random thoughts
BE YE WARNED: this is a long post and has no pictures. Read on if you dare. (Nothing about pirates though, if that makes it more appealing)
So there is this woman who is a member of our church named Barbara Thompson. She's actually the second counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency and I don't personally know her (even though I wish I did). She seems like she is very down-to-earth and charming and I do think that we would be BFF if we did know each other. Tonight Dave and I were reading her message from the last General Relief Society Meeting, entitled "I Will Strengthen Thee; I Will Help Thee."
Rewind to last May. Last Spring I attended one day of Women's Conference at BYU. It was a shot in the arm that I was really needing as a wife, mother and woman. As Sister Thompson spoke I laughed and cried (laughter through tears is my favorite emotion, Mom). She talked about the day she was called to this position she has now. Here is that portion of her talk:
"A little over one month ago I was busy at work in my office of a charitable organization for abused and neglected children when my bishop called. He is rather a kidder and it took some time to finally convince me that I needed to call President Faust’s office right away. Immediately fear gripped my heart. I knew I hadn’t done anything bad enough to get excommunicated by a member of the First Presidency. I tried to convince myself that maybe he was calling me to be on the
Days of ’47 Parade Committee—I love parades— but somehow I knew it wasn’t that. I finally knew it was Relief Society.
I left the office and cried all the way home and for several hours after that as I had a bright recollection of all the people I had
offended, been cross with, had been impatient with, and so on. How would people ever be able to vote to sustain a calling for me? I wished I had been kinder, more patient, more charitable, more like so many of you. (I also knew that I didn’t have
anything to wear and there was no way I could loose 100 pounds in one week) It was a tough day.
Later that afternoon I had the interview with President Faust. Some of it is a blur when it comes to remembering what I said, but I remember very well what he said. One thing that stands out for me was when he said, “Sister Thompson, we are all just ordinary people, called to do a work for the Lord for a season. Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.” Then we just sat and cried together. He said he would pray for me if I would pray for him."
I think everyone who heard her that day immediately loved and sustained her. And I can't help but cry when I re-read what President Faust said and did. So tender.
Fast forward to tonight. In reading her talk tonight, I felt empowered again. Remember that funk that I was in about a month ago where I was just so tired? Well, I am happy to report that I am feeling much better. I have changed a number of things in my life such as going to bed earlier, taking more/different vitamins, and excercising just to name a few (I'll have to expand in another post).
But as we were reading, I realized that one of the most important things that I still need to adjust is relying on the Lord. No matter what the problem is, big or small, I need to go to Him more for help. I also need to study my scriptures. Not just read them. Our home teacher came last sunday and in his message that he gave he said that the two things we need to do to be spiritually nourished are to study the scriptures daily and pray with faith. I need some serious spiritual nourishment in my life.
This portion of her talk really struck me tonight:
"President Hinckley said, “It is imperative that you not neglect your families. Nothing you have is more precious. … When all is said and done, it is this family relationship which we will take with us into the life beyond.” Remember the great love of our Savior. He said in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.” Then in verse 13 He says again, “I will help thee.” And once more in verse 14 He says, “I will help thee.”
Believe the Savior. He will help us. He loves us. He wants us to be happy."
I don't even know what I would do on a daily basis without this knowledge. I need His help everyday. There is simply no other way. And it's not like I didn't know this before, I guess it just had to be brought to my immediate attention again.
Have you (if you have reached the end of this post) had to relearn something recently?
So there is this woman who is a member of our church named Barbara Thompson. She's actually the second counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency and I don't personally know her (even though I wish I did). She seems like she is very down-to-earth and charming and I do think that we would be BFF if we did know each other. Tonight Dave and I were reading her message from the last General Relief Society Meeting, entitled "I Will Strengthen Thee; I Will Help Thee."
Rewind to last May. Last Spring I attended one day of Women's Conference at BYU. It was a shot in the arm that I was really needing as a wife, mother and woman. As Sister Thompson spoke I laughed and cried (laughter through tears is my favorite emotion, Mom). She talked about the day she was called to this position she has now. Here is that portion of her talk:
"A little over one month ago I was busy at work in my office of a charitable organization for abused and neglected children when my bishop called. He is rather a kidder and it took some time to finally convince me that I needed to call President Faust’s office right away. Immediately fear gripped my heart. I knew I hadn’t done anything bad enough to get excommunicated by a member of the First Presidency. I tried to convince myself that maybe he was calling me to be on the
Days of ’47 Parade Committee—I love parades— but somehow I knew it wasn’t that. I finally knew it was Relief Society.
I left the office and cried all the way home and for several hours after that as I had a bright recollection of all the people I had
offended, been cross with, had been impatient with, and so on. How would people ever be able to vote to sustain a calling for me? I wished I had been kinder, more patient, more charitable, more like so many of you. (I also knew that I didn’t have
anything to wear and there was no way I could loose 100 pounds in one week) It was a tough day.
Later that afternoon I had the interview with President Faust. Some of it is a blur when it comes to remembering what I said, but I remember very well what he said. One thing that stands out for me was when he said, “Sister Thompson, we are all just ordinary people, called to do a work for the Lord for a season. Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.” Then we just sat and cried together. He said he would pray for me if I would pray for him."
I think everyone who heard her that day immediately loved and sustained her. And I can't help but cry when I re-read what President Faust said and did. So tender.
Fast forward to tonight. In reading her talk tonight, I felt empowered again. Remember that funk that I was in about a month ago where I was just so tired? Well, I am happy to report that I am feeling much better. I have changed a number of things in my life such as going to bed earlier, taking more/different vitamins, and excercising just to name a few (I'll have to expand in another post).
But as we were reading, I realized that one of the most important things that I still need to adjust is relying on the Lord. No matter what the problem is, big or small, I need to go to Him more for help. I also need to study my scriptures. Not just read them. Our home teacher came last sunday and in his message that he gave he said that the two things we need to do to be spiritually nourished are to study the scriptures daily and pray with faith. I need some serious spiritual nourishment in my life.
This portion of her talk really struck me tonight:
"President Hinckley said, “It is imperative that you not neglect your families. Nothing you have is more precious. … When all is said and done, it is this family relationship which we will take with us into the life beyond.” Remember the great love of our Savior. He said in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.” Then in verse 13 He says again, “I will help thee.” And once more in verse 14 He says, “I will help thee.”
Believe the Savior. He will help us. He loves us. He wants us to be happy."
I don't even know what I would do on a daily basis without this knowledge. I need His help everyday. There is simply no other way. And it's not like I didn't know this before, I guess it just had to be brought to my immediate attention again.
Have you (if you have reached the end of this post) had to relearn something recently?
posted by Holly at
10:13 PM
7 Comments:
I love that. Pres. Faust's statement is awesome. At the Worldwide Leadership meeting on Sat., that was the thing that stood out to me and comforted me the most; we're all just people (even general authorities) doing the best we can with what we have, and Heavenly Father will fill in the gaps when we learn to rely on him.
Thanks, Holly!
This comment has been removed by the author.
if this wasn't your talk, i'm really impressed.
(i mean, i'm still impressed, but that was like a[nother] talk.)
I love thoughtful, spiritual posts. And again, I referred to one of your posts to help me with my visiting teaching message. I like the Hinckley quote about not neglecting family.
I've had to relearn to just chill with my kids. They think I'm perfect and love being around me, so enjoy it! But I forget sometimes.
That was an awesome post, babe. Thank you.
I'm in the midst of re-learning the importance of spending quality time with family right now (as you know).
Holly. So I was blogstalking for a minute, and followed a link through Erin, because after all, Erin is linked to a lot of great people. Thanks for this post. Like Sister Thompson, you make my spirit laugh. I worked with Barbara at The Christmas Box House, and you are right–she is awesome.
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