Brother Griffin made a really good analogy in class this week. In comparing Laman and Lemuel to Nephi. How they are thermometers (reactors) and he is a thermostat (actor). A thermometer tells you when it's too cold or too hot, while a thermostat will say "It's too cold, I'll make it warmer." To be a thermostat, you need to exercise faith in the Lord and *take the next step*, even if you don't know what the outcome will be. These steps related to receiving revelation. When we receive guidance from the Lord, we need to act on it in order to receive the next step in the plan, or the next bit of revelation. What is even MORE amazing, is that, this plan is the "blueprint" that's designed to make us into temples, or an extension of Heaven. I absolutely Love how well all of these concepts connect, and it gives me *huge* motivation to be better, to be like Nephi. Or, as Brother Griffin has said before:
"Try a little harder to be a little better, take another step of faith today."
Today. Nephi always acted right away, and that's one of the reasons I look up to him as an example of how to be. Taking a step of faith sooner, rather than later, brings up more revelation and more blessings. Something else Brother Griffin said that I really liked was: "Don't stand there paralyzed for too long." Act. Take a step of faith. These concepts are so amazing to me, and I'm incredibly grateful they are accessible to us in the scriptures.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
I Be
I don't always see things clear
And you don't like when my words give you fear
There's no such thing as perfect Love
So I may ask you: "What counts as close enough?"
You don't always treat me right
(But we all make mistakes)
And we seem to have the tendency to fight
(Forgive if that's what it takes)
When it looks like we can't get along
We hash it out and come back looking strong
Oh, where would I be without you
To keep me, build me?
Where would I be to let go
If you dropped me, spilled me?
How would I feel
If what's real-lost it's zeal-and it wouldn't
Heal?
It forces me to think
Where would I be?
If my Love for you
Is too broad or ill-defined
Or it seems the same
As others in my mind
Just know I don't always have the cure
I can't always give a strong and firm for sure
So please let me be who I be
One still building, learning
Just let me be, who I be
Know that I am yearning
To just be me
Who I be.
Oh, where would I be without you
To keep me, build me?
Where would I be to let go
Because you spilled me
Onto the floor
But then you -picked me up-and gave me
More
I can't just be me
A new girl you helped me see
Yes, you helped to build
Who I be.
And you don't like when my words give you fear
There's no such thing as perfect Love
So I may ask you: "What counts as close enough?"
You don't always treat me right
(But we all make mistakes)
And we seem to have the tendency to fight
(Forgive if that's what it takes)
When it looks like we can't get along
We hash it out and come back looking strong
Oh, where would I be without you
To keep me, build me?
Where would I be to let go
If you dropped me, spilled me?
How would I feel
If what's real-lost it's zeal-and it wouldn't
Heal?
It forces me to think
Where would I be?
If my Love for you
Is too broad or ill-defined
Or it seems the same
As others in my mind
Just know I don't always have the cure
I can't always give a strong and firm for sure
So please let me be who I be
One still building, learning
Just let me be, who I be
Know that I am yearning
To just be me
Who I be.
Oh, where would I be without you
To keep me, build me?
Where would I be to let go
Because you spilled me
Onto the floor
But then you -picked me up-and gave me
More
I can't just be me
A new girl you helped me see
Yes, you helped to build
Who I be.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Shape
1 Nephi 17 gave me many insights, and I'm very glad I had the Spirit with me so I could focus enough to have the thoughts that I did.
Verses 7, 9, 10, 11 and 16: When Nephi was commanded to go and build a ship, he went right away. He was quick to obey. Not only that, but he didn't ask the Lord to GIVE him tools. He asked Him where he could find the means to make them himself. Nephi will do all he can, and *then* ask for Divine assistance. Nephi is a do-er! I want to try to be more like Nephi and work on DOing more, and asking less. I get the feeling that, the more we DO, the more the Lord blesses us. And His blessings help us, so: The more we try on our own, the more help God will give us. What a cool thought. :)
Verse 41: There were a couple of things that struck me in this verse. One was the word 'straiten'. We talked a bit about the word 'strait' in context of the Strait and Narrow earlier this week. Basically, it means a narrow or rigorous path. It's interesting to me that it's used here, and I think what Nephi means by it is that God SHAPED, or molded, them in the wilderness; He helped them be the people He needed them to be. Thinking this brought up a couple questions: "Where or what is my wilderness?" and "How is the Lord shaping me?"
Another thing I picked up from this verse is the simplicity of the healing serpent. Often, the Lord gives us very simple help. Sometimes so simple that we don't think we can believe in it. **Do it anyway.** You will benefit.
Very strong impressions as I read this week. I'm so grateful for the Spirit and His ability to bring us divine thought. :)
I Love this Gospel!
I may write a poem with the same title as this blog post. Because it feels like it should be one. We shall see.
Much Love!
Kiki :)
Verses 7, 9, 10, 11 and 16: When Nephi was commanded to go and build a ship, he went right away. He was quick to obey. Not only that, but he didn't ask the Lord to GIVE him tools. He asked Him where he could find the means to make them himself. Nephi will do all he can, and *then* ask for Divine assistance. Nephi is a do-er! I want to try to be more like Nephi and work on DOing more, and asking less. I get the feeling that, the more we DO, the more the Lord blesses us. And His blessings help us, so: The more we try on our own, the more help God will give us. What a cool thought. :)
Verse 41: There were a couple of things that struck me in this verse. One was the word 'straiten'. We talked a bit about the word 'strait' in context of the Strait and Narrow earlier this week. Basically, it means a narrow or rigorous path. It's interesting to me that it's used here, and I think what Nephi means by it is that God SHAPED, or molded, them in the wilderness; He helped them be the people He needed them to be. Thinking this brought up a couple questions: "Where or what is my wilderness?" and "How is the Lord shaping me?"
Another thing I picked up from this verse is the simplicity of the healing serpent. Often, the Lord gives us very simple help. Sometimes so simple that we don't think we can believe in it. **Do it anyway.** You will benefit.
Very strong impressions as I read this week. I'm so grateful for the Spirit and His ability to bring us divine thought. :)
I Love this Gospel!
I may write a poem with the same title as this blog post. Because it feels like it should be one. We shall see.
Much Love!
Kiki :)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Thoughts
Disclaimer: This post has the potential to be very, very random.
Why? Because I'm writing about thoughts, which also have the potential to be very, very random. Right now, I'm going to write about some specific thoughts that I've been having very recently. Actually, pieces of these thoughts have been entering my mind over the past year and a half or so, but I think they've finally come together. The thing is, I thought they had come together already, a few months ago. BUT now they have been added on to, and they're coming-togetherness makes more sense and, actually, gives me great pleasure. It gives me much joy to present: MY THOUGHTS. (Which is what I normally do on here anyway, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.)
So what HAVE I been thinking about as of late? Well, I just finished reading a section in my Humanities book that talked about writing about the arts. I won't go into detail about that, because what I want to say pertains to more than just that.. and I don't feel like writing about those thoughts. Also, yesterday, I read a chapter in my Drawing 101 class about Art Appreciation. Or understanding art, or something like that. In reading these two texts, it came to me, once again, how much I enjoy studying Humanities type subjects, especially when it comes to the meaning and beauty of art. Something about it just invigorates my mind and soul and makes me SO happy to learn about. So happy. I want to just keep learning about it, and learning about it, and learning about it.
Maybe this is what it feels like when you find something that you think is 'what you're supposed to do' or 'the thing that's right for you'. There are a few ways I could go with this desire that I have found. I could major in Art History, minor in Humanities, and get a teaching degree so I could teach Art History! This career choice is actually something I think I would ENJOY doing, because I would have the opportunity to share my Love and appreciation for art and the reasoning of great artists. (And not so great artists, because oftentimes they have beautiful thoughts and works, too.) I would LOVE that! However, I know teaching isn't the most secure career to go into, by any means. But I'm beginning to think that's a career I would really like. AND I would Love to be an art critic. Though building a reputation for that is probably quite difficult, and I don't know if I'd ever be able to make a name for myself in so doing.. in this life. But, frankly, it's worth a shot. When there's a will, there's a way. And my will is to make my career something I really enjoy. And guess whhaaaatt? I enjoy art. I enjoy studying it, analyzing it, and the excitement that comes when I feel like I know something about a work or genre of works. I don't know how to explain how amazing all of this is to me. I Love art! I'm so glad I took that AP Art History class, even though it was very time consuming. It helped me develop the appreciation for art that I've always had, but never really focused on.
That Art History class.. hm. Maybe one of the reason I Love it so much is because of all the work I put into it. My wise instructor, adopted older brother, and one of my best friends said to me recently: "When you put that much dedication, work, and energy into something, you become passionate about it; it will never leave your heart. If you stop it, there will be a lingering void, and you will want to come back to it." (That may not be EXACTLY what he said, word for word, but it's close enough and portrays what me meant pretty dang well.) I find this entirely true. So, maybe, anything I put that much effort into I will come to Love.
To a certain extent.
The reason I specify with the above comment is... in order to put enough effort into something for Passion to happen, you have to have some sort of liking of it in the first place. There are things I've worked hard on that I don't necessarily feel connected to. I think this whole Passion thing is a continual process.. like this:
Desire: No matter how small or seemingly insignificant, one must have the desire to do something before they are willing to put TRUE EFFORT into it.
Work: The hard stuff. Practicing. Fixing mistakes until you can not only get it right, but no longer get it wrong. (That is advice from another one of my instructors, who I also admire.)
Passion: Like my wise friend told me, this passion is a result of real effort. After desire, the more effort one puts into it, the more passion they will develop for it.
More work.
Increased passion.
More work.
More increased passion.
More work.
More increased passion.
Get the picture?
Anyway, those were.. my thoughts! And they took up a lot of space. Well, thank you for your time. Much Love! :)
--Kiki
Why? Because I'm writing about thoughts, which also have the potential to be very, very random. Right now, I'm going to write about some specific thoughts that I've been having very recently. Actually, pieces of these thoughts have been entering my mind over the past year and a half or so, but I think they've finally come together. The thing is, I thought they had come together already, a few months ago. BUT now they have been added on to, and they're coming-togetherness makes more sense and, actually, gives me great pleasure. It gives me much joy to present: MY THOUGHTS. (Which is what I normally do on here anyway, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.)
So what HAVE I been thinking about as of late? Well, I just finished reading a section in my Humanities book that talked about writing about the arts. I won't go into detail about that, because what I want to say pertains to more than just that.. and I don't feel like writing about those thoughts. Also, yesterday, I read a chapter in my Drawing 101 class about Art Appreciation. Or understanding art, or something like that. In reading these two texts, it came to me, once again, how much I enjoy studying Humanities type subjects, especially when it comes to the meaning and beauty of art. Something about it just invigorates my mind and soul and makes me SO happy to learn about. So happy. I want to just keep learning about it, and learning about it, and learning about it.
Maybe this is what it feels like when you find something that you think is 'what you're supposed to do' or 'the thing that's right for you'. There are a few ways I could go with this desire that I have found. I could major in Art History, minor in Humanities, and get a teaching degree so I could teach Art History! This career choice is actually something I think I would ENJOY doing, because I would have the opportunity to share my Love and appreciation for art and the reasoning of great artists. (And not so great artists, because oftentimes they have beautiful thoughts and works, too.) I would LOVE that! However, I know teaching isn't the most secure career to go into, by any means. But I'm beginning to think that's a career I would really like. AND I would Love to be an art critic. Though building a reputation for that is probably quite difficult, and I don't know if I'd ever be able to make a name for myself in so doing.. in this life. But, frankly, it's worth a shot. When there's a will, there's a way. And my will is to make my career something I really enjoy. And guess whhaaaatt? I enjoy art. I enjoy studying it, analyzing it, and the excitement that comes when I feel like I know something about a work or genre of works. I don't know how to explain how amazing all of this is to me. I Love art! I'm so glad I took that AP Art History class, even though it was very time consuming. It helped me develop the appreciation for art that I've always had, but never really focused on.
That Art History class.. hm. Maybe one of the reason I Love it so much is because of all the work I put into it. My wise instructor, adopted older brother, and one of my best friends said to me recently: "When you put that much dedication, work, and energy into something, you become passionate about it; it will never leave your heart. If you stop it, there will be a lingering void, and you will want to come back to it." (That may not be EXACTLY what he said, word for word, but it's close enough and portrays what me meant pretty dang well.) I find this entirely true. So, maybe, anything I put that much effort into I will come to Love.
To a certain extent.
The reason I specify with the above comment is... in order to put enough effort into something for Passion to happen, you have to have some sort of liking of it in the first place. There are things I've worked hard on that I don't necessarily feel connected to. I think this whole Passion thing is a continual process.. like this:
Desire: No matter how small or seemingly insignificant, one must have the desire to do something before they are willing to put TRUE EFFORT into it.
Work: The hard stuff. Practicing. Fixing mistakes until you can not only get it right, but no longer get it wrong. (That is advice from another one of my instructors, who I also admire.)
Passion: Like my wise friend told me, this passion is a result of real effort. After desire, the more effort one puts into it, the more passion they will develop for it.
More work.
Increased passion.
More work.
More increased passion.
More work.
More increased passion.
Get the picture?
Anyway, those were.. my thoughts! And they took up a lot of space. Well, thank you for your time. Much Love! :)
--Kiki
Sunday, September 11, 2011
And The Farmboy Does It Again!
Brother Griffin said that about five times this week. I like it, because it is an expression of how wonderful the Book of Mormon is, and how grateful we are that Joseph Smith (the farmboy) helped give it to us.
1 Nephi 10: 8. "...prepare ye the way of the Lord." I don't know about the rest of you, but reading that instantly reminded me of those cartoon-church-movies I watched as a kid. I think they were a series called "The Miracles of Love" or something like that. In my house, we called them "Jesus movies". As I read this verse, it came to me how such profound teachings are put into church media, like those kid movies. Also, I knew what prophet Nephi was referring to because of those movies. I remember the song with those words in it, and how they played it while showing the John the Baptist portion of the movie. We are taught of the Prophets, through these movies and other church media, from a very young age. This is amazing, and tells me that Heavenly Father really does inspire those in charge of church functions in order to help his saints progress. The church is true! :)
Oh, and a special thanks to Momma S. for cheering me up the other night.
Sorry for the short post. I have many a thought but they're not even close to organized yet. More to come later. :)
<3 Stripes
1 Nephi 10: 8. "...prepare ye the way of the Lord." I don't know about the rest of you, but reading that instantly reminded me of those cartoon-church-movies I watched as a kid. I think they were a series called "The Miracles of Love" or something like that. In my house, we called them "Jesus movies". As I read this verse, it came to me how such profound teachings are put into church media, like those kid movies. Also, I knew what prophet Nephi was referring to because of those movies. I remember the song with those words in it, and how they played it while showing the John the Baptist portion of the movie. We are taught of the Prophets, through these movies and other church media, from a very young age. This is amazing, and tells me that Heavenly Father really does inspire those in charge of church functions in order to help his saints progress. The church is true! :)
Oh, and a special thanks to Momma S. for cheering me up the other night.
Sorry for the short post. I have many a thought but they're not even close to organized yet. More to come later. :)
<3 Stripes
Thursday, September 1, 2011
I Love BYU
I'm learning SO much at college. It's crazy to think about. Right now, I want to talk about my BoM class. Brother Griffin is AMAZING! Even after only two classes, I've already learned new ways to think about things and it's really really cool! Here's some of the stuff I wrote in my scripture journal this week:
Something I really liked in lectures this week was a comment Bro. Griffin made about the veil. He mentioned how, when we see Heavenly Father again, we will be shocked by how well we know Him. We will wonder how it's possible that we ever forgot Him. Bro. Griffin said the veil is thick enough to stop us from remembering a lot of what we know about Him. Then he said: "I hope we can help make that veil a little thinner, help you see yourself a little more how God sees you." I really liked the idea that, as we seek and learn about our Father, we can, in a sense, "thin the veil" and know more of Him, bringing ourselves closer to Him.
1 Nephi 3:7. "I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them. I know this is a very widely used verse, and I have thought about it before, but new meaning came from it as I read it today. While I was in my Humanities class, my professor was discussing the important of general education. She mentioned how the people who come up with the required generals BYU students have to take are on the board of trustees. These people are apostles. So, our "generals" are part of what God wants us to learn. He doesn't give a commandment without preparing a way for us to accomplish it. In other words, we can do it! *I* can do it. Because He has prepared a way for me to succeed. It was a powerful moment.
I can already tell that this class is going to be very different for me than high school seminary was. Not to downgrade seminary, I absolutely Love it too! I'm really enjoying my time at BYU and am gaining a new excitement for culture and learning.
Tata for now!
Kiki
Something I really liked in lectures this week was a comment Bro. Griffin made about the veil. He mentioned how, when we see Heavenly Father again, we will be shocked by how well we know Him. We will wonder how it's possible that we ever forgot Him. Bro. Griffin said the veil is thick enough to stop us from remembering a lot of what we know about Him. Then he said: "I hope we can help make that veil a little thinner, help you see yourself a little more how God sees you." I really liked the idea that, as we seek and learn about our Father, we can, in a sense, "thin the veil" and know more of Him, bringing ourselves closer to Him.
1 Nephi 3:7. "I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them. I know this is a very widely used verse, and I have thought about it before, but new meaning came from it as I read it today. While I was in my Humanities class, my professor was discussing the important of general education. She mentioned how the people who come up with the required generals BYU students have to take are on the board of trustees. These people are apostles. So, our "generals" are part of what God wants us to learn. He doesn't give a commandment without preparing a way for us to accomplish it. In other words, we can do it! *I* can do it. Because He has prepared a way for me to succeed. It was a powerful moment.
I can already tell that this class is going to be very different for me than high school seminary was. Not to downgrade seminary, I absolutely Love it too! I'm really enjoying my time at BYU and am gaining a new excitement for culture and learning.
Tata for now!
Kiki
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