Wonderful Wednesday: Music

Sunday is my favorite day of the week, folks. True story. Members of the LDS church spend three hours of their Sundays in meetings meant to uplift, edify, and rejuvenate. As a kid I didn't have as much of an appreciation for the lengthy Sunday meetings, but gained a greater appreciation for them as I grew older. One of the meetings is called Sacrament Meeting. There are many components to our Sacrament Meeting, but much of it is music; prelude, opening hymn, sacramental hymn, special musical number or congregational hymn, closing hymn, and finally postlude. These things are all included as has been directed by the Lord. Why? What is so great about music? Let me share with you a few quotes from latter-day prophets and apostles about this:

"Music can set an atmosphere of worship which invites [the] spirit of revelation, of testimony."

-- President Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22 "The singing of the songs of Zion, though imperfectly, with the inspiration of God, will touch the hearts of the honest more effectively than if sung well without the Spirit of God." -- President Heber J. Grant, Improvement Era, July 1901, 686 "I wonder sometimes if we realize the importance of music. I wonder if we know that the Lord himself is concerned about it. He has given us the information that the song of praise is a prayer unto him. . . . It [is] our privilege, yea, our blessing, to sing and . . . our songs should be sung in righteousness." -- President George Albert Smith, Church News, Feb. 16, 1946, 6 "Music can act upon our senses to produce or induce feelings of reverence, humility, fervor, assurance, or other feelings attuned to the spirit of worship." -- President Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball (1982), 519 "We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer." -- President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, 111 Music plays a pivotal role in our Sabbath worship. Let me share with you part of what the First Presidency published in their Preface to the Hymns:

Three months after the Church was organized, the Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, instructed Joseph's wife, Emma, to make a selection of sacred hymns for the Church: "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads" (D&C 25:12).

Music in Our Church Meetings
Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.
Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end.

Elder Graham W. Doxey counseled:

"When you sing the hymns, . . .ponder the meaning of the words, enjoy the spirit of the music. Sing with enthusiasm without regard to your tones. You will have a good feeling, and your spirit will be enlivened."  Ensign, Oct. 1991, 26

If good music is so essential for enriching our Sunday worship, then it is equally essential for welcoming the spirit to our homes and our hearts all during the week. In D&C section 136 the Lord commanded his people to “praise the Lord with singing, [and] with music.” The hymns are a key component to our church meetings, and they should be sung in our homes with our families regardless of our musical abilities (or lack thereof). Make good music a part of your daily lives and you'll have a bit of heaven in your heart every day. There's a lot of good music out there. Choose the best, and teach your children how to choose the best and you'll enjoy a greater measure of the spirit in your life. Who doesn't want that?

Wonderful Wednesdays: Faith Dispels Fear and Doubt

There is much in this world that causes fear and anxiety. We are often faced with new and challenging situations in the course of life. We have choices to make every day. And when those choices have been made, it's easy for us to second-guess ourselves. Here is something to remember and consider when we begin to be overwhelmed with doubt and fear:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

The Lord has promised us many times that if we had faith anything was possible . . .

"According to your faith be it unto you." Matthew 9:29

"If ye have faith and doubt not . . . if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done." Matthew 21:21

If we truly exercise our faith and do our part to further the work of God we are promised:

"The desire of the righteous shall be granted." Proverbs 10:24

Here are some of the things the bible dictionary says about faith:

"To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone . . . Faith is a principle of action and of power . . . Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith . . . A lack of faith leads one to despair, which comes because of iniquity . . . Faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ . . . miracles can confirm faith."

One of my favorite general conference addresses ever, addressed this topic. I highly recommend you read the message in full, but here are some of the highlights of that address given by Elder Kevin W. Pearson:

"Faith as a principle of power comes from a consistent pattern of obedient behavior and attitudes . . . the 'eye of faith' is the ability to focus and be steadfast, continually holding fast to true principles, nothing wavering, even when the mist of darkness confronting us is exceedingly great. . . Faith and fear cannot coexist . . . it can be enticing to choose doubt and disbelief over faith . . ."

He also listed what he called the "Six Destructive D’s":

·         Doubt . . . it comes from a lack of confidence in one’s self or abilities

·         Discouragement . . . leads to lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desire, and difficulty feeling and following the Spirit.

·         Distraction . . . lack of focus (or focusing on less-worthy goals)

·         Lack of diligence . . . reduced commitment to remain true and faithful

·         Disobedience . . . undermines the basis of faith

·         Disbelief . . . hard hearted, past feeling

Some of the poorest decisions I’ve made in my life were made while I was at college; some of the best things that have ever happened to me happened while I was at college as well. Life often happens that way. We get a mixed bag. I can tell you about a couple of times that illustrate my level of faith and where I was in the spectrum of D’s. When I went to college, my expectations of myself were lowered. It was a device I created to prevent disappointing myself. But I created a cycle. I doubted my best would be good enough, so I lowered my expectations and I can think of more than one time that I had difficulty feeling and following the Spirit. This led to poor choices and I focused on the wrong things. I repented when I did wrong, but I didn’t really raise my expectations of myself, so some things I had to learn twice.

I think I really started pulling out of the cycle after David (now my husband) returned home from his LDS mission. We started dating and I received the best dating advice I ever received: stay busy doing good things. I got it from my Dad. That’s good advice for life really; it’s a lot like what we’re told to do in the scriptures – to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause” D&C 58:27. Anyway, I was dating David and I observed that it seemed he’d never really doubted himself or his abilities. He’s been good for me in many ways, but this is probably the biggest area of my life that he’s helped me with; re-learning to believe in my abilities and to accept only my best from myself.

As Elder Uchtdorf stated in the most recent general conference, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." So go forth with faith in God and yourself, and you'll find yourself being a mighty tool in forwarding the Lord's plan. And there is no greater joy than that.

Wonderful Wednesdays: Trials

There is a lot of joy in life. Finding it and living joyfully is a talent that some people have. But it is one that all can learn. On the other hand, life is hard; cripplingly hard for some. I marvel at the horrible circumstances that many children in this life are born to. And yet there are some who find it in themselves to rise above their circumstances and become more than many would have believed possible. The fact is, I believe that everyone has the potential to overcome their circumstances or at the very least improve upon them. The doctrine of the LDS church teaches that we are all of us 'gods in embryo' - children of a divine Heavenly Father, with the potential to become as He is. And what is He? He is love, He is perfection, He is the creator of the heavens and the earth . . . and much, much more. And we could potentially be like Him.

Trials are given to us as a means to facilitate our becoming more like God. When we have experienced hard things, we develop more love and empathy for others who experience similarly hard things. We can also develop a greater relationship with Jesus Christ since He has already suffered everything that we'll ever suffer in this life. And without a relationship and reliance on the Savior we cannot become like God, since we cannot be perfect without Him and we will not live with God (and therefore, continue to become as God is) without perfection.

So when I hear of people claiming that life shouldn't be 'hard' or that we somehow need to make life 'fair' for everyone I generally will reject their ideas because that doesn't align with what I believe to be true at all. 2 Nephi 2:11 states, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things." It is true that a negative outlook can make life harder than the Lord actually intends for us, but that is something that is in our control. The Lord allows hard things that are beyond our control to happen in our lives for our benefit.

Joseph Smith, the prophet of the restoration of God's church on earth was allowed to endure awful things even though he was doing as the Lord asked him to. So did most of the early members of the church. In Doctrine and Covenants 128:24 it says, "For he (referring to the lord) is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver . . . Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness . . ."

One of the times that Joseph Smith was falsely accused and subsequently imprisoned the Lord told him, ". . . peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high . . . " D&C 121:7-8. Those words are meant for us as well. As we do our best to remain faithful under difficult circumstances, we allow the Lord to purify and refine us in order to make us fit for His kingdom. Trials that come to us are beyond our control, but we are not without help; the Lord will help us as long as we remain true to Him. Trials are really just blessings in disguise . . . think of them as 'blessings of the trial variety'. :)

Wonderful Wednesdays: Big Dreams

What is the greatest hope that you have for yourself? Something that you deeply desire and seems nearly impossible? Mine is and always has been to keep and be with my family forever and live with them in God's kingdom. I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my entire life, and have been taught my entire life that this desire of mine was good and was possible. But right up until around the time I turned eighteen I didn't really understand how this was possible.

My family read scriptures together as I was growing up. I began reading them on my own in high school. Up until that point I had felt that the church was true, and had even prayed to receive my own witness from Heavenly Father when I was twelve. I received an answer (in the affirmative) and continued on in faith believing that everything I was being taught was true, but not at all understanding how the gospel would help me attain my biggest dreams. I spent a lot of time examining my life and my choices, which while not terrible did not match the standard ('no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of god') that I knew from my scripture study was required. At least not as I understood it. Here are some examples of scriptures that added to my confusion (because I misunderstood them):

" . . . for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." 2 Nephi 25:23

" . . . work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling." Phillippians 2:12

I added emphasis to these excerpts to try to illustrate my incorrect interpretation. The way I understood these verses made it appear that I was going to have to do everything perfectly all the time, and then I would be saved by my belief in Christ. Whenever I spent any time thinking about it I would get incredibly discouraged because I believed what I had been taught, but I wasn't sure that it was going to work for me. I knew beyond a doubt that even if I was able to do everything perfectly from the moment I started reflecting on these things, that it wouldn't change any mistakes I had made prior to that. They would still be on the record.

The summer after I graduated from high school I participated in The Hill Cumorah Pageant, a show put on by the Church to teach about the Book of Mormon, in New York. As I participated in the performances, we got to re-enact the account of Christ visiting the people in the ancient Americas. It was poignant and powerful. During that scene there was a line spoken that made me weep:

"And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day."

I wept because I knew that this was exactly what I wanted, but I still didn't know how it was going to be done! On my flight back home an acquaintance from the pageant offered to let me borrow a book for reading since I had nothing with me. It was the book, "Believing Christ," by Stephen Robinson. Finally it made clear to me how it could be done. The very scriptures that had confused me were addressed in his book, and the correct interpretation clarified. I wasn't expected to become perfect on my own. I was expected to do my best to follow Christ, and live on borrowed perfection until the time when I really will be able to do everything perfect all the time (it won't be in this life).

Since his perfection is infinite, it swallows up my imperfection as long as I stay teamed up with him. Any mistakes I'll ever make will be stricken from the record as long as I am doing what he asks of me; have faith in him, repent (as often as necessary), keep my baptismal covenants, and endure to the end. That's a sweet deal. One that I can handle and will one day make my greatest desire a blessed reality.

" . . . for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" 2 Nephi 25:23. There is a limit to what we can do, but there isn't a limit to what Christ can do. Our capacity to do will grow in this life, but we'll still need his help to get the rest of the way.

" . . . work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling" Phillippians 2:12. This just means that we can't save anyone else. The concept is similar to doing your own school work. You can get help from the teacher, but you should be doing the work, and you shouldn't be trying to do the work for someone else or let someone else do it for you.

 God is good, and He wants us to return to Him. The Atonement has made it possible. So live the dream.

Wonderful Wednesdays: What's in a Name, Part 2

Part 1 of this post explains the first part of my blog title, "Family By Divine Design," and can be found here.

I have been a mother for over seven years now. It is my choice and my blessing to stay home. I say 'blessing' and mean it. However, it doesn't always feel like a blessing. Some days I wish I were doing just about anything else. The longer I'm at it, the more rare those days are.

I have three children. Most people I know have their opinion on what number of children is the hardest to adjust to. For some parents it's when they get to the point when they have more than one child per parent. For me personally, it was the first. I had graduated from college four months before I had my first child. I had a full-time job at a daycare/preschool during the remainder of my pregnancy. After I had my first child and was suddenly a full-time mother, my social interaction plummeted (super hard for me because I really enjoy connecting with people and socializing). And my husband was really busy with school and a job, so even when he was home he usually had to be doing homework. I was also really frustrated with how much I couldn't seem to accomplish. David would come home, ask me what I had been doing during the day and I really couldn't think of anything that I had done. The transitions for babies two and three were much easier. It took me much less time to find a groove where I could keep my home in a reasonable state of order and give my children a decent amount of attention and care. It didn't hurt that they were very good at entertaining each other, a benefit which the first obviously wouldn't have had.

Without the proper perspective being a 'stay-at-home mom' can be very mundane. You cook, you clean, you do laundry, you keep children clean, you deal with moody/needy children all day. Every day can feel like you just can't wait until bedtime so you can get a break (which depending on how your littles sleep, may not be much of a break). I had a pretty clear idea of what kind of wife and mother I'd be prior to actually experiencing it, and I found myself falling way more short than I could have imagined. It's a lot harder than some people make it look. But the proper perspective smacked me in the face one day as I was looking at a plaque I made years ago that hangs in my laundry room with this scripture on it.

"Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." D&C 64:33, emphasis added.

That, in tandem with another scripture that I had been pondering about the same time gave me a better perspective on what I was doing:

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God..." D&C 88:119

My 'great work' is raising my children in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the small things I do in my home all contribute to achieving one great purpose: allowing the spirit of God to be present in my home. Raising my children in a home filled with the spirit of God is the best thing I can do for them. Keeping my home in order for the sake of order is good, but keeping it in order so that the Spirit can dwell there, well, that's the best. So when all of my potentially mind-numbing and mundane tasks stare me in the face, I can take them on with a heart full of love for my little family because my purpose is to create an environment that enables them to learn to pray and fast, to build faith, to learn by the spirit, and to learn to create order in their own lives. And most especially to feel love and show it. Because if the gospel of Jesus Christ is about anything, it's about love.

Note: I just feel I need to be clear that my home is certainly not always in order. So don't get any crazy visions in your head that I somehow manage to keep it in order all of the time. Think, "Aim for the stars. You might reach the moon," kind of thing. hahaha

Wonderful Wednesdays: What's in a Name, Part 1

Before my youngest was born, I had an experience that I shared in this post which inspired some personal mantras and things that I wanted to highlight on this blog. The title of the blog, "Family By Divine Design: The Foundation of a Great Work," comes from two scriptures. The first part, comes from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. While this document is not part of our books of scripture (Bible, Book of Mormon, etc.), it is absolutely regarded as scripture by those of the LDS faith because it came from the mouth of God through prophets and apostles on earth. Here is the portion which inspired the first phrase:

"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." (emphasis added)

I emphasized the words that stood out powerfully to me as I reflected on my own personal experience with family, both the one I grew up in and the one I'm currently raising. I testify that the family as defined is this document is central to God's plan for His children. When our (meaning members of the LDS church) perspective is properly understood, I don't think people could view LDS people as bigoted or hateful when we say that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. When it's clearly understood that our beliefs are based on what God wants for us, and that to support anything different would be in direct defiance of God, then it should be understood that our well publicized stance opposing 'gay marriage' is not out of hate, but out of obedience to and support for God's plan. God desires our happiness, and through revelation both old and new has taught us how this can be achieved in a lasting way here and now in our mortal lives, and throughout eternity.

The second part of my blog title, "The Foundation of a Great Work," I'll address in another post and I'll come back and link it here.