By His Grace I Can.

(See Introduction video here) On my journey for greater overall health, my sister introduced me to Lauren Daigle.  Have you heard her music before??  I fell in LOVE with it, bought her CD and have been listening to it on repeat for almost 2 months!  Her voice is beautiful, her lyrics are so inspired and uplifting and her music is energizing.  I've been buying copies and sharing them with close family and friends (in fact in my intro video I'm holding up a print out of her album because I recently gave my copy away too.) AND decided I want to share the love with one of YOU & one of your friends. SO, the Giveaway WINNER will get 2 copies of the album mailed directly to their house. TEN Ways to Enter the Giveaway: (You can enter as many times as is specified below BUT only comments listed below on this post will be counted) 1) Watch my intro video (linked above) and comment below on what brought you here to the By His Grace I Can Blog Blog. (1 entry)

TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 Letting Go a  Little. I feel like the Lord is tutoring me lately.  It's amazing how the Spirit can soften my heart and help me to change like no one else.  For as long as I can remember I've clung to structure and my way of doing things.  For the last several years I've worked so hard to become more of a scheduled, disciplined, organized person.  I love having my weekly menus planned out, staying within a budget, trying to keep my house in order.  Although these are all important things, I'm starting to realize that they are not the end goal...they are the means to a much larger goal. This week we were fortunate to have cousins over to play.  Their van wasn't starting and a morning play date was running into nap time.  I was trying to be flexible, but I kept thinking that the girls might wake up my sleeping boys...then what?  How would I get dinner fixed?  As these thoughts were running through my head the next question came to mind..

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011 Yo-yo. Maybe it's just me, but I sometimes feel like such a yo-yo as a mom...especially with Brie lately. One moment we're laughing and having fun and the next I'm getting after her for doing something and it's time for another time out. The last little while has been especially challenging. It's one of those transitional times in my life (adjusting to life with 2 kids w/o help from family, a new calling, potty-training toddler who is currently the pro of talking back, Bry gearing up for Fall semester) and I'm trying to keep it all together, but today I put Brie down for a premature nap, sat down and cried while I ate lunch. I feel like it's so hard to juggle all the different roles. Some days I feel like I rock at being a house wife but belly flop in the mother department. Other days I feel like an awesome Mom but have still not showered (how many days has it been?) or picked up the house when Bry gets home at 5:30. Or it's

About 3 years ago I gave this talk in Sacrament Meeting at church.  I loved studying the virtue of meekness (I honestly had never really understood it) and humility.  I feel like both tie in so closely with our journeys of emotional, spiritual and mental health.  Much of it has to do with expectations.  In this video I share a few experiences I had recently, one of which it came down to choosing Pride, Embarrassment and Humiliation or Peace, Edification and Humility. Wherever you are in YOUR journey, I want to applaud you and cheer you on! Keep going, you're doing better than you know!   Hold on to the angels in your life and any spark of good that you can see around you.  Find the source of your true strength and strive to stay connected.  Things will get better, especially when God is a part of the equation.  He loves you dearly and is there to help.  Call out to Him! SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2015 Learning Humility Since last week when I got the call to speak o

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010 Feelings vs. Emotion. Did you know there was a difference? I was recently reading in "Living a Covenant Marriage: Practical Advice from Thirteen Experts Who've Walked in Your Shoes." (Edited by Douglas E. Brinley and Daniel K. Judd).  One of the chapter discusses the difference between feelings and emotions. It gave me a lot to think about. I haven't ever been the best at handling stressful and frustrating situations. In such situations I sometimes feel like I've checked out emotionally...like I don't know how to handle it so I put it on autopilot and react the same way every time...grumpy, frustrated, snappy and impatient. I know some of you know what I'm talking about :0) In any case, after having read this I'm excited to get in better touch with how I'm truly feeling and then to learn how to react in a more positive way. If any of you can relate to this, here are a few quotes from the chapter... FEELINGS &q

MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013 The Weight of Every Day. As I've mentioned things have been overwhelming lately and I often find myself losing my temper and frustrated with myself and the kids.  Bry has been trying to help out whenever he can to lighten my load...which currently feels like an emotional load more than anything.  It's not just the responsibility of taking care of three small children, those darn hormones are at play too!! ;0)  In any case, yesterday morning I woke up to Bry standing next to our bed with breakfast for me.  I sat up, put on my glasses and looked at the time... 8:48!  I'd been up with the kids around 6:30--just long enough for Brie to go to the bathroom and to usher them both back into their room to play til 7:05--then I'd gone back to bed.  In the meantime Bry had played with the kids and fed them breakfast so that I could sleep.  That dear man!  As I ate I could hear sweet Elijah contently sucking on his thumb.  What a wonderful respite and mom

SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2010 Humble pie. I feel like--even though there are areas of my life that still need a lot of work and attention--that the Lord is with me and that He is helping to change my heart. The last little while I feel as if I've been in a "workshop" on humility. What a powerful and important lesson to learn. I honestly think that most of my life I have believed that being right trumped all and that admitting my weakness or fault or error would be way too humiliating and was not worth it! BUT it's SO wrong. It is a carefully-crafted lie of the adversary to keep us in his control and to keep us from progression and peace. In any case, I have had a few "labs" the last few weeks where I've been faced with the choice to be humble or to be rigid and right. Even though I was SO afraid of the pain and humiliation of admitting that I was wrong...Each time I chose humility things were resolved so quickly, my heart was light and the pain was taken

This is one of my all time favorite addresses on Grace and I can't help but share it! His Grace Is Sufficient Brad Wilcox July 12, 2011 I am grateful to be here with my wife, Debi, and my two youngest children—who are currently attending BYU—and several other family members who have come to be with us. It is an honor to be invited to speak to you today. Several years ago I received an invitation to speak at Women’s Conference. When I told my wife, she asked, “What have they asked you to speak on?” I was so excited that I got my words mixed up and said, “They want me to speak about changing strengths into weaknesses.” She thought for a minute and said, “Well, they’ve got the right man for the job!” She’s correct about that. I could give a whale of a talk on that subject, but I think today I had better go back to the original topic and speak about changing weaknesses into strengths and about how the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient (see  Ether 12:27 ,  D&

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009 Measuring up. So at Brie's 9 month checkup our PA was going through the list of developmental milestones and asked if she had started clapping and waving. It caught me off guard because Brie has always been "on track" with her previous checkups, but I really couldn't recall ever seeing her doing either. He didn't seem worried and just moved on to the next questions. But what do you think we've been working on ever since? :0) This week she has started to clap and to wave...I'll admit I was a bit relieved to see that she had reached those milestones, but more than that it's SO cute! Isn't it funny how such little things can seem so victorious and exciting? I have to admit that it's so hard for me not to compare Brie with other kids...look he's taller...Brie's so much smaller...he's walking...she's only crawling, etc. The last time we went in for a checkup I was asking how Brie COMPARED. Our PA ass

SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2010 Seeing the World through her Eyes. The other day I was sitting at the computer when Brie took my hand and put a ball in it. This is her latest way of letting me know that she wants me for something. How patient she can be with her often preoccupied mom. I turned the chair around to play with her and she walked over to the door (that leads into the office) and tapped on it with hand. She was letting me know that she wanted to go out of our apartment so I opened the door and followed her as she walked through the office around the corner and up the stairs. When we got to the entry she walked over to my Parents' front door and reached for the doorknob. I opened it and she backed herself off of the step, lifted herself up to standing and walked over to the edge of the porch. And there she stood and took it all in...she was mesmerized by the chirping birds and the cars passing by. She must have been thinking, "Mom I've been here on Earth for over a

This year as I reflect on the Savior, what comes to mind the most is His compassion. In the Book of Alma (7:11–12) it says that, “he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people . “And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people ; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy , according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities .”  He chose to go through ALL things so that He would know what we are experiencing and would know how to help.  He wants us to know that we are NEVER alone in our suffering, even if our choices are what brought the pain and suffering upon ourselves. He is there suffering with us, full of compassion, concern and love. My husband and I sang w