Praising something publicly will never be the same as praising that something directly.

How will that something ever know unless you let it be known?!
 
You could write a tell-all book about how great your mother is, but it will never be as great as telling your mother what she is to you.

You could love a piece of fruit, say a pear, more than any other fruit, but it'll never know unless you let it be known directly. Is it crazy to tell a pear you love it? Perhaps, but who cares? What is it gonna do? Judge you?

You could love an old picture of your grandparents so much, but how will it ever know unless you let it be known? I'm not saying to talk to the picture... That would be a little crazy... But perhaps, put it in the prettiest frame you own & place it in front of your bed, so every morning, you wake up & see it hanging there.

You treat the things you love with care. You let the things you love know how much you care.

A homeless person on the street gives you a smile for no reason at all. He doesn't have a sign or a cup for change. Do you stop & let him know that you appreciate his kind gesture, or do you nod & keep walking, hoping that would suffice?!

You & your fiancé call off a wedding & completely break up. Do you cry & tell your best friend all the wonderful things you're going to miss about him? Or do you thank him for all the happiness he brought into your life & the many things he taught you, with a smile?

You could praise God to every soul on this earth, but it would never mean as much unless you directly praised Him. -Actions speak louder than words but that isn't to say that words are less valuable in comparison.- 

We MUST let the things & people we love be known. It means so much more!

Quotes to Keep You on the Boat :)

          I thought I would take the time to share some of my favorite quotes. These quotes, in one way or another, have helped me "get through" events that life has subjected me to. Enjoy (:

"Being obsessed with what people think about you is the quickest way to forget what God thinks about you!"
-Author Unknown

"Your biggest adversary can be your biggest inspiration."
-Delilah

"Somewhere inside every heart...is a secret prayer. God does hear & He does care."
-Author Unknown

"The challenges in our lives are there to strengthen our convictions. They are not there to run us over."

-Nick Vujicic

 

 

"The best makeup is a Smile. The best jewelry is Modesty. The best clothing is Confidence!"
-Diana Pleitez


"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

-Author Unknown

"A smile is a curve that sets many things straight."
-Author Unknown

"One of the best feelings is being humbled by the Lord through the spirit."
-Words of a Wise Daughter :)

"DANCE. It's enjoyable, relieves stress, works your muscles & the best part, you can do it by yourself without fear of looking absolutely ridiculous."
-Karlie Fagan

"Sitting in church makes you no more a Christian than sitting in a garage makes you a car."

-Author Unknown

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years."

-Audrey Hepburn

"When a train passes through a tunnel & it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket & jump off. You sit still & trust the engineer."

-Corrie Ten Boom

"What others do to you doesn't define you; it's what you do to yourself that matters."
-Author Unknown

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."
- Wayne Dyer

"The simplest things can be the most complex things. The reason for that? It might very well be because we make those simple things complex. Hmmm . . ."

-Words of a Wise Daughter

"You must do the very thing you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

"Families can be together forever."
"We are each of us angels, with only one wing & the only way we can fly is by embracing one another."
-Luciano De Crescenzo

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!"

-Audrey Hepburn

"Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile."
- Author Unknown

"It was not a laugh but merely a loud smile."
-Author Unknown

"Sometimes you have to move on, in order to grow. Be a flower, while others stay a weed."
-Words of a Wise Daughter :)

"Pain of a problem is worse than pain of a solution."
-James Snyder

"When life gives you trouble, just pop it like a bubble & remember all you have to do is S-M-I-L-E. (Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal)"
-First Year Song at Girl's Camp

"In the pain, the agony & the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner's fire & the insignificant & the unimportant in our lives can melt away the dross & make our faith bright, intact & strong. For some, the refiner's fire causes a loss of belief & faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process."
- Pres. James E. Faust

"I had actually seen a light & in the midst of that light I saw two Personages & they did in reality speak to me; & though I was hated a&persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; ... I knew it & I knew that God knew it & I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God & come under condemnation."
-Joseph Smith

Who Are You Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow?

          Yesterday I was a frantic sister trying to act as mom to my little sister who busted her head open. Today I was a sick girl who ate everything in sight. Tomorrow I will be a Nursery Leader, who will teach the little ones about being thankful to Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ. But who am I throughout the week? I may play different roles, but I am the same person.     I am a Christian on the days ending in "Y." I am a sister 7 days a week. I am a friend 24 hours a day. I am a Daughter of God for eternity!

          Too often people are not themselves to everyone, every time, or everywhere. We try to please everyone... & that's hard to do. We may lose ourselves in the process. We may forget who we are in life, if we can't keep track of who we are with this person, that person & those people. Are we humble only when people compliment us? Are we only respectful to those in authority? Are we patient and loving in deed and in thought only when we're at church?

          Jesus is meek, loving, compassionate, close to the Lord, patient, humble, kind, smart, giving, understanding, forgiving... & so much more! Was Jesus only these things when He felt like it? Did He only act this way when it was Sunday? He certainly didn't do it for attention. He didn't do it because that's who the people wanted... He did it because that's who He was, & because that's who the Lord created Him to be. He didn't have to do anything, but He did because He loved the Lord & because He knew that's what the Lord would expect of Him. He did it, because He said He would!

         So now I ask you, who were you yesterday? Who are you today? & who will you be tomorrow?

The choice is yours!

Forgiving, Repenting & Learning...

It has been said...

          "Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been different."

To forgive & to forget is quite the task. For some of us, forgiving is easy, but forgetting is not. For those of us who find forgiving & forgetting extremely difficult to do, this is for you!

          Without giving my life story, I had a period in my life where I could not escape the hell that I was going through, except it be school, church, or a friend so generously inviting me to go somewhere. For the longest time, I sugar-coated my story when people asked "how it was going." But there came a time, in which, I could not hold back anymore. This was a dark time for my family & me. Finding peace & serenity was rare, but when opportunity came knocking, we opened the door & invited it in, so to speak. . . . . Once this nightmare turned reality was taken out of my life & the lives of the people I care about, peace was finally tangible. . . or so it seemed. Now that this "thing" was not something that I dealt with on a daily basis, I found it troublesome to let the horrifying thoughts & memories of its existence disappear from my mind. It almost seemed impossible to let this chapter of hell go. This frustrated me so, to the point where I would cry in my room at night & ask the Lord "Why has thou done this to me? Why has thou allowed my family & I to endure this long & bitter trial? Why God? Oh! Why??" & my almost immediate answer was one simple word, in which I was familiar with. . . "Repentance." I was very angered with this answer because I felt that in no way I needed to repent of anything because I didn't do anything wrong; it was in fact, someone else whom I felt needed to repent of their sins. Why was repentance my answer?

          I struggled with this answer time & time again. . . & it occurred to me one day. . . I must repent to the Lord for coming to Him with an angry heart & disrespecting Him the way I did, when I was addressing & asking for help. Now this was a process indeed. . . but one thing that still remained heavy on my heart & in my mind was how to forgive & forget this trial that I had experienced. . . . . After awhile, due to my impatience on an answer to my question, I stopped praying to the Lord & searching the scriptures for help. & with that, I stopped praying & studying the scriptures all together. This caused even greater problems. I felt disconnected from God & His plan for the world & His plan for me. I would sit & cry & get angry in thought. This happened for a long period of time. I heard this quote while watching television: "Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been different." As silly as it may sound, that quote solved everything for me. Things is my mind started to click. One thing lead to another & I found myself on my knees, thanking the Lord. I no longer had flashbacks of the hell I once I had to embrace. I no longer felt opposition toward the many events or people that made the situation unbearable. So, in a sense, all my prayers were answered & everything was hunky dory, right?! WRONG!

          Even though my prayers had been answered & I finally could forgive & forget the necessary things... I realized that I needed to repair my relationship with my Father in Heaven. I abandoned Him. I left Him when I felt like He was of no use to me. I left Him when I needed Him the most. I abandoned THE greatest person & the most powerful person. I left the person who loved me the most. I dismissed the person who created me. I dismissed the person who sent His son to earth to rule & to reign, only to have him bare the sins of the world & hanging from a cross, in which he bled & died.        The Lord loves all of His children. We are all perfect because He created us. To think of the many time in which I wept because I felt burdened & unappreciated... to think that this is exactly what the Lord feels for each & every single one of His children when they ignore Him, dismiss Him, abandon Him, refuse to believe that He is there... how selfish am I to have wept a single tear of pain!

          Repairing my relationship with my Heavenly Father was an ongoing event. But what I have found is that, "repairing" is the wrong word, because there's no limit or maximum with/for the relationship you (can) have with Him. We can only better ourselves so that we may dwell with the righteous. We do not realize, but we need to, that our Heavenly Father's heart becomes heavy & sheds a tear when one of His children is doing wrong. & doing wrong can include not forgiving those who have wronged us.

"...It hath been said...

An eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. & if any man shall sue thee at the law & take away thy coat, let him have thy coat also." ~Matthew 5: 38-40

A Solid Foundation

          "The wise man built his house upon the rock & The foolish man built his house upon the sand." Are we wisely building our foundation upon something reliable & forever strong? Are we building our lives with the Savior in mind? Or are we building our foundation on something that seems like a good idea, but will falter later? Are we building our lives upon the unimportant things? "And the house on the rock stood still."



Matthew 7:26



Perfection. . . No Where To Be Found?

          Have you ever considered the thought of perfection? Seriously, perfection is everywhere. . . BUT most of us may think that it is no where to be found.

          Allow me to change gears for a moment. We all strive for our own kind of perfection. I realize this might sound ridiculous to some, but when you think about it, our own kind of perfection starts with our appearance. For example, in the morning we put on our clothes, groom ourselves, add touch-ups here & there until we are satisfied. Am I right? . . . . . . Well, have you ever took the time to pause in front of the mirror, when you, perhaps, just woke up & say to yourself "I wonder what my Heavenly Father thinks of me? I wonder how He sees me?" . . . You might think to yourself, Well of course He loves me & thinks highly of me, but that's because He created me.' But do you really hear yourself when you say that? Do you believe it?

          We all struggle for perfection. In this day & age, there is ssoo much riding on how we present ourselves; how we talk; how we sit; how we stand; what we wear; what we like & ssoo much more. Are we worried about pleasing others? Are we worried about pleasing ourselves? Do we even bother to think about pleasing our Father in Heaven?

          Some people don't care what other people think of them & to a certain degree I believe that's important in life. What we should be more concerned about is pleasing the Lord. Now I'm not saying we have to walk around wearing white & angel wings & preach to every person we come across, BUT we should pause in front of the mirror every once in awhile & ask ourselves if He would be pleased with our actions. If He would be pleased with how we treat others, how we go about difficult situations. . . if He would be pleased with how we live & view life.

          Do we stop & smell the roses? When life gives us lemons, do we make lemonade?

    . . . Perfection is everywhere. We are perfect. We are perfect, because He made us. The world is not perfect, though it one day will be, but His plan is perfect. . . . . . The next time you look in the mirror, think to yourself, 'If He were to present me to the world, would He say "Behold this is my son/daughter, in which I am well pleased." ?'

          Through the grace of God, perfection can be achieved. Know that it is a process for us, but in His eyes, we are perfect because He created us. We are perfect because we are found. We are perfect because we are profound!

A Night Light For Life

          We all have had our fair share of trials. Some of us have greater ones than others. Some of us have learned to grow from them, have we not? And some of us do not understand why it is we had that particular trial. Was it really necessary? Maybe we should replace that "necessary" with a greater thought instead. . .

    . . . There have been many instances in which I have curled up, hated life  & cried my eyes out while my heart ached from the trial I was experiencing. After the fact, a new knowledge settled within my heart. & that thought was a five-letter word: S T A R S.

    . . . We all understand that "stars light up the night sky." Well, why can't stars serve as a comforting friend while we sit in the dark? When we were little, some of us, used night-lights for various purposes... but for most of us, it was to give us security. If you think about it, night-lights gave us the comfort we needed so we could sleep peacefully. It allowed us to feel safe. In a strange way, it was a friend. . . & how many times have we needed a friend when that trial was just taring us apart on ssoo many levels? How many of us took the time to look out our windows or go outside, only to find that the Lord sent us many friends, many angels to twinkle over us? How many of us stayed in the dark & allowed our trial to destroy our hearts? How many of us realized & appreciated that the Lord gave us a night-light, not only for that particular day, or for that particular time because of our trial/s, but A NIGHT LIFE FOR LIFE? . . . Can you tell me how many of us thought that? . . . . . . Can you tell me how many of us will think that now?

    . . . A star took command of a sky years ago to shine the way for three wise men. A star, or rather stars, can help lead us home if we are ever lost. When I went through a certain trial, I remember feeling lost; I remember saying "I quit. Just take me now so I can bare this heart-ache no more!"; I remember crying ssoo much that the sweetest thing at that point in my life were indeed my bitter tears; I remember. . . . BUT what I will/ shall never forget is I was given a night-life for life. He was & still is directing me home. He sent me a friend. He sent me an angel. He made me feel secure & safe at night. He helped me sleep peacefully. He reassured me that we would not know light if we did not experience darkness.

          The next time you stop to ask yourself "Is this really necessary?"... look out the window or go outside & see that He has given you a night-light for life. Sweet dreams :)

Thinking Beyond What I Can Fathom

Sometimes...

        I try to think of or explain to myself the mysteries & greatness that has & is created by & through God. I realize, that this is where a little word called "faith" steps in. Faith in His plan & faith in His greatness. Sometimes things don't need or have to be explained in depth. Just trust that they are the way they are because that's how He intended it to be; & know that one day we can know what He knows. Faith!





Have you ever looked to the sky & viewed an array of pigments within the clouds & appreciated the beauty given? Or do you just say to yourself "It's just not possible?"