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MAKE EVERY MINUTE COUNTS
For almost the last 6 months we have tried to “turn to the fathers” in obeying a beautiful teaching we learned. Not many people like Brigham Young, but for me and my house we love him. One of his teachings that we have begun to pay closer attention to with exactness is about using our time wisely, how every single hour is accountable for, and we will have to report on our time used someday. Brigham said: “Time is given to you; and when this is spent to the best possible advantage for promoting truth upon the earth, it is placed to our account, and blessed are you; but when…
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REMEMBERING THE SABBATH— AS A SIGN
And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.”Exodus 31:12–13 I have thought a lot about the Sabbath and how keeping it holy— is a sign. How it points us to a truth that we are never to forget. The truth is that God (and not we ourselves) has set us apart. He has chosen us and commanded us to be peculiar. Knowing this, I recently have wanted our home to reflect this sign even greater. However, I wasn’t sure…
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HOW DO I PREPARE MY CHILDREN TO STAND AS A WITNESS OF JESUS CHRIST & CONSECRATE THEIR LIVES TO GOD?
Martin Luther once taught, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest expression every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace, if he flinches at that point.” People often ask me: “How do I train my children to stand for Christ?” And as Martin Luther said—“so that they will not flinch at the very point where…
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“COVENANT” BROWNIES
A few years before changing our diet over to whole foods I was inspired by a close friend who had discarded chocolate for over twenty years. Her reasoning was that if she was going to carry the message of the Restoration revealed by the prophet Joseph Smith then she needed to change her diet to reflect the message and eat that which glorified God. She then made a personal covenant to never lay a finger upon chocolate again. I was so touched by her choice in choosing to glorify Him through her eating and commitment that I, too, made the same covenant five years ago. Chocolate has always been a…
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DEDICATING OUR HOME AND RE-DEDICATING OUR LIVES
This week was Hanukkah, a festival time of re-dedication. The story goes that after years of war, the Jews won back the holy temple in Jerusalem. The Greeks had invaded and destroyed the temple, making it a place to bring sacrifices to their chief god, Zeus. The Maccabees then cleaned the temple and rededicated it. DEDICATION The name Hanukkah comes from the Hebrew word “dedication.” The Maccabees gathered together and held a special ceremony called hanukat or habayit when they rededicated the temple. This story is celebrated each year for an 8-day festival with lights. We thought as a family that this would be a wonderful time to dedicate our new…