Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith

Jesus Christ   Who is Jesus Christ?  Jesus Christ is the literal So of God, our Heavenly Father.  He is our Savior and the Redeemer of the world.  He suffered for the sins of everyone in the world, was crucified, and through the power of God, he rose from the dead, overcoming sin and death, he has paved the way for all mankind to be able to repent, and for all mankind to live again after this mortal life is through.  Jesus Christ is the one constant in my life.  His teachings and example during his mortal ministry show us the way to live and the way back to our heavenly home.  Because of his experiences in suffering for all people, he knows and understands EVERYTHING that we will ever face; every pain, challenge, heartache, trial and obstacle, and he can guide and comfort us through anything.  Last April during the A to Z challenge I blogged about Jesus Christ as explained in the document "The Living Christ."   I know he lives.  He is my brother and yours.  I know that he loves each of us and will help and guide use each and every day as we seek him.  As I pray each day both on my knees and also in my mind and my heart throughout each day, I testify that I receive help and comfort and guidance and strength and knowledge through Jesus Christ.

Joseph  Smith   In 1820 in upstate New York, a young 14 year old boy wanted to know which of the varied churches in his area was the true church of Jesus Christ.  After months of pondering the question and searching the bible, he read that if any man lacks wisdom, he should ask God in faith, that wisdom for guidance, and that it will be given to him.   On an early spring morning, in a secluded grove of trees near his family home, he knelt and prayed to know which church he should join.  After much effort, he was rewarded by the personal visit of God the Father and Jesus Christ, and was told that the true church of Jesus Christ was at the time not presently on the earth, but that in time it would be restored to the earth.   As Joseph continued to learn and prove his worthiness, he was instrumental in restoring the gospel and the priesthood of God.   Because of his faithfulness, Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of men than any man who has ever lived, except for Jesus Christ himself.  See D&C 135:3

It was while watching a video similar to this one below that the spirit of the Holy Ghost first bore witness to me that Joseph Smith truly is the prophet of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth in modern times:

Video Source:  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

In Laws

My DH, his parents and his sisters circa 1968.  This was long before I knew this wonderful family!

Part of my wonderful family is this group of people that I am blessed to claim as my own.  From the first time my DH brought me home to meet his family, they have been warm and welcoming and generous to me.  These three little girls were a lot more grown up back then, but fixed us a nice dinner and have been coming up with fun ideas for celebrations and family gatherings ever since.  

Then there were the three or four months when we moved back home from the east coast where our family of seven (at the time DD4 had not been born) were lovingly welcomed into the family home while we searched for a place of our own.  My dear Mother In Law is one of the most welcoming, generous and gracious women I know.  She has always kept a wonderfully comfortable home where guests and gatherings for all ages.  Family dinners, movie nights, football games, and major holidays were almost always at Mom and Dad's house.  Grandchildren were always welcomed and greeted with a hug and a smile. My Mother In Law has always been there to help with the new babies, cooking and cleaning, and often with the packing and cleaning before many of our moves.  She has also been more than willing to come and help out with other cleaning and organizing and crafting projects.

Father In Law was always working.  When he wasn't running his business, he was working for his children and their families -- gratis.  Many are the home improvement projects that have been completed under his guidance, inspiration, and physical labor.  Bathrooms, Kitchens, Storage rooms and bookshelves galore are the products of his handiwork.   And the yearly July Pioneer Day celebration with games and treats and prizes (especially all of the quarters and nickels and dimes and dollar bills that made their way to children's pockets on those days) will never be forgotten by his posterity.  And of course, once we moved back to the west, we were able to buy a home just a few blocks away from, so it was easy for the children to walk over to visit, get a haircut, watch the current ball game on the big screen TV, or just to visit with their grandparents.

Even after my Father in Law passed away several years ago, my Mother In Law continued to invite the singles groups, the book clubs, and the knit and crochet groups to meet in her lovely home, even if she wasn't feeling well.   Mother in Law has now moved to an assisted living center, but of course family is always loved and welcomed by her, even when she is not feeling well.  It has been a hard year with the pandemic not allowing her to have visitors for months at a time, but she has now been vaccinated and family is again allowed to visit with this sweet lady.  We have missed visiting with her!  

 

Heavenly Father, Husband and Home,

 

I am the daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me, and I love Him.  This knowledge is one of the greatest blessings that I have in my life.   I know that when I pray, he will hear me.  When I pray, I need to listen with my heart, and hear Him.  With his help and guidance throughout the day, every day, I can make it through life's challenges, one day at a time.

Husband, helpmeet, and friend.  He's my hand to hold, my shoulder to lean on, the one I run to when the earth quakes, provider of flowers, chocolate, books, computers, and much more; my source of encouraging words and smiles to brighten my day.  We don't agree on everything and .  The 38 years of our marriage have brought changes and challenges, but one thing always stays the same -- I love and appreciate my DH!!

Home -- the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household. I just counted it up again tonight, and there have been 21 different structures that I have called home throughout my life.  My first home, my parent's home, was home to me for nearly 18 years, and home for my parents for many more years than that.  During my single adult years there were many different apartments and places where I lived, and several more during the first 14 or so years of our married life.  I'm very grateful for my home, where we have lived now for almost 25 years.  Our home isn't the grandest, largest, cleanest, or most beautifully decorated place around, but it is comfortable for me, and a sanctuary and refuge from the world, a place of Security.  

  Places of Security, has been so well explained by Shawni on her blog, 71 Toes.  

Gardens and Gilgal

 

Back in 2014 my April A to Z blogging challenge posts were all about my gardening efforts.  I think I owe my love of gardening to my dear Dad, who always allowed us to help with the big family garden on the farm, but didn't make it into a big chore for us.  He always ended up doing the lion share of the work, and every year we had a successful crop of potatoes, carrots, beets, green beans, cabbage, lettuce, onions, swiss chard, and sometimes even corn and tomatoes (depending on how soon the frost came that year) to enjoy during the late summer months and to store for the winter.  He of course was following the example of his own parents, and their parents and on and on.  I guess it's in my genes! 

My Dad's Garden

My Grandpa ready to plant his garden

My own gardens have never been quite as productive as my Dad's gardens or my Grandpa's gardens, but I have been blessed to be able to plant some sort of a garden every year of our married life.  And I have a lot of stories of our family gardens and many good memories of working with my own children and husband to till, and plant and water and weed our gardens throughout the years.  My gardens have been a refuge for me.  A place to get out in the fresh air and sunshine and dig in the dirt, release tension and anxiety and sadness at times, and enjoy the beauties of this world.

Unfortunately, I haven't had quite the time and energy to put into the garden in the past few years that I have been working full time, and my garden area keeps shrinking as I am able to work and care for less and less of area every year.  But I haven't given up!  There are currently tulips and daffodils and hyacinths blooming, along with blossoms on the young apricot tree.  A few brave peas are growing, and the strawberries are beginning to put forth new green leaves.  My DH gifted me a Burpee's Seed company gift card for Christmas, and my DD4 gifted me a little green house, so I have no excuse to work at the desk any longer than is needful.  There is plenty to do in the garden this year, and I'm looking forward to it!

In a recent church meeting (virtual, of course), we were reminded of the story of Gilgal.  Gilgal is a location on the eastern border of Jericho where the Israelites encamped immediately after crossing the Jordan River into the promised land.  There they erected 12 stones, taken from the River Jordan, as a memorial to the miraculous stopping of the river as they crossed safely to their promised land.  (see Joshua 4:19-24)  This became a place to remind the Children of Israel of when God was with them and helped them.  Do you have places or momentos that remind you of life experiences where God has helped you?  In a way, this blog is meant to be my Gilgal; to help me remember the many tender mercies and goodness that God has blessed me with.

PS.  Gilgal Sculpture Garden is a private garden near us that is open to the public.  The garden contains 12 original sculptural arrangements representing different spiritual truths that were important to Thomas Child, the creator of the gardens, along with many other stones that have been inscribed scriptures, poems and other texts.  The garden was his passion for nearly 20 years of his life and is quite an interesting place to spend a few hours.   

photo source

Family, Family History, and Family Photos

 

If any of you have stopped by my blog before, you've probably noticed that I write a lot about my family.  Yes, I count my family as among my greatest blessings, and I do have A LOT of family!!  And I miss them!! Many live out of state, and of course we haven't gathered in person with almost any of them during this past year.  We keep in touch via  phone and text and email and Facebook, etc, but I wish I could do more with them and for them.   If any of you are familiar with "The Work and The Glory" book series, you might remember several times in the books when different families in the Steed extended family were able to build and/or live in homes near each other on "Steed Row".  Sometimes they were crowded together in sharing a home or shelter, but they were often close to one another to support and help each other.  That type of living, with all of my children and/or other relatives living close to one another might not sound too inviting too some, but to me that would be pretty close to my idea of Heaven!

First of course is my DH (Dear Husband) of nearly 38 years, my two DS's (Dear Sons), four DD's (Dear Daughters), two DDIL's (Dear Daughters in Law) and 3 going on 4 DGC (Dear Grand Children).   My wonderful angel parents, along with my in-laws, three sisters, two brothers, and their families . . . and don't even get me started on all of my cousins.  We don't always agree on everything, but I know that they are all there for me, and we all try to support each other in whatever ways we can.

Then of course there is the church family, the neighborhood family, the work family . . . and all of the family that has passed on before, sacrificed, worked and lived in such a way that my family and I can enjoy the blessings of freedom, prosperity and education that we have today.   We aren't millionaires or anything like that, but I must admit that we have so much more than any generation in history.   I love learning about my family and our history.  One of my favorite places to learn more is the Family Search website, where thanks to many wonderful extended family members I can find new photos, stories, histories, and other memories almost every single day.  If you haven't created a free account, why don't you try it out?  Who knows, you might find some family that you never knew about!  Ever wonder where you got your good looks?  You can even compare your own photo to photos of your ancestors and see who you most look like.  My most recently submitted photo says that I look most like my dear mother:

And next most like her mother:

Other photos tell me that I look most like my grandmother's mother:

Personally, I'm very happy to claim them all, and hope that they feel at least somewhat the same way about me.  

Here are a two other fun photos of some of my wonderful extended family that back in the day when I was just a toddler:

With my maternal grandparents and family (I'm third from the right on the front row)

With my paternal grandparents and family (I think I'm fifth from the left on the front row here -- with the sun in my eyes!)

Going through old photos is addicting for me!

Education

 

I don't consider myself to be an extremely educated person, but I do recognize that I have been blessed with the advantage that many people throughout history, and even in our world and country today have not had . . . a college degree.  Of course a college degree  and an education cannot be just given out randomly to anyone.  It requires work and sacrifice on the part of the recipient, no matter who they are.  That being said, I was born into a family that values education, and though my parents never mandated or forced any of their children to attend college, they did make it clear that we were expected to work hard, study, and do our best throughout our school careers, and they did all they could do to support us in our decisions to further our education.  I was able to earn a scholarship to pay the tuition for my first year of college, and I worked part time to pay my rent and other expenses.  After my scholarship ran out, my parents were kind enough, and able at that time to continue paying my tuition until I married. At that point I was able to cash in a savings bond that they had purchased for me many years earlier to pay my final year of tuition.  I'm sure there are many other things that my parents could have done with that tuition money, and I'm very grateful for their sacrifices in my behalf. 

Of course earning a degree, whether it be high school, college, or graduate school, should never be considered the end of one's education.  Education doesn't only come from completing classes and earning a degree, but taking advantage of opportunities to learn through reading, interacting and listening to others around us who have experiences and knowledge that we do not.  Today most of us have a wealth of knowledge available to us through the internet, computers, and even our phones.  Even our day to day experiences at work, travel  through hobbies and other activities contribute to our on-going education. 

 Education is also learning from our mistakes, and I'll be the first to admit that I've made plenty of mistakes through the years.  Hopefully I have learned something from at least some of my mistakes, and hopefully I will never stop learning!

My much younger self with my Dear Husband on my University graduation day, April 1984

"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith."

Doctrine and Covenants 109:7

Discernment

 

Discernment is the trait of judging wisely and objectively.  The trait of using knowledge and experience with common sense and insight.  In the Christian faith, it is a gift bestowed by the Holy Ghost.  I believe that we are all born with the light of Christ, or the a ability to distinguish between truth and error.  As we continue to seek for truth, the spirit of God will help us to recognize what is right and wrong.  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, after being baptized, a new member of the church is blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Though I am far from being perfect, I know that the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost have helped me many times in my life to distinguish between good and evil, truth and error, and right and wrong.  I have learned to trust in the promptings and feelings that I have received from the Holy Ghost. 

One of the greatest blessings or tender mercies I enjoy each April is listening to the words of our living prophet during the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is broadcast world wide over many different mediums.    In one of the recent General Conferences, our prophet, President Russell M Nelson invoked a blessing of Discernment upon all who were listening:

Source: Facebook Meme

Can you think of a greater blessing to receive during this past year that was filled with so much confusion and trouble?  May we all continue to be blessed with discernment, the ability to know and feel of God's perfect love for us, and God's direction for each of us in our own personal circumstances.   May we all be blessed with the gift of discernment as we continue to face choices and challenges in the days and years that lie ahead.