By His Grace I Can.

This morning my hubby pulled up all the blinds to flood the main level with warm sunlight.  It's been a gloomy and rainy few days, and it's a welcome change. Cleaning is a regular part of every day.  Yet, usually there are things that I rarely get to because I don't have the time or energy to conquer them.   But today my hubby is on a kick deep cleaning the kitchen and it has energized me to take on some other neglected projects. Cue our large pane windows. I set out spraying and wiping down the interior side then hit the exterior.  I came back in and saw the grubby finger prints gone, but only replaced with big smudges from my cleaning rag.   OK, take two. I started again to wipe down the interior sides then went back outside to try again.  As I was wiping the exterior side, for a second, time and looking through the two sides of the glass, I got to thinking. Does it ever happen that we are perceiving a situation through "dirty windows"? (Love th...

  Years ago, while preparing for a natural birth with our first daughter, my Nother Mother mentioned relaxing and submitting to the process--that my body would know what to do.  Even tension and tightness in my jaw would hinder my progress while laboring. Several times I've felt impressed that this part of my journey is like  transition during child birth.   It's the discomfort, pain and rigor that make way for new life. BUT fighting it only delays it. Have I mentioned that I've resisted EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)?  I'm quite proficient in analyzing situations cognitively, but seem to avoid FEELING my way through them. The last few times I've gone to therapy I've prayed and asked that I will allow myself to feel and learn what I need to, instead of resisting it. On Friday, my therapist asked a question to guide me to where my work needed to be for the session.  The memory that came to mind felt like the tip of the iceberg for unde...

SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2013 Kitchen Floors and Repentance. Lately as I've been sweeping, I've been thinking about how my kitchen floor and repentance are similar.   If I don't give my floor a good scrub each week, it gets dirtier and dirtier until we're sticking to it...and there are more dirty spots then clean floor.   Definitely know this from personal and recent experience ;0)   BUT, the weeks I do mop and get it sparkly clean, I am much more apt to spot clean when minor accidents and spills happen.   Not only can we enjoy a cleaner floor throughout the week, but it doesn't take so much Saturday scrubbing to get it back up to speed.   It got me thinking that it's similar with us and repentance.   It gave more meaning to being prepared to attending church and partaking of the sacrament each week, and the importance of "spot cleaning" throughout the week when we make mistakes. Many Saturday mornings we work together with the kids to get our a...

Click to See Video . What started as a very frustrating experience became a sweet lesson for me & my kids about the love, tenderness, care and cleansing power of Jesus Christ.  He doesn't belittle or abandon us when we stray from the path, He removes the remnants of our sins and makes us clean.  And He invites us to come and come again, every time that we need to be made new. (Watch above linked video to hear the story) We are here on Earth to learn to become like God.  That is no simple task.  God KNOWS that we will stride & strive yet struggle, stray and sin. It's all part of our mortal experience and thus He lovingly made provisions for cleansing.  He sent us a Savior who truly can & WANTS to make us clean, no matter how far we've wandered, no matter how long it's been. One of my favorite songs about the Savior beckoning to us to come back is Come As You Are by Nathan Pacheco. (Click to Enlarge Lyrics)