What a WONDERFUL day! We passed boards
part one!!! Such a huge blessing. I am sooo grateful for the blessing to be in
podiatry school and the many lessons we are learning about trusting in our
Lord. When I saw the email saying that we had passed I started dancing and
cheering around the house with Aiden...ok I was the only one dancing and
cheering around. All Aiden would give me was a funny look as he was eating
breakfast.
Later on today I
turned on Prince of Egypt for Aiden and found in its Extras section a multi
language version of the song "When You Believe". I love that song
anyways but listening to it after finding out we passed just really hit the
spot. Hearing it in so many languages reminded me of how much our Father in
Heaven loves ALL of us and understands what we need to help us come closer to
him. I probably listened to that song three times and I almost cried every time
I listened to it. I KNOW my Father in Heaven has been helping us make it
through school and that there is no way we could do it without him. I love and
need him so much every day. For all of you that aren't fluent in 28 different
languages, here are the words to the song :)
Many nights we've prayed With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts, a hopeful song
We barely understood
Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear
We were moving mountains long
Before we knew we could, oh yes
There can be miracles when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe
In this time of fear
When prayer so often proves in vain
Hope seems like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away
Yet now I'm standing here
My heart so full I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'll say
There can be miracles when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe
Now that I'm on a
Prince of Egypt kick, another wonderful song is "Through Heaven's
Eyes" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG0a9WFkgzU
enjoy :)
A few days ago I
listened to the talk called Beautiful Mornings by Elder Bruce D Porter. Reading
it made me appreciate how beautiful my mornings really are. When I get Aiden
out of bed many times he will start clapping when I walk in to get him. Jason
isn't working crazy hours at a rotation yet so I get to spend a little bit of
my mornings with the love of my life before he goes off to school for the day.
My mornings are never better though than when I wake up before everyone else to
read my scriptures and write in my journal on my balcony....ok so that one
doesn't happen very often...but when it does it always starts the mornings off
beautifully (till I crash on the couch from being so tired later on in the day
lol). Reading my scriptures later on in the day is always great too, but it just is something special to sacrifice precious sleep to read before people wake up. Anyways. My days go so much better when I take the time to notice
the things that I think are beautiful and give thanks for the guidance Heavenly
Father gives me as I listen.
For the whole talk
you can go to http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/05/beautiful-mornings?lang=eng
This is the part
that I have been thinking about the most lately.
Every one of us, and our families, can be armed with the power of God as a defense if we will but remain true to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and let the Spirit be our guide. Trials may come, and we may not understand everything that happens to us or around us. But if we humbly, quietly trust in the Lord, He will give us strength and guidance in every challenge we face. When our only desire is to please Him, we will be blessed with a deep inner peace.
In the early days of the Restoration, the members of the Church faced severe trials. President Brigham Young said of that time: “When surrounded by mobs, with death and destruction threatening on every hand, I am not aware but that I felt just as joyful [and] well in my spirits, as I do now. Prospects might appear dull and very dark, but I have never seen a time in this Gospel but what I knew that the result would be beneficial to the cause of truth” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 357).
My missionary companion, Paul, was someone who always radiated good cheer. As a young father, he was stricken with multiple sclerosis. Yet despite the adversity that followed, he continued serving others with joy and good humor. He once entered my office seated in his first wheelchair and declared, “Life begins with a motorized wheelchair!” I will always remember him, a few years before he died, holding high the Olympic torch while riding in his wheelchair as hundreds cheered. Like that ever-burning flame, Paul’s faith never dimmed in the storm of life.
When I was a student at Brigham Young University, I lived in a house with several young men. My roommate, Bruce, was the most optimistic person I have ever known. We never once heard him say anything negative about any person or any circumstance, and it was impossible not to feel buoyed up in his presence. His good cheer flowed from an abiding trust in the Savior and in His gospel.
One cold, wintry day, another friend of mine, Tom, was walking across the university campus. It was only 7:00 in the morning, and the campus was deserted and dark. Heavy snow was falling, with a brisk wind. “What miserable weather,” Tom thought. He walked farther, and out in the darkness and snow, he heard someone singing.
Sure enough, through the driving snow came our ever-optimistic friend, Bruce. With his arms outstretched to the sky, he was singing a number from the Broadway musical Oklahoma: “Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day! I’ve got a beautiful feeling, everything’s going my way” (see Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” [1943]).
In the intervening years, that bright voice in a dark storm has become for me a symbol of what faith and hope are all about. Even in a darkening world, we as Latter-day Saints may sing with joy, knowing that the powers of heaven are with God’s Church and people. We may rejoice in the knowledge that a beautiful morning lies ahead—the dawn of the millennial day, when the Son of God shall rise in the East and reign again on the earth.
I think also of two other beautiful mornings in the history of the world. In the spring of 1820, on the morning of a beautiful, clear day in Palmyra, New York, a young man named Joseph Smith entered a grove of trees and knelt in prayer. The answer to that prayer, the appearance of the Father and the Son, ushered in the dispensation of the fulness of times and the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth.
And yet another beautiful morning dawned nearly 2,000 years ago just outside the city wall of Jerusalem. The sun no doubt shone with exceptional radiance that Easter morning. A small company of women had come to visit a garden tomb, hoping to anoint the body of their crucified Lord. Two angels met them and declared: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:5–6).
Of the triumph of Jesus Christ over sin and death, I bear witness. Of the merciful plan of our Eternal Father and His everlasting love, I testify. As we rise up each morning, may we look to heaven in faith and say, “Oh, what a beautiful morning,” I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
