Exercise, Change, Seek, Ask and Receive

 Wow, how time flies.  I know it has been another hot minutes since I last posted.  According to dates, it looks like it was just over a month ago.  Oh how things have changed in that month.  So, here I am, trying to get back on the wagon and do better at recording stuff.  I will continue to just do short abridgements here, but have felt that I should start recording more in other locations.

Pondering?  Though I have not been as diligent in pondering along the lines of my original plan, I have continued to ponder.  There has not been a day, week, or month that I have not studied, pondered, and progressed in my understanding.  I hope that each of you have continued doing the same.

Let's continue - Alma 34:17

"Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you:"

I think that I am doing a little repenting myself with this post.  Yet this is not the only thing that I repent of.  Repentance is a daily thing.  There is always something that I am learning that I need to modify or change in my life, spiritually and temporally. 

That being said, there are key elements that Alma teaches in this verse that I think we all tend to take for granted at times.

• Exercise Faith
• What does that look like?  When we want to make change, do we believe we can?  When we are faced with hard things and want change to happen in our lives, do we believe that God is capable of helping us make or obtaining such change?  Do we believe in our own abilities to work hand in hand with God, regardless of the path He may ask us to walk?
• Repent
• We need to be seeking ways to change, hopefully changes for go and that put us in line with our Father in Heaven.  Today, a quote from Ronald Regan was shared with me.  I am not sure that I have it exact, but to paraphrase he said that we should not be as focused on the fact that God is on our side, but that we are on God's side.  There is much to be said here.  Are we making changes in our lives that put us on God's side?  Do we have the faith to be on God's side?
• Call upon Him
• It does not matter what we are doing, spiritual or temporal, we need to make sure that God in part of our pursuits.  Are we going to Him in prayer?  Not just daily, but in all that we do?  Are we going to Him with faith that He is in charge and that we are willing to make changes in our lives to align ourselves with His will, spiritually and temporally?  There is so much power that comes from this.
• Mercy
• This is sometimes the hardest part of it all.  Not only must we humbly try to  align ourselves with the Lord, but we must also make sure we are seeing His tender mercies in our lives, even if they are not the mercies we want.  In addition to seeing and acknowledging these mercies, we must receive them, embrace them, and make them a part of who we are.

May we exercise, change, seek, ask, and receive.

Our lives:

I haven't really spoken about it over the past several months, but in addition to diligently and faithfully moving forward, the Queen has been doing so under distress.  She just has not felt right.  In late December she decided to get some medical advise.  After a series of tests and procedures, she had what I refer to as "The Symbiont" and the Professor has named "Penelope" removed, all 25 lbs. of it.  We hope that they got it all.

She had not yet returned to feeling 100% yet, but she is working on it.  I am sure that we will have more to say about it as we walk this path.  I continue to count the blessings of her in my life and all that she has helped me become each and every day.

The Professor is doing her best to stay on top of the daily challenges of our day.  Each day is a new adventure and brings new twists and turns.  She received her first dose on Friday.

Tall Man started another semester of class.  Ehl-Bo juggles Lego and projects on the home front, we love seeing them all grow and develop together.  It sounds like Tall Man also received his first dose.

Puddin has taken on another job as Lady Hawkins enters the final semester of her program.  Together they have received two doses and are making life happen every day.

SnackPack jumped into another semester of learn to add to all the things he juggles in his life.  We love hearing about his adventures as he moves from one moving object to the next.

Thanks for all you do for me.  I could not be or would not be where I am without all of you.