Lately, there have been a number of times when I feel like I’ve “toiled all the night” on one worthy goal or another and had nothing to show for it. Similar to how Christ’s disciples felt in Luke chapter 5 when they fished all night and “caught nothing.” But, at Christ’s word, the disciples let…
Phase Change vs. Plateau: How We Change the Most When We Think We’re Changing the Least
Few things frustrate me more than the feeling that I have “plateaued.” The rhetoric of our culture teaches our progress should be an upward slope. Or at least, a jagged line that goes up and down but still slopes upward, on average. So if my progress seems more like a long flat line, I must…
Team Firstborn
Since I am the third child in my family, I never thought much about the significance of being the “firstborn,” because obviously that doesn’t apply to me, right? However, in Exodus 4:22 the Lord describes the house of Israel as “my firstborn.” Thus, as a member of the House of Israel, it’s important for me…
About “Spiritual Resilience”
How can parents and leaders help youth develop spiritual resilience? What is parental success? What do our youth want most, and how can we help them make the connection between what they want most and how Christ can help them get it? Sharla Goettl, in her new book Spiritual Resilience, presents some inspired insights to…
When Disciples Cut Off Ears
When I feel discouraged and confused about certain types of mistakes that I (or others) have made, I gain strength and understanding by relating to a particular story of Peter that is found in all four Gospels. When the Savior was arrested by an armed mob in the garden of Gethsemane, the disciple Peter drew…
Hurrah for Israel!
“Hurrah for Israel!” is what Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball shouted as they bid farewell to their sick families (in 1839) and departed on their mission to England, despite being ill themselves. While this story is often used by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an example of optimism…
Jumping Into a Ward
Whether you’re brand new to a ward or you’ve lived in the same ward for 30 years, there are always new ways to take initiative and make a difference. While it may feel natural to ease into a ward gradually, the Lord is hastening his work, and we should as well. (In the Church of…
The Jaredite Voyage and the Year 2020
The Jaredites knew what it was like to have a year of uncertainty and limited social interaction, but they also knew three important keys to not only surviving but also thriving. While discussing the book of Ether (part of the Book of Mormon) in Sunday School the other day, I was struck by all the…
Adventures in Isaiah: Part One
As I’ve searched for ways I can center my life on Christ, I never expected the answer would be to change the way I see Isaiah. I’ve read the Book of Mormon many times, but in my most recent study I finally noticed just how blatantly we are commanded to study Isaiah. Of course, I’ve…
A Hero’s Welcome
My toddler doesn’t know how to say “I love you,” but he doesn’t have to. When I walk in the door, he says it all by giving me a hero’s welcome—smiling, lighting up, and exclaiming “Mama!” If that were the only thing he did, it would still be enough to convince me of his love….
Motherhood: Nothing Can Prepare You . . . for How Wonderful It Is
One cannot remember mother and forget God. —Thomas S. Monson I always knew that nothing could truly prepare me for motherhood. But I always interpreted that to mean nothing could prepare me for how hard it is. On the contrary, it’s easy to prepare for how hard it is, but not so easy to prepare…
Gratitude in Advance
“‘To know something is not as good as loving it; to love something is not as good as rejoicing in it.” —Confucius When I read this quote from Confucius, it made me pause. His first point, “to know something is not as good as loving it,” seems like a no-brainer; any normal person would agree that…
15 Ways to Increase our Capacity to Receive
In the fall of 2017, I went to General Conference with the question, “How can I stop being weighed down by the feeling that I’m not good enough?” My answer came when Elder Holland said, “Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven. We won’t earn it.” Since hearing…
Meaning of “Journey in the Joy” (2)
Why did I chose to call this blog “Journey in the Joy?” I’ve often heard the phrase “there is joy in the journey,” and I believe that with my whole heart. But additionally, I believe that when we choose joy as our reality then we reach a higher degree of joy in the journey, and…