Miracles do not always appear to be miracles, at first...

This is a message for all of those who have been so kind in sending messages and making calls to offer your prayers and support for our sweet Elizabeth. Some reading this post, who have stumbled here without a knowledge of what has really transpired, might be a confused about a couple of details. Please feel free to email me and I will fill you in on the details.

This is just one part of a very long, learning, faith testing journey...


We have had a miracle...an absolute miracle.

On Wednesday morning, of this week, I received a phone call from a hospital 3 hours away where a Pediatric Neurologist had reviewed an MRI that was done of Lizzy's eyes and brain last week. Upon reading the findings, the doctor had told the Nurse Case Manager to call me and get Lizzy in to see him ASAP. He was concerned that if we waited for a regular appointment time, which would be about 8 weeks away, Lizzy's optic nerves and vision could be damaged and compromised if treatment was not started immediately.


I listened to my "Mommy Gut" which told me to go, so we went.
Thank you so much to all of you who helped with Ben and seminary and other duties at the last minute. I wish I could repay you with more than just a "thank you" but please know the gratitude comes straight from my heart.


It took us longer to get out of town than I had hoped and there were two accidents along the freeway toward Mesa that made our trip take longer than it should have. (That's important to the story) Once we arrived at the ER, the doctors there were very confused as to why we were there. I had been told that Lizzy's records would be made available and the ER staff would understand the situation.
They did not.
They were kind and helpful, but they were baffled.
It was weird.
Of course, there were those questions that implied I was probably a psyscho mom who had made this all up and I'm sure there were hushed conversations out of the room about how to get rid of the crazy mom.
I was asked to tell the reason why I was there again and again.
I am typically not an easily agitated person, but I remained even more calm than usual. I literally felt some power outside of myself keeping me extra calm.

Our Father in Heaven gave this daughter of His a great sense of humor and a bit of a crazy personality. It sure comes in hand sometimes. She and I had some good laughs in the ER together that day (and the next.)

The staff still didn't know what to do with us.
Here was a little girl in the ER with NO symptoms.
They treat symptoms.
They called the on-call Pediatric Neurologist who told them to tell me to go home. (That is important to the story - remember this part.)



"But it's a Pediatric Neurologist who told me to come. Can you call that Neurologist? I would not have come this far and on such short notice if I hadn't been told to do so by this doctor."


They could not locate him. Nor could they locate the Nurse Case Manager. They had all just left for the day and could not be reached.


The ER Staff called in their best doctor who came and did a thorough exam on Lizzy. She gave her a clean bill of health and told us that was the best she could do for us.
We were told to go home.


I did not feel that was right.
You don't tell a mom in an urgent phone call that if she doesn't get her daughter to the ER ASAP that her daughter may become blind, and then expect that mom to just leave if that hasn't been addressed.

I was filled with the KNOWLEDGE that the Lord had arranged this and I was to stay put until He let me know we were done.

There was no question in my mind of what to do.


A good friend had come to the hospital to see us, so we went home with her and slept at her apartment that night.


The next morning Lizzy and I got up early so that we could be the first ones at the door when the Pediatric Neurology clinic opened. This was where the urgent phone call the day before had originated, this was where I was to go. It was a wild goose chase finding that place, but I still felt that was what we were supposed to do.

Never once did doubt enter my mind.


We found the case manager.
She was so kind.
She had no idea we had been turned away from the ER the day before.
I told her that I wasn't going to leave the hospital that day until my daughter was seen by a neurologist.
I said it with a smile on my face and a resolve in my tone and this sweet woman got a tear in her eye and told me she was supporting me 100%.
She went back and talked to the neurologist who had been so concerned.
He called the ER himself and said he was sending us over there and they were to let us in and begin a list of tests he felt she needed ASAP - CT, Spinal tap etc.


So, back we went.


Once again, the ER staff was SOOOO KIND! They ushered us in and treated us with concern and I was so grateful.


But then it started to happen again.


I could hear the doctors and nurses out in the hall saying, "But why is she here in the ER?" "Who talked to the doctor?" "What do we do with her?"


One ER doctor came into the room and asked me to tell our whole story beginning from the very first Optometry appointment in April of 2015 when the swollen optic nerves were discovered.

Then another doctor came in and asked me to share the story.
Then a nurse came in and asked me to share the story.

I very kindly, but firmly, again, said that the only reason I was there was because a pediatric neurologist had told me it was urgent. I explained that we live 3 hours away; we don't even have a working car at this time; I had to borrow a friend's car to make the trip; I have no money and now have two ER visits to pay for and why in the world would I have done that, if I hadn't been told to do it by someone I thought I could trust?


I asked them to PLEASE call the Neurologist over in the clinic.

That's when the biggest miracle happened.


The Pediatric Neurologist who had been on-call for the ER the night before, the one who had told them to tell me to go home, happened to wander into the ER. He had wanted to get Lizzy's information so that he could tell the other neurologist that he would be happy to see us on Friday (today) if we wanted to come back.


"Well," they told him, "She's back."

He wasn't very happy about that and so he thought he would just nip it in the bud and get us out of there himself.

What came next was 70 minutes of one on one care from one of the top doctors in the country, maybe the world, in the field of pediatric neurology and childhood Multiple Sclerosis.

Once he realized why I was there, and how far I had come in order to be there, he calmed down and his concern for our situation took over.


This doctor lives in Wisconsin. He comes to Arizona about once or twice a year to see his grandchildren. While he is here in AZ, this hospital has asked if he would be willing to assist at the hospital when he can. This doctor, I was told, is the one all of the other doctors call and consult with when they need more expertise. He doesn't ask them for help, they ask him.


He did a thorough exam on Lizzy, looked at the results of tests that have already been done and determined that she is a perfectly healthy little girl, who just happens to have optic nerves that are a bit swollen. He cautioned me to keep an eye out for any changes in her vision, blurred vision, double vision, seeing lights, seeing spots, seeing colors differently, sharp pain in her head or eyes etc. He also instructed us to have our doctor check on Lizzy's eyes every 6 months for the next 2 years. Other than that, he feels everything is okay. Lizzy still has the food allergies and she needs to adhere to those guidelines, which, actually will help her body continue to be strong and healthy.

My "mommy gut" felt peace. I felt that this is what we had come for and we could now return home.


I asked him why he thought I received the urgent phone call just the day before. He said that the textbook answer to swollen optic nerves is MS - every time. He was certain the other neurologist felt the need to start Lizzy down an aggressive MS treatment path - a path he does not feel she needs to go down. The other doctors are all very good doctors, I have no doubt. But Lizzy is not a textbook and she does not have MS. It appears that only a very skilled, very experienced, very intuitive doctor would have known that. The Lord arranged for us to meet with that doctor.

Miracles:
1. If my friend had not called me the other day to say that she felt impressed to let us use her old van for as long as we needed to, I would not have had a reliable car to make the quick journey.

2. If I had not received the urgent phone call telling me my daughter might go blind if I don't go ASAP, I would never have gone in the first place.

3. If we had arrived a few minutes earlier, the first doctor and the case manager would have been available and they would have called the shots.

4. If the ER staff had the correct information, they would have started the tests the first doctor had ordered.

5. If I had gone home that night, I would have still thought Lizzy needed to see a neurologist and whomever I took her to, probably would have started the MS treatments.

6. If I had not gone back the next day, we never would have been able to meet with the great doctor who helped us so much. Who also happens to be leaving AZ tomorrow.


Basically, what the Lord did was orchestrate the most amazing plan to help us know that everything is okay.


Isn't that wonderful?!


My whole life, I've been telling myself "Everything is going to be okay." as a way of calming my fears and sadness because of the constant challenges that have been given to me. It has become the norm for me in the past few years to think in my mind "Everything is going to be okay after this life." because it seemed to me that was when I was going to need to wait for the "okay" to happen.



On the 3-hour drive home, I imagined the Savior sitting in the passenger seat next to me.


Him: "Did you get my message today?"
Me: "That Lizzy is okay? Yes, thank you so much!"
Him: "Well, yes, that is one of the messages. Did you get the other message?"
Me: "Um, that you love us and you will take care of us. Yes, thank you so much!"
Him: "Well, yes, those were also messages I sent. Did you get any other messages?"
Me: "Um, well...."
Him: "Why did I orchestrate all of this?"
Me: "To help me know that everything is going to be okay."
Him: "Going to be okay? or ..."
Me: "Oh, wait, I see, often we think you are just there when something is wrong so that we can take care of it and to comfort us. We think of you healing the wrongs and the hurts and that you are there to fix things."
Him: "Yes, keep going."

Me: "But this time, you showed me that you also rush in to tell us when life is okay. Truly okay. This time, you didn't rush in to fix a problem or heal my daughter's eyes. You rushed in to tell me that they didn't need healing."
Him: "Yes. I wanted you to not only feel that everything is going to be okay, but that there are some parts of earth life that are okay right now. I know I have allowed you, and continue to allow you, to go through a lot of hard, hard experiences in your life. You have felt great amounts of heartache. You know that I've always been there, right next to you, holding you and loving you. You have learned so much and I'm so proud of you.  I just wanted you to know that not everything is hard and that I have not forgotten you."
Me: "You're not supposed to make me cry while I drive!  But thank you. Thank you so much. I love you."
Him: "I know. I love you too."
Me: "I know."
Him: "Now, dry your tears so you don't get in an accident. Then things won't be okay." (With a wink and a smile - He does have a sense of humor you know!)


So, there you go! There's the story.
So many prayers have been said and so many prayers have been answered.

I believe that these experiences happen to us more than we know and realize.
I believe that our Father in Heaven and the Savior and all those interested in our success and happiness are very, very involved in our day to day earth life.
I believe that the more we believe that, the more we will recognize their help and the more it will be offered.

We do not have to travel through this life alone.
Wait, let me rephrase that.
We do not travel through this life alone.
We just don't always recognize the Heavenly help that is always there.


Thank you, each of you, for your generous help and prayers. Prayer is more powerful than we know. I mean it when I say that I felt stronger from the prayers that were being said.
I hope you all see God's Hand in your life today. Somehow, somewhere, in some way, He will send you a message and it will most likely be, "I love you."

Love to you all!

P.S As the good doctor was leaving the ER exam room, he turned and said, "I apologize again for not coming in to see you on Wednesday night. My two grandchildren are severely autistic. I had told my daughter and her husband to go out and enjoy themselves before I leave on Saturday while I took care of the kids. It ended up being a challenging night with both of the kids and I just couldn't leave them." The tears filled his eyes and I said, "No need to apologize. You were right where you were supposed to be."

And with that we see that the Lord is truly in charge. His timing and His methods we do not always understand, but they are always right. Our trust in Him can be absolute!

Lost and Found

My daughter received a book for Christmas with beautiful pictures of the Savior on each page. As I was reading this book with her, I turned the page and found this picture by Greg Olsen entitled "Lost and Found".

I have seen it before but the message of this picture was very powerful at that moment. Tears started spilling down my cheeks. My daughter looked at me, she didn't even ask, she knew what I was feeling. She is accustomed to my emotions, she shares them as well.

We sat and looked at the picture together. I told her how the picture made me feel. She told me how the picture made her feel.

I'm not going to share any of that because I want those of you who are reading this right now to discover your own message here. If you were on that bench, what would that conversation be like?

Whatever your interpretation may be... let it lead you to the love our Savior has for you...no matter what.

Perspective

"One Sunday morning our teenaged son stood with two other priests to administer the sacrament, as they had done on many prior occasions. They pulled back the white cloth, but to their dismay there was no bread. One of them slipped out to the preparation room in hopes some could be found. There was none. Finally our troubled son made his way to the bishop and shared the concern with him. A wise bishop then stood, explained the situation to the congregation, and asked, 'How would it be if the sacrament table were empty today because there were no atonement?' I have thought of that often - what would it be like if there were no bread because there had been no crucifixion, no water because there had been no shedding of blood? If there had been no Atonement, what would the consequences be to us? Of course, the question is now moot, but it does put in perspective our total dependence on the Lord. To ask and answer this question only heightens our awareness of, and appreciations for, the Savior." Tad R. Callister, "The Infinite Atonement" pg. 54.

I read this quote about 2 years ago and I still think of it almost every Sunday as I am partaking of the Sacrament. It is a pretty powerful image of just how vital the Savior's atoning sacrifice really is to our eternal existence. In fact, without His atonement, there would be no eternal existence for us to look forward to.

 I am aware that trying to wrap our heads around this is tough and can cause a headache! Here is what I have been telling myself lately...

Fully understanding the Atonement may never truly happen to any of us in this life. Our finite minds may not be able to comprehend all things. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try. That doesn't mean I can't understand more than I do at this time. That doesn't mean I shouldn't ponder and study and pray. I do not want to be satisfied with a mediocre understanding of the greatest event in the history of the world.

I can't think of any greater topic to pursue, for the Atonement of Jesus Christ encompasses all truth. Begin a deeper study of the Atonement and you will begin a deeper study of the universe and all truth contained therein. Begin a deeper study of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and you will find yourself more devoted to Him and more determined to follow His teachings and His example. Begin a deeper study of the Atonement and you will begin a deeper study of yourself.

Because the Atonement happened FOR YOU!

How I Survived Kindergarten

I'm a little worried this post is going to come off as self-righteous. That is completely not my intent. I am aware, sometimes painfully aware, of my imperfections and short comings. I simply want to show what worked for me in hopes it can help someone else and by writing it down, it actually helps me keep it up...

School is starting up again all over the place so I thought I would write a quick list of the ways I survived my daughter's first year of school. It can be a bit tough some days watching her walk into school at 7:45am and then picking her up again at 3:00pm knowing that I will never know every single thing that happened to her as she spent those hours away from home each day. Who said something mean to her? Who said something inappropriate to her? Was she nice to others? Did she goof off in class? Did something break her heart? Is her teacher able to give her the attention she needs? Does she have friends?

Don't get me wrong, I am not super overprotective  (or at least I try not to be). Most days are fine. I do trust her and know that she is a good girl and I have faith that she will have happy experiences more than bad.

But this scripture is brought to my memory quite often... 
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
"Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day..." (Ephesians 6:11-17)

With this in mind, there were days I had to go down my check list to make sure I had done all I could to help my daughter put on her armor before she walked into school each day.  Here is my list...

1. Did we have family prayer before school?
2. Did we have family scripture study before school?
3.  Did we have Family Home Evening this week?
4. Did I let her know enough that I love her and adore her and that nothing she ever does, or doesn't do, will ever, ever, ever change that?
5. Did she eat a good breakfast and get some vitamins so that her brain will work well?
6. Did I express my complete confidence in her ability to learn and grow and understand?

Now, before you start thinking, "No one is that perfect!", let me assure you that you are correct! :) Not all of these things happened each morning or each week and most of the time I was on the verge of just forgetting all of it. But somehow I found the strength to accomplish all of this despite the tremendous opposition of stressful school mornings. Let me explain...

1. Family Prayer: Most mornings my husband and I are doing our best to corral our two over active children together long enough for a prayer. Sometimes this corralling included yelling and sometimes the corralling continued to take place even during the prayer. Our prayers were short and sometimes hurried and sometimes I would think, "We don't have time for this! She's going to be late!" But then the Holy Ghost would say, "Let her be late then. Prayer is more important." Thank goodness he was able to get through to my stressed out mommy brain on those mornings. (BTW - she was never late, never. Prayer works miracles!) Prayer is VITAL!! Armor on? Shield of Faith up? Check.

2.  Family scripture study: This would take place around the kitchen table while we quickly shoved food into our mouths. It consisted of us reading a few verses each day and me saying, "Did you hear what Daddy said?" (usually because it seemed that they weren't paying attention at all) They were then usually able to tell us one thing that Daddy said and so I didn't push it. My fear is that if I expect too much out of this time, it will stop all together and that would be a tragedy. Maybe this is the wrong philosophy but for now, it works and so I'm not going to push it. We'll add more and more verses to our study as the children grow older. Not all families can do this before school, but we must find a time to do it.  Armor on? Helment of Salvation in place? Belt of Truth secure? Sword of the Spirit ready? Check.

3. Family Home Evening: Refer to my post "Onion Tears? I Don't Think So." and know that this is by far the activity I struggle with the most. Even so, it happens more often than not and I've rededicated myself to making sure it happens without fail. Armor on? Breastplate of Righteousness secure? Feet shod with the Gospel of Truth? Check.

4. Good breakfast with Vitamins: I've done a lot of studying about our brains and how to help them function at their best. A good breakfast (not a lot of sugary cereal) with a children's multi-vitamin is my way of doing what I can to help her have an easier time learning in school each day. I do want to mention, however, that our pediatrician said that even cereal for breakfast is better than no breakfast and that carried me through on the mornings cold cereal was the only plan that worked (which happened more often than I had hoped). Physical body taken care of? Armor on? Shield of Faith up? Check.

5. Confidence and Unconditional Love: I don't know any other way to say this, as I've said it before, but I have grown to view unconditional love for your children as a vitamin, antibiotic and/or vaccine helping them to protect themselves against the fiery darts of the adversary. My husband, who is a therapist, sees people in his office all day, every day, who did not get this vaccine as a child. I do not say that lightly.  

The only knowledge we can give our children that is of greater importance than knowing and trusting our love, is teaching them to know and trust the love of our Savior and our Father in Heaven. I cannot be with my children wherever they go, but our Father CAN and WILL. Our children must know this to their very core. Hearts filled with courage? Armor on? Check!


If I could go down my check list, checking each item off as "done", then I knew I had done all I could and the rest was in our Father's very capable hands. I could rest easy and trust Him to take care of her - after all He was her parent long before she was sent to me.

 There are so many other items that could be added to this list and each family may have their own personal items to check off each day. As I've been typing this I keep hearing the words, "Mother's Who Know" run through my mind. It is from an amazing talk given by LDS General Relief Society president Julie B. Beck. She said:

"The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). ¹ However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children" President Julie B. Beck

Our Father did not send us here to fail. He sent us here to learn and grow and improve ourselves so we can one day, if we so choose, be like Him. He is doing all He can to help us succeed. He is our Eternal Father - a perfect parent. By following His parental example, we can help our children (His children whom He has put in our stewardship) find joy and peace and hope in this world and even more in the world to come. 

By the way...doing these activities each day not only helped my children put on their armor, it helped their mother put on her's as well. :) 

2015 Update: I now have two children in school. One going into 3rd grade and one going into 5th grade. I home schooled my oldest last year. It was a wonderful experience. I loved being with her every day. I loved that we could incorporate the Gospel into all we did. I loved the amazing field trips we were able to go on that public schools just cannot afford, nor have time for because of testing demands. I really loved it all and I am a big supporter of home school. 

My oldest is going back to public school this year. She isn't too excited about that but I will be going with her as I will have a job at the school where both of my children will attend. 

Sometimes, the Lord has plans for you and your family that were not necessarily your own plans. I know our Father in Heaven supports public school and home school and the answer for each family and even each child is different. Our Father in Heaven has an individual plan for each of us and that plan has different steps along the way and different places to be and different experiences that need to be had in order to help each individual fulfill their own personal mission on this earth.

All is well and I'm interested to see what our Father has in store - good and bad - for my little family this year. As long as we are keeping His commandments, I have faith that eventually all things will work together for our good.

Spiritual Math

I figured it out!

A few posts ago, I shared an analogy about the Second Coming that I have discovered in my life. I did so because of all the talk about the end of the world and the OBVIOUS signs of the times with regards to the natural disasters happening all over the world at this time. (You can read that post here)

I decided then that I wanted to study more and share my thoughts on this topic here on this blog. I have been studying, but every time I have sat down to write my thoughts, something totally different was written on the computer screen than I had anticipated. My posts have been about BELIEVING that you can and should receive personal revelation and making time to read the scriptures. My thoughts keep going in that direction, despite my current topic of study in the scriptures.

Today I was doing some spiritual math...

1. A desire to study the events leading up to the Second Coming and wanting to better understand how to make myself ready for whatever may come.

+

1. The guidance of the Holy Ghost in this quest

_____________________________________________________

2. Realizing that the ability to decipher the Savior's voice from all other voices out there is probably the most important way we can  be worthy and ready for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Then I remembered this quote:
"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "And Upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit", Ensign, May 2010. Read Sister Beck's Talk here

So, it was all part of my quest. I just love how our Savior guides us, even if we don't recognize it at first.

Today I listened to a great radio question/answer session with Sister Beck on learning how to receive personal revelation. It's not too long and if your kids will let you, you can listen to it while you fix dinner! :) Click the link below to listen to these great insights...

Relief Society: Episode 12 - Personal Revelation

(Remember, my kids use up 99.9% of my brain capacity so it takes me a little while to connect the dots sometimes. Be nice when you think "I coulda told her that!)

Never Say It Again!

Have these words ever passed through your mind or come from your mouth...

"I don't get inspiration. I just have to have faith to follow those who do."

 Or

 "The Lord doesn't talk to me. He talks to others but not to me."

 Or

 "I can't ever find an answer in the scriptures. They don't speak to me the way they do to others."

Well, if those phrases sound familiar (Guilty! I've said them before.) then this post is for you! Read on and by the end, I hope you will know that all of those statements are lies from what's-his-no-face and you will never allow yourself to utter them or think them again.

I know. I know. You are thinking..."but Lisa Love, those statements are true. I really don't get inspiration. The Spirit doesn't talk to me. I really just have to have faith and trust that things will work out."

Well, I know. I hear ya. I'm right there with ya. Remember I said in an earlier post that satan twists the truth? So the truth in all of that is that "yes" we do need to have faith and trust. The lie is that we don't get inspiration and that the Holy Ghost doesn't talk to us.

Those of you with children, ask yourself this question...would you ever decide that you were only going to talk to a couple of your children and then make the others listen to them to find out your thoughts and feelings and guidance? NO WAY!! Even a imperfect parent (all of us) would never completely ignore some of our children while talking and interacting and sharing our love with the others. Our Father in Heaven is a perfect parent - He doesn't work that way. He wants to talk and guide and help every single one of His children. If it is important to us, it is definitely important to Him. I can't stress that enough. Even the teeny, tiny, small things in life, He wants to be involved in all of it.

Yet! So many of us think that He doesn't talk to us. I have come to believe that when we utter statements such as, "I don't get inspiration." We are in a sense saying, "My Father doesn't talk to me." and slamming the door to inspiration in His face, thus bringing about the fulfillment of our statement. Does that make sense? What if your kids did that to you? OUCH...triple OUCH!! That hurts! Although our Father in Heaven is perfect, He still feels that pain of rejection from His child.

Okay? We're never going to say that again! EVER!! But now comes the job of LEARNING HOW TO RECOGNIZE HIS MESSAGES. It can be a little bit of hard work and trial and error and it takes a life time and we can't give up.

I have had the amazing opportunity to teach a  Continuing Education adult religion class for the past 4 years. I'm not a professionally trained religion teacher. I have a degree, but not a PhD! This assignment has been an experiment in trusting that my local leaders know how to get inspiration. Teaching institute is not like any other teaching assignment I have ever had. People expect me to KNOW what I'm talking about. I need to back myself up with scriptures, the words of modern day prophets and powerful testimony. I can't just spend an hour before class gathering some thoughts and hope that a cute hand out will make up for the rest. I must study daily, and deeply and PRAYERFULLY. (btw...I've learned this is how we should approach any teaching assignment because teaching is the greatest responsibility.)

As anyone who has ever been asked to teach something knows, the teacher learns the most. Of all the lessons the Holy Ghost has taught me over the past 4 years, the lesson that has been the most life changing, the most valuable to my eternal salvation is this: I have a responsibility to seek out personal guidance and revelation from the Holy Ghost...and even more eye opening...I have a right, a BIRTHRIGHT to receive guidance and inspiration from my Eternal Father.

Read these verses very carefully. It is long but oh so worth it with the new direction that you are not going to slam that inspiration door ever again... (Doctrine and Covenants 76:5 - 10)

"For thus saith the Lord - I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end." What word does He use to describe how He feels about blessing us? DELIGHT. He loves to bless us. Just as we love to give our children way too many presents at Christmas time, He loves to bless us as much as we are willing to receive. (When the Savior talks here, He is telling us His desires, as well as those of our Father as they are one in heart and purpose.) The next verses tell what He WANTS to give to all of us. While you read the next verses, replace the words "they" and "their" and "them" with your own personal name and open that door to hearing the Savior and our Father talking to you... (I'll make those words small so it will be easier for you to mentally replace them.)

"Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.

"And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.

"Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.

"And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven; and before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught.

"For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will - yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man."

Just sit for a moment and let yourself take all of that in.

Does that sound like someone who doesn't want to talk to you?

Up to this point you may have been someone who would have read those verses and just seen the word "they" as someone who is anyone but you. But that is going to change now...right? Because now you are going to start leaving yourself open to inspiration and guidance and LOVE from our Father and our Brother.

They WANT to give you and tell you and show you EVERYTHING. Truly. Why wouldn't They? God is your Father - your perfect Father who wants you to learn and grow and become all He knows you can - just like you want for your children. The difference is, we only have earthly aspirations for our children. Whereas, He has ETERNAL aspirations for us.  Jesus Christ joins Him in these aspirations - He's the one who made them possible, remember?

Now I need to say here that there is an order to things and some inspiration must go through certain channels. For example: if the Lord needs to give a message to the whole world He tells it to His prophet so that there is no confusion. When a mom needs inspiration for her child, the Lord tells that mom, not the mom around the corner. There is an order just like we have stop signals in our streets, otherwise there would be mass chaos.

But when we hear the words of the Prophets, we too can know what they know. The Holy Ghost can witness to our hearts that what they are saying is true. We can know for ourselves. We should know for ourselves. As the scriptures up above make very clear, we can know ALL THINGS for ourselves.

All of this is leading up to something, I promise. :)

A couple of posts ago, I wrote that I wanted to study more about the Savior's Second Coming and that I would post some of my notes and thoughts on this topic. The Second Coming isn't one of those warm fuzzy topics that people love to hear about. That is probably due to the fact that when we study the Second Coming, we must study the events that will lead to the Savior's return and they aren't pretty and we also wonder if the signs are already happening and it just seems so overwhelming that what has been prophesied for centuries will really happen.  So we tend to want to study other topics - topics that make us happy and give us hope. But I think this topic is of great worth, as it will happen and we need to be ready and knowledge is power. :)

I want to show how we can and should have hope while studying the Second Coming but I also want to show that anyone can study anything and find directions and answers because that is what our Savior and our Father WANT to give us. (are you getting that yet?)

When we study we need to not slam that inspiration door. Instead, leave it as wide open as you can by praying and believing and jotting down your thoughts (no matter how random the thought may be because sometimes the Holy Ghost has been trying to tell us something but the door has been closed so when we finally open the door, we may get messages that have nothing to do with what we are studying.)

While pondering how I wanted to go about studying the Second Coming a little more in depth, I came across two quotes by President Ezra Taft Benson which I had forgotten about...

"The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior’s visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior’s second coming." Ezra Taft Benson, “The Savior’s Visit to America,” Ensign, May 1987, 4

“In the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet. … Can anyone doubt that this book was meant for us and that in it we find great power, great comfort, and great protection?” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 5–6; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 6–7).

With this in mind, I'm going to focus my studying this time around the Book of Helaman and 3 Nephi, both found in the Book of Mormon. Maybe I'll get side tracked along the way and find myself studying something entirely different. That's okay. It all leads back to our Savior right? You can join me if you like and one more time...LEAVE THAT INSPIRATION DOOR OPEN!!!