Dear Posterity,
Six years ago today Amanda and I decided to get married. I had to work on Valentines Day that year so we celebrated our first Valentines Day together the day after Valentines Day. Since then, February 15th has become a special day for us and our relationship. We celebrate Valentines Day on the 15th every year as our tradition. It actually genius if you are a last minute shopper because all the Valentines Day items are 50% on the 15th :) Just saying...
One of my favorite movies is the Ten Commandments with Charles Heston. I grew up watching the movie and have never stopped loving it. There is a part of the movie where the Pharaoh assigns a task to Moses and Ramses responds to the Pharaoh by saying, "wise decisions...noble task." That's how I feel about my decision to marry Amanda. It was a wise decision and it is a noble task.
In many ways that phrase defines marriage. Marriage is always a wise decision and is a noble task. It becomes a noble task because marriage takes effort. No one has a perfect marriage and I won't pretend that ours is perfect but if there is one thing that our marriage is...is a wise decision.
For me, marriage is a noble task because it is ordained by God. It is one of the noblest commandments that we have received. It is one of the keys in our learning process here on earth and giving the opportunity to be married is a sacred/noble right that we take upon ourselves. There isn't a more noble task that we can undertake.
What is marriage...marriage is always a wise decision and a noble task...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The End of an Era
Dear Posterity,
This week the long time coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan, resigned from his coaching position. He had been the head coach of the Utah Jazz for 23 years. I believe he was the longest professional tenured head coach in any of the major sports. I am not a Jazz fan but I thought it was worth mentioning. I was 4 years old when Coach Sloan became the head coach of the Utah Jazz. In an unstable work environment, he was a pillar that no one ever thought would leave.
It got me thinking about stability and strength and how you really have to love what you do to stick with it for so long. I get bored easily if I am not stretching myself or doing something different with my day. In a career setting I cannot imagine doing the same thing day after day after day for 23 years. That's why I like my job. Even though the principles of what I do everyday are the same, I am in a different environment with different situations everyday and I love it.
It takes a lot of passion and love to stick with something for 23 years. I guess that's why people struggle with marriage. If they are not willing to work at it and change themselves it can be the same thing day after day and people can get bored. Luckily, I have the lease boring wife in the world. I never know what I am going to get day to day or what I am going to come home to. It keep's life interesting.
Thank you Coach Sloan for teaching us that we can stick with something and excel at it for years if we only have a desire to do so...
This week the long time coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan, resigned from his coaching position. He had been the head coach of the Utah Jazz for 23 years. I believe he was the longest professional tenured head coach in any of the major sports. I am not a Jazz fan but I thought it was worth mentioning. I was 4 years old when Coach Sloan became the head coach of the Utah Jazz. In an unstable work environment, he was a pillar that no one ever thought would leave.
It got me thinking about stability and strength and how you really have to love what you do to stick with it for so long. I get bored easily if I am not stretching myself or doing something different with my day. In a career setting I cannot imagine doing the same thing day after day after day for 23 years. That's why I like my job. Even though the principles of what I do everyday are the same, I am in a different environment with different situations everyday and I love it.
It takes a lot of passion and love to stick with something for 23 years. I guess that's why people struggle with marriage. If they are not willing to work at it and change themselves it can be the same thing day after day and people can get bored. Luckily, I have the lease boring wife in the world. I never know what I am going to get day to day or what I am going to come home to. It keep's life interesting.
Thank you Coach Sloan for teaching us that we can stick with something and excel at it for years if we only have a desire to do so...
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Business
Dear Posterity,
This week I spent in Orange County, California on a business trip. At this time of my life I am a District Manager for Blockbuster Video. I have worked for the company for 6 years. It's been my first real "grown up" job. I started out as a customer service representative and quickly moved through the ranks to be a district manager. I love my job and it has been good to me. Let me tell a quick story of how I came to be employed by Blockbuster.
I had just returned home from my mission and decided to go back to Oklahoma for a sealing of someone that I had baptized. I was able to get a ride home from the Tuckett family, who lived in one of my area's and I had become quite close with. They were going to Utah to visit family and I was able to snag a ride with them. On our way to Utah, Sister Tuckett asked me what I was going to do now. I replied that I would probably start school and get a job. She asked where I wanted to work and I replied, "I don't know. Maybe somewhere like Blockbuster would be fun." Little did I know then that I was being inspired. I applied at Blockbuster and got the job and have been there for the past 6 years.
My patriarchal blessings says that I will be blessed with great employment throughout my life. To this point in my life I have been blessed and am confident that I will be blessed for the remainder of my life. By listening to a small prompting that said "maybe blockbuster would be fun", I have started a career, bought a home and care for my family. The Lord truly has a hand in all that we do, when we are willing to listen to Him.
How blessed we are...
This week I spent in Orange County, California on a business trip. At this time of my life I am a District Manager for Blockbuster Video. I have worked for the company for 6 years. It's been my first real "grown up" job. I started out as a customer service representative and quickly moved through the ranks to be a district manager. I love my job and it has been good to me. Let me tell a quick story of how I came to be employed by Blockbuster.
I had just returned home from my mission and decided to go back to Oklahoma for a sealing of someone that I had baptized. I was able to get a ride home from the Tuckett family, who lived in one of my area's and I had become quite close with. They were going to Utah to visit family and I was able to snag a ride with them. On our way to Utah, Sister Tuckett asked me what I was going to do now. I replied that I would probably start school and get a job. She asked where I wanted to work and I replied, "I don't know. Maybe somewhere like Blockbuster would be fun." Little did I know then that I was being inspired. I applied at Blockbuster and got the job and have been there for the past 6 years.
My patriarchal blessings says that I will be blessed with great employment throughout my life. To this point in my life I have been blessed and am confident that I will be blessed for the remainder of my life. By listening to a small prompting that said "maybe blockbuster would be fun", I have started a career, bought a home and care for my family. The Lord truly has a hand in all that we do, when we are willing to listen to Him.
How blessed we are...
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Choose ye this day...
Dear Posterity,
This week in Young Men's the lesson was on agency. The instructor gave a wonderful lesson about the importance of agency and the impact that agency has on our lives. Agency is a key principle of the gospel and one of the most valued blessings that our Heavenly Father has given us. The lesson reminded me of lessons that I learned as a youth.
Agency is one of those principles that is often misunderstood. We often hear it referred to as free agency but I believe agency comes with a cost. If you think back about what we know about pre-mortal life we know that 1/3 of the hosts of Heaven was cast off because they didn't want to follow our Heavenly Father's plan. The opportunity to have agency cost a third of the hosts of heaven, which to me is a great cost. I think that when people say free agency they are referring to our freedom to choose.
We do have the freedom to choose. Any choice that is placed before us is left for us to decide what to do. We can choose good or bad, right or wrong. We can choose wickedness or happiness, life or death. We have the light of Christ within us to help us choose correctly but ultimately the choice is ours. We are free to make the choice but not free to choose the outcome. Whatever we choose we must live with whatever consequence, good or bad, that comes with that choice.
I remember a time from my childhood that I refused to do the dishes. I hated doing the dishes because we were so poor that we did not have a dishwasher. I would spend hours doing them by hand and this particular day I refused to do them. I spent the entire day not doing my chore because I didn't want to. It was my choice and I choose NOT to do what I was asked to do. Later that evening my friend called and said that he was having a early birthday party. He was turning 16 and he was my best friend. I couldn't wait to go. I went and asked my mom and she simply said that I could not go because I had not done the dishes. It never dawned on me that I would be left out of something so fun because I didn't do the dishes. I missed the chance to celebrate his birthday and I could only blame myself.
The same is true in life. Our Heavenly Father asks us to do certain things and we have the freedom to choose whether or not we want to do them. With this power comes great responsibility. We may choose in this mortal life what we want to do but our choices will affect us in the next life. Will we miss out on a great time because we choose to ignore something that we were asked to do?
Samuel the Lamanite taught "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are bfree; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a cknowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might aknow good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might bchoose life or death; and ye can do good and be crestored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you." Heleman 14:30-31
I pray that your choices in life will be that unto everlasting life and light and that you will be rewarded with such. Don't miss out on eternal happiness for a moment of weakness. I challenge you to do as Joshua challenged us to do..."Choose ye this day who you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord..."
This week in Young Men's the lesson was on agency. The instructor gave a wonderful lesson about the importance of agency and the impact that agency has on our lives. Agency is a key principle of the gospel and one of the most valued blessings that our Heavenly Father has given us. The lesson reminded me of lessons that I learned as a youth.
Agency is one of those principles that is often misunderstood. We often hear it referred to as free agency but I believe agency comes with a cost. If you think back about what we know about pre-mortal life we know that 1/3 of the hosts of Heaven was cast off because they didn't want to follow our Heavenly Father's plan. The opportunity to have agency cost a third of the hosts of heaven, which to me is a great cost. I think that when people say free agency they are referring to our freedom to choose.
We do have the freedom to choose. Any choice that is placed before us is left for us to decide what to do. We can choose good or bad, right or wrong. We can choose wickedness or happiness, life or death. We have the light of Christ within us to help us choose correctly but ultimately the choice is ours. We are free to make the choice but not free to choose the outcome. Whatever we choose we must live with whatever consequence, good or bad, that comes with that choice.
I remember a time from my childhood that I refused to do the dishes. I hated doing the dishes because we were so poor that we did not have a dishwasher. I would spend hours doing them by hand and this particular day I refused to do them. I spent the entire day not doing my chore because I didn't want to. It was my choice and I choose NOT to do what I was asked to do. Later that evening my friend called and said that he was having a early birthday party. He was turning 16 and he was my best friend. I couldn't wait to go. I went and asked my mom and she simply said that I could not go because I had not done the dishes. It never dawned on me that I would be left out of something so fun because I didn't do the dishes. I missed the chance to celebrate his birthday and I could only blame myself.
The same is true in life. Our Heavenly Father asks us to do certain things and we have the freedom to choose whether or not we want to do them. With this power comes great responsibility. We may choose in this mortal life what we want to do but our choices will affect us in the next life. Will we miss out on a great time because we choose to ignore something that we were asked to do?
Samuel the Lamanite taught "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are bfree; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a cknowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might aknow good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might bchoose life or death; and ye can do good and be crestored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you." Heleman 14:30-31
I pray that your choices in life will be that unto everlasting life and light and that you will be rewarded with such. Don't miss out on eternal happiness for a moment of weakness. I challenge you to do as Joshua challenged us to do..."Choose ye this day who you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord..."
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sports Nut
Dear Posterity,
I love sports!!! Not just like, not really like but LOVE sports. I have loved sports for as long as I can remember. As a child I would spend hours playing various sports. I was a natural baseball player but basketball was my passion. I would play basketball everyday of the year including playing during the winter. I would shoot hoops in the snow with an ice covered basketball until my hands were purple and numb.
Basketball was my life and it was going to take my places. Unfortunately, I stopped growing at 5'6". Actually, I'm probably only 5'4" but I would never admit to that in person. It's amazing how 2 inches seem to make a difference. Even though I was short I never lost the love of the game. I still play regularly with friends and still think I am better than I probably am.
Watching sports has become a part of my routine. I watch sporting events weekly especially when my teams are playing. I love the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots and UNC. A lot of people would call me a bandwagon fan but I grew up in the east and you either love Boston teams or New York teams. I love Boston and hate New York. It's who I am and who I'll always be. Sports rivalries bring out the best in competition and the worst in people.
I remember when playoff season my poor wife was introduced to this in an unbecoming way. The Patriots were playing in the 2nd round of the playoffs and Amanda wanted to go to eat and watch a movie. I decided to DVR the game and make my wife happy. She decided to go to a sandwich place and I agreed. I had never been so it wasn't until I read the menu that I realized that she took me to a New York place. I was pissed and she couldn't understand why. How dare she take me to eat at a New York eatery the night the Patriots were playing? Didn't she know that this could cost my team the victory? I don't even remember if I ate anything because of how upset I was.
Amanda didn't and still doesn't understand why I was upset. She doesn't understand the rivalry and the craziness that sports brings out in us. Perhaps it is a little crazy but that's how it is. Of course New England lost and it was all my fault. To this day I still blame her for them losing the game. If only she had chosen another place to eat but she didn't and saw another side of me that she didn't know existed.
The crazy sports fan side...
I love sports!!! Not just like, not really like but LOVE sports. I have loved sports for as long as I can remember. As a child I would spend hours playing various sports. I was a natural baseball player but basketball was my passion. I would play basketball everyday of the year including playing during the winter. I would shoot hoops in the snow with an ice covered basketball until my hands were purple and numb.
Basketball was my life and it was going to take my places. Unfortunately, I stopped growing at 5'6". Actually, I'm probably only 5'4" but I would never admit to that in person. It's amazing how 2 inches seem to make a difference. Even though I was short I never lost the love of the game. I still play regularly with friends and still think I am better than I probably am.
Watching sports has become a part of my routine. I watch sporting events weekly especially when my teams are playing. I love the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots and UNC. A lot of people would call me a bandwagon fan but I grew up in the east and you either love Boston teams or New York teams. I love Boston and hate New York. It's who I am and who I'll always be. Sports rivalries bring out the best in competition and the worst in people.
I remember when playoff season my poor wife was introduced to this in an unbecoming way. The Patriots were playing in the 2nd round of the playoffs and Amanda wanted to go to eat and watch a movie. I decided to DVR the game and make my wife happy. She decided to go to a sandwich place and I agreed. I had never been so it wasn't until I read the menu that I realized that she took me to a New York place. I was pissed and she couldn't understand why. How dare she take me to eat at a New York eatery the night the Patriots were playing? Didn't she know that this could cost my team the victory? I don't even remember if I ate anything because of how upset I was.
Amanda didn't and still doesn't understand why I was upset. She doesn't understand the rivalry and the craziness that sports brings out in us. Perhaps it is a little crazy but that's how it is. Of course New England lost and it was all my fault. To this day I still blame her for them losing the game. If only she had chosen another place to eat but she didn't and saw another side of me that she didn't know existed.
The crazy sports fan side...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
What is truth?
Dear Posterity,
In John 8:32 Jesus says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This begs us to ask the question, what is truth and how will it make us free? Truth can be difficult to define. The general rule when defining a word is that you can't use that word in the sentence to describe it. Try defining the word truth without using the word true. It can be difficult but it is possible. Truth means different things to different people. What I believe as true doesn't mean that some one else believes it to be true. So when Jesus says you will know the truth and it will make you free, what does He mean?
I believe He answers this question for us in John 14:6 when he says, " I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Let's change the way we look at this for a moment. If Jesus is the truth then what He is really telling us is, you shall know me and I shall set you free.
As we come to know our Savior on a more personal level we come to know that He is the truth. That he is the only way that salvation is given and that through Him we can be saved/set free. What does He free us from? He free's us from the bonds of physical death. He died and was resurrected that all men might live again. This gift is free to all those who have inhabited the earth in a body of flesh and bones. But more importantly He suffered the sins of the world that we might overcome sin and through His atonement be cleansed of iniquity. Without this cleansing we would be lost forever, chained done by the guilt of our own mortality. We would be trapped in never ending torment. We would be prisoners.
How grateful I am for the knowledge that I have. For my relationship with the Truth. Jesus lives and if we allow Him to He will save us from all that brings us down. If we cast ourselves upon His feet and have faith in Him, can overcome all obstacles of life. We must come to know the Truth and we must allow the Truth to set us free.
Quite literally, Jesus is the truth and quite literally the Truth will set us free...
In John 8:32 Jesus says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This begs us to ask the question, what is truth and how will it make us free? Truth can be difficult to define. The general rule when defining a word is that you can't use that word in the sentence to describe it. Try defining the word truth without using the word true. It can be difficult but it is possible. Truth means different things to different people. What I believe as true doesn't mean that some one else believes it to be true. So when Jesus says you will know the truth and it will make you free, what does He mean?
I believe He answers this question for us in John 14:6 when he says, " I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Let's change the way we look at this for a moment. If Jesus is the truth then what He is really telling us is, you shall know me and I shall set you free.
As we come to know our Savior on a more personal level we come to know that He is the truth. That he is the only way that salvation is given and that through Him we can be saved/set free. What does He free us from? He free's us from the bonds of physical death. He died and was resurrected that all men might live again. This gift is free to all those who have inhabited the earth in a body of flesh and bones. But more importantly He suffered the sins of the world that we might overcome sin and through His atonement be cleansed of iniquity. Without this cleansing we would be lost forever, chained done by the guilt of our own mortality. We would be trapped in never ending torment. We would be prisoners.
How grateful I am for the knowledge that I have. For my relationship with the Truth. Jesus lives and if we allow Him to He will save us from all that brings us down. If we cast ourselves upon His feet and have faith in Him, can overcome all obstacles of life. We must come to know the Truth and we must allow the Truth to set us free.
Quite literally, Jesus is the truth and quite literally the Truth will set us free...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
How much is that Doggie in the Window?
Dear Posterity,
I love dogs, always have, always will. Perhaps it stems back to my early childhood when my BB's dog would sit by me wherever I was and make sure I was protected. We have pictures of that dog laying next to me in my johnny jump up. He would sit there and watch over me. I probably never had a better baby sitter than that dog.
My love of dogs could stem from my mom's love of animals. She never met an animal she could say no to and never met an animal she didn't try to save. I picked up on her passion as a young age. Once we went to the supermarket to try to give our kittens away and some guy asked me if I would give his away too. I thought that would be fine so I said yes. Needless to say we went home with more kittens then we started with. As far as I remember we always had animals. In fact at one point we had goats, dogs, cats, fish, birds and hamsters all at the same time but that's another blog for another day. One of our most beloved dogs was named Trixi.
Perhaps my mother was bonded to Trixi because they were very similar. They were both born to breed. My mom had 9 children and Trixi had 2 litters of 9 puppies. This dog knew how to do one thing right and that was to have lot's of puppies in one shot. Out of her 2nd liter came my first dog. The first dog that was officially mine I named Big Boy. Big Boy was my puppy and I loved him dearly. I must have been 8 or 9 years old when Big Boy was born and we were inseparable. Mom wanted to sell all the other puppies so we advertised that we had puppies for sale. One couple came and looked at the 9 puppies and they wanted Big Boy. Mom told them he was mine and they would have to deal with me. I think they offered me $20 for him, which to me was a fortune. Hell, that was fortune to my family at that time but I turned it down because I loved that dog.
A few months later my mom decided that we were moving out of the state and I would not be able take Big Boy. I ended up giving him to the same couple who wanted to buy him. On a side note, I tried to get the money they offered but to no avail. It broke my heart to give that dog away but we were moving so I had to do it. We ended up not moving and I never forgave my mom for making me give up my dog.
Fifteen years later my mom sent my grandmother 3 puppies to try to get rid of. My wife who was not a dog person said that we could look at them. As soon as we went to the house this little black dog with a white underbelly came right to me. He looked just like my Big Boy that I had to give away as a boy. It was love at first sight for both he and I. He knew instantly that I was supposed to be his person and I knew instantly that he was supposed to be my dog. The big test came when I had to take him to Amanda. My non dog loving wife fell in love instantly and didn't put up a fight. After all you can't fight destiny. I quickly reverted back to my childhood and named him...Big Boy.
The only problem was we lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets so he had to stay with my grandmother while we looked for another place to live. It turns out that we bought our first home because of a dog. We were excited to bring him home and he's been with us for almost 4 years. We have also inherited another dog from my grandmother, Lady Beth. I wanted to get rid of her but my non dog loving wife couldn't do it. She is Lady Beth's person and Lady Beth is her dog.
Now we have 2 boys, 2 dogs and 2 fish. The boys love their dogs and the dogs love their boys. The play and wrestle and take care of each other. Tyler has inherited his grandmother's love of animals. Those sad animal abuse commercials will come on and he will get sad and say "sad doggie". Those commercials eat at Amanda and I also and makes us want to go and save all the dogs in the world. Some day we hope to buy a new house on some land and be able to save some of those dogs that need a loving home. Our dog's hold a special place in our hearts and in our home.
You can't describe it unless you own a dog but know that for us dog lovers when we hear the song "how much is that doggie in the window..." we know that the answer is PRICELESS...
I love dogs, always have, always will. Perhaps it stems back to my early childhood when my BB's dog would sit by me wherever I was and make sure I was protected. We have pictures of that dog laying next to me in my johnny jump up. He would sit there and watch over me. I probably never had a better baby sitter than that dog.
My love of dogs could stem from my mom's love of animals. She never met an animal she could say no to and never met an animal she didn't try to save. I picked up on her passion as a young age. Once we went to the supermarket to try to give our kittens away and some guy asked me if I would give his away too. I thought that would be fine so I said yes. Needless to say we went home with more kittens then we started with. As far as I remember we always had animals. In fact at one point we had goats, dogs, cats, fish, birds and hamsters all at the same time but that's another blog for another day. One of our most beloved dogs was named Trixi.
Perhaps my mother was bonded to Trixi because they were very similar. They were both born to breed. My mom had 9 children and Trixi had 2 litters of 9 puppies. This dog knew how to do one thing right and that was to have lot's of puppies in one shot. Out of her 2nd liter came my first dog. The first dog that was officially mine I named Big Boy. Big Boy was my puppy and I loved him dearly. I must have been 8 or 9 years old when Big Boy was born and we were inseparable. Mom wanted to sell all the other puppies so we advertised that we had puppies for sale. One couple came and looked at the 9 puppies and they wanted Big Boy. Mom told them he was mine and they would have to deal with me. I think they offered me $20 for him, which to me was a fortune. Hell, that was fortune to my family at that time but I turned it down because I loved that dog.
A few months later my mom decided that we were moving out of the state and I would not be able take Big Boy. I ended up giving him to the same couple who wanted to buy him. On a side note, I tried to get the money they offered but to no avail. It broke my heart to give that dog away but we were moving so I had to do it. We ended up not moving and I never forgave my mom for making me give up my dog.
Fifteen years later my mom sent my grandmother 3 puppies to try to get rid of. My wife who was not a dog person said that we could look at them. As soon as we went to the house this little black dog with a white underbelly came right to me. He looked just like my Big Boy that I had to give away as a boy. It was love at first sight for both he and I. He knew instantly that I was supposed to be his person and I knew instantly that he was supposed to be my dog. The big test came when I had to take him to Amanda. My non dog loving wife fell in love instantly and didn't put up a fight. After all you can't fight destiny. I quickly reverted back to my childhood and named him...Big Boy.
The only problem was we lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets so he had to stay with my grandmother while we looked for another place to live. It turns out that we bought our first home because of a dog. We were excited to bring him home and he's been with us for almost 4 years. We have also inherited another dog from my grandmother, Lady Beth. I wanted to get rid of her but my non dog loving wife couldn't do it. She is Lady Beth's person and Lady Beth is her dog.
Now we have 2 boys, 2 dogs and 2 fish. The boys love their dogs and the dogs love their boys. The play and wrestle and take care of each other. Tyler has inherited his grandmother's love of animals. Those sad animal abuse commercials will come on and he will get sad and say "sad doggie". Those commercials eat at Amanda and I also and makes us want to go and save all the dogs in the world. Some day we hope to buy a new house on some land and be able to save some of those dogs that need a loving home. Our dog's hold a special place in our hearts and in our home.
You can't describe it unless you own a dog but know that for us dog lovers when we hear the song "how much is that doggie in the window..." we know that the answer is PRICELESS...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
My work and My Glory...
Dear Posterity,
One of my favorite scriptures is Moses 1:39. The scripture states, "For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Simply stated, this is our Heavenly Father's goal. His ultimate goal is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
I love this scripture for one major reason. My goal in life is to return to my Heavenly Father and become like Him and what better way to become like Him then to make His goal my goal. To become like our Heavenly Father we must assist and glory in bringing to pass the eternal life of man. The question is what can we do to help?
We must first live righteous lives and be an example of Christ in all things that we do. The scriptures say that "by their fruits ye shall know them." What fruits do we show the world? Will the world know that we are servants of Christ by our good works or have left room for the world to question where our loyalties lie? Living righteously begets good works and opens up doors.
Perhaps the most important door that living righteously opens are the temple doors. The temple not only allows us to learn from on High but it allows us to assist in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Only in the temple can we receive the life saving ordinances for those who are unable to receive them for themselves. Only in the temple can we act as a proxy for the world of Spirits and offer the dead the same rights and privileges that we have. What a great blessing this brings to us and those that we serve.
I plead with you to always be worthy of the blessings the temple bring. Not only for yourself but for those who are waiting for you to assist them in their eternal progression. Do not let Satan destroy what our Heavenly Father has created.
Be worthy of these blessings not and always...
One of my favorite scriptures is Moses 1:39. The scripture states, "For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Simply stated, this is our Heavenly Father's goal. His ultimate goal is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
I love this scripture for one major reason. My goal in life is to return to my Heavenly Father and become like Him and what better way to become like Him then to make His goal my goal. To become like our Heavenly Father we must assist and glory in bringing to pass the eternal life of man. The question is what can we do to help?
We must first live righteous lives and be an example of Christ in all things that we do. The scriptures say that "by their fruits ye shall know them." What fruits do we show the world? Will the world know that we are servants of Christ by our good works or have left room for the world to question where our loyalties lie? Living righteously begets good works and opens up doors.
Perhaps the most important door that living righteously opens are the temple doors. The temple not only allows us to learn from on High but it allows us to assist in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Only in the temple can we receive the life saving ordinances for those who are unable to receive them for themselves. Only in the temple can we act as a proxy for the world of Spirits and offer the dead the same rights and privileges that we have. What a great blessing this brings to us and those that we serve.
I plead with you to always be worthy of the blessings the temple bring. Not only for yourself but for those who are waiting for you to assist them in their eternal progression. Do not let Satan destroy what our Heavenly Father has created.
Be worthy of these blessings not and always...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Cleanest Man in the World
Dear Posterity,
My wife, Amanda, always tells me I am the cleanest boy that she has ever met. I have decided to attempt to explain why she says this...
You see, as a child I grew up in a little town in Maine. My mom and step dad were attempting to build their dream home snuck away in the woods. I think it was because my mom loved The Little House on the Prairie and wanted a house in the big woods. Since we were poor and my mother always had a sense of adventure, we lived in a pop up camper while our house was being built. We had no running water which means that we either showered when it rained or went to the beach to bathe. We also went to the bathroom in an outhouse (google it)!
Since we never knew when your next shower would be we didn't worry too much. Once the clouds rolled in, we would get the soap and a towel and anxiously wait for the rain to fall so we could be clean. As you can probably imagine, living in a pop up camper doesn't leave much space to play indoors so we constantly played outside which I am sure led to some pretty dirty children. I don't remember much about the joys of showering in the rain. I've probably blocked it out but I do know that it happened.
Eventually the basement was finished and we were able to move into the basement. We still didn't have running water for a while so we continued this tradition for what seemed like years. We eventually got running water but it was cold. This meant that we would warm a pan full of water at a time on the stove and pour it into a metal tub to bathe in. Since it was a metal tub the water would cool off quickly and we would bathe in what seemed like ice. It really didn't matter to us. It was like a freaking day spa compared to showering in a swimsuit in the rain. My Aunt Erin showed me a letter that I wrote to her while she was in college. It simply said, "today is a good day. We have running water." Three months later she received a follow up letter, "we have hot water."
During my teenage years my parents would complain about how long my showers were and how many of them I took. I never paid attention to them and never thought twice about it until I got married. I remember the first time that I showered twice in one day and my wife made fun of me. I didn't understand what was so funny. I took a shower in the morning and then later that day I played basketball and didn't want to feel sweaty when I went to bed and then since I went to bed I needed to shower in the morning. It made perfect sense to me. But she continued to insist that it was weird that I like to shower so much. I just like to be clean.
I think it is stems from not being able to shower or bathe whenever I wanted to and now that I can...I take full advantage of the opportunity. I don't want to just be clean, I want to feel clean. I enjoy the feeling and I'm not going to apologize if I shower more than the normal smelly boy.
After all, cleanliness is next to Godliness and smelliness just stinks....
My wife, Amanda, always tells me I am the cleanest boy that she has ever met. I have decided to attempt to explain why she says this...
You see, as a child I grew up in a little town in Maine. My mom and step dad were attempting to build their dream home snuck away in the woods. I think it was because my mom loved The Little House on the Prairie and wanted a house in the big woods. Since we were poor and my mother always had a sense of adventure, we lived in a pop up camper while our house was being built. We had no running water which means that we either showered when it rained or went to the beach to bathe. We also went to the bathroom in an outhouse (google it)!
Since we never knew when your next shower would be we didn't worry too much. Once the clouds rolled in, we would get the soap and a towel and anxiously wait for the rain to fall so we could be clean. As you can probably imagine, living in a pop up camper doesn't leave much space to play indoors so we constantly played outside which I am sure led to some pretty dirty children. I don't remember much about the joys of showering in the rain. I've probably blocked it out but I do know that it happened.
Eventually the basement was finished and we were able to move into the basement. We still didn't have running water for a while so we continued this tradition for what seemed like years. We eventually got running water but it was cold. This meant that we would warm a pan full of water at a time on the stove and pour it into a metal tub to bathe in. Since it was a metal tub the water would cool off quickly and we would bathe in what seemed like ice. It really didn't matter to us. It was like a freaking day spa compared to showering in a swimsuit in the rain. My Aunt Erin showed me a letter that I wrote to her while she was in college. It simply said, "today is a good day. We have running water." Three months later she received a follow up letter, "we have hot water."
During my teenage years my parents would complain about how long my showers were and how many of them I took. I never paid attention to them and never thought twice about it until I got married. I remember the first time that I showered twice in one day and my wife made fun of me. I didn't understand what was so funny. I took a shower in the morning and then later that day I played basketball and didn't want to feel sweaty when I went to bed and then since I went to bed I needed to shower in the morning. It made perfect sense to me. But she continued to insist that it was weird that I like to shower so much. I just like to be clean.
I think it is stems from not being able to shower or bathe whenever I wanted to and now that I can...I take full advantage of the opportunity. I don't want to just be clean, I want to feel clean. I enjoy the feeling and I'm not going to apologize if I shower more than the normal smelly boy.
After all, cleanliness is next to Godliness and smelliness just stinks....
Monday, January 24, 2011
Satan the Goliath
Dear Posterity,
Yesterday at church there was a talk given about David and Goliath. In typical fashion, the speaker was using this story to talk about faith. He talked about the faith and courage that David showed when he took on the giant Goliath. I've heard the story many times and almost always related it to inspire faith but while I listened I was surprised at what I began to think about as I analyzed the story more deeply. The story is found in 1 Samual chapter 17. I would like to share my observations with you today.
We all know the story of David and Goliath but I would like to give it a different spin. Let's think of Goliath as Satan, David as us and king Saul as the world. First, what do we know about Satan? We know that Satan was a mighty spirit child of our Heavenly Father. We know that he was trained and taught by the best. He was a mighty leader. He rebeled against our Heavenly Father and was so powerful that a third of the hosts of Heaven followed him. He and his army of spirits want us to rebel also.
Second, what do we know about ourselves? We know that we are children of God. That we were sent to earth for a great purpose and our ultimate goal is to prepare ourselves to return to our Heavenly Father. We know that Satan is doing all that he can to make sure that we do not return to the glory that is ours.
Finally, what do we know about the world? We know that the world is a temporal place and the majority of the world follows Satan whether it be knowingly or unknowingly. We know that the world entices us to do what is does and believe what it believes. We know that ultimately that becoming like the world can impede our journey back to our Heavenly Father.
Let's pick up the story in verse 8. Goliath or Satan goes to the Lord's covenant Israel and proclaims..."Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us."
So Satan comes to us at the head of his army and says, do you really want to mess with me? I am Satan and you are servents of Saul or the world. I dare you to choose someone to be better then I am and fight me. In fact if you do so and you win, we will be your servents but if you lose you will serve me. Isn't it funny that the first thing he does is tell us we are servents of the world and underplay the fact that we are children of God. He didn't say, hey God's people come fight me...he said you are servents of Saul. He immediately tried to make them forget who they were and who they served.
So David or us were hanging around and we hear Goliath or Satan boasting and bragging and David notices that no one is doing anything. In verse 26 he says. "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" He basically says, why are we listening to this guy. Who is going to do something about it? You are the armies of the living God. Don't you know who you are.
This get's back to Saul or the World and Saul summons David to him and in verse 32 David says. "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine." He stands up for the world and says to the world, don't fear, even though you forgot who you are, I know who I am and I will fight him.
The story continues in the next verses and Saul or the World says you're so young what hope do you have to fight the giant. David then lists the things that he has done in his youth to be prepared for this moment. If we relate David to ourselves this is when we say, I have been taught at the feet of God. I am came into this world to stand for what is right. I am not scared of what Satan can do to me for I know who I am and I know who is behind me. The Lord will deliver me out of his hands. (verses 33-37)
So Saul or the World agrees to let David or us fight the giant and he begins to put all this armour on us and weigh us down with the things of the world so that we will be ready to fight. David told Saul that he didn't need all of the extra stuff in fact he said that he "cannot go with these." He knew what he needed and he knew who had already provided him with the tools to complete the job and off he went to stand off with Goliath. (verses 38-41)
When he get's to his ultimate battle Goliath/Satan laugh and make fun of him. He made fun of his youth and his fair countenance. He made fun of his lack of weapons and he said, you think you have a chance against me. I WILL DESTROY YOU.
Now my children, read carefully what David said to Goliath..."Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands." (Verses 45-47)
Oh my children, that you may echo the words of David when Satan comes after you, laughing and prodding you. Trying to make you forget who you really are and who you really serve. May you always remember that you serve the Lord God Almighty, that you are his son or daughter, that He will never forsake you. When the world is in trouble, as it always is and has forgotten who they are, may you remember who you are and stand for truth and light. Stand strong is the face of the adversary and say to him...The Lord will deliver you into my hands for I come in the name of the Lord and whosoever shall trust in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. May you stand strong always, may you be the example that the world needs, may you remember who you really are and who sent you to this earth and for what purpose you were sent. You are a light to those in darkness and Satan the Goliath will try to put out your lights. Hold on to everything you know and let your light shine on. Never let him put out your light and never become like the world. You are a child of God.
May you always remember and never forget...
Yesterday at church there was a talk given about David and Goliath. In typical fashion, the speaker was using this story to talk about faith. He talked about the faith and courage that David showed when he took on the giant Goliath. I've heard the story many times and almost always related it to inspire faith but while I listened I was surprised at what I began to think about as I analyzed the story more deeply. The story is found in 1 Samual chapter 17. I would like to share my observations with you today.
We all know the story of David and Goliath but I would like to give it a different spin. Let's think of Goliath as Satan, David as us and king Saul as the world. First, what do we know about Satan? We know that Satan was a mighty spirit child of our Heavenly Father. We know that he was trained and taught by the best. He was a mighty leader. He rebeled against our Heavenly Father and was so powerful that a third of the hosts of Heaven followed him. He and his army of spirits want us to rebel also.
Second, what do we know about ourselves? We know that we are children of God. That we were sent to earth for a great purpose and our ultimate goal is to prepare ourselves to return to our Heavenly Father. We know that Satan is doing all that he can to make sure that we do not return to the glory that is ours.
Finally, what do we know about the world? We know that the world is a temporal place and the majority of the world follows Satan whether it be knowingly or unknowingly. We know that the world entices us to do what is does and believe what it believes. We know that ultimately that becoming like the world can impede our journey back to our Heavenly Father.
Let's pick up the story in verse 8. Goliath or Satan goes to the Lord's covenant Israel and proclaims..."Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us."
So Satan comes to us at the head of his army and says, do you really want to mess with me? I am Satan and you are servents of Saul or the world. I dare you to choose someone to be better then I am and fight me. In fact if you do so and you win, we will be your servents but if you lose you will serve me. Isn't it funny that the first thing he does is tell us we are servents of the world and underplay the fact that we are children of God. He didn't say, hey God's people come fight me...he said you are servents of Saul. He immediately tried to make them forget who they were and who they served.
So David or us were hanging around and we hear Goliath or Satan boasting and bragging and David notices that no one is doing anything. In verse 26 he says. "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" He basically says, why are we listening to this guy. Who is going to do something about it? You are the armies of the living God. Don't you know who you are.
This get's back to Saul or the World and Saul summons David to him and in verse 32 David says. "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine." He stands up for the world and says to the world, don't fear, even though you forgot who you are, I know who I am and I will fight him.
The story continues in the next verses and Saul or the World says you're so young what hope do you have to fight the giant. David then lists the things that he has done in his youth to be prepared for this moment. If we relate David to ourselves this is when we say, I have been taught at the feet of God. I am came into this world to stand for what is right. I am not scared of what Satan can do to me for I know who I am and I know who is behind me. The Lord will deliver me out of his hands. (verses 33-37)
So Saul or the World agrees to let David or us fight the giant and he begins to put all this armour on us and weigh us down with the things of the world so that we will be ready to fight. David told Saul that he didn't need all of the extra stuff in fact he said that he "cannot go with these." He knew what he needed and he knew who had already provided him with the tools to complete the job and off he went to stand off with Goliath. (verses 38-41)
When he get's to his ultimate battle Goliath/Satan laugh and make fun of him. He made fun of his youth and his fair countenance. He made fun of his lack of weapons and he said, you think you have a chance against me. I WILL DESTROY YOU.
Now my children, read carefully what David said to Goliath..."Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands." (Verses 45-47)
Oh my children, that you may echo the words of David when Satan comes after you, laughing and prodding you. Trying to make you forget who you really are and who you really serve. May you always remember that you serve the Lord God Almighty, that you are his son or daughter, that He will never forsake you. When the world is in trouble, as it always is and has forgotten who they are, may you remember who you are and stand for truth and light. Stand strong is the face of the adversary and say to him...The Lord will deliver you into my hands for I come in the name of the Lord and whosoever shall trust in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. May you stand strong always, may you be the example that the world needs, may you remember who you really are and who sent you to this earth and for what purpose you were sent. You are a light to those in darkness and Satan the Goliath will try to put out your lights. Hold on to everything you know and let your light shine on. Never let him put out your light and never become like the world. You are a child of God.
May you always remember and never forget...
Sunday, January 23, 2011
For My Posterity
Dear Posterity,
For many years I have thought about the importance of journal keeping. From my youth I have been encouraged to keep a record for my posterity. Over the years I have tried to figure out why anyone would want to read about my daily tasks. To me journal keeping was very mundane and pointless. I would jot down the things that I did during the day. A typical entry would be something like this...
Dear Journal,
Today I went to work, ate a sandwich and came home. I watched a basketball
game, got yelled at for something stupid and now I am going to bed. Pretty
eventful day if you ask me.
Now you tell me who in the world is going to read that in 75 years and want to read more. I would use it for nothing more than fire starter so my journal keeping never lasted long. You are very welcome that I saved you from that torture. Journal keeping was nothing more that a waste of time to me and would have been to you. But something changed this week.
I was thinking about journal keeping when it finally hit me. Journal keeping isn't supposed to be a record of what you do daily but who you are. For journal keeping to be effective and worthwhile, I need to record things that give you in sight to who I am as a person, what I belive in, what I stand for and what I am like. You need to learn what I think like, how I percieve things and how I live. Ultimately, this is how you would get to know me and how we could have a relationship that will last into the eternities. I am doing this for you but who knows, maybe I will get something out of it in the long run.
The Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, recording that the Lord commanded him to record two records. One the recorded the spiritual events and one the recorded the temporal events of his people. This account is found in 1st Nephi 9. I have decided to follow Nephi's example. I don't know if I will post everyday or every other day or twice a week but I will alternate posts when I do post. What I mean is one post will be spiritual based and the next will be temporal. This way you can get to know me on both levels throughout my life. After all this life is a time for us to experience both temporal and spiritual experiences and the challenge is to find a balance and merge both spiritual and temporal experiences to prepare us to return to our Heavenly Father.
To my future children, grand children, great grand children etc...I'm going to need your help for this to work. There will be days that I have no desire to blog and will need a little extra inspiration from on high. So if you already prompted me to start this please continue your promptings to keep me going. I'm not going to lie, there will be many days where you will have to prompt me extra hard. I aplogize in advance if I ignore your promptings but I am a very stubborn and hard headed person who prefers watching a sporting event then leave a record for my posterity. Consider this a good idea with great intentions that could easily fall by the wayside without your help.
Even though I don't know you, know that I love you and am proud of you and know that you are part of a great family.
Welcome to my life...
For many years I have thought about the importance of journal keeping. From my youth I have been encouraged to keep a record for my posterity. Over the years I have tried to figure out why anyone would want to read about my daily tasks. To me journal keeping was very mundane and pointless. I would jot down the things that I did during the day. A typical entry would be something like this...
Dear Journal,
Today I went to work, ate a sandwich and came home. I watched a basketball
game, got yelled at for something stupid and now I am going to bed. Pretty
eventful day if you ask me.
Now you tell me who in the world is going to read that in 75 years and want to read more. I would use it for nothing more than fire starter so my journal keeping never lasted long. You are very welcome that I saved you from that torture. Journal keeping was nothing more that a waste of time to me and would have been to you. But something changed this week.
I was thinking about journal keeping when it finally hit me. Journal keeping isn't supposed to be a record of what you do daily but who you are. For journal keeping to be effective and worthwhile, I need to record things that give you in sight to who I am as a person, what I belive in, what I stand for and what I am like. You need to learn what I think like, how I percieve things and how I live. Ultimately, this is how you would get to know me and how we could have a relationship that will last into the eternities. I am doing this for you but who knows, maybe I will get something out of it in the long run.
The Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, recording that the Lord commanded him to record two records. One the recorded the spiritual events and one the recorded the temporal events of his people. This account is found in 1st Nephi 9. I have decided to follow Nephi's example. I don't know if I will post everyday or every other day or twice a week but I will alternate posts when I do post. What I mean is one post will be spiritual based and the next will be temporal. This way you can get to know me on both levels throughout my life. After all this life is a time for us to experience both temporal and spiritual experiences and the challenge is to find a balance and merge both spiritual and temporal experiences to prepare us to return to our Heavenly Father.
To my future children, grand children, great grand children etc...I'm going to need your help for this to work. There will be days that I have no desire to blog and will need a little extra inspiration from on high. So if you already prompted me to start this please continue your promptings to keep me going. I'm not going to lie, there will be many days where you will have to prompt me extra hard. I aplogize in advance if I ignore your promptings but I am a very stubborn and hard headed person who prefers watching a sporting event then leave a record for my posterity. Consider this a good idea with great intentions that could easily fall by the wayside without your help.
Even though I don't know you, know that I love you and am proud of you and know that you are part of a great family.
Welcome to my life...
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