Holiday Season Hiatus

My family and I are visiting family out-of-state, so I am taking a hiatus from blogging here until the new year. I will post my 2011 New Year's Resolution on . . . you guessed it . . . New Year's Day.  The regular daily posts will begin again on Monday, January 3rd.

I will try to handle the withdrawal symptoms properly and not give in to the urge to write from now until I write the New Year's post.  (*grin*)

May the next few days be blessed days for all of you - and may we all grow closer to our Heavenly parents this upcoming year than we are on this date.

God bless all of you.  You have enriched my life immeasurably.

My Christmas Wish for All

May this day be one that is devoid of contention, anger, hard feelings and condemnation. May we commit to make it such within our own spheres of influence.

May love fill our hearts to overflowing this day. May we commit to allow it to be so on other days.

May our differences matter less than our common status as children of God. May we commit to see it as so no matter with whom we associate.

May all of us appreciate and respect those with whom we disagree - in word as well as in deed. May we commit to so speak and do, even with those who persecute and spitefully use us.

In all our deepest desires, may there be a road before us - and may we allow others to walk their own individual roads without throwing stones and placing unnecessary obstacles in their way. May we commit to walk thus, no matter how often our roads intersect.

May the example of those whose lives we use as our guide be ever before our eyes - and be honored in the way we live with and treat others. May we commit to remember to look back as we move forward.

May we see each other as God sees us. May we commit to be God's love for others.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Undeniable Revelation Really Does Occur: My Family's Personal Christmas Star

On Christmas morning, 2008, while we were reading about the wise men and discussing the possibilities of when and how and where and why the star appeared (and how it was ONLY a sign for those who recognized its significance), my oldest son said something that blew me away. He said, in effect: 

"The star for the wise men was like Jeff's baby blessing for us. Its appearance showed the wise men that the prophecy that had been given really did come from God, just like Jeff's health problems (his "physical trials") show us that his baby blessing really did come from God." 

To explain more fully: 

When our second son was born 20 years ago, he was 19 days early. There were NO complications, and he was released from the hospital without any delays. He was small, but he was perfectly normal and healthy. When he received his baby blessing, he was told something that really jumped out and surprised us all. Paraphrasing, he was told that none of the physical trials he would face in his life would have the power to keep him from his appointed mission in life. 


At the time, I had absolutely no idea why I said those words. There was no indication he would have any physical trials, and I certainly didn't go into it thinking that I should "bless him" to have lots of physical trials. It was a really weird experience for me after the blessing ended and I realized what I had said.


Fast forward 20 years. 

Of our 6 kids, he is the only one with severe and constant allergy issues. He is the only one who required speech therapy as a pre-schooler. He is the only one to have had major, emergency surgery (burst appendix at the age of 11 that almost killed him) - the only one to develop a serious medical disability (Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes at the age of 15 that was severe enough when discovered that he was rushed to the hospital for immediate attention). Our kids and his friends joke regularly about a pool to guess which organ will fail next and when it will happen. (When my daughter joked about him "having a heart attack" over being accepted into one of his top college choices, a friend responded with, "Oh, no, not another organ!")


I am grateful God reached down and put those words in my mouth 20 years ago, because they really are a comfort to my wife, a blessing to Jeff, and a testimony to our entire family. When Jeff's appendix burst and later when he was diagnosed with diabetes, the hospital staff was amazed at how calmly we reacted both times - but they didn't realize we had been prepared for those things to happen years before.  

They really were nothing more than our own Christmas star - confirming prophecy that had been given long before.

Resting in Christ

'....the Lord does not say to us, “Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you a mile-long checklist, the completion of which is necessary in order to earn my approval and love.”
What he does say is, “come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest.” '

We All Need Rest - Patty (I Believe in Christ)

How God Intervenes in Our Lives

There are numerous ways that God can intervene in our lives. The following are a few; my experience with each is summarized, as well.

1) The Lord intervenes directly. In short, he commands the elements to obey, and they do.

I have had that sort of experience - once with the actual elements.

2) He sends heavenly messengers to help without making their presence known.

I’m not sure how I would know if that had happened, since it would be done “without making their presence known”. Just saying. *grin*

3) The Lord inspires someone at the right time, and sends inspiration so that someone can help someone else.

I have had this experience (miraculously) in the past, perhaps most obviously driving late one Saturday night to get my son from college. The “coincidences” it took to have my "broken" car fixed so quickly were so numerous I choose to chalk it up to intervention.

4) Someone is inspired as to what she needs to do to fix a problem. This inspiration goes beyond her current knowledge.

I have had this experience many times in various situations, especially with blessings.

5) Someone feels the spirit to fix what he is capable of making based on his knowledge.

This has happened to me many times.

I hope we teach our children that God can and will intervene sometimes (directly and miraculously), but that the general rule for most people appears to be inspiration to self or others. On the other hand, I also know members in countries or areas where there is little or no chance of receiving help from others (like in medical emergencies), and the obviously miraculous seems to occur there much more often than here. I don’t know if that is due to differing levels of faith or differing levels of need for intervention, but I like to think it is the latter - that God will help more where more help truly is needed.

Things About Mormonism for Which to Be Thankful

Mormon Thanks, Part II - Mark Brown (By Common Consent)

When the Church Works, It Is Wonderful to Behold: Yesterday, I Saw It Work

I had an experience today that touched me deeply, and I want to share it with everyone here. 

My advising assignment was changed this month to include my home ward and a different branch than I had been visiting previously.  Yesterday was the first time I had visited officially as an adviser, and I normally would not have been there on the third Sunday of the month.  We speak on the second Sunday of each month, so I normally visit the other branch on the fourth Sunday - so I don't have to be away from my family two consecutive Sundays.  However, since we will be out of town next Sunday visiting family in Oklahoma, I decided I should attend the branch this week. 

I normally like to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but, due to circumstances I don't need to detail here, I got there with only about 5 minutes to spare.  When I walked in and spoke with the Branch President, he told me that they had just realized as the young men were preparing the sacrament this morning that they were out of cups for the water.  They were discussing what to do as a result. 

They had decided to shift the sacrament to the end of the meeting, so the Branch President could drive home and bring a bunch of small drinking cups from his house.  It would be a bit awkward and difficult to manage, but it was the only solution that came to mind.  I suggested they go ahead and follow that plan, but that I would call someone in my home ward (which met at the exact same time as the branch) and see if they had any extra sacrament cups - and to see if anyone in that ward would be willing to miss their own meeting to deliver the cups to the branch by the end of their meeting.  The Branch President left to go home to get his cups, and I called a few numbers I had on my cell phone until I reached the High Priest Group Leader. 

He stepped out of the chapel to take my call just as my ward was singing the opening hymn.  He then went back into the chapel, spoke with someone in the YM Presidency, called me back and told me he would bring four sleeves of cups to the branch right away - enough that they could use them again for a couple of weeks if they were unable to get more of their own right away.  This good man told his wife and sons what was going on, left Sacrament Meeting before the sacrament was passed, drove 40 minutes to the branch, handed me the cups, then turned around and drove back to his ward without taking the sacrament in the branch - because he had to get back in time to teach the lesson today to his own high priests. 

I took the cups to the priests at the sacrament table in the middle of the final talk, and they finished preparing the trays and the table just as the final special musical number was ending - an absolutely gorgeous solo about the birth of Jesus.  They literally were lowering the covering on the sacrament as the final note was ending. 

There's something amazing about hearing the sacrament prayer said immediately following a beautiful musical number - when the Spirit is so strong you can feel it almost tangibly.  There's also something truly touching about listening to that prayer ("are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son")  while picturing the good man who made it all possible driving ALONE back to his own building, having missed participating himself in either unit so that he could make it happen for others and still perform the very mundane tasks of his calling. 

I know it's a "small thing" in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly brought to my mind the verse:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 

God bless you, Brother Coons.

The Day That Forever Changed My Life: or, What I Wish for My Children

24 years ago, I was sealed to the most beautiful girl I had ever known, with a promise that we would never be separated - ever - eternally.

I wrote the following three years ago at Christmas, and I am re-posting it today as a tribute to my split-apart.  I only can hope and pray that our children find what we have found - even if they don't find it in quite the "Ahhhhhh"-inspiring way we did. 

My highest wish for all of my kids (including those who were born outside our biological family) is that they remember who they are collectively and learn who they are individually - that they think for themselves - that they be happy with who they are but be willing to let go of who they don't want to be (even if they never accomplish that fully in this life) - that they come to know their Father and His Son - that they come to understand "the grace that so fully He proffers" them - that they see repentance not as a burden of guilt but rather as an exciting process of growth and completion and discovery - that they become truly peculiar treasures, together and alone - that they find that certain someone without whom they will never be perfect (complete and whole) - and that, with that certain someone, they carve out lives that will satisfy and challenge and reward and fulfill and complete.

My wish is that this madhouse we call Hotel DeGraw will be able to accommodate boarders eternally, even if in both the here and now and the hereafter that simply means a moment here and there as we watch our children establish homes (and perhaps hotels) of their own. If I see this wish fulfilled, I will live and die and live again happily - even if nothing else I desire comes to pass. If they can be as happy as I am, living as half of an eternal whole, I will praise God eternally for the love He has allowed me to experience and the joy He has given me.

Repentance As a Liberating Movement Toward the Ideal

The single most amazing and empowering and liberating aspect of Mormonism to me is the idea that we should pursue the ideal for the very reason that it is possible. Sure, it won't happen in this lifetime, but the encouragement to strive constantly to become perfected (complete, whole, fully developed) and the defining of that perfection as centered on attributes like those in the Beatitudes (that generally are defined in society as "feminine" and discouraged especially in men) is one of the mind-blowing tenets of our faith. I understand the problems that such a theology includes (particularly the tendency of too many to obsess and succumb to natural pressures [like depression and shame] inherent in striving to improve), but I prefer the target to the lack thereof. I've seen what the lack thereof produces, and it's not something I want to see spread.

Repentance, to me, is a very liberating idea. It is perhaps the most important aspect of the concept of an Atonement - the core of the statement that "the truth shall make you free." When "repentance" is defined simply by its technical definition of "change" and not by its culturally prescriptive, "feel horrible about yourself and realize how worthless you are" definition . . . That, in my mind, is what constitutes the "good news" of the Gospel - that God has forgiven us of the things we can't change on our own and freed us to focus on changing what we can (and being astounded in the end by what we can change with His help that we formerly couldn't change on our own).

This view of repentance (assisted self-improvement, if you will) also is the only antidote of which I am aware for self-deception, since it forces the repentant to face his or her weaknesses and foibles and character flaws openly and head-on. It requires the repentant to admit his or her self-deception and tackle it directly. You can't repent - truly change - without serious introspection and analysis and recognition of need and humility - and without the theological and doctrinal motivation to repent in this way, it is hard for many to undertake the effort.

Burned in the Refiner's Fire (Simple & Powerful)

Rust - Tracy M. (Dandelion Mama)