Now may I speak . . . to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. . . .
. . . This feeling of inadequacy is . . . normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance. . . .
. . . This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us.~~Thomas Merton: No Man is an Island
October 1st
Don't try to dazzle everyone with how brilliant you are. Dazzle them with how brilliant the gospel is. Don't worry about the location of the lost tribes or the Three Nephites. Worry a little more about the location of your student, what's going on in his heart, what's going on in her soul, the hunger, sometimes near-desperate spiritual needs of our people. Teach them. And, above all, testify to them. love them. Bear your witness from the depths of your soul. It will be the most important thing you say to them in the entire hour, and it may save someone's spiritual life.
We come to expect God to accept our understanding of what his will ought to be and to help us fulfill that, instead of learning to see and accept his will in the real situations in which he places us daily. …The plain and simple truth is that his will is that he actually wills to send us each day, in the way of circumstances, places, people and problems. The trick is to learn to see that- not just in theory, or not just occasionally in a flash of insight granted by God’s grace, but every day. Each of us has no need to wonder about what God’s will must be for us; his will for us is clearly revealed in every situation of every day….The temptation is to overlook these things as God’s will. The temptation is to look beyond these things, precisely because they are so constant, so petty, so humdrum and routine, and to seek to discover instead some other and nobler “will of God” in the abstract that better fits our notion of what his will should be.[It is] the temptation faced by everyone who suddenly discovers that life is not what he expected it to be. The answer lies in understanding that it is these things- and these things alone, here and now, at this moment- that truly constitutes the will of God. The challenge lies in learning to accept this truth and act upon it, every moment of every day.
~~Walter Ciszek
Posts
LOL... Rachel told me all about her bruise on the phone today.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, it IS pretty gruesome!
So what is the story behind it? What kind of unsafe activities does your family do for FHE? ;)
ReplyDeleteYou obviously haven't got the latest copy of the FHE manual. You really should order it now!
ReplyDeleteWhile we were waiting for the rest of the family to come, Rachel and Jared were playing (aka world war wrestling). Rachel grabbed Jared from behind and was pulling him down for a perfect take down. The only problem was that she was using the "sacrifice yourself" move to get her take down points. She pulled him down, her head hit the back of the couch, his back of the head hit her right below the eye on that cheekbone that is so hard.
Needless to say, that round was over real quick as both participants grabbed their injured location and howled, Rachel louder than a banshee (of course). Needless to say, Jared has a little bump, Rachel has a real valid war wound.
Wow....and I was all geared up to say, "you see- now that's why we'll never have a trampoline!"
ReplyDeleteLOL Katie--you'll have to give up the couch!!
ReplyDeleteYikes! ...and I don't even suppose this will stop them from future rough-housing, will it? :)
ReplyDeleteSadly enough, no. I got to the place with the big kids that if they started playing rough I sent them to their room or outside, so I wouldn't have to hear it and they wouldn't break anything. And then I trained them. When they came in crying I asked "What happens when you play rough?" and they dutifully answered, "You get hurt...."
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'd better start practicing that response! :D
ReplyDelete