Boundaries

Yes, I'm still reading Divine Signatures - I really enjoy the way he expresses gospel topics.  It makes me think.  It helps me evaluate my own circumstances and, like the scriptures it brings the Spirit into my day.  No, I don't believe this book is scripture.  However, he does quote many scriptures and then talks about them. He also quotes the Prophets on various subjects in context with the scriptures or topic he's addressing.  The first one for this writing is a quote from President Ezra Taft Benson. "... We are here.  Our memories are veiled.  We are showing God and ourselves what we can do.  Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us."  I don't remember a time when I didn't believe in my Father-in-Heaven and believed that He knew me well - sometimes too well.  But the concept that I would know Him and His face - in other words his physical appearance - would be familiar to me was something I hadn't really contemplated or dwelt on too much.  When I have tried to visualize how He might look, I have come up with a face in the shadows.  Now - with just a little prodding. I remember that the Savior said, "Any man [woman] that knows me, knows my Father.  Well, I'm here to tell you that I don't ever see a painting of Christ that I don't recognize who it is - and no artist paints or conceptualizes His face the same way, but I definitely know who He is.  So ... if I recognize the canvas creations of Christ, it just makes sense that I will recognize Him in the flesh and His Father - my Father just as readily. 

The second quote is:  "Parents set up limits, boundaries, and lines because they know that an uncontrolled and undisciplines life can destroy a person. If they impose consequences and punishments when children do things to their own detriment or to the harm of others, this is a reflection of the parents' love." (Lund)

It follows that reason says that the converse is also true.  If a parent/parents allow their children to do what ever they want without guidance, boundaries or correction, they are demonstrating indifference to the child - or worse - a lack of love.  If we don't learn boundaries as children we may have to try to learn them as adults and the outcome may not be what we hope for.  I have personally observed the devastating effects of the lack of boundaries in a person's life.  I believe that "boundaries" is just another word for self-control or the lack thereof.  If we learn boundaries as children, we develop the ability to control ourselves and our life situations.  We develop the ability to prioritize, work, and treat others and things with respect.  We learn to respect ourselves and others.  We learn the value of obedience to temporal laws and God's laws.  Our prisons and jails are full of individuals who have never learned the importance of boundaries.  Today's prevailing attitude seems to be, "what is mine is mine - and what is yours is mine," and this type of attitude literally destroys.

The Greatest Glory

I'm still reading Divine Signatures.  The comment that most stood out to me yesterday in my reading was, "Do we not want the greatest glory God has to offer?  How can we get it without making the greatest sacrifice?"  That coupled with a comment from President Monson in Stake Conference Sunday has crystalized in my mind as not only something to really consider but something I need to desire enough to do the things necessary to get to my desired final destination.  President Monson said, "If we don't try, we don't do and if we don't do, why are we here?" 

What this means to me is that we have to continue to stay the course and trust God no matter what we are called on to go through in our lives.  Look for all of the blessings - not all of the problems.  Be willing to do whatever is in our power and circumstances to do without complaining.  Insteading of asking why somone isn't doing something about this or that, we need to do whatever we can to help.  If the only people we help is ourselves and our families, we will have accomplished much.  If it spills over into the lives of others, how much greater the blessing to us, to them, and to the communities around us.

Another statement in Divine Signatures that caught my attention was, "The stronger one's faith is, the deeper one's testimony will be.  The deeper one's testimony becomes, the greater the likelihood is that one will successfully cope with the challenges of life and endure to the end."  When I combined these two thoughts, I came up with what I think is an interesting concept.  Keeping our ultimate goal in mind, we do and we sacrifice.  As we do and sacrifice, we begin to become better acquainted with our Father-in-Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.  As we become better acquainted with Them, our faith increases and our testimony grows.  As we acknowledge the blessings in our lives we begin to see the hand of God in our lives and we become happier and more able to cope with our challenges and see them as an opportunity to get to know God better and to become more refined in our abilities to endure.  We begin to enjoy a personal relationship with our Father - and begin to learn of our value to Him and His Son.

The last quote of yesterday's reading is:  "The great paradox of life - joy and sorrow, happiness and pain - is all part of the testing, proving refining process that God has designed for us.  How we deal with that paradox, wil be greatly influenced by our perception of God.  Indeed it could be said that the very core of the testing process of mortality is to see whether we accept God or reject Him; whether we follow Him or turn away; to see how we feel about Him when the [tribulations] begin grinding over our heads, driving out any expectations we might have had that we were going to "have a nice day."

If we become acquainted with our Father we can recognize that our trials (or whatever you want to call them) are like the strings on a guitar or violin.  If they are not tightened just right, they will not produce the vibrations necessary to make beautiful musical sounds.  Rather, we are left with a horrible twang and thunk in its place.  If the strings are wound too tightly, they will snap and the string will be useless and the instument cannot be effectively played.  Our Father know precisely how much tightening (trials) we can handle and will never turn the tuning key more than necessary for us to become that beautiful instrument in His hands.

Divine Signatures

I'm reading a book by Gerald N. Lund titled, Divine Signatures.  I love the way he puts things in such a way that it causes one to think and evaluate one's life to see where one has been the recepient of "Divine signatures." I am going to try each day to evaluate my day and try to discern the Divine signatures in my life.  I feel this is especially important in maintaining my testimony of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  If I notice the times (especially during times when things are going well) when I pray and see the fulfillment of those blessings - immediate or even years later - It will give me the confidence that They are with me through the struggles, disappointments and difficulties I may have to face also.  I absolutely love one of the quotes in the first chapter of the book.  It reads, "Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said: 'God, as a loving Father, will stretch our souls at times.  The soul is like a violin string: it makes music only when it is stretched ...God will tutor us by trying us because He loves us, not because of indifference!'"

No, I'm not going to go through the struggles I've had throughout my life.  That's in the past.  What I want to do is make a record of some of the things that happen when it is obvious to me that the Lord has heard my prayer and answered it.  When I relate my experiences, they may sound like coincidence to you, or you may think I'm crazy. But to me they will be those Divine signatures that show me that the Lord loves me and is listening to my prayers.  But most of all, it will be those moments that tell me He is helping me - not only in the "good" times, but also the "bad" times.

Today, I had one of those almost immediate answers to a prayer.  Don and I left early this morning for Goose Island, near Rock Port, TX, to see if we could find (so I could photograph) a bird that is rarely in the United States.  This season is only the 4th sighting of this bird within the U.S.  I had prayed that, if possible, we'd be able to find this rarity.  We arrived at Goose Island about 1 p.m.  We found the area others were hunting in for the bird.  Don let me out and I started to cross the street to join "the hunt."  Several people were leaving.  One lady told me it had just flown away and she and the other were going to see if they could track it down.  We walked a short distance to the trash dumpster area where it has been reputed to enjoy foraging for food.  There was no sign of it.  The others moved off across the street in search of this tiny (4 to 4-1/2 inches long from tip of beak to tip of tail) visitor from Mexico and countries south.  I crossed the street with them.  I got interested in "shooting" a couple of other types of birds and the others moved on to areas and I lost track of them.

When I noticed I was alone, I quickly closed my eyes and acknowledged that finding the little bird was probably not a high priority for the Lord. However, I said that I would greatly appreciate being able to not only get to see it, but would like to be able to get a couple of good shots of it and would He either bring the bird to me to direct me to it.  I closed my prayer and looked around.  Nothing.  I decided to join Don back at the original sighting from which it had flown.  I walked back across the road and on the other side of a fenced in dumpster site, I noticed a couple of gentlemen with their cameras set up on tripods.  I decided to ask them if they had seen the Yellow-faced Grassquit (yes, that really is its name).  As I started to approach them, the younger of the two men, glanced back at me and motioned me to quietly come forward and then pointed toward the ground about 15 to 20 feet away, just beyond a big blue dumpster.  There on the ground, searching for seed, was the bird I had not more than 2 minutes before, asked the Lord to help me find!

I don't know how many pictures I took.  Even with my new lense, it was still enough distance away that I knew I wasn't going to get a great picture, but at least it was a picture.  It wasn't more than 2 minutes after I started taking shots that a big, loud truck zoomed by and scared it away.  It didn't matter, I had gotten pictures of the bird I had come for, and I knew without any doubt the Lord had answered my prayers.  I stood there quietly chatting with the two men for few minutes. Then, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.  Turning my head, I saw the little Grassquit land on a branch with the sun streaming down on it, not more than 3 feet away from my head.  I whispered to the men that it had come back and carefully raised my camera so I wouldn't scare it away.  At first they couldn't see it, then it moved a bit further out on the limb where I could get a clear view and shot.  Now, what was the chance of that happening!  Not only did the Lord take me to the bird, but He placed it right where I could get the good shot I had asked for.

Yeah, right, you say?  Well, I'm here to tell you that to me, I saw the Lord's Divine signature in that simple experience.  I know He heard my prayer and knew that it was important to me to see and photograph the bird, so He obliged.  It is humbling to know that my simplest thoughts are heard, considered and granted by the Lord.  Such a simple request - such a testimony impacting answer.

Oh, yes, the little bird - the Yellow-faced Grassquit from Mexico and countries south.  Here he is.

Surprises Come in Small Packages

Don, Addyson (our granddaughter) and I braved the cold temperatures (for this area frigid) and wind to see if we could find a rare Mountain Plover field, supposedly just 45 minutes from where we live.  We love to travel around the area we live to see what unique things it has to offer.  Over the years and our many travels, we have come to realize that nice surprises come in small packages - or unexpected venues.  For example, who would have thought that a little girl's 14th birthday party would end by finding us at Checkpoint Charlie as the Berlin Wall was falling. 

Today may not have been quite as momentous as that, but to me, it still proved to be rewarding.  We did not find the Mountain Plover to photograph.  However, I did photograph a bird I had never seen before - a Horned Lark.  This brings my life list up to 336 different birds in one and a half years of pursuing the only extensive nature species of this area.  So, I find myself at the end of the day content with the success I had and looking forward to still finding the elusive Mountain Plover.

Valentines

This was my month to write an article for our Ward RS newsletter.  The obvious subject matter - considering the month - was valentines, etc.  The following is basically what I wrote in the limited space I had.  I have "spiced" it up with a few more thoughts I had, but chose not to elaborate on at the time.

February in the United States is the “Month of Hearts, Flowers & Candy.”  The popularity of this “holiday” (and I use the term loosely) has now spread to other countries and other continents.  One such country on a different continent that I personally know about is Germany.  They have sandwiched “valentines” into their Fasching season (Carnival/Mardi Gras).  It was very convenient for them since Weiberfastnacht (Ladies Night) falls on the 14th of February.  Along with all of the trickery (cutting off ties, etc.) women are allowed to do, it has also become a time of "love" and giving of gifts.  Not to let a chance to make money go by, business people all over the world are cashing in on the season of LOVE, hoping their advertisements either entice people to buy or make them feel guilty for not buying one of their products/gifts or another to give the loved ones in their lives. 

I remember a much more simple time when valentine cards were hand-made and carefully decorated with whatever could be found around the house that wasn't being used.  You know, things like macaroni blinged up with food coloring, stray buttons, pieces of ribbon or string that fell unwanted into the sewing basket.  Younger children would carefully sneak their precious valentines into the other children’s boxes at school, hoping not to get caught.  Valentines night, older children would take valentines to the homes of their friends and family members.  Sneak up the sidewalk to the door; carefully place their cards on the doorstep; ring the doorbell or knock on the door and run to hide from whomever answered.  It was great fun to see the expressions of joy on the faces of the children as they picked up the valentines and looked for their names on them.  Back then, valentines were never signed.  They were always given to others anonymously and out of sincere caring and/or love for the individual receiving the card.

I honestly don’t remember when these anonymous acts of caring moved into the commercial fast lane, but I do know it did not make Valentine’s Day a better, richer, or more rewarding celebration.  The Savior knew the true rewards of acts of love and how they could enrich our lives.  His simple words, “As I have loved you, love one another,” speak volumes and provide us with the key to a happier, more fulfilling life.  Simple (and perhaps anonymous) acts of kindness and love to others around us will bless us and those whom we serve more than we may ever realize in our lifetime.

This Valentine’s Day, consider taking a moment to perform an anonymous act of love for someone in your life.  If you can, do another anonymous act of love for someone you may not know too well and if you're really brave, someone you don't particularly like.  Now for the real challenge.  Once a month, do another anonymous act of love for that same someone you may not like - and each month thereafter - until your feelings begin to change about them.  Once you have accomplished this goal, choose another individual you've had difficulty getting along with and repeat the process.  Before long, you will realize that it doesn’t matter whether you like what the person does, you can still love and care about them as children of God.
 

This process is the beginning of developing true Charity in our lives.  The kind of charity, that when the Savior comes—and He will—if we are found possessing it, all will be well with us.  This promise alone is worth giving it a try.   Remember that your success in this venture lies in not expecting anything in return.  If the person you have chosen to do something for doesn’t like you back - the likelihood is by the time you beginning feeling differently about them - they still won’t like you.  That really is not your problem or concern.  Their feelings are something they will have to deal with on their own time.  On your time, you have achieved feeling better about them and even better about yourself!  GOOD LUCK!