Good News on Good News!

One of the reasons I've been so busy lately is that my book that I called Good News! has been accepted for publication and I have been doing some last minute editing.

Walnut Springs is going to publish it, but they don't like the title because it doesn't explain what the book is about. I agree, but we have had a terrible time coming up with anything else.

I've been waiting to tell you the good news until we had a new title, but I'm tired of waiting. The book will be out before Christmas and I am excited. I'll let you know more of the details when I have a title! But until then I have a new book coming, Untitled Good News!

Preparing For BYU Education Week

I always love teaching at BYU Education Week. I love meeting so many wonderful people, I delight in the feeling in the room with so many eager learners present, and I especially love preparing to teach. But this year it has been extra special to prepare. I will be teaching a class on The Truth Shall Make You Free at 9:30 a.m.Tuesday through Friday which is a subject that if you’ve been reading this blog long you know I love. I will also be teaching a class on Miracles in the Messages of Jesus at 11:00 am on Wednesday through Friday. Both classes are in the MARB. Both have been exciting to review and research, but the class on the Miracles has been especially invigorating.

Immersing myself in the New Testament has been so rewarding. To begin I made a data base of all the miracles that are reported by the gospel writers—there are 41. Just looking at the data base is fascinating. Of the 41 miracles the most, eleven, are performed on nature or inanimate things. These include the calming of the sea and feeding five thousand people (which is the only miracle reported by all four gospel writers). Of the healing miracles, giving sight to the blind is the most common with five being reported. Casting out unclean spirits comes next with four, and accounts of Him raising the dead occur three times besides raising from His own grave

These figures and the patterns that begin to immerge as I study them are interesting, but I wish I could convey to you the amazing feelings and knowledge I’ve gained by immersing myself in these stories and pondering on them for hours at a time. But that isn’t possible. The only thing I can do is urge you to study in depth yourself. Don’t just read the scriptures. Find something that interests you such as the parables or speeches or teachings on a specific principle and REALLY study them. Then enjoy! It is absolutely amazing what the Lord will teach you if you demonstrate your willingness to learn.

Rejoice!

I opened my Book of Mormon this morning and a phrase marked in red jumped out at me: “Let your hearts rejoice” (2 Nephi 9:52). And so I did!

Without moving from the place I’m at, I’m rejoicing at the sun warming my cheek. The music of the hall clock as it marks the hour. The soft breeze created by the fan overhead. The bright colors of the books lined up on my book shelves. The pictures of my grandkids, one infant with his foot in his mouth, and the picture of my girls when they were young lined up like steps from the youngest to the oldest and wearing dresses I made for them. The figurines that characterize my daughters and sit on the bookshelf each day watching over me, bathing me in warm memories of all the good times we have spent together. It is amazing how in any given moment we can stop and find so much to rejoice over!

Stop for a moment and rejoice in what is around you. Then tell me what you discovered.

Approaching Hectic!

I’ve been very busy lately and after living with no stress and no pressure for the last six months to suddenly be pressured and stressed is strange. I keep asking myself how I lived with pressure for so many years. After all, this is how my life has been forever. The hardest and most time consuming part of getting ready for brain surgery was making sure all my bases were covered and that everything I normally took care of would be taken care of while I was incapacitated. I was a busy person!

Now as I return to normal, hectic life I’m encountering new challenges. I don’t have the stamina I used to. My mind, after undergoing brain surgery, doesn’t process as fast and as well. As I try to do things like I used to, I find myself growing befuddled and confused. It is very strange and disconcerting. It is as if I have a different body than the one before the surgery. But the doctors assure me that I’ll be back to 100% in another six months or so. I hope so, but even if I don’t get everything back I have learned a valuable lesson from all of this.

This has given me a whole new appreciation for other people’s limits and capacities. I am ashamed to admit it, but I used to get impatient with people who didn’t catch on to things fast. I used to judge and be critical, but I’m repenting of all that. Each of us have different capabilities and talents and abilities. Each of us have strengths and weaknesses and when we are critical of others we are looking only at their weaknesses and not their strengths. I hope I never forget that just as I am struggling right now to do my best when that best is not always optimal, others are also doing their best. Instead of being critical, I hope that from now on I can always patiently help and encourage.

Feeding Five-Thousand

Since I’m getting ready for BYU Education Week and the classes I’ll be teaching on the Messages in the Miracles of Jesus, I’ve been studying the miracles again. I’ve been doing this off and on for the past six years, and they never cease to amaze me. One of the things I’ve learned came from the miracle of the feeding of the five-thousand. Can you imagine the feelings and thoughts the disciples had when they told the Savior He ought to send the people home and instead He told them to feed them? Five-thousand men plus their wives and children! And can you imagine how the one small boy felt when the disciples asked if he would give his five loaves of bread and two fish to feed the multitude?

The numbers here are very interesting. To the people gathered numbers had symbolic meaning. Five is a symbol of the Atonement and God’s grace. Two is a symbol of opposition-good vs. bad. The elements used in this miracle are also symbolic. Bread is a symbol for Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. And Fish are a symbol of man. Five loaves of bread plus two fish equal seven which is a symbol of perfection or completion and of covenants. Thus we trust in the Atonement of Christ (5), and endure the trials and opposition of life (2) His grace is sufficient to bring us to perfection or completion (7).

But there is more. Remember the small boy who gave all he had. So often in life we are called upon to do what seems way beyond our ability. We are called to positions in the Church. Or we feel overwhelmed by parenting, or jobs, or relationship. Or sometimes life and its trials just seem way beyond our ability to cope with. But from this miracle we learn that if we just give or use whatever we have, if we just do our best, the Lord makes it enough. We give what we can and the Lord makes up the difference.

And there is more! After feeding the thousands of people until they are full and satisfied, the disciples gather up the left-over bread and fish and discover that there are 12 baskets full. Twelve is a symbol of the priesthood, and there is one basket for each disciple so that they can continue, through the power of the priesthood, to assist in feeding all those who follow Jesus.

Trusting Father

Having some of the grand kids here has brought back a lot of memories of when my own children were young. I’ve watched my daughters and their husbands parenting, and I remember the feelings of longing I had to do what was right for each child. Usually the day to day activities kept me so busy I didn’t have time to ponder on it much, but when I stopped and did have time to think, the responsibility of helping my children return to their Heavenly Father was overwhelming. And when I made mistakes in my parenting, it hurt! In short, what I’m trying to explain here is that I tried to do my best and always wanted the best for my children and I see my own children demonstrating that exact same desire with their children.

These thoughts have made me think of a verse of scripture, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good gifts, through the Holy Spirit, to them who ask him” (JST Luke 11:14). I made mistakes in my parenting, but our Father in heaven doesn’t make mistakes. He gives us good things and helps us through our problems in perfect ways. We can trust that what He gives and does is always right. Oh, the peace and hope that should give us. All we have to do is trust in Him.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Here in Utah we are celebrating Pioneer Day because 162 years ago today Brigham Young entered the Great Salt Lake Valley and established the Mormon Pioneers in the middle of this desert. They built forts and homes, cultivated the land, irrigated, and established an oasis in the wasteland that I now call home—a place where they could worship God without being persecuted.

I can’t help but think about my ancestors who were part of this migration and who paid such a price to come here. One of my grandmothers was about to deliver a baby and after many days on the trail, she couldn’t go any further. The rest of their company moved on while she and my grandfather waited. But there was little food. So he made her a bed under the wagon to protect her from the hot sun, took the gun, and went out hunting for food.

While waiting for my grandfather to return, my grandmother prayed that he would find something. While she prayed, a bevy of quail landed next to her. She reached out and grabbed two birds, wrung their necks and continued to wait. When Grandfather returned he was empty handed, but they ate the birds grandmother had caught and thanked God for the answer to their prayers.

As we are told in the book of Ether, one of the reason Orihah was a good and righteous king is that he “did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers” (Ether 6:30). Even if you don’t live in Utah, take time to remember the pioneers in your family and to tell the stories of faith to those around you.