My husband and I enjoy going on a walk most mornings after the kids have gone to school, before both of us start our workday. I enjoy the time we have to talk and just be outdoors together.

Yesterday morning as we returned, I received a text message that made me chuckle a little. In essence, our dear friend expressed how wonderful it is to see us walk together because we are so in sync, swinging our arms in rhythm as we walk.

My first thought was, “In sync?! Oh if only you knew!” I thought of just one of the ways we haven’t seen eye to eye. Then I thought about what she was seeing – the outward expression of the real effort we made each day to walk in sync. It doesn’t just happen.

You see, we like to hold hands while we walk. However, this causes a bit of an awkward gait if you attempt to walk at a good clip and your legs and arms are not moving in the right cadence. Our inside legs must come forward at the same time – mirror image movements. This allows us to swing our clasped hands in unison. Otherwise our arms are stuck in a forced stable position, which feels odd when the other arm swings in time to the steps.

As I thought more about the observation shared by our friend, I remembered the many times we have had to readjust as we have rounded corners or walked on or off curbs. Even sometimes when my shorter legs don’t keep up with his longer strides.

It has been comical in moments when both of us realize we are off and try to make adjustments at the same time, only succeeding in keeping the off-timed walk instead of fixing it. We have learned to try and anticipate changes, or we take turns making the adjustments.

After my amusement regarding the text, I was struck with the thought of how much that is like our interactions with those around us. What would happen if we tried to walk a little more in sync with each other?

It is no secret that the world is becoming more contentious. How can we more peacefully walk with one another throughout the journey of life? Perhaps we can be more willing to try to walk in sync. That doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything. My steps don’t have to exactly match yours. But we can navigate around the corners and ups and downs as we respect each other’s steps. Look out for each other. Our differences can even help us get farther as we are linked together. There will be times we get out of sync, maybe even let go as we navigate around an obstacle in our path. But we can come together again. It is worth the effort.

I’m so glad that God is one for second chances. And third and fourth as well. Sometimes I am amazed at my lack of spiritual listening and acting on nudges. It seems like lately I have missed so many. Have you ever felt that way?

Well, I am happy to announce that I did listen and act on at least one this week. I am interested to see where it leads. It feels like an important one. It must be. Because the Lord was sure persistent.

I became aware of the Work and Wonder company a few months ago as I was listening to a podcast. I was intrigued and checked out their site. I saw their General Conference workbook and thought, “That is cool. But I do not need another something to write in. I am not even using the things I have right now. I don’t have time.” I felt the whisper of a thought that it could be a good thing, but very quickly waved it aside. No time or energy.

I kept being reminded of it. A friend took the time to show me what she had just received – the W&W General Conference Workbook – and explained how she really enjoyed them. I felt a markedly stronger nudge that it was something I should check into. Stubbornly, I pushed it away. “Why would this be such a big deal for me? I don’t need one more thing to write in!”

Keep in mind that I have been praying for guidance to know what I needed to do. Pleading with the Lord for some direction in my life on a number of fronts. And here I was not listening. Sheesh. I am so grateful for the Lord’s patience. I think He understood my mental state these past few months. He knew I was exhausted. He knew I was overwhelmed. And He kept trying, offering little tidbits that He knew I would get eventually.

This week, amidst my crazy, I happened to get a notification about a live feed that W+W was doing about their workbook. I was getting ready to clean and thought it would be interesting to listen to. And Wow. How it spoke to my heart!

The discussion focused on the why behind the design and the photos chosen. I didn’t end up cleaning. I sat and soaked in what the Spirit was trying to help me see. Purpose. Truth. Guidance. I don’t know that I can even explain it. Tears are streaming down my face as I type this, remembering the experience. And I have cried each time I share it.

One particular story touched me to the core. I see so much of my life in it. Maybe you can relate. The photograph is entitled “The Light”. Two hands striving to reach the beautiful, almost ethereal light above. The photographer, Jess Kettle, shared how the picture came to be. She knew the shot she wanted, but had no idea how to create it. Then, amidst the busy and crazy of life, she found it. In a totally unexpected place, the Lord provided. It wasn’t planned and even a little tricky to capture. But it was there for those who had the eyes to see.

Oh how I needed that reminder. The Lord is there. He can provide amid the mess. He will reach our reaching. We just need to look. And He is so good that He will try again if we miss it the first time…or the third.

I finally purchased the workbook. It came yesterday. And yes, I needed it.

This card came with it. Another reminder. The Lord knows my language. And He knows yours. I so look forward to these next few weeks of reflection, preparation, General Conference, and Easter. I’m grateful for a God who sees and knows and patiently reaches. I pray I can learn to me more like Him each day.

**If you are interested, you can visit the Work and Wonder site here:

https://www.workandwonderco.com/

**You can watch the W+W Instagram Live with Jess Kettle on their Instagram under “videos”:

https://www.instagram.com/work.and.wonder/channel/

Do you think God has a sense of humor? I do. I’m sure our guardian angels do as well. In fact, I imagine at times they are calling to their fellow heavenly helpers saying, “Hey, come watch how this plays out.”

I don’t mind. Laughter is good medicine. It is powerful. Like anything, there should be moderation. Additionally, it should never be at someone’s expense. However, the ability to find humor in a situation can help us through the hard of life. It is such a great pressure release. I am so grateful when the Lord helps me see it.

Last week, He knew I needed a good belly laugh. I was so stressed about all that needed done, I could barely breath. I’m sure I was not much fun to be around. One night, I impatiently waited for the family to gather for our nightly routine of scripture study and prayer. Grumpily scrolling through Facebook, I came across a much-needed dose. I share it here with permission.

A fellow Bishop’s wife was doing some personal scripture study when her daughter came in distraught because of an inexplicable stain on her pillow. It looked suspiciously like dried blood but there had been nothing on the pillowcase. They discussed possibilities but couldn’t solve the mystery. As the daughter left to work on removing the stain, my friend returned to her reading. Here are the next verses she read:

Now, what are the odds! Yep, I’m sure some Heavenly elbow-nudging was involved with that one! They had a good laugh, and so did I.

Have you experienced something similar? Or maybe the Lord has blessed you with the ability to see the humor in a situation that perhaps at first glance wasn’t so funny. I can think of a time.

A number of years ago, I was getting ready to go somewhere. As was my usual practice, I had the curling iron heating up while I got dressed. After the normal amount of time, I went to curl my bangs. The second my hair touched the iron, wisps of smoke started to rise. Knowing something was wrong, I tried to release my hair. As I pulled the curing iron away, my hair came with it! I was dumbstruck! I stared at the iron. There was my hair! What just happened?! I stared at the mirror. I had just burned off all of my bangs! Only extremely short shriveled strands remained, sticking straight up.

I remember the moment of decision – to laugh or cry. I know the Lord helped me find the humor. I felt the nudge and started to laugh. The more I thought about it the harder I guffawed. The ridiculousness and oddity of the situation flooded over me. My normal reaction would have been to cry. Be devastated. I was going through some hard things in life at the time. This was just one more. And yet, I responded in tear-filled laughter because the Lord helped me see it in that light.

It took months for my hair to grow back. I used headbands a lot. It could have been frustrating, and at times it was. Yet often when I went to get ready, the memory of that moment made me chuckle. It still does. That laughter was an amazing tender mercy that I needed at the time.

It reminds me of something Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught, “The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.” And the beautiful thing is that the Lord will help us do just that.

** Check out Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin’s talk “Come What May, and Love It” from the October 2008 General Conference. He shares some awesome laughable experiences.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2008/10/come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng

In both the animated and live action versions of the movie Aladdin, Jasmine begins to recognize Prince Ali when he offers his hand and asks her for the second time, “Do you trust me?” I’ve been thinking of how the Lord repeatedly offers a similar invitation.

I’ve seen it through out the scriptures as we have studied Come Follow Me this year. One of my favorites has been Enoch’s story. In Moses 6, we learn how God called Enoch and asked him to be his mouthpiece. Enoch’s response speaks to me. “Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech… (verse 31).” Can’t you just feel this mind-blown moment. Have you ever felt that way? “You want me to do what?” In essence, the Lord is asking, “Do you trust me?”

This year so far has been a hurricane of challenge. The perfect storm of overwhelming has left me gasping for breath. I’ve sent so many questions like Enoch’s heavenward. “I am slow of mind, unqualified, the timing seems off…Are you sure you want me to do this?”

I found an answer in Enoch’s story. Near the end of verse 13 in Moses 7 we read, “[Enoch] spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled…so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.” This young man – slow of speech and unpopular – ended up having such power in his words that not only were mountains and rivers moved, but an entire group of people became so righteous that the Lord took them up to Him. Wow. Oh what God can do with a willing son or daughter!

Sister Camille N. Johnson reminded us of President Nelson’s invitation to trust God in her recent General Conference talk, “Are you willing to let God prevail in your life?…Are you willing to let whatever He needs you to do take precedence over every other ambition?” As I listened to this talk this week, the Lord reminded me of a time when I did just that and the difference it has made in my life.

My second year of college had an interesting start. I could barely wait to return. I had thoroughly enjoyed my first year and looked forward to the next. Despite not having any roommates returning, I scheduled to live in the same complex just a few doors down from where I was the year before. New roommates, but same ward. I was excited about the combination of familiar and new, including a few foreign roommates.

About a week before move-in day, I got a call from the apartment manager. She explained that those foreign roommates, from Bulgaria, had a fourth in their group. The original arrangements were that the four were supposed to be in the same apartment. Somehow this one girl had been assigned not only a different apartment, but a totally different floor/ward. The manager called to see if I would be willing to change places with her. New roommates. New ward. Another year of totally unknown. I was shellshocked but felt the nudge to agree to change. At least until I got there.

I remember my discouragement when I drove up. The weight of that decision smashed against me as I saw the happy reunions of others. What had I done? I knew no one. Again. My saddness grew and I escaping to a quiet place to sob and call home. “I can’t do this! What was I thinking?!”, I cried to my mom. She patiently listened, then gently reminded me why I had said yes. She assured me the Lord knew the situation and would help. She basically asked, Do you trust Him?

Looking back on that choice, it shaped me. In so many ways. It turned out just fine and led me in directions that I might not have gone if I had stayed with what I had planned.

Sister Johnson says, “We can choose to write a comfortable narrative for ourselves. Or we can allow the Master Author and Finisher to write our story with us…Let Christ be the author and finisher of your story!” May we all be more trusting of Him this year. It is well worth the stretching.

**Sister Johnson’s talk: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/42johnson?lang=eng

I was reminded that a friend’s birthday was on Wednesday. My heart shuttered a little. This dear woman celebrated her birthday in heaven this year. I’m sure she is living it up and being busy as a beaver on the other side. I am happy for her. However, a residual melancholy settled in that day as I thought again of our loss here.

The next day I received word that my boss and friend had passed away. Sadness descended, a little more heavily with this fresh loss. Over the next few days, I reflected on the footprints she left on my life over the years and how her passing would alter things.

These experiences reminded me of a lesson I learned years ago amidst the passing of a sister in our ward.

I did not know her, only of her. She lived just down the street. She and her husband were older, and I was busy raising my young children at the time. I had thoughts of a neighborly visit, but never acted on them other than maybe taking over a treat. If I remember correctly, her husband passed shortly before she did. Again I had thoughts of stopping by, but they came to not. When I learned of her funeral though, I made a point to attend.

It was an extremely small service. They had not lived in the area long so not many knew them. As I listened to some of the stories shared by her family, I was hit by a deep sense of loss. Oh how I had missed an opportunity to know a remarkable woman! I wished I had acted on those earlier nudges. I wondered what I would have learned from her. I still do.

While I have done better, I still let too many opportunities slip away. This past week, I’m grateful for the reminder of the blessings of connection. While it hurts so much when those ties are interrupted, I think it hurts less than the could-have-beens.

“The matter, therefore, of being a light is even more important in dark times. Our impact, for better or worse, on others is inevitable, but it is intended that we be a light and not just another shadow….The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well.” (emphasis added)

– Neal A. Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake (Deseret 1974), p. 86

Have you ever gotten an answer from Heaven? The unmitigated, no-doubt-it-is-from-the-Lord type of answer? The kind that you just bask in the glow of the feelings as long as you can, wishing you could bottle it up and open it when the doubts or troubles come again?

In the October 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson said, “…[It] it is now time that we each implement extraordinary measures—perhaps measures we have never taken before—to strengthen our personal spiritual foundations. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. (emphasis added).”

What has that message meant to you over the past few months? What are your “unprecedented measures”? I have been asking the Lord just that. What would You have me do? What do I need? This blog has been one of those answers.

I also was recently nudged to keep a record each day of how I see the Lord in my life. Just a sentence or two. I haven’t been at it long, but today I was blessed with a special moment I felt I should share. I had that “ah” type of moment described above.

The past few years have been a tangle of stretching highs and lows. I’m sure you can relate. It has worn me out. Some things that used to help carry me through previously, just do not seem to cut it lately. Leaving me wondering, what am I doing wrong? I have been praying for direction – for a while. A few days ago, I came across this message from Sharon Eubank. It burned into my heart. “When you can’t give more, when you’ve gone beyond your ability to give, then sit still. Call on the Holy Ghost and angels to come to you. Be still and get full.”

It was an answer! But I also felt that there was more to it that the Lord wanted me to learn. I did not have time to try and find where the quote came from right then, so I took a screenshot of the post to research later.

This morning, I tracked down the origin of Sister Eubank’s quote. And wow! It came from an address given at the BYU Women’s Conference on May 5, 2017. You can use the link below to discover the goodness for yourself.

The particular quote was from a forgotten note Sister Eubank herself found during a time she was asked to give “more”. The story is incredible. The way I came across the quote was Divinely orchestrated. It is a message I needed. Maybe you do too.

Oh how the Lord knows what we are going through and what our hearts need! While this particular answer took time to come – years even, it still came. And the waiting on the Lord increased the power of receiving it.

If you are waiting for your own answers, I encourage you to hold on. Keep searching. They will come. In the Lord’s perfect time. And ask Him about your own “unprecedented measures”. He will help you discover them.

**Sister Eubank’s message – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/when-youre-already-tired-and-cant-do-one-more-thing?lang=eng

It is definitely the season of “more”. More service. More thoughtfulness. More snow. We finally got our first snow of the year, and it was worth the wait. Being from Wyoming, I enjoy getting inches of white stuff. I especially love when the combination of new snow and low clouds creates a nighttime glow.

But this season can also be a time of more frustration. More stress. More hurry. I have been thinking about which types of “more” I want to cultivate.

I came across an unexpected kind this morning. I found it in Mark 9:31-32.

The phrase “they…were afraid to ask him” hit me hard. I know what it feels like to be afraid to ask. Do you?

A co-worker of mine recently shared an experience she had on her mission. She was called to serve in a totally different location, language, and culture than what she was raised in. It was hard! She struggled. She prayed for help. Her answer was unexpected.

She was nudged to ask her questions at church. Be vulnerable. Share her hard. How scary is that? But she pushed past the fear and asked. Even though, as a missionary she felt she was supposed to be the one with the answers. And you know what? It worked! She got her answer from others as they “[met] together oft…and [spoke] one with another concerning the welfare of their souls” (Moroni 6:5). That lesson has continued to bless her through her life as she asks.

I have thought about that a lot.

I have also thought about something President Russell M. Nelson said in the April 2018 General Conference. In his first main address to all the world after he was sustained as the Prophet, President Nelson encouraged, “What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand?…Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort….Oh, there is so much more that your Father in Heaven wants you to know.”

I want to be more like my friend. I want more courage to ask my questions, of both the Lord and others. I want more bravery to share my own thoughts and worries. I also want to trust more in God’s timing, because sometimes the answers take a while. I wonder what “more” the early apostles would have learned had they asked their questions at that moment.

What more am I missing because I am “afraid to ask”?

**In case you are interested, here is the link to President Nelson’s talk.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng

What my blog and baseball have in common.

I have been told before that I should write a blog. I even dipped my toes in the blog pool for a minute. I enjoyed it. However, life with young kids tends to pull a mom in directions other than in front of the computer. So I never got in too deep. Well, now that some of those kids are adults, I feel the pull to write renewed.

As I thought about a blog, I debated what to call it. How do you name a place where you hope to share your thoughts and musings? Seems pretty daunting honestly. Interesting that my mind turned to baseball. Let me explain.

As I write, my husband, son, and an untold number of their fellow Atlanta Braves baseball fans bask in the glow of victory. Their team just won the World Series. I am not a die-hard fan like my loved ones. However, in the vernacular of the sport there is a term I find interesting – the sweet spot. It is the magical place on the bat where you want to hit the ball. Not only will doing so prevent your hand from stinging from the impact of the hit, but it provides the greatest trajectory. In short, you hit the ball farthest if you hit it in the sweet spot.

That is how I want to live. I want to find that place where I will get the most out of life. I want to do the most good that I can. I want to become the best “me” I can. And deep down, don’t we all want that? Don’t we all want to live in the sweet spot of our lives?

Now, this does not mean that everything is perfect and nothing bad ever happens. Au contraire. How would we even know when we are in the sweet spot if we have never felt the sting of a bad hit or never watched a ball drift foul? Nope, living in the sweet spot encompasses the whole gamut of the game of life. The heartaches. The joys. Even the occasional rain delay. Bring it on. We learn from it. We fine-tune our skills. We try again. And again. And again.

So that is what I hope this bog will be. A place where you and I can explore what it means to live in the sweet spot of life. Join me.