When I was nine years old, I began cleaning my grandmother’s house. I would go over about once a week after school and do whatever she instructed me to do. The best part was after I was done cleaning, she would invite me into the kitchen to have a root bear float with her. We would sit in her little kitchen nook and visit while we sipped. Oh, how I loved this time with Grandma! 

Three years later, when I was twelve years of age, Grandma was sent to the hospital. I didn’t worry to much about it, I just thought that is what old people had to do from time to time. 

When the day I normally went to clean house rolled around, I knew Grandma wasn’t there to tell me what to do, so I had thought I wouldn’t go. But I received a very distinct impression that I should go anyway, so I did. Without Grandma there to tell what to do, I had to decide on my own. I concluded that the whole house needed a good cleaning. With no one there to stop me and say that’s enough, I just kept going and going and spent hours cleaning. The house had never looked so clean!

I remember how wonderful I felt. It was so much fun to be giving Grandma a secret gift. I thought boy is Grandma going to be surprised! I couldn’t wait for her to come home and see my gift of love. But Grandma never came home from the hospital. 

Interestingly, the family decided to have her viewing in her home. As I walked into her living room and saw grandma, I can’t even begin to express the peace and joy I felt! I realized the Spirit had prompted me to clean Grandma’s house, knowing it was a holy place where her body would be viewed by loved ones. No one knew that but God. I felt such joy knowing the Spirit of the Lord had spoken to me and used me, a young girl, as an instrument in his hands. 

And my joy was so great because I felt grandma right there with me. I knew she loved me and I felt her appreciation for getting the house clean in preparation for her viewing. Though she did not see my gift with her mortal eyes, I knew that she had seen my gift after all, through the eyes of her spirit, and she wanted me to know this. I also felt the Holy Spirit bear witness that I would see Grandma again because of the Savior’s gift of resurrection.

Decades have passed, and yet I still remember the joy I felt that day. I know there is life after death. I know that in and through and because of Jesus Christ we will see our loved ones again, and I know the Holy Spirit can speak to us, and use us as instruments in Gods hands, if we are willing, no matter what our age. 

I love this quote by Neal Maxwell shared in episode #27 from Finding Joy and Peace. It has helped me have perspective on those glum days when I feel the adversary pulling at me. 

Neal Maxwell taught,   

“When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great [treaties] made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more [significant] than what happened in congresses? When the surf of the centuries has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing, because it is a celestial institution, formed outside telestial time. The women of God know this”. 

I love to ponder this magnificent truth, that what I and other mothers are doing right now in our kitchens is more significant that what is happening in congress. That my and your efforts to nurture and train our children will last beyond mortal time. Is that significant or what? 

Chin up! As the little spider Charlotte Webb says. We as mothers, are doing something great to make this world a better place—We are mothering and there isn’t anything better or greater than that!  

#comeuntochrist

I went in to discuss the matter with his teacher and to see what I could do, to help our son take responsibility for whatever had gone wrong. The visit with his teacher went well, and I was given simple things our son could do to improve. 

Later that week, I was contacted my another mother informing me that a bunch of parents had arranged a meeting the following Monday night to get this teacher fired. The parents didn’t like the fact that their children were getting so many pink slips. I was shocked and saddened that others had judged this teacher so harshly. I felt the way things were being handled by the parents was not right. So I met with the principal to discuss how I saw the situation, which was

1. There is a line of authority that should be followed when solving problems. If parents had a concern with how a teacher was handling a situation, they should discuss it with the teacher directly, not with other parents. 

2. If things could not be resolved by meeting with the teacher, then they could bring the concern to the principal, not to other people.

I then asked him as our leader if he felt it appropriate to teach the parents these principles and to look for ways to help this brand new teacher succeed?

The principal asked,“Where did you learn this? I said, “In the New Testament. The Savior taught that we should go to the person we have a concern with.” He replied, “I wish everyone could understand this.” He then assured me that he would teach the parents this preferred way of resolving concerns. 

The night of the firing meeting, we invited our son’s teacher to dinner and family night. I was worried about her being all alone the night the parents were meeting with the principal with the intent to get her fired.

As we ministered to her that evening, we discovered it was her birthday! She was new to the city and had no friends or family around and was all alone. As she shared her story, I felt a bucket of God’s love pour over me! It was as though God was saying, “Thank you for watching over my dear daughter tonight.” 

Thank heaven for the teachings of Jesus. God’s ways are higher than our ways and I have found they always make us happier. Incidentally, the teacher was not fired. Thankfully, the parents decided to work to help her succeed.

Later in the day, a three year old granddaughter ran out the door to greet me, twirling on her tiptoes and singing a made-up song. She danced around me, pausing a moment to lay her head on my leg and then smiling up at me singing “I love you so much, Grandma.” I was so inspired by her childlike joy and genuine love and said, “Can I grow up to be like you? 

These granddaughter’s joy filled me with joy. I wished in these moments that I could carry with me always the joy and peace of these young children. I wish I could dance and sing as I twirl throughout my day with sweet expressions of love.

The hint of spring was in the air, so I took her and her brother to the park. As we arrived my five year old grandson asked, “Grandma are you going to play with us?” I said, “Of course!” I slid down every slide, swung on every swing, rode on every teeter-totter and merry-go-round until I collapsed an hour and a half later.  

I tease my grandchildren that I am going to be ninety years old and still swinging on swings because I love playing with children so much. I hope this is will be true, but if not, I hope I can stay a child in my heart. I have a side of me that is like Peter Pan, I never want to grow up—I should rephrase that, I never want to grow old in my heart.

As I grow older and my body wears out, I wish I could grow up inside to be more like these precious children—so full of genuine love, peace, and joy! The joy I saw in these children today, gave me a glimpse of heaven, and something to continue to strive for. 
“…and a little child shall lead them” Isaiah 11:6

#joy, #peace, #love, #christianity, #comeuntochrist

What do you love about your spouse? 

One beautiful day, I decided that I wanted to tell my husband what I loved about him. I began to write my husband love letters almost every day. I would tell him what I loved, appreciated, or admired about him. I am still at it and plan to keep going because the benefits make me so happy! It has brought significantly more peace and joy into our marriage.

The amazing thing is that not one of these emails is the same! At first I was sharing character traits and obvious things I loved, and then I started wondering what in the world I could say if I was going to keep doing this day after day. Then the thought came to pray and ask the Lord if He would help me see my husband as He did. See what He appreciates, admires and loves about my husband. Well, this prayer changed everything. 

I would sit down at the computer after praying, not having a clue what I was going to write. I began each email with “What I love about you. I love . . .” Then my mind would be filled with something my husband had said or done the day before that I loved. I could always find something I was grateful for, something that I admired and loved about him. It was wonderful. 

I’ve learned that when you look for the good you can always find it! Even on the days where we had a misunderstanding and the grumps had crept in, if I exercised my faith, the Lord would help me see something to appreciate, and by expressing it, it would soften both our hearts and the grumps would melt away and an increase of love would take its place. 

I saw other blessings coming because of this goal to minister to my husband. My heart was changing. I thought I loved my husband dearly—that is why I wanted to tell him so in these emails. Even so, I found with each email, my love, gratitude and admiration were deepening profoundly. I was surprised how this simple act of regular service for my spouse was changing me!  

I then noticed my husband changing. He seemed as though he was living up to whatever it was I had admired or said that I loved about him. It seemed to have a pygmalion effect—It  filled him with a desire to be better and live up to the kind things I had expressed love for. At first I thought I was just imagining it, but then, no—I could see for sure that whatever I had conveyed gratitude for was indeed increasing. I have always believed that whatever you pay attention to increases, and I was seeing this to be true.

 One of my favorite scriptures is “…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” Alma 37:6

Over time, I could see expressing love, appreciation and admiration was like planting small seeds in the garden of our marriage. It was such a simple and small thing and only took minutes each day; nevertheless, these small seeds were taking root and beginning to grow, and then flourishing into great things. 

With the passage of time our love became a bit of heaven on earth. There were no more misunderstandings, or grumps to deal with. By seeing my husband as God sees him, and then expressing it, I came to really know my husband’s heart. Through my expressions of love, He also came to know my heart— We came to know each other’s hearts and how to read them. 

Love is a verb. It requires action. Like a flower if we water our marriages with expressions of love they will blossom. We will come a way thinking— really, that is all I had to do, exercise faith and shower the people I love with love?  

Yes! This is usually the case. In some rare cases, a loved one cannot feel our love, they have become past feeling through sin, addictions or such. But even in such extreme cases, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can break down even the hardest heart— if it is God’s will and timing. 

I invite you to begin a journey of love this Valentine’s Day. Tell your spouse what you love about them for a whole year and just see what happens, to you, to them, to your marriage and family. 

Great things really do come to pass by small and simple things. 

When there is a lack of goal-setting there is usually a lack of peace and joy in our lives as well.

Setting goals helps us reflect on our lives and ask ourself questions. What do we want to become? What brings us peace and joy? What makes us unhappy? What are we worried about? How is the health of our relationships?

Only through personal honesty, prayer and reflection can we discover the holes in our lives through which peace and joy are seeping out.

 For example, if I am not feeling well, or live with pain that keeps me from sleeping, this affects the quality of my life. I may still be very happy, but not feeling well creates a little less peace and a little less joy. 

Taking the time to investigate why I am not feeling well, and why I am in pain, and then setting goals that could help me find solutions to these nagging concerns, will help restore some of my peace and joy. 

This was a true scenario for me a while ago. As I investigated, I found that improving the way I ate would probably help me feel better, and stretching every day might be the secret to becoming pain free. 

So, I set a goal to eat less sugar, eat more vegetables and to stretch everyday. Within a short time I was feeling better and completely pain free! I didn’t realize how these physical concerns had nagged at me and stolen some of my peace and joy until after I had set these goals and stuck with them for a while. 

Prayerfully asking ourselves good questions, and in essence becoming a detective trying to find out where the holes are, and then setting goals to make changes, really will bring more peace and joy into our lives.

We Set Goals So We Can Live Up To Our Potential

Living up to our potential and progressing is a basic human need. Without progress we cannot feel joy. Progress is joy. If we are stuck in the mire and going nowhere with our personal development; we will stagnate and naturally get depressed. 

Goals should challenge us, help us stretch and grow as an individual, and move us forward. As we advance we are transformed into a new and better individual. Our hopes and dreams become reality. 

What Areas Should We Set Goals In?

First we need to begin with the end in mind. Goals are not about accomplishing or doing things, they should be about becoming!

At the end of our lives, who do we want to be? What will we regret when we die?

We should begin our goal-setting by beginning with the end in mind. For me, I want to have become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. To do so, I need to follow His example. 

The scriptures teach,“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52

I love this scripture because it is a pattern for my personal progress. Even the Savior had to set goals and keep increasing and moving forward line upon line, day by day—just like we do. 

Following His example and setting goals in four basic areas—spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social—will keep our lives in balance and help us become more like Him. Just like a recipe needs all the ingredients for it to turn out just right, so do our lives need balance between these four areas in order for our lives to turn out just right. If we overemphasize one area, our life will be top heavy and out of balance; the result will be less peace and less joy.

Spiritual

I find the spiritual is the most important area to set goals in. If I have a close relationship with the Lord through daily prayer and studying his words in the scriptures, everything else falls in into place—or out of place because it is not important. I also feel more peace and confidence, even when things don’t go well, this is because connecting with God helps me remember He is watching over me and I can trust Him.

On the other hand, things can fall apart when I haven’t connected with my Father in Heaven at the beginning of each day. I don’t feel that peace and confidence. I worry more, stress, or slip into negative thinking, or succumb to weaknesses more easily. 

  Mathew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

What do you need added unto you? More understanding or kindness in your marriage? More patience with your children? More self discipline around sugar? Whatever we lack or need more of, it starts with strengthening our relationship with God and exercising faith in Him to help make us better.

What can you do to strengthen your relationship with God?

Social

After aligning our goals with God, our interpersonal relationships should come next. If we are not careful and constantly striving to improve our relationships they will start slipping away, or at a minimum stagnate.  David McKay wisely taught, “No success can compensate for failure in the home.”

Let us, nurture our marriage and families. Set goals to serve them through validation, expressions of gratitude, quality conversation, and spending quality time with them in wholesome recreational activities. These are basic needs we all have, thus as we strive to meet the needs of our loved ones, we will also be meeting our own needs and will  experience more peace and joy. Ministering is magic; what we give always comes back to us in unexpected ways.

What goal could you set that might fortify your relationships?

Intellectual

It is important that we are always on a learning journey and finding ways to learn new things no matter what our age or stage of life. Our minds were meant to be used. “The glory of God is intelligence.” D&C 98:36. God expects us to use the mind He has given us to grow in light and truth to become more like him. 

Our mind is like a muscle; if we don’t use it, we lose it to some degree. When minds are not engaged in learning they become bored, and bored minds gravitate to depression and addictions. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop; nothing good ever came from doing nothing. There will always be a hole in our lives if we are not continuing to learn, we may not even be aware of it, but it is there—draining a little of our peace, a little of our joy. 

Let us, set goals to read or listen to books and podcasts, take a class, join a book club, develop a new talent or hobby or ask a neighbor to teach you something they are good at. Last year I asked my neighbor to teach me how to arrange flowers. It was so fun to learn hands-on and visit as we did so. Often, if I don’t know how to do something, I will find someone who does, and ask them to teach me. This is a really fun way to learn, and make great friends. Most of what I have learned in my life I have learned from someone else, and I cannot express enough gratitude to them!

What intellectual goal can you set?

Physical

As I shared in the beginning of this article, not feeling well affects the quality of our lives. Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to take care of these wonderful bodies he gave us, so that we might have joy! It makes us happy when we set goals to exercise and eat better, and vice versa; it will steal a little of our happiness if we don’t. Don’t we all want more quality of life?

I find that exercise affects me emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually. I have called my exercise time “my ministering time.” This is because I try to go with loved ones and use it as a time to visit. We minister to each other. I have loved to exercise with my husband, children, and friends by going for a walk, run, hike, bike ride, kayaking, or pickle ball. It meets my needs to keep my body healthy, but also meets my needs to socialize, and be stimulated intellectually and spiritually as we have great discussions.

What is one goal you could set that might improve your health and quality of life?  

One of the most memorable Christmas’s ever began with a distressing phone call. A close relative was getting a divorce. We were in shock and heart-broken. This couple had once loved each other very much. However, the husbands’ addiction to drugs had left them destitute physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. They were unable to keep their marriage together in such unrelenting circumstances.  

The wife and children were moving to a shed on their grandparent’s farm. It was Christmas and they had lost everything and literally had nothing. We felt a longing to help them in some way. However, we were poor college students and often in need of a miracle ourselves in order to have enough food for our own family. How could we help?

Because it was Christmas time, both of our parents had sent us money. We had already spent it on our children’s Christmas presents. Our daughter had been asking for a cabbage patch doll, which were very popular and expensive at that time. Her friends already had them. Our son had been asking for a train, which was also costly. When we received the money from our parents, we were ecstatic that we could buy our children what they had been asking Santa for. 

As we thought about our sister in-law living in a shed instead of a home, and with no means to buy a Christmas for her children, somehow the excitement of seeing the joy in our own children’s eyes Christmas morning waned. All we could think about was the joy our niece might feel waking up to her own cabbage patch doll, and our nephews waking up to their own train set Christmas morning. 

So we packed up all we had, including the turkey and fixings for Christmas dinner. Then in the darkness of the night “Santa” stealthily delivered Christmas to a grieving family in a lonely forgotten shed. 

Our children never new what they were missing. A simple Christmas of just being together with small gifts was sufficient.

Even though we didn’t get to see the excitement in our own children’s eyes as they received what they wanted for Christmas, imagining the joy of our niece and nephews as they awoke Christmas morning made it the best Christmas ever!

With the passage of time; it will not be what we have received that fills our hearts with joy and warms our memories, but what we gave with a cheerful heart.

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Every man according as he purposely in his heart, so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver”

Is there someone you could share Christmas with this year and make it the most memorable Christmas ever?

#LightTheWorld, #givethanks, #comeuntochrist, #Christmas

By Camille Brooks.
The air was biting cold. I could feel it in my bones. It wasn’t just in my bones. I could feel the chill in my heart as well. Why? Because Christmas was on its way and I was depressed. I knew in my head I was supposed to be thrilled with the prospect of Christmas close at hand, but I wasn’t. Usually I was—I love Christmas time; however, this year was different. 

We had reviewed our finances the day before and found there was no money for Christmas. When it rains it pours, and it had poured lately at our house with lots of unexpected expenses and our savings were drained. What were we to do with five little children and their expectations for Christmas? 

I knelt in prayer and asked for God’s help, believing He would answer me, and help turn this trial to my good. After I prayed, I found ideas kept popping into my head—ideas of homemade Christmas gifts I could make or acquire that would thrill each of my children. I quickly wrote down the ideas that came to me. All of a sudden, the worry was gone, the depression had lifted, and in its place, was a feeling of peace. 

I ran to the phone and called both sets of grandmas. Did they have any old fancy evening type purses they didn’t use any more? How about ladies’ gloves, hats, scarves, shawls or high heels? Did they have old nail polish, lipstick, blush, eyeshadow? And ties and hats for men? 

The hunt was on! I felt inspired to create a box of dress-ups that cost me absolutely nothing except a little time calling people and gathering things up. I was led to a particular garage sale and found a plastic vanity set someone was discarding for a couple of dollars. It was perfect to go with the makeup! 

I looked through my children’s old baby clothes and put together a darling collection of nightgowns, play clothes, dresses, bonnets, shoes and socks for their old doll—Teresa. By now I was on cloud nine. I was having so much fun collecting all this stuff and anticipating the joy these things would provide as my children played dress ups in the days to come.  

 I was on a roll now. I was having such a good time I couldn’t stop. I then looked through my scraps of old fabric and decided to sew a few simple things to add to the fun—like doll clothes for their old doll that was too small for real-life baby clothes. They turned out adorable!

I had never felt this much joy preparing for Christmas before. I learned that there is just nothing in the world like making homemade gifts. I was so excited for Christmas morning that I had a hard time sleeping! The love that you put into the gifts—combined with the anticipation of the children playing with them—is priceless.

This particular Christmas ended up being one of the most memorable and joyful Christmases we ever had with our young family. The children were absolutely crazy about the dress-ups, makeup, and doll clothes! They enjoyed countless hours playing make believe with a box of stuff that cost nothing. My thirteen grandchildren have continued to find joy playing with this box of dress-ups to this day.

Though my children are now grown and raising families of their own, I will never forget the joy and peace of that Christmas morning. 

I also learned a lot from this experience. I set up an automatic withdrawal from my husband’s paycheck each month, so that a little money could be set aside for emergencies, Christmas, and other annual expenses. I also decided to start sewing in September for Christmas and make homemade gifts for my children every year.

I have buckets full of wonderful memories; sewing beautiful nightgowns, pajamas, dresses, school clothes, and make-believe costumes and toys. I never would have found the joy of sewing and making homemade gifts, without the sorrow first.

 God did answer my prayers and did turn this financial trial to my good in more ways than one. This is because God is good. He loves us and wants to help us find joy and peace, even in the midst of our afflictions, if we but ask, in faith, believing that He will. Only He can turn a heart that is icy and cold from worry and fear into a heart full of peace and joy. 

James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” 

 I have always loved patterns. As a child I especially loved paper, cutting paper and making patterns.  When I grew up, I saw this was a gift. I could see the patterns that a kind God had provided us and, I could see the patterns of human nature.  I began to see patterns in history and the scriptures. I realized that there are patterns that repeat themselves over and over.  If we can learn the patterns and true principles provided to us by our wonderful progenitors, we can actually avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that have been made in the past, improve our current situation and the future.  I know, I know, you say, “But I am not like the people in history.”  or, “We are much smarter now than the people were hundreds of years ago.” or, “We are more enlightened now…”  Well, you know the saying, “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”  

I see it with my children, as they willfully go out into the world and make the same mistakes I made. They think they are going to get a different result because and say, “I am not like you.”  However, if they apply the same pattern they will get the same results because human nature is the same.   For example, I have a daughter who if I told her what to do, she would Never do it, Ever!!. I quickly learned that, if I explained the consequences for certain actions and the blessings for others, then she would think about it and if I was patient enough, she would most often make the correct choice. I also see it in our neighborhoods, our communities, States and Federal government. We are currently making choices that others in history have made and if we make the same choices, we will suffer the same consequences. If we make the right choices we will be provided with great rewards; if we do not study or have a knowledge of history we cannot understand the values and experiences of our founders and we will repeat some of the same mistakes that past societies have made. Some of these outcomes met with calamitous results. 

If we can learn the stories of history and study it’s patterns, we will be better prepared to see the negative patterns when they come our way. We can use our new knowledge to root out the bad patterns and shore up the good ones.  If we can see the patterns of history and use the knowledge and principles to make informed choices, then we won’t make a choice blindly without knowing all of the information. I realized there are certain things, that if we do them, then we get either blessings and rewards or consequences and punishments. Sometimes, these are brought upon us by ourselves and sometimes by others. If we can learn the patterns and principles of Liberty, we will have the blessings associated with them. The pattern for Liberty is as follows: 

 1. Love God, Obey and Serve Him.

2. Love others and serve them. 

3. Protect Individual Rights

 I have discovered five blessings that come when we put these patterns in place.  There may be more, but most fit into these five categories.  I find it interesting, that there are five because, the number 5 in Judaism/Hebrew numerology symbolizes God’s grace, goodness and favor toward humans and is mentioned 318 times in the Bible.  Five multiplied by itself is 25 which is  ’grace upon grace”  or harmony and balance (see John 1:16-17). It is also interesting that the 10 commandments contain two sets of 5 commandments. The first five have to do with our treatment of God and our relationship with him. The second five address our treatment and relationship with others. They are set up to prevent trampling on other’s Liberties.   It is also interesting to me, that these five blessings mirror the blessings that were given to Abraham and his posterity and, from Jacob/Israel to his Sons in the Bible. When they chose to keep God’s laws, they prospered and had peace and posterity.  

The number five also relates to individual freedom. The Blessings are: 

1. Peace
2. Prosperity 
3. Posterity 
4. Power 
5. Protection

 When we obey the law of Liberty we are blessed and when we do not keep the law of Liberty, then the blessings are removed.  One of my favorite scriptures on Liberty is Leviticus 25:10“…and proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof…”  Is it any coincidence that this scripture is found in Leviticus which means “the law” and that the chapter is 25, grace upon grace and the verse is 10?  I think it is an interesting piece of information to ponder……. 

As I have studied these principles and taught them, I have come to know that they are true. As I have applied them into my daily life, I have seen magnificent blessings come. My mind has been enlightened, I have had books and knowledge come into my life, I have had miracles happen, I have great peace, I have been prospered, protected and blessed in many, many ways.   The “Patterns of Liberty” are for everyone, all people, churches, religions and  nations. God will never take away our ability to choose. If we choose to use our freedom combined with righteousness, morality and virtue we will be able to enjoy the blessings. If we choose to use our Freedom combined with vice, dishonesty and immorality we will suffer the negative consequences—It is up to us.   

I echo the words of Luke, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”    I pray that the gospel of Liberty will distill upon your heart and mind and that you will have faith in God. I pray that once you receive these things you will be converted and then strengthen your family, your neighbors, friends and others.  This is our duty “proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”  (Leviticus 25:10)  I promise you that if you will do this, you will be blessed in ways you cannot imagine. The light of Liberty will distill upon your hearts and minds and you will have protection, peace, property, prosperity and posterity. 

I hope you will check out Tenna’s book “Patterns of Liberty –How to apply them to ur lives and teach them to our children.” I Loved her book. I gave one to my daughter to use in her homeschooling with her children. Thank you for sharing this post with us Tenna and for your wonderful podcast on Joan of Arc. I loved it!

I

Have you ever needed a miracle?

I have noticed in the scriptures that each time the Savior performed a miracle, He first felt compassion for the individual.

When the two blind men begged the Lord for mercy, “Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.” (Mathew 20:34)

If we want the Savior to open a wayward child’s eyes, or raise a troublesome marriage from the dead, or bring healing to a contentious neighborhood or community, we must also have compassion for others. 

When we are wronged and feel hurt, the natural thing is to hurt back. It takes courage to pause, think and say to ourselves, I am going to choose compassion instead. Mother Teresa said, “The antidote to anger is compassion.”

Years ago I had an opportunity to put that antidote into action, to practice compassion. A neighbor came to the door with a petition she wanted me to sign regarding our children’s bus driver. She wanted to get her fired. 

The bus driver was not a particularly happy person. In fact, she was quite grumpy. Most of the children on the bus did not like her. Things escalated when some of the boys were disrespectful to her. She became upset and kicked the boys off the bus. That infuriated their parents. Their solution was to get her fired. 

With several children of my own riding the same bus, I also had concerns. However, I did not feel signing a petition to get her fired was the right answer. I declined to sign it. 

I decided to exercise compassion for them. I called the school superintendent and explained the whole story. I suggested there might be a better way to handle the situation. Instead of having her fired, I asked if he would consider teaching her how to be a “good” bus driver. Perhaps she knew no other way to respond except with anger and harshness.

When my children got home from school that day I explained a little of the situation and suggested we think of ways we could show love to the bus driver. I felt the best way to kill an enemy was by loving them to death. I encouraged the children to look for the good, to find any act of kindness shown by the bus driver. 

As we brainstormed we realized that, during the coldest parts of the winter, she had picked up our children at our house instead of making them wait at the freezing cold bus stop. Wow, that was really kind! 

We wrote the bus driver a thank-you note identifying all the kind things we could think of and took it to her with some banana bread. I asked my children to smile and say hi and thank you to her and to look for the good each day they rode the bus. We prayed for her and believed that good things would come of our simple efforts. 

Our family got to witness a miracle! The bus driver transformed into the happiest, kindest bus driver my children ever had! In time, everyone in the neighborhood came to love her. The compassion and kindness shown to her was contagious. Just as the warm rays of the sun spread and reach everyone, so did acts of compassion. 

If we choose anger instead of compassion we will likely never see the miracles we are hoping for. And we all need miracles! Faith in Jesus Christ without compassion for others, is like faith without works. It is dead. Without faith and without compassion, there will be no miracles. We will be left to ourselves and our own devices to overcome our problems with others. The adversary knows this, so he strives to stir up our hearts with fear, anxiety and anger. With these negative emotions raging within us, compassion flees.

I strive to practice compassion every day. (And if I forget, I pick myself up and try again. It is a daily process, not a one time event). I find it makes me happy and solves nearly every problem I encounter. When a friend, neighbor or family member becomes snippy, I pause, and remind myself, I love them. And I know they love me, too. I can accept they are struggling and are fighting their own battles, which I may know nothing of. I then pray for them and strive to walk in their shoes and discover the underlying feelings of their behavior. I then express my love for them and show compassion for what they are feeling. The result is usually the same as the two blind men, “Immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.” 

When darkness covers the eyes of those around us, we can dispel the darkness and open their eyes with compassion, as the Savior did. Miracles do happen, but only if we exercise faith and do the works of compassion first.