we are beloved sons and daughters of our heavenly father

We do not walk alone 

when we choose to follow Christ.

healing by brian kershisnik

"And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone;
for I do always those things that please him."
John 8:29





last supper by simon dewey

"No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with an infinite love. ... Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!" 

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Forget Me Not."

by rose datoc dall

winter dancing by brian kershisnik

Parable of the Talents

Foreign Loren, 2007?

I have been classically trained as a vocalist, but also dabble in ukulele, guitar, piano, accordion, glockenspiel, melodica... and probably some other things. I can't remember. Am I proficient in any of those? No, sir. But I can sit down with a guitar/uke/piano and sketch out a song in just a few minutes. And I can look at a piece of music and sight read a usually pretty accurate version of it. And if I am accompanied? No problem.

But did this all come over night? Noooo.

I've been singing in choirs for years (school, honor- and all-state, and community), studying voice privately, and the first poem I ever tried to write (it was about Halloween, and I was quite young) took an excruciatingly long time to figure out how to rhyme with, and it was 4 lines long.

My goal while I've been on a mission: 

become proficient enough on the piano 

to be able to play a hymn at a moment's notice. 

And to accomplish this task, 

I took advice from the parable of the talents.

The star in this parable is the servant who was given five talents, and with those talents, he gained five more! But the servant who was only given one talent decided to play it safe and bury his talent in the ground so that no one could steal it. He gained nothing, and his master was not very happy about it.

Because I had been blessed with these musical abilities, to gain more, I had to put it all out there. That meant volunteering to play the piano at even the smallest gatherings, such as weekly district meetings, to practice. And if you looked at my face while I was playing, you'd probably see me squinting in disgust. But I did it! And lo and behold, I improved ever so slowly. Do I still want to vomit at how bad I am sometimes? Absolutely! But I'm making progress. I remember playing the piano at a baptism a couple months back, and afterwards reflecting that I had never played that particular song so well before. There was maybe one mistake the entire time. I still messed up the closing song, but the opening was superb!

I think this particular accomplishment (in progress, but still) means more to me than even the fun times I had playing in a folk band a couple years back. Sure, I can say that I've played an accordion before, but will that do me any good in terms of serving my God? Probably not (I'll leave that to the professionals). But can I sit down and play the piano for the primary kids now? Or in Relief Society? Or (gulp) in Sacrament Meeting (heaven forbid)? Yes, I can.

And that's the story of how I took some talents, made some more, 

and offered them back to my Master.

And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit,

and said unto them: Be comforted.

And they were comforted.

Alma 17:10

  my peace I give unto you,

by steven newman

Where she at?

Who can find a virtuous woman, II

by Louise Parker (from here)

I love the proverb of the virtuous woman. The woman described is so contrary to modern culture, but so perfectly admirable. And the terms to describe her are also, in fact, quite contrary to modern culture, but again, so perfectly admirable. And a little confusing.

"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." ...while perusing the women's clothing at Target?

"She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar." ...a far-mer's market? 

"She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens." ...and when it says meat, it really means frosted shredded wheat with almond milk, right?

Despite some confusion, and some contradictions to the occasionally less-than-praiseworthy lifestyle that I obviously lead (yes, cereal is my primary food group), there are some universal truths to a virtuous woman mentioned in these passages:

"Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come." - You can't put this sister down! She's the ultimate optimist!

"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." - She's super nice to everybody! She also probably hosts great dinner parties with stimulating conversation.

In a world that constantly tries to put women down, or make us think that we're too smart, not smart enough, not curvy enough, not thin enough, and just not enough, the proverb of "How to find a virtuous woman" can teach some real lessons. Read it, pray about it, and decide what kind of a woman you want to be. No, you don't have to wake up before dawn to slaughter a pig and make some bacon for your household and all of your extended relatives who live within a 10 mile radius (in fact, you will never find me doing that, ever). But there are still some beautiful lessons and some valuable virtues to be found in this proverb. And for the men: what kind of woman do you want to call "yours"?

Side note: the title to this blog also comes from the proverb! It's a good one!

Related thoughts: My aunt's blog post about the Photoshop Diet, and a post I did on the We Are Women blog, "Learning that I am an 8 Cow Wife." Enjoy!