Write at the Heart

Last week we drove to the beach in Georgia, to the mountains of Tennessee, & back to the rolling country landscape of the Midwest.  All very different scenery. All so beautiful! God’s earth has variety. And so does God’s people. During our trip, we went to Dollywood amusement park with some wonderful new friends of ours who have a little daughter with Down syndrome. And for a day, I saw a tiny glimpse of life through their eyes.  At one point, we stopped to watch one of the bands perform some fun, old-timey songs. My friend’s cute daughter ate it up! The singers immediately took notice of her enthusiasm as she clapped, waved, & beamed through the music, & they waved, beamed, & sang right back at her. When they began their last song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine...” my heart was touched. I couldn’t help but think of that little girl’s light & how it must shine everywhere she goes. She is a lot different than most of us. Yet she is a beautiful ch

Yesterday we had every intention of leaving at 6AM to drive 11 hours to the beach for spring break. We woke up 2 hours late. 🤦‍♀️ Probably cause I decided to stay up super late the night before & clean the house like a maniac cause it seemed like a good idea at the time. (I like to leave a clean house behind, ok?) It was not a good idea. Cause not only did I wake up late, I wasn’t even packed! I know! Well, after a bit of chaos, we finally got out the door 3.5 hours after our planned time. Sigh. And then on the way I realized I forgot a bunch of stuff. Cool. But it was ok, cause, one word: Walmart. The place to pick up forgotten things.🙌 What a day of convenience we live in. However, not ALL things can be picked up at Walmart. “Armor of God” is not under any department. Truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit... Not available at the store. Not even Amazon. In a day where we feel like we can snap our fingers and get whatever we wa

Inspired by a simple dandelion shining in the sun, Lilias Trotter, a Christian missionary in the early 1900s, wrote a single line of prose about turning to Jesus. Years later in 1918, Helen Lemmel was standing on a street corner & handed a small leaflet. Inside were Lilias’ words. Helen was deeply moved. She recalled: “Suddenly, as if commanded to stop & listen, I stood still, & singing in my soul & spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.” Her song was first published in England & is now a popular Christian hymn.  I’d never heard it until Sunday when our Relief Society teacher played a recording of her daughter singing it. I was also moved. “O soul, are you weary & troubled? No light in the darkness you see There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life mor

A few weeks ago I ordered new dinner plates from Amazon. When they arrived, I excitedly opened the package. (You know you’re old when you’re excited about plates.) I pulled them out and to my disappointment realized they were TINY!  I said, “What! THESE aren’t big enough for dinner!!” And without missing a beat my son happily pointed out, “They’re big enough for mac & cheese!” That they are. 😆 And I actually use them all the time for various things.🤷‍♀️ Small, but enough. ••• Recently I confided in a friend that I was having a rough morning and jokingly asked if she had a punching bag. Twenty minutes later she showed up on my doorstep with some Oreos... and a tiny homemade “punching bag.” Small, but enough. 😭❤️ ••• Joseph Smith received several “mini” revelations from the Lord for different people. In section 23, the Lord has just “a few words” (1, 3, 4, 5) for Oliver, Hyrum, Samuel, Joseph’s father, and Joseph Knight.  Just a couple sentences for each of them. Doesn’t seem like

I discovered something amazing last week.  You wanna know what it was? Nutella. Yep. NUTELLA! I had never bought it or eaten it before. I know, what?! Until that adventurous day at Costco when I thought, ya know what, it’s time. And I bought two huge jars. Turns out, Nutella IS LIKE THE BEST THING EVER. My life is changed! While I mourn the realization that I could have had it in my life a lot sooner, I am so happy to have it in my life now! 😆 To think, its goodness was there waiting for me this whole time. A couple days ago we had a new friend over for dinner. He is older, but was just baptized. He had borne a heartfelt testimony in church earlier that day, “I wish I would have found the church sooner! It’s been a long road for me to get here. But I’m so happy to be here now!” He told us he’d never felt anything like it before. It didn’t matter how long his road had been. What matters is he is here now, tasting the life-changing sweetness of the gospel. “By these things we know that

I LOVE these words from God to Joseph, about Joseph: “For thus saith the Lord God: Him have I inspired to move the cause of Zion in mighty power for good, and his diligence I know, and his prayers I have heard. Yea, his weeping for Zion I have seen...” (D&C 21:7-8) Joseph Smith WAS inspired in mighty power FOR GOOD. And just as He knows each of us, the Lord knew Joseph inside & out. Saw his joys & sorrows- his weeping! Saw his flaws & mistakes, his strengths & his honest heart. He personally taught, led, guided, & supported Joseph through the restoration of His gospel. My testimony of Joseph is strong. Not because I have studied his life extensively, but because I have studied the Book of Mormon extensively, felt its power again & again, & know in my heart & soul it’s the word of God! ❤️ That is truly enough for me to know Joseph Smith was a prophet. That said, I feel a hunger to know more, to study more, to delve into a deeper context of it all! I’v

 “Impart it freely" The phrase keeps running through my head.   Martin Harris is told to "impart a portion of thy property" (D&C 19:34) and "impart it freely" (26) for the printing of the Book of Mormon.  Mortgage his farm! What a HUGE sacrifice. From the outside looking in, it seems absolutely crazy. The scriptures & church history is ridden with stories of sacrifice, of “crazy.” "Amulek having forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things... for the word of God, he being rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred" (Alma 15:16) Lamoni's father: "What shall I do that I may be born of God... Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." (Alma 22:15) Anti-Nephi-Lehis: “They took their swords... and they did bury them up deep in the earth. And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God” (Alma 2

We finally watched the “Friend to Friend” church video to the primary children. It was adorable. As my youngest finished up the drawing activity, he said, “Mom, do you know why I made the light from the window a BRIGHTER yellow?” “Why?” “Because that’s JESUS watching him pray,” he answered. I loved that.  Because while there are times heaven seems far away, sometimes I feel just like that little boy in the drawing surrounded by bright yellow light. Sometimes it’s at church, in my bedroom, out in nature... but sometimes it’s while running on a treadmill. A couple days ago I was running on said treadmill. I’d turned on someone else’s playlist (sick of all my songs!) & not five minutes in Lauren Daigle’s beautiful song “You Say” came on. I’d heard it plenty of times, but the second it began tears came to my eyes. I felt a rush of emotion so strong part of me wanted to curl up in a ball & just cry it all out. I kinda laughed at myself- like, what is happening?! But I knew. I knew G