Blessings and Miracles Week 3

I remember about 30 years ago I was jumping from bed to bed; now I knew this to be wrong yet I continued to do it with my older brother. Soon after the jumping commenced I missed the bed and landed on the corner of the bed frame with my leg. I started wailing at the top of my lungs as this hurt tremendously and then I did something I wish I hadn't, I looked at it. This sliced my leg wide open with the bone exposed and the muscle hanging out of a four inch cut (sorry for the graphic details) I screamed even louder as I thought I was going to die. My mom and dad came running up the stairs and immediately carried me down stairs; however we did not leave at this time we stopped in the family room, gathered the family around, and had family prayer. 22 stitches and a few weeks later I was fine, but the memory of that event has stuck with me my whole life. I try not to think of the disobedience, but the memory I have of my mom holding me while my father prayed is something I will forever be grateful. This part of my life is something I have greatly been blessed with and yet at times it has become one of my biggest weaknesses. The power of prayer and the ability to pray is something we have all been blessed with and given as a gift to help us through this life. My family instilled in me the importance of prayer at an early age and I remember family prayer every morning and every evening for as long as I can remember; what a blessing to know I can communicate with my father in Heaven at any time. Because I learned the value of prayer from an early age I was blessed with the miracle of prayer throughout my life. For example I wear contacts and have lost them on several occasions, yet because of prayer I have found them in the grass, under the seat in the car, and even in the snow. I firmly believe that when we prayed to be safe we were protected with a shield that watched over us; I was involved in two major accidents (almost head on) where each vehicle was totaled and even though I was not wearing my seat belt (I know right) I came away with out a scratch in one and stitches in my lip on the other. I had a water heater blow up in my face and had first and second degree burns on my face and hands and because of a blessing my father gave me I healed without a scar. On my mission I tracked into a lady because she prayed us there. Obviously I can go on and on with stories about my childhood and how prayer played an intrical part of my life; yet I would like to focus on what prayer has and continues to do for me today. My patriarchal blessing states to be prayerful unto your father in Heaven that he may know of what blessings I am in need of and pour them out to me. How great is that "ask and ye shall receive", yet even though I have been blessed with such amazing promises and have witnessed first hand the effects of daily prayer I have found myself sometimes too tired to pray or falling asleep as I pray and sometimes in too much of a hurry to pray. I was thinking about this today as I told Bekah I loved her and she did not respond; how often does our Heavenly Father tell us he loves us without us responding back. I know I can do better and I know I know better so I picked up a book called how to pray and stay awake, by Max Skousen. It is one of the greatest books I have read and I highly recommend picking it up and reading it. It talks about us having conversations with our Heavenly Father and not just talking, it also says we should pour out our whole souls as if our Father in Heaven is in the room with us because he is. It opened my eyes, because I know he listens and answers prayers yet how many times do we pray for help instead of praying for ways TO help. He is always there for us and wants us to succeed and be happy, but he is not opposed to us going through trials as this makes us stronger. He will not eliminate our trials, but he will give us the strength to push through and endure. He has blessed my life time and time again and has answered my prayers many times over; in fact some of the greatest prayers I have had answers to are the ones he simply said no. We are here on this earth to grow and to do that we must have trials, we must have opposition, and we must do this on our feet with out being carried through. Else why are we here? We are promised help, guidance, and strength if we but ask and it is not hard to ask; we knew this as a child when our faith was simple; we do not need to complicate things, simply swallow our pride and ask for He is always listening. Like the time my dog was missing for three days and I prayed for help to find him and then I went and searched; I put forth the effort and when I got home he was there. Heavenly Father answers our prayers and he knows what is best for us; sometimes the answer is no, sometimes the answer is yes, but we must always put forth our effort before he will put forth his. I know sometimes I forget that and reflecting this past week on prayer has helped me realize the miracle of this special gift.

Blessings and Miracles Week 2

The great thing about posting a blessing a week is it gives you an opportunity to reflect through the week on the many blessings you have. I knew what blessing to write about early this week because of this wonderful Mother's Day holiday; because of this I had the opportunity to think and ponder over how this blessing has affected and brought joy to my life. This week is a special tribute to mothers everywhere, especially the mothers in my family including sisters, sisters in law, grand parents, aunts, and recently a niece. I would like to focus however on the three mothers in my life that I think are tremendous and have brought an abundance of joy not only to my life, but to the lives they influence daily. While it seems the world is out to get the mother in law and most people do not fully appreciate their mother in law, I have an amazing mother in law that has overcome many of life's obstacles and continues daily to defeat the odds. When I think over her life it amazes me that she worked several full time jobs while attending school and raising four young children. She has proven time and time again that you can do anything you set your mind to and do it with a heart full of gratitude and cheer. Next is the mother of my life that raised me, nurtured me, healed the hurt, earned every Eagle Scout in the family (there were six), accepted everyone, and holds an abundance of love for every child she has ever encountered. The love of her life passed away just over ten years ago and despite the pain in her heart she managed to get a job (she hadn't had a job in over 30 years) to support herself, and continually manages to watch every grand child and great grand child on a weekly or monthly basis (there are 30). Besides all this I know she still goes to the cemetery and brings flowers and sits and chats with my dad on a weekly basis. She pushes forward and finds the joy and peace in her family even though she doesn't think she deserves it or is even worthy of it. This is my mother ever giving, and not wanting to receive. To these two women I wish a lifetime full of happiness, joy, and love and I say Happy Mothers Day!!! The third mother in my life is the love of my life and the mother of my children. While she is not "MY" mother she loves, cares for, and teaches our children. One of the great things about this woman is her ability to love and care; I have two children from a previous marriage which she took in as her own and loved and cared for them despite the challenge it posed for her. Tiff married into a family which a lot of people cannot do; she did and with love in her heart. We now have two beautiful children of our own with the third on his way and she is such a natural mother who cares so deeply and loves so freely I just watch her at times and smile. Tiffany has given up so much by putting up with my wanderings and searchings for a career and life lessons; yet she does it with a smile and a genuine care. I want to be better because of her and I want to succeed for her. She truly is my inspiration and the love of my life. She is one of the greatest miracles and blessings I could ever hope for. Happy Mothers Day my love...

Blessings and Miracles Week 1

I thought in this post I would list a few of the blessings I have had in my life and perhaps through the next several postings I could have them all down. I could put down my obvious blessings in this post (my wife and children) but most of you know them and what they mean to me; I will save that post for the end of this series. Years ago my grandmother told me I should write down the many miracles I have witnessed so that my children may know how I have been blessed. This is 20 years late, but I think the message will still be the same. Grandmother you are the inspiration for the next several posts. This first set of blessings in my life will be early in my youth and while I had a hand in (witnessed and notified a parent) rescuing a drowning child (younger than me) and prevented my father from sitting on a rattlesnake; these are not hero stories, but merely humbling and faith promoting stories. I have always been blessed with a closeness (belief) in the gospel; meaning I never questioned, doubted, or resisted the gospel. I think this is because of the belief of my parents and their unwavering faith. In 1978 President Kimball told my father to take his wife and kids and move from Hawaii back to Utah to be with their family. In 1979 my father sold his business told us we were moving and with tears and defiance from all of us we moved to Utah. You may wonder how this is a blessing; in fact I never thought of this as a blessing until I got married had a family and realized the sacrifice (financially) my father and mother went through to follow a prophet of God. In Hawaii we were living a comfortable life with a new home on the hillside and not a care in the world (or so I thought). Perhaps Hawaii wasn't the best place to raise children or there wasn't a lot of good influences; however that is not the point of this story. I never thought of us struggling as a child and my family never wanted for anything yet I never realized how hard my dad had to work to support his family until after he passed away. Money seemed to come easily to my dad and we lived a pretty comfortable life; after we moved to Utah the sale of his business fell through and my dad never did receive any of the money from that business. After that business deals fell through and people took advantage of him and his good nature. My dad worked hard for everything he had and he made us work hard as well. He taught us the value of hard work and what it means to raise a family. Following the prophet did not mean a comfortable life filled with riches and possessions, but it did mean a strengthening of the spirit and a closeness of the family unit which today continues strong. From this blessing I learned the value of doing what was right is more important then doing what is easy. Through hardship and struggle we find our greatest strengths and education.