Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Just Because

Moroni 10:32 - Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Today I spent a very long time at the temple, inside and outside.  Best place in the world to be.  So grateful for God's grace and mercy.  So grateful for the atonement.  So grateful that He hears my prayers and lets me know how much He cares everyday just because I ask Him to.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Be It.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine lent me a book that he thought I should read.  I never got around to it, and every time I told him I would bring it back even though I hadn't read it, he said no.  Well, he moved, and I moved, and I've finally gotten around to the book.  It's called "The Broken Heart," by Bruce C. Hafen, former President of Rick's College.  I've been picking it up a few mornings a week for the last three weeks.  It's been really interesting how whenever I read a chapter it seems to address exactly how I was feeling a day or two before.  

Well, this morning I woke up and read chapter eight, which was about the Lord's mercy and grace.  It talked about holding onto our sins and not allowing Christ to truly take them.  Sometimes we just keep punishing ourselves.  But how unfortunate for us that is because we don't have to do that.  We can never pay the price for all of our sins, and that's why God sent Christ.  When we try to, we become stuck in "hopeless despair."  We are not able to move forward.  We prevent ourselves from forgiving and loving ourselves.  How can we progress that way?  We can't.

There's this girl named Al Fox, the "Tattooed Mormon."  She's been causing quite a stir lately!  I read something that she said the other day that has really stuck with me.  She said, "I never talk about who I was.  I only talk about who I am becoming."  And really, isn't this how it should be?  If we really believe that we have been forgiven and we have forgiven ourselves, why do we need to dwell in the past?  We should be looking forward.

As I move into a new chapter of my life, I hope that's what I can do.  I know who I want to be, and now I just have to be it.