I love how the Lord works in such small but intimate ways in our lives. That I stumbled on your blog on the very day I needed this EXACT message coincidence..hmmmm I am thinking no.
I hope you and Nancy are well!
I will be sure to blog stalk you now and feel of your goodness and the Spirit during my lunch breaks.
Hugs to you and Nanc
Katie McKinney

PS being a teacher is pretty close to a parent and I find those messages just as useful. Thanks

Thanks for breathing new life into a familiar passage of scripture.

A mutual friend sent your site my way. I really enjoyed the article. I specifically enjoyed the use of the Book of Mormon scriptures to show something our Christian neighbors seem to understand better than we do which is God is great, He loves us, and makes us clean through His Son’s atonement!! It is real and thank goodness for me it is. “All of this reliance on Jesus can make a good, red-blooded, twenty-first century American Mormon pretty uncomfortable.” I think that was quite a bold statement, but from my experience it is still and understatement. Many of us are still “working” our way to God. We are trusting in the arm of flesh, which in this case happens to be our own arm and flesh. I am trying to get out of the being more obedient makes me more spiritual circular problem. Yes, I will feel better and have the Spirit of God with you more by keeping the thou shalt and thou shalt not commandments, but ultimately I will fail again, so what am I left with is either to start over with the obedience or trust in goodness and mercy of the Lord. I have done much more of the start over and need more of the trust in the Lord method. Thanks again for the article.

As always, I appreciate the insights you share.

One of my favorite books is “Confonting the Myth of Self-Esteem: Twelve Keys to Finding Peace,” by Ester Rasband.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. Its theme is very similar to what you have taught so well here- that we find peace when we humbly submit to God’s will but not in seeking the praise of man or in trying to save ourselves.

Our recent stake conference focused on being self sufficient. In our pursuit of being prepared financially, temporally, etc., which we may mostly accomplish with our own efforts, I think we have to change our mindset when it comes to spiritual preparedness. Certainly “desire” is critical in increasing our spiritual reserves, but I think that we need to learn to let God do His work in/through us instead of trying to do everything by our own sheer grit.