Challenge #34--Now That's Love

Tomorrow is the official "Day of Love"--Valentine's Day!  So, I thought I'd do a fun little challenge on expressing our love to those we love!

What do you love about your spouse?  (Or child(ren), parent, finance, etc.)

I have found that as each day goes by, I love my husband more and more.  I love my children more and more.  It never ceases to amaze me that my love never stops growing for them!  I tell them often that I love them, but I never really tell them why.  You may be the same way, so now this is your chance to record a few things that you love about your spouse or anyone else that you love! 

Here a few ideas of what you could do to record this challenge:
*Make a list, such as "50 Reasons I Love You", or "How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways!".
*Use the letters from the person's name and write one quality about that person that starts with that letter.
*Write a poem about that person and how your love grows each day for them.
*Make a scrapbook page with a picture of you and the person and write why you love him/her.
*Draw or paint a picture of one thing you love about this person.
*Make a video with pictures and text telling reasons.
*Cut up a few slips of paper and write one reason on each slip of paper.  Put them all together in a special container, inside a favorite candy or in balloons!

How ever you do this, make sure you make a copy of what you've written and put it in a special place!

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What I did:

I actually did this quite a few years ago, but still wanted to share it anyway.   Every night I write in my journal, and in this journal, I added one thing that I love about my husband each night in the back.  I used different pens and font styles.  It reminds me of those "Smash Books" that are pretty popular right now.  I love looking back at some of the things that I wrote--all of which are true still, but I have more to add to it 7 years later! 

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Now I challenge you to record some things you love about someone special in your life! 

Challenge #32—Gifted and Talented

Hooray, it’s our first new challenge of 2013!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Now it’s time to get back on track…and we’ll start with today:

What are some of your gifts and talents?

I know it’s hard to sometimes admit the things we’re good at, for fear that we’re bragging, but it’s also important to recognize all that Heavenly Father has blessed us with!  Not only does He bless us with things like health, a home, family, and other temporal blessings, but He has blessed us with gifts and talents so that we can help others…contribute to the kingdom and bless His name. 

If you’re not sure what some of your gifts are, read D&C 46, and you may just discover that you have more gifts than you realized!  Also, remember the Parable of the Talents? (Matt. 25:14-30) The man who hid his talent was called by his lord, a “wicked and slothful servant”.  So, I hope that by listing your talents and gifts, you will be better able to use them for good, and the Lord will be able to say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”!  Also, check your Patriarchal Blessing, mine specifically points out a couple of gifts that I’ve been given!

You can simply make a list of the gifts and talents you’ve been given, write them in your journal, make them into a scrapbook page, or even use one of your talents to do something more (like write a poem about it if you’ve been gifted in that area!).  I’ve also made a Fast Form freebie for any of you who’d like to use it!  Just right click and save the image.  (You could use this whole challenge as your next FHE!)

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Now on to our examples!

(I haven’t gotten anything yet from our team members, but if they get it to me, I will put them up!)

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What I did:

I actually decided to twist this one a little bit.  I’m going to print off and fill out the Fast Form, but I thought it’d be fun to do a scrapbook page based on something my old Bishop taught in a lesson a few years ago that has stuck with me.

Credits:  Paper, Die Cuts With a View (Doodlin’ Around Stack—came as is!), Pen, Zig Writer, Pearls, Martha Stewart, Jewels, unknown.

Here’s what the journaling says: 

“Once upon a time…I thought I didn’t have many gifts or talents.  I wasn’t exceptionally good at anything…I didn’t have a “thing” in High School like others did.  I have always been just “alright” at a handful of things.  Musically, I do okay on the piano—not well enough to play for Church.  I also played the clarinet a bit and I can sing well enough for a choir but not any solos.  Artistically I can’t draw, but I am a pretty good photographer and good at scrapbooking.  Academically I was always a B+ or A- student—not good enough grades for scholarships.  I was (still am) a pretty good teacher, but not teacher of the year quality.  I was/am a pretty good dancer, though I never made any special teams.  I feel that I am just pretty average at all that I do.  One Sunday, our Bishop taught a lesson I’ll never forget.  he was using Elder Oaks’ “Good, Better, Best” talk and focused on how if we spend all our time on just 1 or 2 things we become like blocks, but if we are good at many things, we are well-rounded.  That put my life in perspective!  I may not be the best dancer, photographer, or even mom…but I am WELL-ROUNDED!”

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Now I challenge you to record about some of your gifts and talents—and then put them to use!

Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas

This December, we won’t be doing any regular challenges here on the TIMC—LDS.  We’re going to just do one challenge, and I’d love it if we could get lots of you involved! 

I’m calling it
“Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas”. 

Here’s how you can help and get involved:

1.  Think of one thing you do with your family to help you remember Christ during this busy season.

2.  Record it in your own way.  (Write it down, video it, scrapbook it, etc.)

3.  Email me (emils24(at)gmail(dot)com), or leave a comment here with your recorded challenge.

4.  Check back on the blog at least once a week during December to see how other families focus on Christ, and be inspired by the ideas of others, and maybe even try a few of them out!

5.  Spread the word to your family and friends, so they can benefit from this too!

I will link all of the future posts about it right here, so you can just check here if you’d like!

So, who’s in?

Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas

This December, we won’t be doing any regular challenges here on the TIMC—LDS.  We’re going to just do one challenge, and I’d love it if we could get lots of you involved!  

I’m calling it “Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas”.  

Here’s how you can help and get involved:

1.  Think of one thing you do with your family to help you remember Christ during this busy season.

2.  Record it in your own way.  (Write it down, take pictures, video it, scrapbook it, etc.)

3.  Email me (emils24(at)gmail(dot)com), or leave a comment here with 
your recorded challenge.

4.  Check back on the blog at least once a week during December to see how other families focus on Christ, and be inspired by the ideas of others, and maybe even try a few of them out!

5.  Spread the word to your family and friends, so they can benefit from this too!

I will link all of the future posts about it right here, so you can just check here if you’d like!

So, who’s in?

Challenge #27--Integrity

This week’s challenge is all about integrity.  I looked up the definition just for fun, and this is what it said:

in·teg·ri·ty

   noun

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.

3. a sound unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

Synonyms  1. rectitude, probity, virtue. See honor.  Antonyms  1. dishonesty.

So definition 1. is the integrity we’re talking about today, but what I really loved were the synonyms and antonyms! 

So many times in today’s society, one sees a compromising of integrity.  Rarely can we sit down and watch TV or listen to music for more that 5 minutes without  someone saying or doing something dishonestly, or without integrity.  But, there are lots of examples of integrity all around us as well, and now is the time for you to record a time in your life.

When did you have the opportunity to show integrity?

You can always focus on just one thing that was big in your life, make a list of many times, or even just record your feelings for it in general.  Of course, you can always talk about a time when you saw someone else show integrity and what that meant to you!

Here are a couple of examples to help get your thoughts going!

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What Natalie did:

We often think of integrity when we think of words like cheating, stealing, or lying.  Integrity also includes those things you do when no one is looking.  Integrity is choosing the hard right over the easy wrong.
Several years ago, I participated in my city's "beauty" pageant.  One Saturday, all of the contestants went shopping together, in an attempt to find the perfect pageant dresses.  As I was scouring the racks for a modest dress, the pageant director tried to convince me to wear a strapless dress.  Other LDS girls participating in the pageant were busy trying on immodest dresses, making it hard for me to defend myself.  On the evening of the pageant, I was the only LDS girl wearing modest clothing throughout the pageant.  That evening, I didn't win a crown or banner.  I didn't even place in the Top 10.   It was hard to see the other LDS girls, wearing immodest dresses, with crowns and banners at the end of the night.  I realized that a crown and banner didn't really matter to me.  What mattered the most was that I held on to what I knew was right, and that made me the real winner.
Sister Carol B. Thomas (First Counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency) said, "Remember this: as you develop your integrity you can be more beautiful. Integrity makes you whole and complete. Integrity will bring a twinkle to your eye and a look of confidence that will magnetically draw people to you." I know this is true!

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What I did:

I just made a scrapbook layout, and in the place of where the picture was supposed to be, I typed up my story.

The text is really small, so here is what it says:

A long time ago, I read an Ensign article about integrity.  In the story, a man and his wife had received a letter in the mail that hadn’t been cancelled by the post office.  The man told his wife it was their lucky day and they could re-use the stamp to mail a letter.  His wife responded with, “Is your integrity worth 29 cents?”
Ever since then, I have thought of that phrase when I’ve had to make a choice that would involve my integrity--because honestly I don’t want to compromise my integrity for any amount of money or defilement.  The eternal repercussions are not worth it! 
I haven’t really had any huge experiences with showing integrity--at least not big enough that anyone would know. Most of my trials of integrity have had to do with small instances.  In fact, I had one of those experiences just this last weekend.  Our family had gone to the home improvement store and bought a ton of stuff we needed.  Quinn went to pull the truck up so we could easily load things while I checked out in the chaos that comes with four boys who’ve been shopping for an hour.  I somehow didn’t see a bolt that was in the cart until I was loading everything into the truck.  My first thought was, “oh well, it’s probably only a couple of cents.”  But then I remembered this saying and headed straight back to the checkout counter.  My integrity was not worth only a dollar! 
There have been many small instances like these, and I’ve had to make a choice.  Sometimes I make the wrong one and need to fix it, but I guess no one’s perfect and that’s why we have the glorious atonement to bridge those gaps and make us better than we could be alone!
So, what’s my integrity worth? Everything!

Credits:  Template, Jessica Sprague.  Paper, Urban Boys, L. Riches and unknown.  Brushes, Dainty Swirls, author unknown.  Fonts: Cursive Standard (Integrity), Sketched Rockwell (Title), Spicy Sushi Roll (Journaling). 

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Now I challenge you to record about integrity!

Recording Basic Histories Of Children

*This post was originally posted on the regular TIMC, but I’m putting it up on here for those who may not read that blog!*

There is no doubt in my mind that children grow up way too fast. If you have children and/or nieces and nephews of your own, you probably whole-heartedly agree. Life is funny though, in the aspect that you don’t really notice the children in your life growing up until they hit major milestones.

Time goes by quickly. Too quickly, in fact. But…there is one way that we can stop time for but a small moment—record it! Have you ever thought about someone you haven’t seen in person for awhile, and the first thing that you think of is a picture of them? It helps to jog the memory for sure! But what other than pictures can we do to help us remember these milestones? Well, I’ll share a few ideas to help you record a little bit about the lives of the children in your lives!

Babies

Yes, you can record personal histories for babies! Obviously, babies don’t remember anything, but you can record your thoughts and feelings, their milestones, and how they are growing. You don’t have to do ALL of these ideas, just choose one or two and don’t forget to do it!

• Write down milestones of your children as they grow.  (Height, weight, when they sit, 1st foods, etc.)  Get or make a calendar just for these things.  Put it in a place you will see it often and record things as they happen--this way, you'll always have that info in a safe, recorded place. If you’re more of a techie person, set up a milestones blog just for you and close family. I received a free calendar just for new moms while I was pregnant—it came with stickers and everything to easily record what went on. Then, later when I had more time, I went back to the calendar to see my baby’s milestones and incorporated them into a scrapbook page that I made for each month of his first year.

• Take pictures regularly.  You can do it every day, once a week, or at least once a month. Be sure to somehow record how old your child is in the picture. You can make a sign (simple or extravagant), use baby blocks or puzzle numbers, or add it digitally.
• Keep track of your baby’s size by using a larger stuffed animal or toy and take a picture of your baby with it every month, place your baby in the same basket every month, or even just next to a measuring tape!
• Make a video slide show of pictures from your child's first year.  Set it to music and make a few copies (for you, baby, grandparents, aunts/uncles, siblings, etc.)
• Make foot prints every month for the first year. You can do this on paper, or even on a large canvas.
• Make a scrapbook page of your child growing his or her first year.  The top one is a digital page where I chose my favorite picture from each month.  The bottom one is a traditional page where I used leftover pictures and cut them all at 2 inches square.  They are just in order, but some months there are 2 pictures, and other months there are 0.  Either way is great, it’s just fun to show progression!

Toddlers

When children start to show preferences of things they can start helping you record their personal history! Of course, the older the child, the more s/he can help and be more involved in what you do.

• Measure height and weight every 6 months.

• Take (or get) a good set of pictures every month or every 6 months. Make sure you get at least one good close-up shot and one full body picture with something that shows size. (You can still use that stuffed animal from babyhood, the basket or tape measure.)

• Make hand prints every year.  I do this on paper, and use it on the first page of my kid's scrapbooks for the year. Even if you’re not a scrapbooker, this is a very easy method! All it takes is cardstock, a marker or pen and ink or paint!  (As you can see, I don’t put a lot of time into these pages, I like simple!)

• Record what your child is saying, and be sure to record how s/he says it!  Video is great for this! Most digital cameras and phones have video capabilities on them. To keep track of the videos, make a specific folder on your computer. You can even make sub-folders of who is in the video or special occasions. There are sites you can upload your videos to and share them privately with family and friends or you can share them on your blog.

• Keep some of his/her artwork in a 3-ring binder with page protectors.  Be sure to label it with the date and how old your child was!

• Get a journal or a notebook.  Have your child draw pictures about their day/week/month/vacation.  Write the details of the picture down so you don’t forget! This is the first picture my son drew of him and his dad—I had him explain it to me, then I labeled all the parts so I wouldn’t forget what the drawing was.

Children

• Have your child write his/her name, draw a self-portrait (or use a picture) and make handprints for one page. You can put this in a scrapbook or a special 3-ring binder. When they were younger I also included a picture, but now their hands are getting too big, so I have them write their name on it instead.

• Keep some of his/her artwork in a 3-ring binder with page protectors.  Be sure to label anything with the date and how old s/he is.

• Write down or record the funny things your child says! You can have a specific journal or computer file for this, or do it on a blog or scrapbook page!

• Get your child a journal or diary and encourage him/her to write in it at least once a month.  You can assign a topic (Write about your favorite pet/color/chore/friend/toy/etc.) or they can choose a topic. Do this together so you both have an excuse to record your lives and spend some quality time together! 

• Measure how tall s/he is.  Mark it on a removable growth chart.  (Door frames are fine too, but you can't take them with you if you move!)  Or you can record it by writing it down or even by pictures.

• Take pictures.  Try to take a picture in the same place every year at the same time (birthday, first day of school, or a specific holiday) to measure growth.  You can even use the stuffed animal from babyhood if you did that!

• If you are a scrapbooker, you can let your child take over his/her pages around the time they can write, cut and glue! Trust me, it’s kind of painful at first to see how “terrible” the layouts turn, but as I’ve let my oldest do this more often, it’s given me the chance to teach him about design skills, math concepts, spelling, handwriting, and writing skills. I’ve come to cherish the pages he has done, because they are all him—even if they’re not as pretty and good as I’d make them. Plus, it’s given me extra time to catch up on other scrapbooking!

Teenagers

If you’ve had a chance to instill the importance of recording your own life to your children, it won’t take much more work as a teenager. But if you haven’t, it’s never too late to start. Most teenagers will have plenty of opportunities in school (especially in English class) to write and record all about themselves. I think the key to helping them realize that it’s not just an assignment, is for you to be a good example to them in this area.   Also, save some of their best work all together in a special place (like a binder).  Some other ideas:

• Show them some of the things you’ve recorded about yourself when you were a teenager.  (A journal, scrapbook, newspaper clippings or your yearbook.)  This may help them realize that you were once young and  they’ll see how fun it will be for their kids to see them this age as well.  If you haven’t yet recorded anything from your teenage years, make a goal to do so. 
• Pick a topic at dinner and have everyone talk about it, then record write what they said.  You can do this as a game or just by casually asking.  Whatever your teenager is up for! 
• Indulge in their wanting to scrapbook or buy them a journal to write in.   Show interest in what they are recording without being too snoopy.  Obviously don’t go find their private journal and read without their permission, but if you see them writing, you could ask what they are writing about in an interested manner.
• Encourage them to participate in the challenges here with you!
• Make a binder to put some of their school writing assignments in (especially non-fiction).  Even if they don’t want to be involved in recording their history, you’ll have some fun stories!  You can always add some simple pictures of them if you don’t scrapbook.

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When you take the time to record your child’s life (or help them), you will never be disappointed or feel that you’ve wasted your time. Recording these moments before they are gone is so important, and it is one regret that you have! I guarantee it!

Challenge #23—Still Small Voice

One of the most amazing things about being a member of the LDS Church, is the opportunity to have the gift of the Holy Ghost.  This gift is not to be used lightly, and can bring us so many blessings if we are willing to make choices worthy enough to have the constant companionship.  Since we are all human, we have all listened to and followed those holy promptings, or ignored them.  This is today’s challenge:

When did you follow or not follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost? 
(And what happened or what did you learn from it?)

You  can make a list of many things from both sides, focus on just one or two, or talk about it in general.  Scrapbook it, blog it, write it in your journal, write a poem or a song, or even just make a simple list somewhere.  You could even write down the promptings as they come!  Remember, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time or effort to start recording your history.  Little bits at a time can easily add up!

This week we are in for a treat!  We now have a team member for the TIMC—LDS!  Natalie is going to be sharing her finished challenges with us, so you can have more ideas to go from than just mine!  (And I can still use one more, if you are interested!)

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What Natalie did:  (Natalie made a blog just to write about her challenges and to share her testimony with the world!)

I remember sitting at a stop light waiting for the light to turn green.  Just before the light turned, I heard a voice tell me, "Don't move."  For a second I thought, "that's silly."  Just as the light turned green, a car ran the red light and plowed through the intersection.  Had I not listened, I would have been hurt. 

As a missionary, I remember visiting the S. family.  This particular night was my first night in the mission field.  My companion and I were teaching this family about the Plan of Salvation and Eternal Families.  I had not studied much of this discussion before leaving the MTC, and was really worried about having to teach it.  My companion taught a little bit, and then turned to me.  That night the Holy Ghost let me know, through a clear mind, what I needed to say.

I love the words penned by Sally DeFord:

I feel the Holy Spirit as He teaches truth and right.

He comforts me in times of need; He testifies of Christ.

He speaks to me in quiet ways that fill my soul with peace,

And if I listen with my heart I hear the Savior’s voice.

It is important to know that the Holy Ghost speaks to us in many different ways.  For this challenge, you could write down the ways that the Holy Ghost has spoken to you.  You could write down experiences you have had as you have followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  You could study topics in the scriptures such as Holy Ghost, Comforter, Holy Ghost, Mission of; etc. 

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What I did:

I made a fairly simple digital scrapbook page to write my answer on.  I focused on one time that I didn’t follow the Spirit, and one time that I did.  I also wrote a bit about how the Spirit usually speaks to me, and how I’d like to listen and follow through better.

In case you can’t read the text, this is what it says:

I wish that I could say listening to and following the Spirit was a strength of mine, but it seems that it’s more of the opposite.  It seems that more often than not, I hear those still small whisperings, or have a thought and don’t follow through with it. 
Most of those times that I haven’t listened, it’s because I have a thought (often more than once) and then I don’t do anything about it.   I make excuses, think that I’ll do it later, feel that I don’t have the time or talent to do it, etc. 
Just recently, I kept having the thought that I needed to call a certain friend.  A friend who always seems to be on top of things, happy and self-confident.  I didn’t call her--I made excuses every time I had the thought.  When I saw her a few days later, I instantly felt like the most horrible friend.  We talked for a bit, and she told me that she’d been having a hard time lately and told me some of the things she’d been dealing with.  They were things that I’ve dealt with recently as well, and right then I knew that I had ignored the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  I could have helped her, given a listening ear, etc.  I knew that I was supposed to call her, because I could lend an empathetic ear.  I hate it when I realize that I could’ve listend and I didn’t.
On the reverse, there have been times that I’ve listened to the Spirit.  There were numerous times on my mission of course, but one that really stands out to me was an experience I had when I was only 8. 
My family was traveling from Utah to Minnesota to visit my great-grandparents.  We had stopped at a rest stop somewhere along the way.  After 20 minutes or so, we all hopped back into the station wagon.  I was in the very back with my sister, Bethany, and we had just gotten back onto the interstate.  All of the sudden, as clear as day, I heard a voice say, “Where is Craig?”.  I said it out loud, even before I looked for him.  We all looked and he was not with us.  We drove another 5 miles before we could get off the freeway and turn around.  We found him at the rest stop with a couple of elderly women who’d been kind enough to help a 5 year old boy who’d just been abandoned by his family. 
That was the only time that I’d ever heard an audible voice.  Most of the time the Spirit speaks to me through my thoughts, and I’ve had to learn to listen to it and not ignore it or think that it was just my thoughts.  It’s tough to sometimes know if it’s the Spirit or just me, but one thing I know, is that as I listen to and follow through with the promptings, Heavenly Father entrusts me with more promptings.  It’s like a test, and I hope and pray that I can have the faith, patience and wisdom to follow those sweet promptings more often!

Credits:  Template: Scrapping With Liz.  Papers: Crystal Wilkerson.
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Now I challenge you to record about some promptings you’ve had!

Challenge #21--Strengths and Weaknesses

*This week's challenge parallels quite closely to one done on the regular TIMC--you can find it here and here if you want some more ideas on completing this one!

A few weeks ago I had the chance to attend an amazing women's conference.  (I may have mentioned it a few times already...)  One of the speakers talked about how we are usually so quick to make lists of our weaknesses (and are even quicker to compare our weaknesses to other peoples strengths).  She challenged us to set a timer and write down 10 weaknesses, then do the same with writing our strengths.  Often our weakness list will be made much quicker than our strengths list.  My challenge for you today is exactly this!

What are 10 of your strengths and 10 of your weaknesses?

You can set a timer to do both or take your time and really reflect on it.  Write them in your journal, type them up, blog or scrapbook them.  Even writing a poem about some of your strengths and weaknesses.

Of course, you don't have to do 10 of each either--you can make it 5 each or 20.  You can even just focus on one of your strengths or weaknesses, or record about something that is now a strength that was once a weakness and the hard work that it required.

One of my favorite scriptures goes quite well with this challenge.  I'm sure many of you know and love it as well:  Ether 12:27. 

" And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I have made a Fast Form for you today, with places for 10 of each things to write.  I think it would be fun to do this challenge now, and without looking, do it again in 5 years and see the differences and growth you've made!

To download the Fast Form, please make sure you're a blog follower, then click on the picture.  Thanks! ;)

Now I challenge you to record some of your greatest strengths and weaknesses!

Challenge #20—Miracles Never Cease!

This last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a women’s conference, and was it ever good!  It was a spiritual boost for me—something I really needed.  One of the speakers talked a little bit about miracles.  One of my favorite things he said was, “Normal people have miracles!”.  I immediately thought, “What a good challenge that would make!”.  So…

What are some miracles that have happened in your life?

You can list a bunch of them—big or small.  (Sometimes it’s a miracle for that I didn’t kill a certain child, ha ha!)  You can focus on the details of one miracle that you’ll never forget and want to record.  You can start a miracle journal, where you write the little miracles that happen everyday.  The possibilities are endless!

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What I did:

I decided to write the details of one miracle that happened to me that I will never forget.  I wanted to make it into a scrapbook page, but I couldn’t find the pictures, so it’s just written down for now, and when I find the pictures I’ll have to finish it.  I love that about the challenges…remember, it’s not how you record it that counts—it’s just getting it recorded that matters!  I’ve only shared this story with a handful of people, but I feel that I need to share it on here.

One Miraculous Moment

It is said that in some cases your life will flash before your eyes.  That thought never crossed my mind, but I did feel every beat of my heart and was acutely aware of 30 long seconds and my fingers gripping for dear life to the steering wheel.

I was excited.  It was time to go back to college—my sophomore year at Utah State.  I had loaded up my car and my parent’s car for the 2 hour journey.  My dad and brother were riding in my parents car, and the backseat was packed to the brim.   My car trunk was packed, and my mom was riding in the passenger seat,  with my three sisters in the back seat.  Before we left, we said family prayer.  I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now I do believe that was the key to this miracle.

All was fine for the first 20 minutes of the journey.  I was following my dad in the left lane—much too close, and somewhere between 10600 and 9000 south exits in Sandy I saw my dad swerve.  Since I was so close behind him, I didn’t have time to think, just react, when I saw a couch cushion laying in the middle of the lane.  I panicked and swerved too far to the left, then over-corrected to my right.  The car spun around as it crossed the freeway and all we could do was scream. 

It was at that moment that time seemed to stand still for me.  30 seconds seemed to turn into 30 minutes as we spun around, facing traffic coming toward us at high speeds.  My fingers gripped the steering wheel in fear. I don’t remember thinking much other than I was going to die and kill half of my family too. 

All of the sudden the car stopped.  And we were in the dirt on the right side of the freeway, facing the wrong way.  The cars zoomed past by us, like nothing had ever happened.  Miraculously there had been a break in traffic just big enough for us to get through.

I sat there while my mom and sisters jumped out of the car.  My mom ran around to me and opened the door with tears of gratitude in her eyes.  She pried my trembling fingers away from the steering wheel and embraced me. 

A few cars had stopped to see if we were okay.  Someone called the police.  I was suddenly surrounded by a lot of people whom I’d never met, but were happy that we were okay.  One man told me, “That was the best driving I’ve ever seen!”  But I know I wasn’t the one holding the wheel.

My dad had seen me swerve in his review mirror, and had to make his way over to the right side of the freeway. When he got over, he and my brother ran back to find us.  They weren’t sure what the end result was, and were much relieved to find we’d walked away unscathed. 

A few men walked around and looked at my car, just to make sure it could be driven, they were all astonished that it was in perfect working order.  The alignment was the only thing that had been affected in anyway.  I had my mom drive the rest of the way to Logan, because I was not emotionally capable. 

To this day I cannot tailgate, and my heart skips a beat anytime I see something in the road.  I will forever be grateful for the tender mercies of Heavenly Father that day.  Had just one thing been different that day, I would not be here today. 

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Now I challenge you to record about your miracles!

Challenge #14—The Reason for the Season

I know today is Thanksgiving in the U.S., but we are going to delve into the Christmas challenge for 3 reasons. 

1.  There will not be any more challenges until 2012.  This will give you (and me) time to spend with family and enjoy the season.

2.  It will give you a chance to do some catching up if you’ve not been able to keep up on the challenges. 

3.  It’s never too early to reflect on Christ!

So, here’s your challenge:

Record your testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Of course, you can do this by any means: write it, video or audio record it, scrapbook it, make a list of who He is to you, or tell how you gained your testimony of Him.  This is always a wonderful time to reflect on this, and I think this is one challenge that you should do even if you’ve never done one before!  Do this alone, or as a family (and instant FHE activity!). 

Usually I do the challenges ahead of time so I can record them on here, but this is one that I haven’t done yet (I’m hosting Thanksgiving, so I’m a little busy…).  I will be sharing some ideas with you in the next few weeks to serve as reminders to get it done, and to give you some inspiration! 

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Challenge #13—Tradition

With the holidays just around the corner, I have been thinking more and more about traditions, but not just holiday traditions.  I have been thinking about the every day things that I am doing with my family to help build that special bond!

What are some of your every day traditions?

This may seem like a silly question at first.  If you’re like me, your first thought is, “I don’t have any traditions”.  But when I really stopped to think about it, I started seeing traditions that were never really meant to become traditions, but they have! 

You can do this challenge any way you want to.  Focus on one tradition and take pictures about it and write the details down.  Make a list of some of your day to day traditions.  You can start a list on a piece of paper and keep it close, so you can write down things as they come to mind.  Make a scrapbook layout, or even get the video camera out and take a video of one or more traditions! 

Get your family involved on this one!  You can do your immediate family and/or your extended family! 

_________
Some of our everyday traditions:

• Reading time with the kids after lunch.
• Our night-time routine (Dinner, clean up, scriptures, play, PJ’s, brush teeth, sing songs, say family prayer, kids in bed).
• Family Home Evening every Monday night.
• Asking my kids how their day at school was.
• Helping my kids with homework.
• One on one time with my kids to talk about their day.
• Going to “town” on Saturdays to run errands together.  (And sometimes dinner or lunch at Café Rio.)
• Dinner as a family every night. (With a few rare exceptions.)

Extended Family Birthday Traditions (with my hubby’s family):

• Girl’s Night Out (or day out) for birthdays of me, my SIL’s and MIL.
• Birthday dinners at my in-laws house on the Sunday before or after birthdays.  Usually we celebrate the closest birthdays. 

Things I’d like to improve on:

• Everyone recite the best and worst part of their day at dinner time. (To do more family talking at the dinner table.)
• Telling bedtime stories to the boys.  (I used to be really good at these made-up characters named Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.  They did things that my boys liked to do and learned lessons that my boys needed to.  Really need to do this every night!)

_______________

Now I challenge you to record some of your every day traditions!

Challenge #11—Count Your Many Blessings

Since it’s the beginning of November, the month of Thanksgiving in the US, I thought this week’s challenge could be all about remembering your blessings. 

What are your many blessings?

There are hundreds of ways to do this challenge.  Make a gratitude journal and record the things you are grateful for each day.  Similar to that is that you can write in your regular journal each day and record seeing the hand of God in your life (Bonus Challenge #1).  Take on the gratitude challenge (Bonus Challenge #3).  Make a tree and add leaves of blessings throughout the month, or do it with a turkey and feathers.  Have your family write their blessings on a poster board or large piece of paper (see here).  Write your blessings on slips of paper, put them in a box and read them as a family on Thanksgiving.  Make a scrapbook layout showcasing your top blessings.  Post one of your blessings each day on your blog or Facebook/Twitter.  And there are tons more of ideas floating all around cyber-space right now!

A number of years ago, for Family Home Evening, my husband and I set a timer for 5 minutes and wrote the whole time all the blessings we could think of.  At first we wrote things down quickly, like family, a home, the Gospel, etc.  Then we both started to slow down.  We really had to start thinking about the little blessings in life that we don’t normally think about. 

When the timer went off, we shared our lists with each other (our oldest was only a baby at the time so he didn’t have much to add).  We complied the list into 100 things that we were grateful for and named it “Our Top 100 Blessings”.   Yes, there are some things that I was more grateful for than my husband and vice-versa, but it’s fun to see other’s favorite blessings on there too! 

I typed it up, organized it in alphabetical order and printed it off.  We still have it hanging up today on our hallway bulletin board. 

This is a closer look—I had to patch it together so it looks like it’s 3 papers, but it’s really just one.  You just couldn’t read it unless I did this.   Also, you can see the wear and tear on it, but that’s what makes it special!

Last year around this time we had our then 5 and 4 year olds help us make a new list.  (We had to add in things like toys.)  It’s always a good reminder for our family to see it—it helps us remember what really is important in life and that we truly are very blessed! 

Now I challenge you to record your blessings!

Bonus Challenge #3—Gratitude

I came across an awesome challenge for the month of November—a gratitude challenge!  How awesome is this? 

Crystal Wilkerson is doing a gratitude challenge, with prompts everyday to help you remember to be grateful!

I am going to be taking the challenge, and I hope you will be too!  As part of the challenge, you can download the 30 designed quotes for $5—all of which will be going to the Norton family.  Check out the story here, and please take the challenge with me! 

 

Challenge #10—Favorite Scripture

This is the last challenge of the Book of Mormon/Scripture series, which I have loved doing!  It’s been fun to focus on one topic—at least I think it has been!

What is your favorite Book of Mormon scripture and why?

This one is pretty self-explanatory, and you can do it in many different ways.  You can just write it down in your journal, blog about it, type it up on your computer to print off.  You can write a poem or a song about it, or scrapbook about it.  The possibilities are many! (And you don’t have to do a Book of Mormon one, it can be one from the Bible if that’s your favorite—the point is to just record what your favorite scripture is.)

My favorite scripture is Alma 37:37.  It says:

“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning, let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.”

I don’t remember when it became my favorite, but I’ve loved it for quite awhile.  It always reminds me that no matter what I do, I need to pray about it.  (Well, not the everyday things like which shirt to wear—but you get my drift.)  We need to keep a prayer in our hearts, pray when we go bed, pray when we wake up, and be thankful to God always.  The promise if we do this, is that we will be lifted up.  What a glorious promise!  I know that prayer isn’t the only thing we need to do, but if we pray, then we will be led in making all the other righteous choices that we need to.

Now, I challenge you to record your favorite scripture!

Challenge #9—General Conference

We’re going to veer from the Book of Mormon challenges this week, and interrupt with this challenge!

What are some of your favorite messages from this past General Conference?  Why? 

(Picture Source)

The reason I want to do this one this week, is from the First Presidency Message by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf in the September 2011 Ensign.

He told a story of a man who was talking with his neighbor about his beliefs in the LDS Church.  When the topic of General Conference came up, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?”  The man confidently replied with a yes.  When the neighbor asked what they talked about in the latest conference, the man was embarrassed that he couldn’t remember.  The neighbor found that troubling—as I’m sure did the Member.

Now, I know this scenario will probably not happen to most people, but isn’t the whole point of General Conference to learn, grow and become more like Christ?  How can we do that if we don’t even remember what was said?

I know that right after General Conference, I can usually remember most of it, but as time goes on, the memories of what was said start to fade unless I’ve written them down. 

I’m a little behind this week, but I am going to be writing down the highlights of my favorite talks and set goals to improve in those areas! 

Now I challenge you to record what you’ve learned from this last General Conference!

Challenge #8—Search, Ponder and Pray

This week’s challenge is kind of a continuation of last week’s, but only a little more broad.  

The Challenge:  How do you study your scriptures?  

You can write down how you do it, do a video walk-through tour of your marking system, take pictures, make a scrapbook layout of it, or even set goals to do a better job of daily scripture study!

It seems like this last General Conference had a lot of messages about the scriptures.  I loved this talk by Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles found here.

One of my favorite quotes from this talk was:

“Pondering a scripture…gives great direction to life. The scriptures can form a foundation of support. They can provide an incredibly large resource of willing friends who can help us. A memorized scripture becomes an enduring friend that is not weakened with the passage of time.
Pondering a passage of scripture can be a key to unlock revelation and the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one’s ability to overcome the challenges of life. They have potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior. They can accelerate physical healing.”
 
I love to study my scriptures!  I had the opportunity to serve as a full time missionary, and one thing that I learned was that scripture study is important, and the more you do it, the more you hunger and thirst to study more!  As missionaries, we had personal study for one hour each day!  We studied the Book of Mormon for 1/2 an hour, and then studied any other scriptures (Bible, Pearl of Great Price or Doctrine and Covenants) or specific books (Jesus the Christ, The Articles of Faith, etc.) for 1/2 an hour.  It came to me, almost as shock, that every morning I looked forward to studying.  I hungered and thirsted for the knowledge I could find in the holy words.  

Right now in my life, as a mom, I don’t really have time to study for one whole uninterrupted hour, and some days I’m lucky if I get in 3 verses.  But I do make a point to read my scriptures everyday.  It does take sacrifice—or so it seems some days.  But the truth of it is that on the days when I study my scriptures and put God first in my life, those days just seem to fall into place.  Whenever I’m having a bad day, I think back to my morning and most of the time I realize that I didn’t study my scriptures that morning.  It truly is the “rock” to my day!

There are a few things that I do to help me study.  First of all, I start with a prayer.  This opens the doors to receive personal revelation!  Next, I have a very detailed marking system in my scriptures.  (I took a whole Institute class on this!)  This system has really helped me visualize the scriptures and it helps me find certain topics with ease.  Also, it really helps me study and feast on the scriptures rather than just read them.  When people look at my scriptures they wonder why it’s so colorful.  This is what they look like:

Also, I love to keep a scripture journal.  A special place where I can record the things I learn.  I don’t write in it every session, just when something really powerful hits me.  Another thing that helps me, is to study with the LDS Institute manuals that go with the what I'm studying.  There are so many insights in them that help me understand so much more!

There is an awesome article in this months’ Ensign about studying your scriptures, and here is a link to many more talks and lessons from the Church website.  If you would like to share how you study your scriptures, leave a comment or a link to your post!

I am so grateful for the scriptures!  I know they are the word of God, and that by reading, studying, and pondering upon the teachings found therein, we can come closer to Christ!

Now, I challenge you to record about how you study your scriptures!

If you want to read on, I'll explain how I mark my scriptures!

I use colors in the regular verses by subjects. Some colors I chose because I associate that color with that topic, others were just random. 

Red = Repentance and Atonement

Orange = Wickedness, wicked acts, pride 

Yellow = Christ speaking, Sabbath Day, and in a small rectangle, I use it to mark parables in the Bible (bottom right picture)

Light Green = Righteousness, righteous acts

Dark Green = Mercy, grace

Light Blue = Faith, baptism

Dark Blue = Missionary work, obedience

Purple = Godhead (anything that states the natures of any member of the Godhead)

Hot Pink = Testimonies of the writers

Dark Pink = Lover, service, charity

Brown = Prayer, fasting, church attendance

In the footnotes I highlight in the color, then circle or color the letter up in the verse.  This way, as I'm reading, I know there is an important footnote to read.  (These are mostly in the Bible) I use the colors as such:

Greek  New Testament translation (GR) = Green 

Joseph Smith Translation (JST) = Red

Hebrew Old Testament translation (Heb) = Blue

i.e. = Pink

OR = Orange

Random extra helpful notes (see...) = Light green

I make lists with small red triangles.  For example, in D&C 11:17-18, I have a small triangle in front of [keep my commandments], [hold your peace], [appeal unto my Spirit], [cleave unto me].  This comes in handy whenever you want to focus on parts that make up a whole.  

I write any notes or related scriptures in the margins in black.  (Sometimes I draw small pictures as well!) I often write at the top about something major that is going on, to find stories easily.  ("Nephi builds a ship", "King Benjamin teaches his people", "Christ visits the people on the American continent", etc.) 

I also write basic questions that the scripture answer.  I write these questions in pink.  For example, in 3 Nephi 9 (pg. 425), I wrote: "Why did Christ come to Earth? vs. 17-22".  This has helped me easily find answers and give answers to others should they have those questions.

My favorite marking tools are the Gelly Roll pens by Sakura for colors.  Down side is, it's permanent and if you mess up, it's always there. Up side is they are skinny, acid-free and come in many colors. Colored pencils also work, and they can be erased if you buy the right kind.  Down side is you have to sharpen a lot to keep the point little enough.  I do use both, especially when I have more than one topic per color, then I'll use pencil for one, pen for the other.  For the black writing pen, I use Sakura Pigma Micron or the Zig Millennium in a .01.  Both are very fine and acid-free.  

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask! I hope that helps!

Challenge #7—Another Testament of Christ

(Just a quick note, I discovered the blog “We talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ” a few weeks ago and it seems that Jocelyn has a theme every month where she hosts a lot of ideas from others.  I am going to be basing at least two challenges a month on her theme so that you can read all the wonderful ideas and and stories that she shares to help you record your challenge answer.  Click over on the Book of Mormon on the right side bar for this month!)

 

What makes the LDS Church different from every other Church out there?  Well, there are a few things, but the one answer I’m thinking of is “The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ”. 

 

 

The Challenge:  Write or record your testimony of the Book of Mormon

 

You can record your testimony in many different ways!  Write it, type it up, blog it, scrapbook it, video record yourself…really you can do so many things!

I loved this Conference talk just a few days ago from Tad R. Callister of the 70, all about the Book of Mormon.  (I encourage you to listen to or watch this talk—again if you heard it already).

 

 

I loved how he points out that The Book of Mormon either comes from the devil or from God, and all you need to do is read it, you will know!

 

I also loved where he said that you can put an infinite amount of lines through one dot and it is open to many different interpretations.  But if you have to put a line through two dots, it can be interpreted one way.  And then how he compared that to many interpretations of the Bible or having two witnesses—like the Bible and The Book of Mormon, to make the message clear!  No interpreting necessary! 

 

I have read the Book of Mormon many times in my life.  Each time I read it, I feel the Spirit witness to me of the truthfulness of the teachings found there.  I can turn the sacred pages and find answers to my questions.  When I am in need of peace, I can read the writings and find it.  I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.  I know that it was written for our day, and saved for our day.  I know that we can become more like our Savior if we read and follow the teachings that are in it.  I am very grateful for this other testament of Christ that has given me a sure knowledge of the teachings of the Gospel.

If you have never read the Book of Mormon, I encourage you to read it, ponder the teachings of it, and pray about the messages you read.  (If you would like one, email me your address and I will send you one!)

Go to any of these posts to read inspiring stories about the Book of Mormon!
Now I challenge you to go record your testimony of The Book of Mormon!

Challenge #6—Let It Go

Each and every one of us makes mistakes.  Each and every one of us is also on the receiving end of mistakes.  Sometimes it’s easy to just shrug it off and say, “I forgive you”.  Other times, it’s hard to forgive.  So, here’s the challenge:

When did you really have to forgive someone?  What was the process of forgiveness?  How did you learn and grow from it?

This is a hard one.  There are so many things that could, by worldly standards, be left a grudge forever.  I found this video that went along really well with today’s challenge.  As you watch it, I want you to think about what you would do.  Would you be able to forgive as this man did?

I cannot even imagine—I’ve never had anything of this magnitude happen to me.  I think it’s so amazing that he forgave so quickly, and that he has so much faith and a good attitude.  He could have easily cursed God and the teenager for all that was taken from him.  But he didn’t.  He forgave just as Christ has forgiven all of us of our transgressions.

Here’s my forgiveness story: About 10 years ago, I had a friend say and do something that made me think she wasn’t really my friend.  It deeply hurt me.  A month or two later she mailed me a letter asking for me to forgive her.  It took a long time—probably 6 or 7 years—to email her back and tell her that I’d finally forgiven her.  Part of my problem was that I didn’t want to forgive her.  Every time I heard a lesson in Church on forgiveness, I squirmed because I felt so guilty about it!  I came to  realize that I needed to forgive her because it is a commandment, and I started praying for my heart to be softened.  Then all of the sudden one day I realized that I no longer harbored those ill feelings.  We are now good friends, and regularly keep in touch through our blogs.  Someday when I see her again (I haven’t seen her since that day), I think I will have to give her the best hug ever! 

Now I challenge you to record about an experience you’ve had that’s strengthened your testimony about forgiveness!

Now I challenge you to go record about how you've had to forgive someone!