24 February 2016

This is . . .

. . . what 90 years of clean living looks like:


My dad got up early Monday morning and cleaned his PT Cruiser inside and out! He keeps himself active both physically and mentally.

03 February 2016

Barriers are not always a bad thing

I used a talk by Elder Von G. Keetch from the October conference as part of the Sunday School lesson last week. We were talking about how God is Our Heavenly Father and how we can get to know Him better by studying the scriptures. I had each student think about the qualities they appreciate in their own father, and what qualities they would like to have themselves as a parent. Then we talked about how God is a loving Father who cares more about us than anything else. We watched the talk as a way to see how what God does is an expression of His love and concern for us.

My favorite quote from the talk is this:
[T]he barriers established by the Lord create for us a safe harbor from the evil and destructive influences that would other wise drag us down to the depths of despair. The Lord's commandments are given out of love and caring.

02 February 2016

Retirement

After over thirty years of service my scriptures are being retired. They have been valiant warriors.


I purchased a quad, and am now in the process of transferring all my markings from the old to the new. I know that some, even general authorities, advocate not transferring and just marking as you read the new. I'm not of that school of thought. I transfer and refine my markings each time. The above triple was purchased in 1985 when I was called to be a Gospel Doctrine teacher and I gave up my beloved triple that I had used as a missionary.


I enjoy the process of marking a new set of scriptures as it gives me a chance to see again forgotten treasures, change markings to meet my evolving system, and wonder why the heck I ever marked that one! One change I'm making is that I'm no longer drawing a box around a passage and coloring it in completely. I'm simply underlining the passage.

I love the scriptures, they truly are a lamp unto my feet. Psalm 119:105