Peace is - starting a new school year

I am sitting at my scrapbook store today planning school. I should have done it last week, but I was used car shopping. There is something re-newing about the beginning of a school year. Maybe it is all my years teaching school that stirs anticipation. Maybe it is just the comfort of scheduled days and nights and the determination to stick to that schedule so we can get through (summer is way more sporatic). No matter, as I sit and ponder and think through where I must begin and where I want to end I usually come upon some wonderful ideas via all the great resources on the web.

Today it is blog reading for me. Here are some great and comforting quotes and scriptures that I came across today.

From a blog I found called "His Grace to Me" she uses the tagline: "...and His grace to me was not without effect." ~ ICor. 15:10. The thought was worth pondering, but not recalling this phrase I went to my King James Version to check the actual scripture that I would use for that reference. It is this:

1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

From a blog called "A Lady in Training" the tagline: Learning to be led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)... From the KJV Gal 5: 22 But the afruit of the bSpirit is clove, djoy, epeace, flongsuffering, ggentleness, goodness, hfaith,
23 aMeekness, btemperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the aaffections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

I love verse 25.

From a blog about promoting beautiful womanhood is a section about teaching children well: Teach Your Children Well
Rearing Lords and Ladies
We are "ruled-rulers," as T. David Gordon termed it; we must act the part or disgrace the One who made us in His image. As we learn to be like Him, we are responsible to teach our children to do the same.


Yes, it is in my peaceable walk that I find joy in teaching my children to walk uprightly before the Lord. To love and honor what is good and noble and to shun the world and all the perversions that are around us. We must fight for our families and for the preservation of our right as parents to instill in them what we hold to be sacred and true.

Today is not a peaceful day - - -

My friend has cancer.

She has had it a while and has been doing amazingly well.

But today, I found out that the cancer was in a place that the doctor's hadn't tested.

I just want to cry.

I want to plead up into the heavens for mercy for her.


The day before yesterday a friend's granddaughter was born.

And this is the way we soujourn upon the earth.

In the words of Hillary Weeks -

"You Give"

You Give me sight
When I can't see.
You give me breathe
When I cant breathe
And You give me love
And You give me peace
And You always seem to give
Just what I need

You take my doubt
And replace it with truth
You take my fear
So all I can see is You
And You take me by the hand
You see to my soul
And You take just what I need

Chorus-

You give and take away
And refine me day by day
As You lead me through the bitter and sweet
I am trusting You to make me complete
Though You see the heartache
You're sending Your sweet grace
A You give
and You take

--

You give me strength
And You give me life
You give me hope
And You give me light
You take my pain
And You take my shame
You bless me to see the give and take
Is just what I need

--chorus--

Please send Your perfect grace
As You give
And You take



May God bless you R and little baby J as he gives and he takes!

Peaceable Thoughts and Quotes

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
Lao Tzu

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein


What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."
Mother Teresa


If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work."
Thich Naht Hanh

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."
Martin Luther King, Jr

This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."
Peace Pilgrim

I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed."
Dalai Lama


Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.
Hafsat Abiola

Things that are not peaceable...

Broken, leaky washers and old cars that over heat and have a hundred things wrong with them are not on my list of peaceable items to seek after.

During the past several months we've been dealing with what started out as a crack in a hose on my old truck. We have babied her along now 22 years. It still amazes me to think about it -- but its a Nissan -- what can I say ;)! Aside from a few small minor personal items, this is the biggest piece of property that I've kept for this length of time. While discussing what to do with the dead thing (aside from the appropriate old vehicle funeral ;) ) we determined that I don't have to make my mind up for a year an a half (tee hee!! that is the length of time I have left on the tags). Why did I buy two year plates anyway? Sheesh!! Its been weird not to see it parked in front of the house. It has been a part of my life for so long now. Like an old friend -- isn't that silly.

We do have emotional ties to our vehicles. Lots of memories of family trips, long personal drives to no where when I was sad or lonely. Memories of my son and I driving around in it when he was a little boy. He would be pretending to drive and I'd reach over and yank on his pretend stearing wheel to make him crash. We'd laugh and laugh.

I remember a time when my son was small. We would put his car seat in the center poition on the bench seat. Hubby and I crammed in on either side of him. This one particular day, with feet and legs a bit longer and stronger, he reached out and kicked at the wiper arm and broke it in two. My husband was quite upset about it. We repaired it and weren't the worse for wear. From that point on we kept a vigil on the little guys legs/feet when the three of us were traveling together.

For most of my married life, this was the 'good car.' It is no wonder a lot of our memories involve trips in it. If our little daughter hadn't have come along I am sure this separation and loss would be much bigger. I would not have had the need to get a 'family car' and hand my litle pickup over to my husband to use as the 'commute vehicle.'

Life is full of bumps. I don't even want to go into the one about the washer. Right now I'm crossing my fingers big time that that lurking third deamon won't ever appear. I was visiting on the the phone with a friend this morning discussing theories. We had a big laugh over our mutual theory that these break-downs happen in threes. We've had the car, the washer and we are waiting...........

This same friend this morning in her comforting way told me she was so sorry I was having all these frustrations. I blew it off at the time, but the reality is, I am not frustrated by it. It is a bump, its not fun. I am praying there isn't that third one -- but I am not wrapped in knots as I have been during other trials.

I have come to find peace in life and to not let trials wind me up. I've not always been this way and I have to say -- this is freeing. Worry was my contant companion. Plaguing questions of 'what will we do?' would be asked in my mind over and over and over.....to upset stomaches and testy bowels. Worry does affect you physically too. Stress isn't good on your health. At times depression would set in. The bigger the trial the more the depression and the more the pain. It was a vicious cycle.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still concerned about how we are going to arrange our money to buy a commute car. Times are hard now with the change in the political and economical scene. Loans are hard to come by now and we still have a bit of time left on one car payment. This trial is all about faith. But faith should help comfort and bring peace. This is my lesson for the month...and my gratitude.

More helpful words...

Lately I have been doing a lot of reading on how to be more peaceful. Much of it has been helpful, but this one stands out to me. It is a conference address by Elder Quentin L Cook. I'm pasting most of his talk here on my blog so that I can re-read it readily as I need to be reminded of this counsel.

**********************************
Each of Us Will Face Trials and Hardships in This Life
The incident I just recounted, while a difficult travel situation, was brief, and there were no lasting consequences. However, many of the trials and hardships we encounter in life are severe and appear to have lasting consequences. Each of us will experience some of these during the vicissitudes of life. Many listening to this conference are experiencing situations of a most serious nature at this very moment.

We resonate with the Prophet Joseph’s petition after he had been falsely accused and imprisoned in Liberty Jail for months: “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?”

The Lord’s answer is reassuring:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”1

One of the essential doctrines illuminated by the Restoration is that there must be opposition in all things for righteousness to be brought to pass.2 This life is not always easy, nor was it meant to be; it is a time of testing and proving. As we read in Abraham, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”3 Elder Harold B. Lee taught, “Sometimes the things that are best for us and the things that bring eternal rewards seem at the moment to be the most bitter, and the things forbidden are ofttimes the things which seem to be the more desirable.”4

The novel A Tale of Two Cities opens with the oft-quoted line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”5 The scriptures make it clear that each generation has its own version of best and worst of times. We are all subject to the conflict between good and evil6 and the contrast between light and dark, hope and despair. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained, “The sharp, side-by-side contrast of the sweet and the bitter is essential until the very end of this brief, mortal experience.”7 We know from our doctrine that good will overcome evil,8 and those who repent and are sanctified shall be given eternal life.9

Near the time Dickens was writing his novel, the heroic efforts of the early Saints who settled the Intermountain West were occurring.

Even with their common faith, the Saints had experienced much hardship and approached the evacuation of Nauvoo with very different expectations. Some looked forward with optimism, others with concern. Two excellent examples are presented by Helen Mar Whitney and Bathsheba Smith. Both have left compelling records of their feelings.

Sister Whitney recorded her expectations upon leaving Nauvoo: “I will pack away all my little ribbons, collars and laces, etc., for we are going where we cannot purchase them. We are going out from the world to live beyond the Rocky Mountains where none others will wish to go. There will be neither rich nor poor among us, and we will have none but the honest and virtuous.”10 Sister Whitney’s words resonate with an idealistic optimism.

Sister Bathsheba Smith’s recorded feelings are also full of faith but evidence some trepidation. She had seen the mobs arrayed against the Saints in Missouri and was present at the death of the Apostle David W. Patten.

Recalling the evacuation of Nauvoo, she wrote: “My last act in that precious spot was to tidy the rooms, sweep up the floor and set the broom in its accustomed place behind the door. Then with emotions in my heart I gently closed the door and faced an unknown future, faced it with faith in God and with no less assurance of the ultimate establishment of the Gospel in the West and of its true enduring principles, than I had felt in those trying scenes in Missouri.”11

Both of these LDS pioneer women remained strong in the gospel throughout their lives and provided wonderful service in building Zion, but they faced many additional trials and hardships, which they both faithfully endured.12 Despite Sister Whitney’s optimism, her first three children died at or near birth—two of them during her extended exodus from Nauvoo to Salt Lake.13 Sister Whitney has blessed us with her writings in defense of our faith and was the mother of the Apostle Orson F. Whitney.

Sister Smith recorded the poverty, sickness, and privation that the Saints suffered as they made their way west.14 In March of 1847 her mother passed away, and the next month her second son, John, was born. Her record of that is brief: “He was my last child, and [he] lived only four hours.”15 Later in her life she was the matron of the Salt Lake Temple and the fourth general president of the Relief Society.

We are deeply touched by the hardships that the early Saints endured. Brigham Young captured this somewhat humorously in February 1856 when he stated: “I might say something with regard to the hard times. You know that I have told you that if any one was afraid of starving to death, let him leave, and go where there is plenty. I do not apprehend the least danger of starving, for until we eat up the last mule, from the tip of the ear to the end of the fly whipper, I am not afraid of starving to death.”

He went on to say, “There are many people who cannot now get employment, but the spring is going to open upon us soon, and we are not going to suffer any more than what is for our good.”16

The challenges we face today are in their own way comparable to challenges of the past. The recent economic crisis has caused significant concern throughout the world. Employment and financial problems are not unusual. Many people have physical and mental health challenges. Others deal with marital problems or wayward children. Some have lost loved ones. Addictions and inappropriate or harmful propensities cause heartache. Whatever the source of the trials, they cause significant pain and suffering for individuals and those who love them.

We know from the scriptures that some trials are for our good and are suited for our own personal development.17 We also know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.18 It is also true that every cloud we see doesn’t result in rain. Regardless of the challenges, trials, and hardships we endure, the reassuring doctrine of the Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ includes Alma’s teaching that the Savior would take upon Him our infirmities and “succor his people according to their infirmities.”19

The scriptures and modern prophets have made it clear that there will be lean years and plentiful years.20 The Lord expects us to be prepared for many of the challenges that come. He proclaims, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”21 Part of the trauma I experienced crossing the Sierras in that blizzard many years ago occurred because I was not prepared for this sudden, unexpected event. One of the great blessings of the scriptures is that they warn us of challenges that are unexpected but often occur. We would do well to be prepared for them. One form of preparation is to keep the commandments.

In numerous places in the Book of Mormon, the people were promised that they would prosper in the land if they would keep the commandments.22 This promise is often accompanied by the warning that if they do not keep the commandments of God, they shall be cut off from His presence.23 Clearly, having the blessings of the Spirit—the ministration of the Holy Ghost—is an essential element to truly prosper in the land and to be prepared.

Regardless of our trials, with the abundance we have today, we would be ungrateful if we did not appreciate our blessings. Despite the obvious nature of the hardships the pioneers were experiencing, President Brigham Young talked about the significance of gratitude. He stated, “I do not know of any, excepting the unpardonable sin, that is greater than the sin of ingratitude.”24

Gratitude for the Savior and His Atonement
Our foremost gratitude should be for the Savior and His Atonement. We are aware that many who are listening to this conference are experiencing trials and hardships of such intensity that the underlying feeling in their hearts as they approach our Father in Heaven in prayer is “Hope ya know, I’m having a hard time.”

Let me share with you the true account of one sister, Ellen Yates from Grantsville, Utah. Early in October, 10 years ago, she kissed her husband, Leon, good-bye as he left to go to work in Salt Lake City. This would be the last time she would see Leon alive. He had a collision with a young man 20 years of age who was late for his first job and had tried to pass a slower vehicle, resulting in a head-on collision that killed them both instantly. Sister Yates said that after two compassionate highway patrolmen told her the news, she plunged into shock and grief.

She records, “As I tried to look ahead in life, all I could see was darkness and pain.” It turned out that her husband’s best friend was the bishop of the young man’s ward. The bishop called Sister Yates and told her that the young man’s mother, Jolayne Willmore, wanted to talk with her. She remembers “being shocked because I was so centered on my grief and pain that I had not even thought about the young man and his family. I suddenly realized that here was a mother who was in as much or more pain than I was. I quickly gave my permission … for a visit.”

When Brother and Sister Willmore arrived, they expressed their great sorrow that their son was responsible for Leon’s death and presented her with a picture of the Savior holding a little girl in His arms. Sister Yates says, “When times become too hard to bear, I look at this picture and remember that Christ knows me personally. He knows my loneliness and my trials.” One scripture that comforts Sister Yates is “Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.”25

Each October Sister Yates and Sister Willmore (both of whom are here together in the Conference Center today) go to the temple together and offer thanks for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, for the plan of salvation, for eternal families, and for the covenants that bind together husbands and wives and families on both sides of the veil. Sister Yates concludes, “Through this trial, I have felt the love of my Father in Heaven and my Savior in greater abundance than I had ever felt before.” She testifies that “there is no grief, no pain, no sickness so great that the Atonement of Christ and the love of Christ cannot heal.”26 What a wonderful example of love and forgiveness these two sisters have demonstrated. It has allowed the Atonement of Jesus Christ to be efficacious in their lives.

Think of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane during the Atonement process, suffering agony so great that He bled from every pore.27 His cry to His Father included the word Abba.28 This might be interpreted as the cry of a son who is in distress to his father: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”29 I testify that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all of the trials and hardships that any of us will encounter in this life. At times when we may feel to say, “Hope you know, I had a hard time,” we can be assured that He is there and we are safe in His loving arms.

When our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would be the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him, he said without a moment’s hesitation, “Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.”30

I, with you, am eternally grateful to Jesus Christ, the rescuer of mankind. I bear witness that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Lyrics to Where Can I Turn For Peace...

Where Can I Turn For Peace? Where is my solace?
When other sources cease to make me whole.
When with a wounded heart, anger or malace,
I draw myself apart, searching my soul.

Where when my aching grows, where when I languish,
Where in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand, to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand, He only one.

He answers privately, reaches my reaching.
In my Gethsemane, Savior and friend.
Gentle the peace he finds, for my beseaching,
Constant He is and kind, Love without end.

(written by Emma Lou Thayne)

Where Can I Turn For Peace...

A hymn entitled "Where Can I Turn for Peace" has been my mantra these past few months. Work has been hectic, tax season was upon me, two spring family birthdays and misc. other events have all taken a toll on my blogging. Still I have continued to work at search for a peaceable walk. I've had some failures and some successes. I've struggled and I've seen growth. I guess this is the whole point of this. I knew at the inception of this blog that I would come to periods where I just couldn't see to fit it in. I had to be ok with that. I knew my store and my homeschooling would take over at times. Ebb and flow, learn to ride the waves of life in a peaceable way. Be still during the times of stress. Be still. Continue to listen to the spirit guide and take mental notes. Written ones will have their turn again.

Yesterday at church we had a lesson on journal keeping. I wasn't much up to commenting (having a rough day physically with issues related to my gastric bypass) but I was moved to re-prioritize my record keeping. I have a tendency to be wordy. Some days just don't allow for that.

I need to really work on all the journaling I have on the little floppy drives. I've talked to my son about that -- so I'm part way there to accomplishing that goal. I'll feel much better updating my journals to more current technology. At some point I guess I'll figure out how to incorporate these blog records to my media storage files. For now, its enough and I am continuing on this path towards a peaceful life. I am finding the strength I need. I know I'll have bad moments and that is ok. My objective is to continue to seek for peace.