, I would definitely re-read this book. I want actually right now. I think you can tell if it's a good book if you wish everyone would read it.