We Are SO Loved

Last night, I had a dream. It was a very realistic and significant dream. Its message wasn't meant for me, but for an extended family member.

When I first awoke and remembered what occurred in my dream, I thought, "Does this dream really mean anything? Or, is it a nonsense dream?" You see, I have dreams that mean something, but I also have nonsense dreams that are meaningless. I decided it was time for me to find out whether to share the information with my extended family member, or not.

Because my dream was so vivid and seemingly meaningful, I decided to pray about it. In the dim early-morning light, I prayed to know what I should do. I felt I should email my extended family member of my experience. I thought, "Oh, I'll just message _______ on facebook." Right when I thought those words, I felt the strong words come right back at me, "No. Don't check facebook, just send the email." So, I listened!

It was hard for me to open up my soul and send my dream via email, but I felt strongly inspired to do it and I knew I couldn't ignore the prompting. Yes, I've learned the hard way what happens when I don't listen to the personal inspiration/revelation I receive through the Holy Ghost! I wasn't going to make that mistake again!

After I clicked  send , I instantly felt at peace.

I was floored by the response I received from my extended family member. What I had written (it was a short email) was accurate and made sense to my extended family member. The things written back to me absolutely confirmed that my dream was correct! I was not off-base or crazy. My extended family member's recently deceased loved one had actually reached out to me through a dream. This fact makes me feel extremely small in our heavenly universe.

What's so wonderful and amazing is the fact that this isn't the first time a dream like this has been given to me. I guess I'm just shocked that, although rare, it continues to happen to me. I'm also so grateful to have gained additional insight and knowledge about spiritual things.

First of all, this experience solidified that our Heavenly Father and our Savior love us with an intensity that can never be completely understood by our earthly souls. When spiritually in-tune, we can catch glimpses of that glorious heavenly love, but we will never fully comprehend it until we go home to Heaven ourselves.

Secondly, this experience confirmed to me again that our loved ones we have lost through death are not lost at all—they are well-cared-for in a heavenly paradise. Our dear loved ones care so deeply for those of us still on Earth. They are anxiously watching over us and want us to be utterly happy! And sometimes, they are allowed to reach out to us—so we know that not only are they okay, but that we are okay too.

Finally, while this earth life can be hard, we must all remember that there we are here for darn good reasons! We must continually pray to know what our life missions are. We cannot ever allow ourselves to remain discouraged, or give up! This life is very important. We all matter!

When we return to our heavenly home, I have no doubt we will be welcomed with the open arms of our dearly-missed loved ones. Until that necessary life-transition happens, we must faithfully continue on our life-mission's path. We must not be swayed or dismayed! Our precious souls must remain strong. We need to live our lives to our maximum capacity, thus honoring our heavenly loved ones in the process. :)

The Day I Stopped Following Matt Walsh

I have enjoyed reading Matt Walsh's blog for nearly a year now. He's made me laugh and nod my head in agreement many, many times. But today, I stopped following Matt Walsh. I deleted him from my Google+, Blogger Dashboard, and Facebook accounts.

Why, you ask, did I stop following Matt Walsh? Why would I stop following someone that I agree with 70% of the time? (Give or take 10% points.) Well, it's because he wrote a post that I absolutely cannot get behind. He's written posts before that I don't agree with, but I just let them go. Not today.

Today, Mr. Walsh posted about Robin Williams' suicide. I knew what Mr. Walsh's title was before I read the post, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and read every word he had to say. Yet at the end of his post, I was done.

You see, Mr. Walsh, we must not judge another person's soul when they commit suicide. We cannot possibly know or understand where a person was in their mind when they took their life. There is no way to ever comprehend what truly happens when a soul commits suicide, until we make it to heaven ourselves and can have a conversation with them. To judge someone so quickly, so harshly, so finally, is reprehensible.

I highly recommend this article about suicide, Suicide: Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not, by Elder M. Russell Ballard. He's a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Here are some of my favorite sections from his article:

"The late Elder Bruce R. McConkie, formerly of the Quorum of the Twelve, expressed what many Church leaders have taught: 'Suicide consists in the voluntary and intentional taking of one’s own life, particularly where the person involved is accountable and has a sound mind. … Persons subject to great stresses may lose control of themselves and become mentally clouded to the point that they are no longer accountable for their acts. Such are not to be condemned for taking their own lives. It should also be remembered that judgment is the Lord’s; he knows the thoughts, intents, and abilities of men; and he in his infinite wisdom will make all things right in due course.' (Mormon Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966, p. 771; some italics added.)"

"I feel that judgment for sin is not always as cut-and-dried as some of us seem to think. The Lord said, 'Thou shalt not kill.' Does that mean that every person who kills will be condemned, no matter the circumstances? Civil law recognizes that there are gradations in this matter—from accidental manslaughter to self-defense to first-degree murder. I feel that the Lord also recognizes differences in intent and circumstances: Was the person who took his life mentally ill? Was he or she so deeply depressed as to be unbalanced or otherwise emotionally disturbed? Was the suicide a tragic, pitiful call for help that went unheeded too long or progressed faster than the victim intended? Did he or she somehow not understand the seriousness of the act? Was he or she suffering from a chemical imbalance that led to despair and a loss of self-control? 

"Obviously, we do not know the full circumstances surrounding every suicide. Only the Lord knows all the details, and he it is who will judge our actions here on earth. 

"When he does judge us, I feel he will take all things into consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received, the traditions of our fathers, our health, and so forth.

"We learn in the scriptures that the blood of Christ will atone for the sins of men 'who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.' (Mosiah 3:11.)"

"Thankfully, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught this enlightening doctrine: 

"'While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard. … He is a wise Lawgiver, and will judge all men, not according to the narrow, contracted notions of men, but, "according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil," or whether these deeds were done in England, America, Spain, Turkey, or India. … We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts, their means of obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are governed, the facilities afforded them of obtaining correct information, and His inscrutable designs in relation to the human family; and when the designs of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right.' (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, ed. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, p. 218.) 

"I draw an important conclusion from the words of the Prophet: Suicide is a sin—a very grievous one, yet the Lord will not judge the person who commits that sin strictly by the act itself. The Lord will look at that person’s circumstances and the degree of his accountability at the time of the act. Of course, this gives us no reason to excuse ourselves in committing sins, nor will the Lord excuse us, if I understand correctly. We must constantly strive to do our best in emulating the Savior in every aspect of our lives. At the same time, however, let us remember that spiritual growth comes 'line upon line,' that the key—in the spirit world as well as in mortality—is to keep progressing along the right path."

No, family/friends/acquaintances/strangers, we must certainly not judge what someone else is going through! Now that I've expressed my frustrations, I'm going to follow my own advice and not judge what Mr. Walsh wrote, for he is entitled to his opinion. But that doesn't mean I need to agree with him, or continue supporting his blog.

In the end, I will continue following our Savior, for Jesus Christ is the only one who knows and understands all of us. It's truly because of Him that we can be restored to our heavenly home, and live with our loved ones for eternity!

Let's Not Be Sissies!

On December 22nd, 2013, I sat in my ward's Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Class enjoying the discussion. At precisely 12:43 p.m., I heard this most wonderful phrase,

"Mortality is not for sissies."

I know the date and time of this event because I promptly wrote it down in my smarty phone's note app. I chuckled a little inside as I rolled his words over in my mind. Then I thought, "He's totally right! Mortality is very hard!"

*Oh, and just to clarify, my church's definition of mortality is: The time from birth until physical death. This is sometimes called the second estate.

Some days mortality is fairly easy, but there are many days when we have to have a lot of courage and gumption just to make it to bedtime! No, friends, mortality is most definitely not for sissies! :)

Several weeks later, I asked the brother who said it if I could quote him. He said, "Yes." Yay! So, thank you, Mike Kaminske, for your wonderfully insightful words, I have truly enjoyed pondering them!

Since that day, I have seen so many crazy events happen in our world. Some happenings are truly unbelievable. I never could have predicted where our global society has ended up in a little less than four months! And as I've written before (see my blog post "Paramount Parents"), I truly believe that many of our society's problems come from a lack of good, strong, righteous parenting.

And even though I am one of the strongest advocates and supporters of the family—and all that goes into it—I understand that parenting is a tough job. Parenting might just be the toughest job ever!

Well, might I add, Mike Rowe's Dirty Job episodes—that show him working as a sludge cleaner and a sewer inspector—might take the grand prize in terms of the toughest jobs. To me, parenting looks like a walk in the park compared to those disgusting jobs! Eww, gross! But I digress...

Thus, I decided to create a new typographic design that blends Brother Kaminske's ideas with my own. By the way, I was very deliberate in choosing a brick wall as the back drop...

As parents, we must always stand strong and firm in our beliefs, and absolutely do what is right. We must look for, and highlight, the wonderful... the lovely... the happy!... the kind, and the good in the world. We must not agree with, nor condone, behavior or beliefs that are contrary to what is best for our children. We must continually try our very best...not only for our benefit, but especially for our precious babies' benefit! :)

Each day, we parents have an amazing opportunity to choose and lay the "bricks" that will build the "walls" of our children's childhoods. In turn, those initial brick walls will provide the basic structure that "house" our children for the rest of their lives. (Metaphorically speaking, of course!) Each of our children's subsequent life events become the "additions" to their "houses".

Before we can lay those essential bricks, we must be sure that the "foundations" we've created for our children are level, thick, stable, and waterproof. For it doesn't matter how carefully a brick wall is crafted if the foundation isn't built properly.

Once we're sure the foundation is built correctly, we must choose expertly-crafted bricks to protect our children from life's dangerous storms. We must pay close attention to each and every brick, and smoothly connect them with the proper amounts of accurately-mixed mortar. Yes, friends, our glorious task is to build our children's brick walls solidly enough to withstand the sorrows and disappointments they will inevitably experience.

But we also want to create walls that will bring feelings of joy, satisfaction, success and love to their houses! For there is nothing worse than a perfectly-built, cold, sterile house! Yes, we also need to create beautiful walls of warmth for our children!

As we work, we would do well to ask ourselves, "Have I chosen the best bricks for my child's house? Have I laid my child's bricks precisely and solidly enough to last his/her entire life? Have I taken the necessary time to properly mix and smooth the mortar, so there will be no gaps or holes in my child's walls? Is the mortar I've chosen strong enough to hold everything together? Will these walls sustain the warmth that's necessary to create a loving and happy life for my child?"

Or, after we've already built several walls, will we discover that our children's foundations are cracking, leaking or crumbling? Will we find that we've chosen improperly made bricks? Will we be careless in the way we lay those bricks and mortar? Will the endlessly harsh, worldly elements—that continually beat on our children's souls—seep through the mortar? Will the walls we've built suck the warmth out of our children's rooms and make their houses feel stark and empty?

I want to build my children's walls with excellent care. I want to be able to look back with fondness on my children's childhoods and see that I paid the utmost attention to how their walls were constructed. I want to be a present parent! I don't want to entrust the building of my children's walls to an apprentice or a subcontractor!

Yes, there will be extended family members, friends, teachers and church members who contribute to the building of my children's walls, and I am grateful for their good influence, but I want the majority of the construction work to be done by my husband and me.

Thus, let's be the valiantly strong parents that our children need and deserve! Let's not be sissies! :)