Book One

A short time ago I was talking to a friend who related the experience of her sister in law who lost all of her photos when her computer crashed. Since we have gone digital, I no longer print every picture I take for a lot of reasons, one of the primary reasons being that there are so many more than there ever was with the 35 mm camera's! Plus, I hate storing them away in a box where nobody can look at them without mixing up the order or losing some. Anyway, I got thinking about it and decided that it was time to make sure those things are preserved properly! So I decided to print my photos in a book.. that's the easy way, no scrapbooking, cropping, gluing, buying even more supplies etc. I use Blurb because it is Canadian so I don't have to worry about delays at the border when it is shipped.

It took me three full days to put my book together, but here is what it looks like!

It covers just the year of 2012. There are over 1,100 photos in it and it is 120 pages long. I am so thrilled with this outlet for printing my family photos. I can hardly wait to get into the years preceding 2012.

I LOVE pictures, always have, so this is a book of my favorite things, not to mention that it is filled with my favorite people besides! What a treasure. I am so excited can hardly contain the feeling!

An empty jar…

I recently came across an article that touched me deeply. It is about a wedding gift that was given. I do SO much canning that I can easily identify with what is being said and taught. I LOVE this analogy!

What follows is from that article...

An empty jar.
Attached to it was a letter with a quote from S. Michael Wilcox and a note from some dear friends. I couldn’t finish reading the letter and had to have Kim read the rest of it for me.
“My wife often cans peaches and pears in the fall. A great deal of work is necessary just to prepare the fruit. Then, once it is prepared, she puts it into jars, places the seals on, twists the lids tightly into place, and sets the jars in boiling water. Then she waits for the seals to set.She has performed this operation dozens of times with hundreds of jars. In all that time I have never seen her seal an empty jar. Unless the jar is loaded with fruit, a seal is not placed. I doubt if anyone, among the thousands who can fruit every year, has ever sealed an empty jar. There must be something to preserve or the seal has no significance.
The sealing of temple covenants is similar. When we are married at the altars of the temple, the Lord, from one point of view, gives us an empty jar. Then he instructs us to fill it with the wonderful fruits of righteous marriage. We fill it with love and compromise and forgiveness and joy and peace and shared trails; we fill it with all the things of life, all the good fruit. As we keep our covenants, returning often to renew them as we work for the dead, the jar begins to fill. As we grow older and our love deepens, we desire to preserve forever all the good we have stored.
Our abiding in the covenant allows the Lord to place the seal on our covenant relationship and preserve the fruits of our righteousness for all eternity. This is the same for all temple covenants. Nobody seals an empty jar; neither does the Lord seal empty covenants. First there must be fruit to preserve.”In the temple, you were given an empty jar as a present. Eternal marriages are not made at the altar. They are made by the things that you will do together and for each other every day thereafter. May you spend your lifetime filling your jar with all of the sweet things of your life together.With love and best wishes for your marriage,The Snyders

I have been so blessed to have a marriage that fills my jar. This is such a beautiful comparison. I just love it!

The Rushing of Great Waters

This past Sunday, during the reverent hush of the Sacrament, a sound, like a gentle breeze and a thundering waterfall combined came upon our congregation. It caused many to raise their heads from their silent reflection and wonder at what they heard, and then the sound increased in intensity. It caused an awesome stirring within the soul, yet at the same time, it was easily discernible that a great downpour was upon our small building. The rains abated quickly and left us to silently ponder what we had heard and felt. 

A scripture came to mind:

"We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah."  Doctrine and Covenants 110:2-3

As more water fell and the intensity increased I couldn't help but think of the Nephites after the storms and tempests has subsided. The voice of God came from the heavens, yet they could not understand it. Listening to the rain pouring onto the roof of the chapel, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to hear the voice of God calling from the heavens. Would I be able to hear it? I hope I would. I love the sound of water, and the rain that fell, was great and powerful, yet it fit so well in the reverent atmosphere that is always present during the ordinance of the Sacrament. What a neat sacrament meeting to be in. God is in the rain and I love the spring reminders that come in our frequents cloudbursts.

Distracted Walking

I have heard a number of people, mostly of the older generation, enumerate the evils of today's technology. In an of itself, our technology allows us to live in a time unprecedented by any other in the history of the world. It is amazing how much one can get done simply by using the technology of automatic washing machines, dryers, microwaves, vacuum cleaners and hosts of other time saving gadgets. Not only can we save time, but we can enjoy music and entertainment at the drop of a hat. If you lived in the 1800's and someone were to describe such things to you, you would probably feel that a world filled with such things would be like heaven! But while I enjoy technology, I will agree that there are dangers associated with it. 

Recently a teenage girl was enjoying the luxury of technology and a good book at the same time as she walked to school. Unfortunately, for her, a train was coming. She was so wrapped up in her distractions that she neither saw nor heard the quickly approaching danger. The distraction cost her her life. Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by this tragedy. I get especially emotional when I hear of teenage accidents such as this. My heart is full for her friends, family and community members who knew her, and even those who did not. It was a terrible and sad occasion to say the least.

For me, this incident drove home the need to be aware of our surroundings. It is so important to engage in the world, to enjoy it and revel in it; to engage with others even if it is nothing more than a smile. Distractions, because of the ease of which they are available to us, are so easy to be caught up in. Sometimes a distraction can be so strong that it seems as though nothing else compares in importance. Such distractions can keep us from socializing and enjoying life. 

With that said, it is important to recognize an even deeper level of distraction. It is distraction that takes place on a spiritual level. If we allow distractions of the world to invade our time constraints, we may find that we no longer had time to feed our spirits through prayer, scriptures study, Sunday meetings,  and service. Our spirits need daily nourishment, much like our bodies, and if they do not get it, then they become vulnerable to spiritual diseases like pride, selfishness, complacency, vanity, criticism and hosts of others. Truly, walking around every day without spiritual nourishment is much like walking around town, crossing streets and intersections, with eyes blinded and hearing dulled to the dangers that threaten our very existence.

Satan, the enemy of goodness, seeks to spiritually threaten our lives and one of his tools for doing this is that of distractions. May we ever be vigilant, watchful and prepared to meet the temptations with the proper amount of caution and watchfulness that will keep us safe from the dangerous and life threatening snares of the devil.

While this is a sad time for the town of Bow Island, if we take what it has taught us, apply it to our lives to become better, more aware of other and increase our caring for people, then perhaps it can help us be better. As we reach out to others, and penetrate their distractions, seek to touch lives and hearts, we will have great joy permeate our lives, for we will be doing God's work. Through him there is joy that is so rich, it is beyond mortal comprehension. 

For me, every train I see, and every set of tracks I cross will remind me of the need to be spiritually alert, to enjoy life and help others feel that joy.