He is The light.

This is my last post for the semester.  That realization is both joyful and sad.  I am glad that I will no longer have the pressure of completing these assignments, but sad because I know that they have helped me to really ponder what I have learned.  The act of writing these posts helps me to sort through the readings and land on something that I need to spend a little more time on.

This week we spent a great deal of time with John.  1 John is thought to have been written around AD 96.  Christ had been crucified a short 96 years earlier and already people were distorting the teachings.  They began teaching that there was no way God would lower himself and live amongst them so these things must have all been symbolic. In an effort to help the people to discern between the true gospel and the false teachings, John wrote these epistles.

In 1 John 1 John shares his testimony of Christ.  He tells us that He most surely lived.  Not only did He live, but that he saw Him and he heard Him.  He reminds us that God is light, there is no evil and no darkness related to God and if we follow Him then we need to walk in the light and avoid the dark.

I know this is a simple statement, but the gospel really is simple, it only gets complicated when we try to justify our actions and muddy the water.  The simple truth is that if we are followers of Christ, we will avoid evil.  As we navigate life we need to stop and ponder our choices and our heart.  If we are full of envy, jealousy or other negative feelings then we need to make a course correction because we are not following Christ fully.  The things of Christ will only bring us joy and happiness.

Why does Faith come first?

Hebrews 11: 1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I started this post a couple of days ago and then in an ironic twist, I kind of lost faith in myself so it's been difficult to come here and finish this up.  It has been a particularly hard semester for me and I have had to pull myself together a few times in order to get through it.  I have been feeling pretty beaten down by an art class.  It doesn't seem to matter how hard I try, it isn't good enough.  I have diverted all my time and attention to that class, to a point that I'm completing this assignment late for another class, but it still isn't enough.

Today I feel like I hit rock bottom and I had to consider my options.  I could just stop turning in assignments and fail the class and then take it over again, or I could dig deep again and try to refine my projects to get a better grade.

Somewhere, deep inside me, I felt this small quivering of hope and perspective.  As I focused on it, I realized that this one class does not define me.  This one teacher does not define me.  I may not be able to please him, but I know that I am on the right path.  I have pondered and prayed every step of the way as I have decided on my educational path and I need to have the faith necessary to move forward with my plans.

Perhaps that is why faith is one of the first principles of the gospel.  When everything else is stripped away,  we need faith to get us through.  We need to have faith that Jesus Christ is who he says he is.  We need to have faith that He is indeed the son of God and that he came here to prepare the way for us to return to our Heavenly Father.

In Hebrews 11:6 Paul writes:

But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

I know that He is.  I know that He knows who I am.  He knows my hearts desires and He knows my limits.  When I don't have faith in myself, I still have faith in Him and can follow where He leads me.

Enduring Trials

This week we studied Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, and Philemon.  These books contain the letters from Paul to the people he has served during his missions.  Paul wrote most of these while he was on house arrest.  As I studied each of these letters I kept thinking "He wrote this while he was in jail."

We all endure times of trial in our lives.  We may not be in an actual jail cell, but sometimes those trials make us feel trapped or that there is nothing we can do to change our circumstances.  What can we learn from Paul that can help us to endure those trials?

Paul could have written letters about how unfair his imprisonment was or how burdened he was to be there.  Instead, over and over again he basically said "Don't worry about me, let's talk about you."  He used the time that he was there to write letters reminding the people of the things that he taught them.  He encouraged them to continue to learn and grow in the gospel.

A few months ago I went through some particularly trying times.  I found that I went from one extreme to another.  On some days I wanted the whole world to know how much pain I was in.  When I was in those moods it felt like my trial would never end.  On other days, I did my best to completely ignore the things that were weighing on my mind.

As I have studied the scriptures more in depth during this class and as I have pondered the teachings of Paul this week, I have come to recognize that as I put my focus on living the gospel; as I read my scriptures and look for opportunities to serve, my heart is healing.  I'm able to look at the things that were going on in my life and I'm able to let go of the pain that was associated with it, while at the same time I am able to learn and grow from the experience.

Perhaps Paul experienced something similar.  Perhaps as he focused on all of those that he shared the gospel with, he was given the strength he needed to let go of the worry or anxiety of his own circumstances. Perhaps as he took the time to strengthen others through his writing, he also prepared himself to take on the rest of his journey.

Feeling Clean and Whole

This week we studied Romans.  In Romans, the Apostle Paul is writing a letter to the people while he is on his mission in Corinth. Paul warns them about wickedness and teaches about the importance of combining works with the grace of God.

I have always found many nuggets of wisdom in Romans that come to my mind often as I try to navigate life.

Romans 2:13
For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

This scripture reminds me that it is not enough for me to hear the gospel, I must also live the gospel.  What does that mean?  It means that I continually look at my life and make sure I have things in balance.  Am I attending my meetings?  Am I reading my scriptures?  Am I leading a life that is in keeping with Gospel standards?  Am I using good language?  Am I serving my fellow man?

I could go on and list many other questions that I ask myself at different times, but that list would make it seem daunting and I don't feel like that is the intent.  We are not expected to BE perfect, but we are expected to seek perfection.  We know we will fall short.  We have so many temptations and demands upon our time.  Part of our journey here is to experience these things so that we can learn to choose.

For those times when I fall short and I know I have made mistakes, I am grateful for the Atonement.

Paying attention to symbolism

As I practiced my study skills for my religion class at BYU-I this week, I selected "symbolism" from our list of choices.  I was surprised at how much more this could impact my study and interest in the scriptures.  I realized that many times I don't actually stop to really ponder the symbolism.  I get a general idea of what it means and I move on.  As if reading the number of scriptures is more important than actually stopping to really contemplate the meaning of one verse.

In 1 Cor 10 there are three verses in a row that use symbolism.  I spent about an hour just studying those three verses.  I looked up the symbols in the topical guide, read related scriptures, and contemplated why those specific words and references were used. It was interesting and helped make the scriptures come alive for me.

In 1 Cor 10:2 it  says "all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and the sea." I would have skimmed this in the past, but as I stopped to ponder it, I thought this is more than being baptized by immersion in the water.  What does it mean to be baptized unto moses in the cloud?"

Here are my rough notes about the three scriptures and how I pondered the symbolism contained:

I Cor 10:2 "baptized unto Moses in the cloud and the sea"

• sea - water, baptism by immersion
• cloud - heaven, promised land

1 Cor 10:3  “spiritual meat”

• Meat – food
• Moses food – manna
• Spiritual food – the gospel is our spiritual food and comes from heaven like manna.  We are given as much as we need to sustain us. May not be able to feel it or appreciate it if we “fall away.”

1 Cor 10:4 “spiritual drink” “spiritual rock” “Rock was Christ”

• drink – sustaining,
• rock – Ex 17:6 smite rock, water
• Rock of Christ – foundation, strength
• Drinking of the rock of Christ – building a foundation of learning by drinking the teachings of Christ.

Have you stopped to ponder the symbolism in the scriptures?  How has it impacted your study of the scriptures.

Hello September and National Stamping Month!!

I am sooo excited about September!  I don't even know where to begin!  Our new CTMH Idea Book goes live today.  It's National Stamping Month and I love, love, love the September SOTM!

Let's start with the SOTM because I am planning to share cool samples all month long.  This is definitely a stamp set you are going to want to add to your collection.

Here's a beautiful sample made by the artists at the Home Office.  I love how they made it look like watercolor!

Next Up:  Three fun stamp sets to celebrate National Stamping Month!!

September is National Stamping Month, and this year Close To My Heart has something to help every kind of papercrafter say a big “hello” to life! Available only during the month of September, these exclusive C-size My Acrylix^® Hello, Life! stamp sets can be purchased for $13.95 USD / $16.50 CAD each! Or, for an even better deal, you can purchase all three for only $34.95 USD / 41.50 CAD—a savings of $6.90 USD / $8 CAD! Each stamp set is designed to fit with a specific type of papercrafting, whether that’s scrapbooking, cardmaking, or pocket scrapbooking. However, all the stamp sets coordinate with each other and can be used together to create dynamic artwork. These stamp sets also coordinate with shapes from the new Cricut^® Artistry collection to help expand your artwork options even further. Remember, these stamp sets are available for one month only, so get your orders in for one stamp set—or all three—before these gorgeous stamps disappear! Make certain to follow Close To My Heart’s blog, Instagram, and Facebook page for artwork inspiration featuring these lively stamp sets all month long. You can post your own artwork to your social media channels using the hashtag #ctmhHelloLife.

Dates: Offer valid September 1, 2015 (9:00 am MDT)–September 30, 2015 (11:59 pm MDT).

Shop here to get yours today!

But wait - Did I say NEW IDEA BOOK?

Not only is the NEW idea book live today, but our Fall Seasonal Supplement is too!!  If you're like me, your wish list will be HUGE!!  Don't worry though!  I'm always here to help you get the most for your hard earned dollars.  You can order a little bit each month to fit your budget or... you can host a party and get some of it FREE and even earn 1/2 off items too.

Woo Hoo for Woo Rank!!!

This week we ran our websites through Woorank to find areas where we can improve and optimize our sites so that we can improve our ranking and online visibility.  This was probably my favorite assignment of the semester!  Why?  Because I feel like I have a handle on most of the items, but I miss the mark when I forget to incorporate all the different tasks.

For instance - I always include alternate text when posting pics at work, yet somehow I missed it on my website.  It might have just been an oversight when I posted the picture, or it might be that the place I enter that information wasn't obvious and I have to research how to do it on that system.

Another area that I have to improve on is my meta tags.  I felt like I was being too "wordy" when I added mine.  Turns out, I was too brief and I need to add more.

I appreciated how quickly woorank gave me the results and now I have a nice little checklist of things to improve.  I love checklists so that works for me!