Pass It On...

We can love Christ but we cannot really do much for him personally. I mean, he pretty much has everything he needs by now. We sure can't save him. We can't bind up his wounds, carry his burdens, or lessen his pain. We can't feed him when he's hungry or clothe him or take care of him when he is sick - for he is far beyond all of that now. So how, then, shall we appropriately express our love for him? He has told us how in Matthew 25: 34-40

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his aright hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have adone it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

God invites us to repay our debt to him by serving others in turn. Our neighbors in their need become symbolic of Christ. So go out and find him. Find him and minister to him. Find him in the faces of your family, friends, neighbors, students, colleagues and strangers on the street. Search him out. Dress his wounds. Feed him. Clothe him. Serve him. Teach him. Love him. For this is the Prime Directive, the "Royal Law" the more excellent way and in so doing we will not only find him we will be healed by him.

Who are we really serving?

The most selfish thing you can do is to help other people,” says Brian Mullaney, co-founder of Smile Train, which helps tens of thousands of children each year who are born with cleft lips and cleft palates. Mr. Mullaney was a successful advertising executive, driving a Porsche and taking dates to the Four Seasons, when he felt something was missing and began volunteering for good causes. He ended up leaving the business world to help kids smile again — and all that makes him smile, too.

So at a time of vast needs, from Haiti to our own cities, here’s a nice opportunity for symbiosis: so many afflicted people, and so much benefit to us if we try to help them. Let’s remember that while charity has a mixed record helping others, it has an almost perfect record of helping ourselves. Helping others may be as primal a human pleasure as food or sex.

Caring for Mother

Over a decade ago I realized that my Mother would not be able to live in the facility where she was located because of her failing health. Her other two children were far away and had responsibilities that kept them occupied. I was retired and so it was the sensible thing for me to see to her care. She was mobile enough at that time to live by herself if someone could be there for her every day. Her age and diabetes had rendered her nearly blind so that she could only walk a short distance to the mailbox etc.
I had observed many older family members in their last years needing extensive care and I did not envy those caregivers. I just did not feel that I would have the patience to care for an elderly person. We were able to find a nice ground floor apartment just a block from our home and got her settled in. All went well for about a year and then her heart lost its regular beating and she began to fail to the point where it was not possible to leave her alone. In the meantime a change in my feelings for Mom occurred. She became my sweet little charge and I looked forward to finding ways to brighten her day. To sit at her feet and have her recount her life as a child and a young woman was fascinating. With help from my sweet wife we began to care for her full time from daybreak to evening. Then she lost her ability to get out of bed and go to the restroom without assistance. I tried to sleep in her little apartment to be there for her but every little sound awoke me. In a few days I was exhausted. So we arranged for a nurse to come and sit through the night with her. Although the routine was often repetitive it was like a walk through the past. She brought into focus those years so long ago that I had almost forgotten. I began to see my life through the eyes of a caring and loving mother. A blessing of deep love came from God and her well being was a joy to me. As I recount those months I marvel at how I was able to find joy and happiness in what now seems like a lot of very hard work.
As was expected the 90plus year old body began to fail quickly and I knew that it was soon time for her to join my Father in a better place. One day we saw that conditions were beyond our ability to treat properly. We took her to the hospital for a few days and then to the nursing home where she passed away peacefully in just a few days.
Near the end she wanted to pass away and asked that we pray to that end. I agreed to give her a blessing . When I sealed the anointing I had a stupor of thought like never before. I could not grant the blessing she wanted so I blessed her with rest, peace, comfort, etc. I was shaken up because I felt as if I had failed to do what she had asked me to do. Now I know that the Lord was not ready for her to leave this mortal existence just yet. After she was settled in the nursing home one afternoon I got the strongest feeling that I needed to release her from her mortal mission. I called my son Chris and asked him to meet me at her bedside at a specific time. He anointed her and I sealed the anointing and told her that she had pleased the Lord with her valiant service and that it was now time to return to Him and those loved ones who were waiting for her in the Spirit world. Within a few hours she peacefully passed away.
I learned a very important doctrine. If you accept the opportunity to be a caregiver to someone in need your hours and days will be filled with joy and peace. Tasks that would seem unpleasant to some will be sweet opportunities to bring joy to you as well as those we serve. I realized why the Savior welcomed the time when the apostles and He would participate in the “washing of the feet”. For that brief moment each of them had the privilege to show the greatest of love for each other by performing a menial task that would bring comfort to the receiver and a humble, loving, service to the giver.
I feel that “enduring to the end” means serving all the days of the rest of your life. There is always a smile, a compliment, a message of hope, or some small aid that you can give that will enlarge your soul and bring joy to those who cross your path in life. Look every day for an opportunity and you will be surprised how many chances will become available to you.

5 Minute Angel

One hot summer day, my mother and I were driving to the mall for some fun! We just missed the light and were in the middle lane waiting for it to turn. My mother glanced over at the sidewalk to see a homeless man standing holding a sign that read "Hungry and Homeless. Anything helps." My mom wanted to give him money but we were in the middle and did not have much time till the light would change. She grabbed her purse and grabbed the first bill she saw. She handed me the $20 and said "run across the street and give this to him." I am happy to give homeless people money but 20 dollars seemed like a lot. I replied, "Mom I wont make it there and back before the light changes."
"Just go," she instructed me. I grabbed the bill and hopped out of the car. In the car next to us was a lady who was urging me to hurry across and I knew that even if the light turned, she would not move her car till i was safe with my mother. I made it across and I saw the man. I was nervous as I approached him but knew that i would not get hurt. "Excuse me sir. Excuse me?" The man turned and I handed him the $20 and said "God Bless." He smiled and then looked at the bill only to notice the amount and become shocked. . I turned and ran back to the car, buckled myself in, and looked at the side walk. There stood the man, looking at me then up to the sky. I could not hear him but there was no mistaking what he said. With his hands raised to the sky he said, "Thank you God. You sent me an angle." The light turned green and we were off. I felt an overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness. That light was about a 60 second light. I still believe to this day that my heavenly father kept that light red till i could finish my service to him. I am still blessed to this day by that and will always remember being one of God's angels for 5 minutes.

Giving is Contagious

A dear friend of mine told me his story, I hope that I can retell it accurately.

Because his family felt they had been especially blessed they decided that instead of buying a bunch of gifts for each other they would give to those in need that they came across.

While at the mall they had fun picking names off of the Tree of Sharing and one of the the requests was by a teenage boy for a long board. My friend went to the board shop in the mall and because he did not know much about long boards he asked the kid at the counter what would be a really good long board and asked him to put together a package that he would want himself. The kid was excited to help him and asked him who it was for. My friend told him that it was for a Tree of Sharing person. When the kid realized that my friend was willing to pay so much to get something for a total stranger he was amazed. About this time my friends wife came in the store and said that he should grab some "skullcandy" head phones that were also requested from the tree of sharing. The people at the store were so impressed by the generosity that they had witnessed that they grabbed a bunch of the headphones and said they were giving those at no charge. The energy of generosity and giving could be felt in the store... It is contagious!

Forgiveness

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this we are less prone to hate our enemies."


Martin Luther King, Jr.

Who I want to be...

I am hoping to be the kind of woman that when she wakes up in the morning and her feet hit the floor Satan says, "oh crap, she's up!"




Don't know who said it originally but the person I most recently heard say it was Catherine Donnelly

Gratitude is a Prerequisite to Giving

As we acknowledge all we have, as we learn to praise God for all He has done for us, God helps us pry our fingers off our possessions, our BlackBerrys, and our bank statements. This brings us full circle. This is why we need to explore gratitude while on our journey to discover the power of giving. Gratitude is the basis for giving. Grumpy, stingy people cannot live in the spirit of generosity. In order to be able to open our hands to give, we first have to give thanks for all we've been given. It's just that simple.

Quote from Debbie Macomber

Mondays...

Some days you start your day praying that the Lord will give you wisdom in recognizing ways to help those around you. If I were to have a "New Years Resolution" that is what it would be, to pray for the eyes to see those in need and then have the courage to offer the help needed.

That is how I started my day and granted, the day is not over, but what I realized today is that sometimes the very best service you can offer some folks is to not react to their negativity.

Had a customer who really wanted to be mad and fight today. I did everything in my power to show patience and be kind. She still was mad at "Companies taking advantage of people!" I do admit that a week ago I would have handed her her money back cancelled her payment and invited her to never visit my store again. I chose not to react that way.

Bottom line, after it was all said and done, I didn't have that anxiety stressed out feeling I get when I let someone pull me into their negativity. So maybe today my effort towards kindness did more for me than for the person I extended it to. I will keep trying.

to lose ones self in the Lords work.

When the Savior was asked which of the commandments were the greatest he instructed them that the first was to love the Lord thy god with all of thy heart, might, mind, and soul. And the second was like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. He then said that all of the Law and the Prophets hang upon these principles. Let's think about what was said and what context it was given. Of course those asking were trying to trip the Savior up and condemn Him. His answer was not understood by them because their entire focus was on the minute details of the law. Remember the strict Law of Moses? The people were limited on how many miles they could travel on the Sabbath, what they could wear, what they could eat,etc.
Watch a little boy that really loves his father. He will try to duplicate his every action, This is a very simple analogy but it is true. If we really love Christ or our Heavenly Father we will try to duplicate what they do. But that is the problem. How do we act like them? That is what stops most of us from being like Christ. We are so overwhelmed by the fast and competitive pace of the world that we don't stop to see the millions of small details that fall under our control. We are rushing to pick up some last minute items in the grocery store and are so stressed out that we don't even see an elderly person trying to reach an item on a high shelf. We are so rushed to get wherever we are going that we won't pause to let someone into traffic from a side street. We wait for a bus or in a line at the store and never start a conversation with others around us. Why are we like that? Because we have let ourselves become part of the problem rather than a part of the solution. Years ago an instruction was sent out for members to learn how to spread the Gospel. One of the key items was how to develop a relationship of trust. All you have to do is make a new friend by speaking to them and say something cheery or give them a simple, sincere, compliment. You will be amazed how people will respond. I remember one clerk in the store that had a most unusual first name ( a name with a melodic sound) I complimented her on her pretty first name and asked her from whence it came. She was thrilled that I asked and explained that it was a combination of her father's first name and her mother's first name. Since that time I have called her by her first name. and she has responded by remembering my name and calling me by name as she waits on me. I have made a friend and established a relationship of trust. Our experiences now are always pleasant and full of nice conversation. You may ask, How does that have anything to do with the love of the Lord? Lets step back and picture a world where everyone had that kind of relationship. Would there be shouting matches, arguments, grumbling, and mistrust. I think it would be a world where there would be peace and harmony. With that kind of world righteousness would abound. From that world would come millions seeking the source of true happiness which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we try to teach about God and how He loves us and we are cold and our countenance is dark and without joy we are wasting our time. I vividly remember the time we were picking blackberries up at Sandpoint with Dan's parents. Dan's father is a sweet man but can be intimidating, when he put his hands on my backside and held me up the mountainside so we could reach the better berries he became a man I will always love. Why, just because he was not hesitant to show an act of simple kindness and show a love that I did not expect. I will always count him as friend. I hope these comments have painted a picture of my perspective on how to become more like the Savior and show His true love. DAD

Neighbors

This summer I was struggling with some issues surrounding the rules imposed by the Homeowners Association in our neighborhood. I was feeling as though they were being very unreasonable and felt that on principle I was right and they were wrong. It had gotten to the point that I had developed a great deal of anger and was ready to just ignore all my neighbors and climb in a hole. Needless to say, I was over reacting and definately not living in the spirit.

One day in the midst of this struggle I was out mowing the lawn. My husband was out of town and I had a day off and it was super hot and I just needed to get the lawn mowed. I had made it through about half and all the sudden I look over and here comes my neighbor on his huge riding mower and he just waved at me and started mowing. He mowed my entire back yard (the majority of my yard) and then left and came back with his blower and blew the grass out of all my beds so I had no clippings in the rocks around my bedded plants.

I can't tell you how humbled I was by his act of kindness! It totally melted away all the anger and angst that I had been holding in my heart. He renewed my hope in being a good neighbor and was a true blessing. I am sure he had no idea what a blessing he had given.

Just to get started....

Okay I am adding this first post just to get the conversation started. I have been thinking about a lesson I get to teach at my church, pondering what I can say to share the message in the spirit it was meant to be shared. At the same time have come across a couple of books that have deeply inspired me.

I have a life that I believe is truly blessed, yet this time of year I find myself fighting to pull myself up from the boot straps just to get by. What I am discovering however is this wonderful secret, if I make an effort to do just one small act of kindness for someone each day,I end up spending a lot more time looking for the opportunity to do that one thing rather than being grumpy or tired or depressed. That happens to be the message that the books I have come across are saying so the timing is perfect.

I know we all want to make the world a better place but more often than not feel like it is just too big a job and any little thing we do would not make a difference. So this is my challenge... Let's do the things we can, small things, and then share how it changes us. I believe we will find hope and inspiration and before we are finished we may just create that blessed change we are looking for.

So join in and share and lets see where it takes us.