Scorching the World

It was a busy weekend again and lots of fun. Friday night Tom worked late, so I got STUFF done; not that exciting. Then Sat am we worked our shift at the temple. After, Tom took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday (yes, it was in Sept. So what?) We went to Claim Jumpers and I had this most delicious tri tip with red-skinned mashed potatoes and steamed veggies that were soooo good. One reason we stayed in Fresno was because we needed to be back at the temple by 2pm. I was careful not to overeat, and got a to-go container and packed half my yummy meal. but since the sun was shining, we decided not to leave the container in the car for 4 hours. Instead I put it in the fridge in the temple to save for later. We went through a session with a whole lot of people from our Ward, in Spanish. It was really nice. After there were 2 families from our ward who were being sealed. First they sealed a couple, then they brought in their children - 2 elementary school age boys. their eyes were so ...

In a devotional before our shift at the temple, our temple President was giving a message in which he said, "We are the sum total of what we have allowed God to bless us with." We often think of ourselves as the sum total of the experiences we've had; that we are who we are because of our upbringing or our history. But this thought helped me see it in another light. The blessings that God gives us depends almost entirely on what we will let Him give us. We tend to restrict what He can give by our actions, our decisions, and our heart. If we want to be blessed with financial security, we may pray for it but then restrict that blessing from God by taking our income and spending it all on unimportant STUFF. If we want to be blessed with spiritual strength, we may pray for it but then spend our days watching television or reading things that do not uplift. We may want love and peace in our home and we may pray for it, but then put our focus on the faults of those who surround...