Just ONE Page.....

Last week I read an article found here.  This article shared how people of many different faiths were asked to read just one page in the Book of Mormon and share their feelings about what they read.  It showed that although people of different faiths/beliefs might worship differently, that there are similarities in those things that we do believe. 

I decided to take the challenge.  I got my copy of the book that I keep in my vehicle, randomly opened it, grabbed my highlighter so I could mark any references to deity, and I read one page.

My thoughts from what I read:

• There is a God.  Jesus Christ is a God
• He will teach us His ways - when we know what He teaches, it is easy to follow Him
• Jesus is the Lord from Jerusalem
• We're admonished to walk in the light of the Lord
• For those who choose to live a wicked life, they will be judged by their works 

I can testify that there is a power in reading the Book of Mormon - by doing so, it will answer questions you have about life - about deity - about faith, hope and charity - about grace and redemption and so much more.  

If you don't have a Book of Mormon and would  like one, if only to read one page, leave your name and address in the comments and I'll get one to you. OR - you can access a digital version by going here.

Pumpkin Bread

I've had several people ask for my pumpkin bread recipe, so thought I'd share here.  There aren't any pictures at this time because we've finished off the last of the bread that I made a couple of weeks ago.

It's yummy!   Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

• 6 eggs, beat well
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 c. vegetable/canola oil
• 3 c. pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. cloves
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 5 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin and mix well.  Add the spices and flour and combine on low speed until mixed well, then on medium speed.  Be sure to scrape the edges of the bowl to make sure the ingredients are all mixed together.

Lightly grease and flour loaf pans.  Fill 2/3 full and bake at 300 degrees for 85 minutes.  Check with a toothpick before removing from oven.  If the toothpick still has sticky batter on it after sticking it in the center of the loaf, bake an additional 5 minutes and check again.  

Remove from oven and lay pans on their sides or on a cooling rack to cool.  When completely cool, remove the bread from the pans and put in ziplock bags, or wrap in saran wrap.  

This was a recipe my mother had and I used to make it when I was living at home (LOTS of years ago).  Our house was never wired to be able to have an electric stove, so we heated our water and cooked all of our meals on the coal/wood burning stove, and it still turned out fabulous!  And hey, I'm not THAT old - but growing up certainly was an adventure!

Hope you enjoy the bread - our family loves it.

 

Prayer

 

I've been reading a new book by Emily Belle Freeman titled: The Christ Centered Home.  I've found that it can be purchased at any book store, but the one I order from online most frequently is Amazon or here.

Our family has had an interesting couple of years, and as I read the chapter that focused on having a household of prayer and really conversing with the Lord, I realized that we really have been doing that.  We've called on Him in our times of great need.  We've prayed for others, by name and for specific blessings that we know they need and/or desire.  On my way to work, I often pray to thank Him for the beautiful valley that we are blessed to be living in, for our family, for the amazing scenery - and last summer - for the abundance of rainbows!   I've prayed for calmness, and it has come.  I've prayed to know how to serve others, and thoughts have come into my mind.  I've prayed for our children, their spouses and our grand-children. 

I truly have found that as I've included my Father in Heaven in the details of my life, I have felt His presence in greater abundance.  I have been made aware of times when others have prayed specifically for us and our circumstances, and we have felt lifted up because of those prayers.  

I want to share a bit of my own testimony about prayer by quoting a short paragraph from this book.

"Making prayer a part of our daily routine may require us to set aside and turn upside down many of our original daily patterns.  We have to shift our thoughts vertically.  Inviting the Lord to be part of our lives will require us to live intentionally.  But the blessing of constant companionship is worth it.  The ongoing conversation will bless our lives in a way that we may have been missing out on previously.  Through prayer we can receive answers, comfort, and strength.  We can experience the miracles that can come only through prayer and fasting.  We can find direction.  Perhaps the most important lesson we can teach our children is the importance of regular prayer."

I hope that your life can be enriched and your relationship with your Father in Heaven and Savior will be enriched by making prayer a part of the intimate moments of your life.

It's a girl!

The grand kids got to help announce the gender of the new baby that will be joining our family in August.  That silly string is PINK!

Miss Emma is very excited that a sister is joining the family.

We are finally enjoying some amazing spring days.  There's still snow in the mountains, and we are getting rain showers.  We love living somewhere that is like a 3D postcard each and every day!

Anxiety - Part 3!

It has been such an interesting process figuring out 'life'.  It's something we all do each and every day.  Every person has different experiences that they are working through and different perspectives that they bring to the table - so each and every one of us will have different outcomes.  How I handled my situation that was causing such extreme anxiety in my life may not work for you. 

So - a year plus since my last post on anxiety, and I'm happy to report that I'm doing well!  Let me tell you about that year ----  whew!

• I quit my job
• My husband retired from his job 
• In April we spent three weeks in Utah helping our daughter with a new baby and looking for work and houses
• Made an offer on a home - it didn't go through
• The first part of May our house in Missouri sold!
• We went back to Missouri and finished packing our place up and doing things to the house that had to be be done for the sale to go through
• Phone & Skype interviews -- that happens when you are 1,000 miles away from where you are trying to find work
• Lots of emotional good-byes to very dear friends.  Some that we likely will never see again.  Thank heavens for FB, email and phone calls!
• Packed up and drove across country.  Do you want to know what caused me the most anxiety about all of this?  Driving behind the U-Haul!  I watched it almost go off the road, I watched it look like it could tip over while changing lanes on uneven pavement.  I watched it going way too fast down some very long hills.  I had perfect trust in our friend and driver of that van, but still - that was hard!
• Moved in with some friends because we didn't have a house of our own.
• We were basically homeless and unemployed!  YIKES!
• Spent lots of time with family - so therapeutic!  
• Went to the LDS Employment Center every day and spent hours filling out job applications, interviewing, crying over rejection letters, etc.
• I got a job the end of July
• Bought a home
• Don's back is getting worse and worse
• In October or November met with a neurosurgeon and determined that surgery was necessary
• Major back surgery the first part of December
• Don was called to be the bishop of our ward, that we had only been members of for three months! 
• He's still looking for work

 When I scored the events of the year on one of those life stress inventories, the score was quite high.  Anything 300 points or more raises the odds to about 80% of having a major health breakdown in the next two years.  We scored 423!

Even with a high score on the stress inventory, we felt SO MUCH PEACE!   Staying in the upstairs apartment at our friends' place was truly a healing time for us.  When we needed a friend, we just walked down stairs.  We had prayed and fasted and received a LOT of counsel from people we trusted as we made the decision to walk away from those things that were causing us the most stress.  So even with all of the changes that we made, and the stress that they could have (should have) caused in our lives, we have never had a time in our lives when we felt peace on such a consistent basis. 

We have loved being close to our family and enjoying time with our adult children, their spouses and the grandkids.  What a blessing each of them are to us.  What a joy to have those little ones walk in our house and throw their arms around us. 

We did a lot of 'studying it out in our minds and hearts' as to what we should do each step of the way.  We felt the strong confirmation from a loving Father in Heaven as we made decisions that we were on the right path - even when we couldn't totally see the path!  We felt like Peter at times, as the Lord issued the invitation to him 'to come' - to leave the boat and walk to Him on the water.  Sometimes we felt as though we had just taken a flying leap into the wind-tossed waters - but even as we did so - we felt our Savior's outstretched arms there to catch us. 

We feel blessed.  

We feel loved.

Life is good!

We are happy!