Gratitude #4: Religion

Where I live, there's three churches on my street

and at each, we worship God,

we worship God the Father and His son Jesus Christ,

and we feel the holy spirit.

We worship in the church Christ designed himself

and the people aren't perfect

but God is

and that's why we keep going.

Where I live,

I can walk to two temples, each are less than three miles from my doorstep
I walk to two houses of God

where I can worship,

and believe in families as God designed them,

and pray to my Heavenly Father

and feel peace.

Where I live, I talk freely with others

about seeking wisdom from holy books

the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

We talk of Christ, we testify of Christ, we rejoice in Christ

and we try to be like him

we falter

but we try and try and try.

Where I live, we feed people who are hungry

we make friends with new faces in our neighborhood

we sing good music that fills us with tremors of service and high hopes and comfort.

Where I live, we learn languages

Spanish, Korean, Sign Language, Japanese, Arabic, Tagalog, and hundreds more

so that with those languages

we can teach other people

from the Holy Books

and help them know Jesus

and feel the sweetness of his love.

Where I live, I have religion, and I'm grateful.

Comments

The Problem with Chick Flicks.

I really, really, really enjoy a select few movies that I willingly watch over and over again. Pride and Prejudice is one of them. You see, Elizabeth's defense of her family, her sense of self respect, her ability to admit that she was wrong and to appreciate Darcy despite all his quirks, and quizzical brow-ness... it's marvelous. My husband doesn't share the sentiment, could you tell? ... and that's okay. There's rare a chick flick I enjoy near as much as I enjoy Pride and Prejudice or A Walk To Remember , and I wanted to explain why. You see, there's more than just a few problems with (many, not all) chick flicks: (and if you have a chick flick that escapes many of these pitfalls then please oh please leave it's title in the comment section!) The heroine (or suitor) is less than honorable. I have a hard time rooting for a girl to get a gentleman when she's spending her time being scandalously loose with other men ( #thenotebook) . An...

A Year and 10 Days Ago

Dear Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and you lovely random passerby of the Blogosphere-- A year and 10 days ago I set out on a journey to write a blog post a day, for two months straight. I did that successfully, and then decided to extend my challenge to a one-year challenge. My report? I wrote 317 blog posts in a 365-day period. And I think that's pretty rad. A few reflections on this experience: Firstly, I started this blog not just because I love writing, but because I needed help. I was suffering from some intense postpartum anxiety, but I didn't know that's what it was at the time. Every moment of every day I felt like I was under severe stress and pressure, even when there were no evident triggers for such. The feeling in my gut on an almost constant basis felt like the queasy stomach, racing heartbeat, and unsettled mind that greeted me before every math test and job interview I've had growing up. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know how...

5 Children's Books You Really Oughta Read

I love reading almost as much as I love writing. And I love writing almost as much as I love reading. Depends on the day. One never truly trumps the other. Gotta have both. These are 5 children's books I've read within the past 2 years that gave me that turn-page feeling, that friends-with-the-characters feeling, that weepy-when-it's-over-feeling. I dare you to read one and I triple-dog-dare you to leave a comment below telling me a story that's given YOU them sort of feelings. #5-- Flotsam by David Wiesner. If you're not much of a reader (or for your loved ones who can't read at all!) check this one out. It's a whimsical wordless picture book that entertains your curiosities of what truly lies at the bottom of the sea while simultaneously indulges hopes of finding something truly awesome washed up on the shores of a summer destination spot. #4-- Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan. With three main characters, three plot lines from WWII era, music liter...

God is Good to the Johnsons

Search This Blog