The Light of a New Day

A perfect beginning to a new month--light in the morning. I wish we could stay on standard time all year long because I'm grateful for the sunshine in the morning to help me wake up.

From Paul's epistle to the saints at Thessalonica:

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.                 (1Thessalonians 5:5)

From the Gospel according to Saint John:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.         (John 8:12)

This is the beginning of Count Your Blessings during the month of November. I hope you'll join me in looking for and counting our many blessings during this month of Thanksgiving.

Family

These are the most important people in my life! 

Photo take after the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference.

(l to r) TopDad, Dandylion, PFCMom, Lt. Lehi, Noble, JET, Mr. Movie (aka 'Ol Sobersides)

aka Steve, Daniel, Rozann, Paul, Elizabeth, Joseph, James

It was the first time in many, many years we were all together in church. Such a blessing.

Why Are We Here?

While reading the second chapter of a book called Finding Peace, Happiness, and Joy by Richard G. Scott, I came across this paragraph which I shared with our children in a Family Home Evening.

Remember that you are here on earth for a divine purpose. The purpose is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. You are here to be tried, to prove yourself so that you can receive the additional blessings God has for you.

This would be good to use as a guide to choosing priorities as we go through life. I know I need a swift kick sometimes to get up and get something of eternal importance done rather than passively surfing through endless entertainment.

Judging

From a blog I follow called The Deliberate Agrarian comes this insightful quote:


"Pastor Steve Berger makes it clear that there are two kinds of judgement in the Bible. One is judgement that condemns, and the other is judgement that discerns between right and wrong, based on God's law (the Bible). Only God has a right to judge with condemnation. Christians are called to judge with righteousness and compassion."

Too often we told we shouldn't judge others; we are reproached for doing so; we are called haters, bigots, racist, and worse. But Jesus never commanded that we not discern right from wrong; only that we not judge to condemn, which is His prerogative alone.

We can, indeed we must discern good from evil if we are to avoid evil and follow the strait and narrow path.

Virtue

"There's not half the virtue in being happy when surrounded by luxuries, as when deprived of them." 

from Mollie: The Journal of Mollie Dorsey Sanford, p. 15

University of Nebraska Press

Peonies from my garden.