Faith and The Power of Choice

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This morning I was reading the story of Enos, who goes out in the wilderness and thinks about the things his father had taught him about Christ.  As he pondered he decided he really, really wanted to know God, and to be pure before Him.  So he prayed, and prayed, and prayed -- for hours and hours.  He did not give up.  He poured out his whole soul to God.  He told God everything.  And finally Enos hears God's voice telling him he's forgiven and will be blessed and He knows God doesn't lie.  Then Enos asks an important question.  "Lord, how it is done?"  How is he forgiven?  Enos is told that it is "Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen."  He is told that "Thy faith hath made thee whole"  (Enos vs. 8)

This line struck me differently this morning than it has before.  It doesn't say Enos is made whole through Christ's Atonement, which would be true.  It says it is because of Enos' faith in Christ.  Enos chose to believe in Christ.  God gave us agency, but I think we don't often realize what power there is in agency.  If we read the scriptures we can read about God's love for us, but we have to choose to believe it.  He will not make us believe it.  He will send us tender mercies, but He won't make us recognize them as tender mercies.  He can point out that His voice speaks truth, and that we should believe His voice above anyone else, but He will not make us believe that voice.  He will tell us He listens to us, but we actually have to choose to believe He does.

We are told that miracles come after faith.  After we choose to believe God's love for us, we can have the miracle of beginning to see it.  If we choose to believe He sends us tender mercies every day, and we look for them, the little miracles in our days will become more evident.  We can read His words that guide our life, but until we choose to believe them above anyone else, and to find our answers in them, we will not have the miracle of courage that we need to act on those things.  We can pray, and feel like our prayers hit the ceiling and bounce back at us and still choose to believe that He is listening, and that He hears.  We can pray with our prayers feeling that way for a long time, but I know from experience that if we do not give up, in time He will provide the miracle that lets us knows He hears.

When we choose to have faith in Christ, who we have not seen or heard, then like Enos we will eventually understand that it is our faith in Christ that made us whole.

***Picture by Robert T. Barrett used by permission from churchofjesuschrist.org

Remember Not

Jesus Blessing Jairus's Daughter by Greg K. Olsen
When a situation seems hopeless, Jesus gives hope and help.

Years and years ago I had a humanities class at BYU.  I did not love the class, but there was a day when the teacher announced that one of my fellow students was going to sing for us.  She sang "O Divine Redeemer" by Charles Gounod.  I had never heard it before and I loved it.  The girl who sang it had a beautiful soprano voice.  Years later I bought a copy of a lower version (which is still too high for me to sing well), and today something reminded me of this song and so I pulled it out to read the words. 

I found it interesting that in a year when our reunion was about remembering -- this song is asking our Redeemer to NOT remember our sins.  "I pray thee, grand me pardon, and remember not, remember not my sins."  The Lord is our Redeemer.  We are going to commit sins even if we have really good intentions not to.  We need to remember what He did for us, and not lose hope.  He is willing forgive us and no longer remember our sins.  We also need to remember, once we are forgiven, to not continue to beat ourselves up over things that are past that can no longer be changed, but to look forward with faith that we are loved, and that we can learn from those sins and continue to practice getting better.

The song ends with the words "Help me my Savior!", and we can be sure that, if we turn to Him in our prayers, and our actions, He will be there to do just that.  He will help. 

Morning Person or Night Person?

People ask sometimes, "Are you a morning person or a night person?"  Hmmm.  When I wake up my whole body usually hurts.  I do not wake up and think, "Oh good!  I have a lovely day to enjoy and to get things done in!"  A lot of times I wake up, everything sounds hard, and I want to hide under the covers all day even though I logically know that I will feel a LOT better once I start moving.  So, am I a wake up in the morning feeling jolly person?  Not usually.  I even feel guilty that I don't wake up feeling thankful for a lovely new day.  I have to work my way to gratitude.  That being said, mornings are my favorite time to get things done.  I can sometimes feel heroic at how much I can get done in a morning!  Once I get moving, and eat, morning is my most energetic time.  And mornings are often very beautiful, happy, and productive.

Afternoons I start flagging, and by dinner I'm ready to go into hiding for a while and hope a cook will show up.  Sometimes one of my kids or Derek fills that role, which is awesome!  Sometimes we all take care of ourselves.  I've not cooked so often that even my guilt over not cooking is starting to abate (after 31 years I think that's a good thing).  After dinner I might have another burst of energy, or not.  At bedtime I sometimes get super chatty, and Derek gets to hear about whatever great thing I've been thinking about.  Other times I'll be so tired that I see everything through a negative window where I've been the villain when I wanted to be the hero.  Tragedy ensues for a while.  Or, I might just lie down, think of a happy story, and drift off into sleep.  I'm sure that Derek never quite knows which me will show up at bedtime!

So am I a morning person OR a night person?  Yes.  And sometimes I'm a morning person AND a night person.  But most days I have good moments and less good moments in the morning and the night, and I try to be thankful for both.

**Picture by Dawid Zawilla via Upsplash

Following Too Closely

I've heard a bit about a prominent Christian preacher who has announced that he is no longer Christian.  I have watched people leave their Christian beliefs to follow philosophy, or science, or some other religion.  It can be unsettling so see people losing their faith in God, and deciding to put their faith in something else. 

As I drove home I thought about the dangers of driving too closely to someone.  You may think that you have good enough reflexes to stop if you need to, and maybe a lot of the time you do, but -- if you are following too closely when someone else crashes, there is a good chance that you will crash too.

All of this reminded me that we have a responsibility for ourselves and our own beliefs.  Even people who we love and admire and who are very intelligent may decide to leave their Christian faith behind.  Will we follow?  Or will we answer as Peter did?

"Lord, to whom shall we go?  thou hast the words of eternal life.  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God"

**Photo by Nabeel Syed on Unsplash

A Surprise For Derek

On Monday Dan and I had a conversation that went something like this:

(Dan) "Mom, wouldn't it be funny if we got out the Christmas decorations and decorated the whole kitchen?  When Dad comes home he would be so confused!"

(Me)  "That would be a lot of work!"

(Dan)  "Yeah.  But it would be totally worth it!"

(Me)  "Well, we're not going to do that."

Undeterred, Dan found another way to execute his plan to surprise his Dad.  He put Christmas music on, made a Merry Christmas sign for the door that comes in from the garage, and another one on the white board.  He spent a lot of time cutting out snowflakes (even recruiting me to make one), and changed the calendar to December.  He also wrapped a movie, that Derek and I had just bought, in a Walmart bag like Derek would if he was wrapping it, and wrote a note to his Dad on it and left it where it would be found.

Dan was happily occupied for quite a long time.  I do not know if he got the reaction that he wanted, but he did make his Dad chuckle!  I like that he spent so much time happily doing something he thought his Dad would enjoy -- and be confused about!

Snowflakes in July!

Downward Facing Dog

Teddy doing Downward Facing Dog.

I haven't done much yoga for a very long time.  I never did "much" yoga, but I used to have friends who came over and did yoga with me.  Then my shoulders became too painful for doing downward facing dog and other yoga poses.  I moved to Tai Chi.  And then I started taking medicine that has the side affect of making all of my joints ache.  Every time I do even a little Tai Chi or Yoga my joints seemed to hurt even worse than usual all day. (It couldn't possible be because I'm out of shape!) Now I am taking something to help my joints, which hasn't really had time to work much, but I decided to try an old Yoga DVD and follow the example of the person doing the easiest poses.  The picture above makes me laugh.  My arms are not relaxed.  I kept moving them to pet Teddy.

My yoga practice of the day didn't turn out like I hoped.  Dan kept commenting on how many doors were in the building they were doing the yoga in front of.  Why would anyone need that many doors!  He commented that he hadn't heard the music they played before, and how the music I write is more like hymns and is better etc., etc. (At least he was being a super fan!) I couldn't focus on what was being said on the dvd most of the time, but I figure that I tried, and Dan is important too!  Now it's on to the more creative exercises of walking through Walmart and lifting the laundry!

Teddy snuggling with Jake.  Jake is taking weeds out of his fuzzy dog hair.

Remember, Remember, Remember (Poem / Song)

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Remember, Remember, Remember

The things you don't want to forget

You might say you never forget things

You've forgotten a lot I just bet!

For it seems just as soon as you say you'll remember

Your brain hides that memory away

And no matter how hard you want to remember

You can't find that memory today.

The more that you want to remember

The harder the thought is to grasp

And unless you took time to record what you know

It might get locked away in the past.

Written by Sherie
for the Christensen Reunion
Music written July 30
Press HERE to listen!

***Photo by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

A Fool's Voice

I chose this picture because we can build bridges between ourselves and those who believe differently than we do if we just take more time to listen, and to try to understand.
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This scripture in Ecclesiastes that made me think that I should zip my lips more and listen!

"...a fool's voice is known by multitude of words"

Ecclesiastes 5:3

***Photo by Tim Swaan on Unsplash

Helpful Questions

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Here are three questions that I think are good to think about.  I got them from Sadie Robertson's book. 

1.  Whose voice is loudest in my life?

Where do my opinions come from?  Who do I listen to?  Do I believe the voices, or words I am exposed to without question?  Of course, it would be great if God's voice was the loudest in all of our lives.  This will take learning to know His words and His voice!  It takes work, but imagine the confidence we can have if we know that we are following God's voice.

2.  Whose lead is strongest in my life?

When I need to know what the best way to go in life is do I listen more to Google or to scriptures and prophets.  Do I pray?  Is my first inclination to seek God's help and counsel?  Do I seek for His lead in all I do?

3.  What's my idea of winning?

I've also heard this as what is my idea of success.  Is winning getting 1st place or doing my best?  Is winning not making waves, or following my conscience?  Is winning stockpiling money, or doing good things with what I have? 

I do not think I have always been good at coming up with good questions in a lot of circumstances.  I have been working on this because if I don't have questions, it's harder to learn.  Questions can be motivators.  They can be good at helping us see how we are doing as we walk along this path of life, and can help us keep turning ourselves back to God so that His is the voice we hear, and the lead we follow, and so that our idea of winning is more about being like God than fitting into this crazy world we live in.

**Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Whose Voice Can We Depend On?

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I just finished reading a book called Live Fearless:  A Call To Power, Passion And Purpose by Sadie Robertson.  Towards the end, she was talking about her time on Dancing With The Stars and how she felt when people praised her, and what a wake up call it was when they were NOT praising her.  She realized that it is important to not get your value from the wrong voice.  I think there are good things to learn from Sadie's quote.  She realized that,

"applause and public affirmation could never sustain me.  I could not let what other people thought or said about me affect what I thought and said about myself...

'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever' (Hebrews 13:8).  If you want someone in your life you can depend on, He's the One."

It really is nice when people notice the good things we do, and give us praise, but I thought that this story was a good reminder that the most reliable voice, and the one we can trust every minute of every day is God's voice.  He will correct us, but He does it in love.  We are ALWAYS valuable to Him. 

***By Harry Anderson
Used by permission from churchofjesuschrist.org

Feelings Do Not Define Truth

"The Iron Rod is the word of God; 'Twill safely guide us through"
*

Here is a quote I found that I should probably memorize and tell myself when I am out of sorts.

"My feelings are not God.  God is God.  My feelings do not define truth.  God's word defines truth.  My feelings are echos and responses to what my mind perceives.  And sometimes -- many times -- my feelings are out of sync with truth."                                               John Piper

I have discovered over time that feelings are created by thoughts, and we can think what we want, even if it isn't true.  I can think someone is mean when they aren't.  I can think someone doesn't like me when they do.  But if I think either of those things, I might find myself being afraid, or sad, when the truth is that I am safe, and the reason I have for being sad isn't even true.

When something happens to us, we may think the thing that happens creates our feelings, but it is what we think about what happens that really does.  This doesn't mean that we can or should choose happy all of the time.  There is a "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance" (Ecc. 3:4).  It does mean that we shouldn't automatically believe that our feelings are truth, or are a result of truth.  Our feelings may very well be "out of sync with truth"!

I believe the more we read and understand God's word, the more we will be able to recognize when we are believing something false -- or at least to recognize that what we are believing might not be truth, and so we should check!

*Hymn # 274
Hymn Book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Picture used by permission from churchofJesusChrist.org

Christensen Reunion Pictures

I am not putting every reunion picture on here.  There is a family scrapbook for that.  I didn't even make sure I included every person.  I just picked some I liked!

Mom and Dad Christensen
They have 11 children, 10 children-in-law and 49 grandchildren.
They work hard to get ready for the reunion.  Mom puts in hours and hours of work.

Weston, Porter, Russell, Devin, Mandy
We have an "adult" discussion every reunion.  This one, with Trent in charge, was
on remembering -- and ways we can remember important things better.

Derek and I were in charge of the group of kids 11 and under who were singing and
dancing to "Dem Bones".  They are a good group of kids!

Angela was in charge of the women (12 and up) who sang and did actions to
"Peace Like a River".  It turned out well and was fun to do.

Devin was in charge of the men (12 and up) who sang
"Swing Low"  Devin did an arrangement and there was a surprise when towards the end
Russell had a rap to go along with it!

This is Grandpa, and the uncles and Mike.  Mike took Derek's place since he was
off riding the 4-wheeler with Kayli.  That is candy glued to those shirts, and the grandkids
chased them around until it was all ripped off of those shirts!
Jordan, Leon, Mike, Brandon, Quinn, Dad C., Bryon, and Russell

I have a few pictures of people standing at the rail.  I picked this one because Kayli
was there and was able to talk to her Aunt Michelle like she wanted to.  Then there is Derek and me and Mom C. with Mike, who is eating leftover pizza (much to Mom's delight).

Claire, Kylie, and Madeleine

Aren't they cute?  In the back, behind the chair is Sydney and Dillon (I think)
In the chair is Elena (Laney), Sara, Noelle, and Kylie

Tonya, Tia, Me, Mike, J.D., and Trisa -- all of us playing Boggle except J.D.
Who won?  Let's just say that Tonya has a talent for Boggle and so we felt good if we got
1/3 of the words she did!  It was still fun!

Jake, Porter, Dan, and Haven
The kids that aren't mine here are Quinn and Tonya's
We've stayed with them and they have stayed with us enough over the years that our kids are good friends.
The shocking thing about this picture is that Dan isn't making a funny face, or doing a dramatic pose!

Isaac's Aunt Erin, Isaac, and Isaac's Mom Megan
I like this picture and I love these people.

Weston, Quinn, Porter, Connor, and Tyler
I like this picture and love these people too, but I really could say that about all of them.

William, Maryn, Isabelle, Olivia, and Ethan

Mike, who fits in the family in lots of ways, one of which is that he makes silly faces on purpose when a camera is aimed at him.  And Tia.  

Sherie and Tonya posing for a picture while I make sandwiches.

Trisa and Derek.  Derek was making a face too -- trying to look grumpy and almost succeeding, but I can see that he is amused with himself :-)

Michelle with her Daughter Esther (and Ava, who is hiding)

Lost Keys and The Power of Numbers

Mike and his new buddy J.D.

After our very happy reunion, we were cleaning up and getting ready to go when Mike realized that his keys were missing.  He looked, Tia looked, we looked, but there were no keys.  So, everyone gathered to share good memories from past reunions and afterwards Mom C. announced that it was time to find some keys.  The Hideaway Lodge where we stayed was huge, and the keys could have been in a lot of places, including outside in the grass.

As soon as the announcement was made I followed a group of girls into our "cabin" and watched them calling for the keys as they searched the kitchen (which made me giggle).  Then I followed a group outside.  I hadn't even decided where to start searching before there was a yell that the keys were found.  After the announcement one of my nephews immediately went to search a couch he knew Mike had been on -- and there they were!  Mike had searched the other couch in the room that he remembered sitting on, forgetting he had been on both couches during the reunion.

I was pretty impressed with the power of numbers.  It only took one person to find them, but with over 60 determined searchers, even though the place was huge, there was a good chance they would have been found, even outside.