#ASaviorIsBorn - Day 3 - Infinite Worth

It's Day 3 of Christmas!!!

Some days I am guilty of degrading myself and I hate when I do that, because I'm not only putting down who I am, I am forgetting that my self worth comes from the one who did the hardest thing any man has ever had to do.

On those days, I turn to these lyrics:

'I Am of Infinite Worth' 
  Joy Saunders Lundberg

All I need to do is remember
If ever I wonder if I am of worth,
Remember my Savior, what He did for me
When He lived among men on the earth. 
Pain and unspeakable sorrow
He bore for my sins there in Gethsemane.
Then He gave up His life as He hung on 
 the cross,
And He did it all for me.

For I am of worth, of infinite worth.
My Savior, Redeemer loves me.
Yes, I am of worth, of infinite worth,
I'll be all He wants me to be.
I will praise Him, I will serve Him,
I will grow in His love
And fulfill my divine destiny.

Lovingly Jesus is watching
He knows I am worth all He suffered for 
 me.
Now I must fulfill my own mission in life,
Ever following Him faithfully.
Line upon line I am striving
Not seeking the honor or praise of mankind.
I will reach for the joy of Celestial rewards,
'Til all that God offers is mine.


I once heard it said that even if you or I were the only person on the entire planet, the only person that would ever make a mistake, the only person that would ever need the atonement, Christ would still come down and go through the exact same pain He went through for that one person, that's how much He loves us individually.

The atonement is a very personal, and individual thing. Christ loves you so much and in this mortal life, we will never be able to comprehend or understand that love, but it is real. If you have ever felt forgiven, or experienced a mighty change of heart, you have had a taste of the love He has for you, but it goes even so much beyond that. 

"I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things" // 1 Nephi 11:17

Picture Source

So my gift to Christ today is a simple prayer thanking Him for helping me to know and understand my infinite worth on the days I forget it. To pray with sincere and meaningful words of gratitude for His individual love and sacrifice for me. 

#ASaviorIsBorn - Day 2 - Heart of Prayer

Today on day 2, my second gift to my savior was deep heart prayer.

I can't imagine a life without prayer. I can't imagine not having Heavenly Father's help. Today I had a little break down. I realized some things I was still not giving up, some weaknesses I have that are holding me back. I prayed it all out and had a one on one with Heavenly Father and I literally felt my Savior pick me up after hours of crying. I don't feel this is a regular occurrence for me. It's only when I let go and give Him everything and do everything I possibly can do that I feel that sweet peace that Christ is always willing to give me. 

Christ's life and ultimate sacrifice make prayer possible, because without Christ, we would be cut off from Heavenly Father forever. It is only through grace that we can communicate with God and get the guidance that we need. I am so humbled and so grateful for prayer. When I give prayer everything I have and I remember that He really does love me and He wants to bless me, not punish me, I can feel that love. If you are having trouble feeling God's love, try reflecting on how you are viewing God's character and love. Do you have any inaccurate beliefs you are hanging onto? If so, it's okay to pray for those to be resolved as well. 

I wanted to leave you with a challenge and a question to ponder in your heart today. 


Challenge:

Pray in the name of Jesus Christ, because he is the advocate to Heavenly Father. Pray constantly throughout the day. Pray about every thought, every action, every decision you have to make. Pray before you send a text, tweet a thought, or speak to anyone. Pray when you're in the car, pray when you get out of bed, pray when you come home from a long day. Make absolutely everything you do, big or small based on prayer. 

Question to Ponder:

How often do you have a prayer in your heart?

#ASaviorIsBorn - Day 1 - Mary Did You Know?

I'm going to be blogging every day this month about Christ. I love my Savior so much for He never ceases to bless me, so I want to be carefully observing what I am giving Him every day this month for Christmas. I want Him to know without a doubt how much I love Him. I can't give Him the gift of perfection, it's something that can't be obtained in this life, my gifts will come from another place, and they begin in the heart. I want my heart to be turned to Him so much that I find myself using the atonement daily as I constantly strive for improvement. 

Day 1- #ASaviorIsBorn

Today my gift to the Savior is in studying about Mary, the mother of Christ. 

She is a hero in my eyes. 

Source found here

What would it be like to be Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ? We talk a lot about how Heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten son, but Mary sacrificed her son too, can you imagine how hard that must have been for her? She was willing to do absolutely anything and everything for God, for she knew where her heart lied. A converted heart is one that goes seeking for opportunities to become like Christ without receiving a gold star for every baby step taken. A heart that is willing to sacrifice everything unto the Lord no matter how treasured or inconvenient the sacrifice may be. The angel told her she had found favor with the Lord, she was obviously willing to seek Him with a fully converted heart.

I am so grateful for Mary, and her willingness to make the sacrifice of her son. Perhaps she didn't recognize how significant it was until it was done, but her faith is powerful and she has given much. Perhaps Mary understood everything, but I believe it's more than likely she didn't. She was living off of faith and trust in the Lord, and faith alone. Her sacrifice was incredible and I truly admire Mary.

Watch this beautiful music video - Mary Did You Know? 

                                        

When God Says No

It felt as if time had just stood still. Nothing was changing. I wasn't seeing the changes taken place within me. In fact, worse than feeling like I just stood still, I felt like a car on a very steep hill where your foot moves too slowly from the brake pedal to the gas, that felt it literally starts sliding backwards. A Hill that had taken such a long time to climb, and here I was feeling as if I was sliding right back down. Prayers I was praying weren't being answered. Were my prayers even reaching Heaven or was my faith not strong enough to carry my words as high as was needed?

Yes, these thoughts are from recent experiences. These thoughts were hidden very deep in my soul. After some deep soul searching and prayer, these beliefs made their way to the surface and I realized what had been holding me back for so long. I believed things would stay the same forever. I believed that if someone was moving forward, it automatically meant I was moving backward. I believed that I was always going to be behind because on my own I don't have the ability to go where I so deeply desire.

After so many times, praying for what my heart so deeply yearned for, and being told no, and no, and no, over again more times than I had ever been told yes, somewhere down this journey I allowed my heart to close off and fear rejection from God. I had assumed because God was saying no, that He had no desire to bless me. My beliefs became jumbled in this process and somehow I stopped dreaming, I stopped hoping for better things to come. I expected that this was all God wanted to give me and I started to settle for this being enough, even though happiness is not a word I would use to describe the destination I was stopped at. While God sometimes gives us what we aren't asking for, He often times blesses us according to predications of our willingness to ask for those specific blessings.

No wonder I felt myself rolling down a hill, I had been asking for the wrong things at the wrong time and I didn't even bother changing my prayers or my desired blessings. I was living in a different season than Heavenly Father wanted for my life, and I somehow got stuck there because I wasn't willing to just take a few more steps toward Him.

I never want to find myself in a moment paralyzed by broken dreams. God doesn't tell us no as a rejection to us. He sometimes says no so He can redirect us to where He knows is better for us. If we don't allow ourselves to seek happiness, how can Heavenly Father possibly bless us with that joy? The principles of this gospel are based on agency, He isn't going to come running to us telling us we have to have something if we aren't going to walk towards Him first. That's the reason the door knob is on our side of the door and removed from the side Christ is standing on, it's our agency to open the door for Christ and allow Him to enter our hearts.

So what if you feel behind. Behind from expectations you set for yourself, expectations your family set for you, or expectations and pressures the world piles on top of you. You have a different course, but you will get there. And don't forget as you open your heart to Christ and you let God into your life, miracles can happen. God has the power to multiply your efforts and take you somewhere quicker than you ever dreamed was possible. While it may sometimes appear that those who are not following the standards of the gospel, are further ahead in life than you, don't forget that grace is one of the greatest gifts we have in this church and God can make up all the difference, in His time. Those not living by His word will not be ahead forever.

Trials teach us something, and those that have to endure different journeys and afflictions while patience is being tested, will be blessed with much reward. Trust in God, ask Him what He does want to bless you with. Listen for the knock Christ is constantly giving to your heart, then invite Him in. Open your heart to God's love and start asking for different things than the prayers you have been saying. Trust in Him to magnify your efforts and to help you catch up every time you ever feel behind in something or behind someone. You are enough and you are better than you think you are!

I can't afford to live my life without God's help. 
   God is all I have, and God is all I need. 

God is so Aware of Every Detail in Your Life

God's love is REAL!

So I have to be honest, sometimes I struggle feeling God's love in my life. I go through periods in my life where I am praying over, and over, and over again for something to happen, something to change, wanting so badly for my heart to stop aching and for miracles to come. And when these prayers aren't being answered for months and on a few occasions several years at a time, my heart starts to grow bitter and I feel as if I have been left out in the rain and there is no more room in the inn for me. I wonder why God loves everyone but me. 

I don't know if you've ever had these moments before, but I will testify they aren't coming from Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ, and they simply aren't true. Satan has a way of twisting truth, of blinding us from truth, or stopping us from even getting far enough to obtain truth. Please don't believe His lies. The truth is, even when I feel forgotten by Heavenly Father because He isn't answering the big prayers, there is purpose behind it. God knows me perfectly, He knows you perfectly. Those little things that you stress out about, the fears that creep in and blind you from God's love...they have so much power to rob you of peace, joy, and happiness. You have the power to chose to believe in His love.

This video makes me cry, every single time I watch it without hesitation. It's simple. But to me, it's powerful! God knows us perfectly, He loves us perfectly, and more individually than our human minds have power to comprehend. Look for God's hand in your life, in the simple things. Nothing is by coincidence, if you are experiencing a simple blessing or miracle in your life, know it is God's gift to you. 

Sometimes God can't answer the big prayers on our timing, but He does answer the little ones along the way! 

The Ugly Nature of Comparisons

Oh goodness, am I ever a girl that compares. I found this cute video 'The Ugly Trap of Comparison' that one of my friends was a part of and had shared on Facebook. I instantly loved it because comparison has a tendency to get the best of all of us, despite the fact we know how unhealthy and how depressing it can be.

Comparison is ugly.
Comparison is unappealing.
Comparison is a sin. 

In 2 Corinthians 10:12 we read:
"For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."

When I look inside my life I find that every bit of my comparing comes from a sense of pride. I am trying to be something "more" than someone else whether I consciously recognize this or not. Either I will try to build myself up by comparing that I'm better off than others, but more often I compare that I am worse off and not good enough. If you were to step into my mind, these are some of the thoughts you would hear that I am not proud to admit...

"At least I don't have that weakness."
"I'm stronger than her."
"I probably would have handled that better."
"My pain is so much worse."
"Her features are so much prettier than mine."

These are just a few of my thoughts that I have caught myself saying. I often have to put these thoughts on a shelf, evaluate if they are true or not, and then take them back if they are or throw them in the trash if they aren't. 

No good ever comes out of comparing. This is one of the adversary's favorite tools he uses to get us off track. My dream is to be a people builder, one that always helps others to feel good about themselves, as if they were a queen in my presence. I know that is how Christ would treat each of us, and I want to be found doing the same. If I am constantly worried about whether or not I am good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, it becomes rather hard and nearly impossible to focus on other people and to build them up the way my heart yearns to do so. As I worry about what others are thinking of me, my mind becomes distracted, my guard goes up, and my actions display I am in a defense mode and I'm too worried about myself, to think of you. That is why self-esteem is so important, the self-esteem that comes from God because knowing we are enough in His eyes, we don't even have to spend time thinking about accepting who we are, because Christ has done it for us, and that is beautiful.

Place your trust in Christ, He said you were worth dying for, believe Him. You don't have to spend time worrying about if you are enough or finding every single way to accept and love who you are, when you love and trust Christ, it just happens. It's a spiritual gift you will find yourself humbly stumbling upon. 

The Battle of Depression - 8 Things to Never say to Someone Who is Depressed

Anyone who suffers from depression or really any mental illness or mood disorder knows that your state of mind or mood can change in just one minute. Sometimes you wake up so happy, and then one little thing can change everything. Sometimes you can put a mark on what it was that changed your mood, other times you have absolutely no idea at all. For me, I refer to the unknown and the haze as brain fog, and I experience it much more often than I would like. 

Your mind, body, and spirit are so inextricably connected. If one part of this triad is missing or off balance, it will affect the other two parts. This is the intricate reason why eating healthy, praying, and positive affirmations are vital, they all play a piece in the formula of healthy living and balance. For me, I have found it harder to connect to Heavenly Father and understand His will for my life when something is off in my health, or when I am experiencing a mind block, which in both of these cases I may or may not be aware this is happening. I know, it sounds weird to not know if something is blocking your mind or your spirit, but it's so real.

I went to a forum for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) at BYU recently and a girl got up and talked about things you shouldn't say to a person who suffers with depression. I loved them, so I wanted to share them with you. 

1. Everyone feels sad sometimes 

Sadness is a VERY different feeling from depression. When you are depressed, you don't care about anything at all. You're not just sad, you feel like nothing will every get better and you are completely drowning in the deepest of sorrow.

2. It's all in your head

Yes, it is, it's in your mind! It's a chemical imbalance that you don't have power over like you wish you had. There are many ways to approach and treat it, but believing it's all in your head is not one of them.

3. Stop feeling sorry for yourself

If they feel sorry for themselves, they should because they obviously have something they are battling that you can't even see. It's not just a matter of feeling sorry for yourself, it's something that can't even be controlled without help.

4. These drugs will make you a zombie

If they are choosing to take medication, they need it. It's not the overall fix, but some people can't get out of their drowning despairs any other way.

5. You should be more grateful

Being grateful doesn't take it away, those suffering from depression are fully aware of what they should be grateful for. They realize what once made them happy and how that happiness is now missing. Counting blessings can't cure a mental illness. It is helpful when the person thinks of it on their own, but being told this is not comforting.

6. Have more faith

Having any mental illness or relapse is not a reflection of their testimony in any way.

7. You know, happiness is a choice

Positivity is a choice, chemistry is not.

8. I can't be around all this negativity.

They need you around more than ever before, don't abandon them. Ask them to do thing with you constantly, they will often say no but just keep asking because one time they will say yes and it will help them more than they can comprehend. 


Things to say to someone
who is depressed:
- I will always be here for you!
- Do you want to talk about it?
- I am so sorry. That is so hard. 
- You do so much for me. 
- Just let them know their life matters and don't turn them into a pity project, but really find their gifts and talents and point them out.