Day 30 of 365 days of Solace: Love makes a difference

I took this nap Sunday between LDS
conference session. She's such a cuddly dog!

I sure wish I could keep up with everyday. But I am in finals right now, and while I could write a few lines, I would favor having photos of my family!  I may have to ease up on how entailed I am, and all the cool pictures I take, which show the special moments with my family.  But we'll see...

My 8 yr old puppy and my 9 week old puppy fell to sleep
during scripture study!

Here are a few reason it makes it harder (only a few!):

• I'm in school
• I'm now working at a care center.
• I have this crazy needy puppy,
• and these crazy needy children! ;))
• I am trying to finish helping my husband put our house in order-- meaning- De-JUNKING! (He's been very busy this Spring break-- but with my shoulder I couldn't help much.  My shoulder is

  

  Our Sunny the puppy, enjoyed snuggling under the blanket
  that warmed my feet this morning as I studied.

  feeling more mobile, and slightly better...so I can do a little more.  (Today I organized my bathroom drawers! :)  Very satisfying, but not strenuous.

I would like to share an excerpt of a letter I wrote a friend today.  And then I'm off to bed!  

The other night, J. and I went together to ladies night at Deseret Book. I really, really wanted to win the statue of Christ.  I didn't win that, but I did win a little book by Jeffrey and Patricia Holland, "To Mothers: Carrying the Torch of Faith and Family." I began reading yesterday, because I didn't think it was coincidence that out of hundreds of women, I won this specific book.  

As I wiped my tears dry yesterday during my reading, I felt this book was meant to bless me. I know that Heavenly Father really wants me to trust Him, and to understand my value in His eyes. While I know he is pleased that I can recognize, feel, and understand His validation, which may be given to me by those around me, He especially wants me to fine-tune my understanding that only He can offer me a consistently clear identity of value of self-worth, which is all-encompassed in His safe and perfect love.

As I read today, these words of Pat Holland stood out to me: 

"....we each wear a variety of faces in the different roles we play: teacher, confidante, caregiver, mentor, disciplinarian, healer, friend, to name just a few. Our countenances display charity, envy, patience, anxiety, pride, humility, generosity, greed, peace, perplexity.  These portraits mirror joy and grief together, and through this exchange the lines are "women fine." We are all learning of God's slow, steady way of sculpturing the experiences that cannot be escaped "till we have our face."

(p.11)

"Which face is really yours? What is your role as a mother? What if the faces change so fast and the demands become so great that you hardly know who you are any of the time? How can you ever hope to be in control all of the time?"

"May I try to give some modest reassurances. First and most important, if we look closely in those many-mirrored faces, we will always see God's infinite care in the process of making us who we are and what we are becoming. We see the gentle way He kneels to brush back our hair or even to wipe away a tear. He adjusts the angle of the light and works His wonders with lines and scars and shadows. Ever so softly He whispers for us to endure difficulty or discouragement for what it may hold of illumination and eternal beauty.  Under His hand our inner person becomes the outer person, and the artist shapes His perfect image." (page 12)

I hope you take time to inventory some of the great things you are doing as a Mother, and pray to know how to improve, or adjust what you are doing.

If you don't have children, please don't underestimate the value of your efforts to brighten the lives of others.  Motherhood is a lot more than having biological children, it is about unselfish service to each of Heavenly Father's children.  There is a world of people out there who need to feel the Savior's love. Because a friend showed so much pure, and Christlike love, I finally got to this point of peace.  God's loved performed miracles in my heart, mind, and life- but it took someone willing to share that love with me, in order to want to change.

I love both of these scriptures, and take comfort that as I seek to draw near to God each day, that I will have the special peace that comes from trying to do what is right-even in my imperfection.

Isaiah 54:4

4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

Micah 4:13

13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

Believe in yourself!  Even the small efforts each day, will add up over time- just like drops of water in a bucket!

Keep trying- God will never give up on you!

Love, 

Christine