Faith, Love and Prayer

This is one of the most precious songs to me. I learned it when I was very young and I have taught it to all of my precious little ones as they were nursing as babies. I'm not sure I care if this offends any one, because I believe it with such a strong heart and mind and it teaches what I believe to be a universal truth. This is a picture I've posted before, of my mom and dad and my children. Just before Bubby turned 1.
The song is called "I am a Child of God".


I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God,
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows to late.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God.
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do his will
I'll live with hime once more.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory shall be mine
If I can but endure.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

Go here and click on the last item listed to hear childrens voices singing. http://iamachildofgod.org/?vm=r
http://youtu.be/BjnheAUlBy0

I understand that some are not taken care of as well as our Heavenly Father would like. Some are abused and some are not loved. I feel for those of my brothers and sisters who don't get to have that kind of love in their lives. I have been a very angry person over the last few years. One reason is because I just haven't been giving time to music lately. Even just listening to music makes a difference in my life.
Another reason is because I have just grown calloused. I have quit caring and become uninterested in my surroundings. I have many faults and I have taken my insecurities out on my children with my loud voice. My very loud voice. I work in a grocery store, where I have to deal with some who make really dumb decisions. (I think the choices are dumb, but maybe they just don't know), and ask or say really dumb things, (again, maybe they just don't know).

The problem is with me. As I said before, I've been really angry. Over nothing. I just got angry one day and continued to be, because I liked it. I liked the way the madness made me feel. I have no idea why. Just that it was a nice companion. Anger was the fuel, and the more fuel I had, the more I felt in control. It only took me 10 years to realize this. (Although some people I know would argue that it may have taken longer. I'm not going to push the issue, only, they could possibly be right).
What I'm trying to say is that I am trying to change. Change is a big thing whether you change an attitude or eating habits or movement patterns. I have been praying lately, that after I have given thanks for my blessings and my children and my dear, wonderful hubby, that I can have more patience and to be able to see each person as my Heavenly Father sees him or her. It's been hard, but even just the very next day, I don't recall having yelled at my children (Maybe four or five times in the last week, whereas it would be per day, normally).
I think music has a big part to do with it. It's been part of teaching my children basic essentials of life, like the ABC's, counting and important things like brushing teeth and cleaning up. I have sung to them about being a child of God and prayer and they have taught me to remember things that are important to us through our faith that they have learned in song.
The song I sing to Bubby when I put him down for a nap and to bed at night (when I get the chance) is called "I Feel my Saviors Love". It teaches some wonderful things that make my heart warm and make me feel the love that I believe all of us should know.

I feel my Savior's Love.
I feel my Savior’s love,
In all the world around me
His Spirit warms my soul
Through everything I see
He knows I will follow Him,
Give all my life to Him
I feel my Savior's love
The love He freely gives me.
I feel my Savior’s love
Its gentleness enfolds me
And when I kneel to pray
My heart is filled with peace
He knows I will follow Him,
Give all my life to Him
I feel my Savior’s love
The love He freely gives me.
I feel my Savior’s love
And know that He will bless me
I offer Him my heart;
My shepherd He will be
He knows I will follow Him,
Give all my life to Him
I feel my Savior’s love,
The love He freely gives me.
I’ll share my Savior’s love
By serving others freely,
In serving I am blessed,
In giving I receive
He knows I will follow Him,
Give all my life to Him
I feel my Savior’s love,
The love He freely gives me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1RCGhXjAtU

Anyway, I am not the best at sharing my feelings and flowing freely is something my words don't do. The point of this is that since I have asked my Heavenly Father to help me love those around me, I have learned that it takes time. Attitude is something that you have to practice, like cello. Or voice. I have excused silly things at the store. I have excused my childrens behavior. I have excused time, which makes me feel like a prisoner to my husbands schooling (which, by the way, is nearly finished). I have begun to learn to love the "normal" things that plague human-kind.
Oh, and God really does answer our prayers.

Mist of Darkness

Not to be trite, but recently, I have really decided to take the bull by the horns and do something with my life. I have 30 pounds to lose and a life to look after. I have been brought up in


For me to post this is a big thing and I draw strength from a friend of mine, Nicole. She's wonderful and has a huge testimony of the love our savior has for us. I love that she has no fear in sharing this with people either.
Back to the thought.
I have been struggling to lose weight after baby M was born, I nearly lost my life. I have come to the conclusion that I need to be healthier and take the initiative to lose. It is ssssssssooooooo hard. I love food, and I love the wrong kinds of food. Right now, food is winning.
We have this Word of Wisdom that serves as a guideline for health and well-being. It was given as revelation, nearly 200 years ago, through the prophet Joseph Smith, and the things it contains are only now being backed up by science. For instance, eat meat sparingly, fill up on grains, exercise regularly, alcohol is for the wound and not the belly, tobacco makes your lungs black and makes you sick...and many more things.
I'll tell you what. I don't have any problems with the alcohol part because I have smelled drunk people. They smell like my babys dirty diaper bin. Why would you do that to yourself? Why would you make yourself smell like a dirty, wet diaper? tobacco makes me get headaches. No problems there.
I'll tell you what kicks my butt. FOOD. I work in a grocery store and am surrounded by food every day. I say that it's not the shopping while you're hungry that gets me. It's the working while I'm hungry that gets me. That's when I make all my meal plans and dinner plans and any kind of food plan. If it goes in my stomach, it's a well thought out plan of many hours at my place of employment. I LOVE FOOD!
I have just now, (well, three weeks ago) decided that I need to take it seriously and lose some weight. I said in an earlier post, "Me and the flap, we're good friends" referring to the lose skin around my midsection. I plan to lose it or most of it by Christmas time. I might be brave enough to post some before and after pictures.
I have been fighting with the same 6 pounds since March though. It's a lot harder than it sounds. I have been trying, earnestly, to limit my sweets and garbage foods to minimal amounts per week, and I have been putting more veggies in my meals. Not just produce in general, but vegetables. I don't eat enough veggies. Or drink enough water for that matter. I have started drinking two of those tall bottle sizes of the smart water at work every day. That doesn't account for what I intake at home either. Ahh, water tastes best to your body. (Even some of the girls at work have said that I look thinner. Thanks, Angela).

And more importantly, I have decided to take on Moroni's (More-O-nigh) Challenge. I am going to finish the Book of Mormon by the time my oldest goes back to school for the fall. The last time I did that, I was in college. in the late 1990's. When you read the Book of Mormon, you read with intent, prayer and a desire to know that it is true. When you are finished, you kneel in prayer to Heavenly Father and ask Him if it is true. The Holy Ghost will testify to you that it is and there is the beginning of your tesitmony. You then keep your life in line with the teachings therein and pray and read scripture regularly. He will bless you so much for doing good and righteous things. And I will be a better parent for this too.
Sometimes, though, we forget. I am looking at this as a "refresher course". I am going to go at this three fold. 1)Word of Wisdom. 2)Book of Mormon. 3)Teach my children with more love than I have ever done before.