He Is With Us

I love life! Can I just let you know that! And I hope that you are able to find the things in your own life that make it unique, exciting, challenging, and beautiful. I am thankful to God for giving me so many amazing possibilities in my life. My own unique music to play here on earth, filled with friends, family, hardships, and times of complete joy.

I was talking with my good friend Dana yesterday about a senario of life if it was given to us what to do and say. At times it might seem like the 'easier' road, but not the best. We concluded that life as it is given to us now allows for freedom, joy, excitement, anticipation, an ability to act for oneself, to be sincere and smile. Really, life is a a journey to be created and enjoyed.

I know that God loves us. He does nothing save it be for our benefit! (Book of Mormon pg... 103-English). He is there to see us through any moment of our lives, whether we notice or not. We may not even recognize that he was there until after the fact. Below are lyrics to a beautiful song "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee" by Rob Gardner. Read the words and listen to the clip underneath. I hope you enjoy and feel that God is really there watching after you. 

For a little while
Have I forsaken thee;
But with great mercies will I gather thee.
In a little wrath I hid my face from thee
For a moment.

But with everlasting kindness will I gather thee,
And with mercy will I take thee ‘neath my wings,
For the mountains shall depart,

And the hills shall be removed,
And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea,
But know, my child,
My kindness shall not depart from thee!

Though thine afflictions seem
At times too great to bear,
I know thine every thought and every care.
And though the very jaws
Of hell gape after thee I am with thee.

And with everlasting mercy will I succor thee,
And with healing will I take thee ‘neath my wings.
Though the mountains shall depart,
And the hills shall be removed,

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea,
Know, my child,
My kindness shall not depart from thee!

How long can rolling waters
Remain impure?
What pow’r shall stay the hand of God?
The Son of Man hath descended below all things.
Art thou greater than He?

So hold on thy way,
For I shall be with thee.
And mine angels shall encircle thee.
Doubt not what thou knowest,
Fear not man, for he
Cannot hurt thee.

And with everlasting kindness will I succor thee,
And with mercy will I take thee ‘neath my wings.
For the mountains shall depart,
And the hills shall be removed,
And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea,
But know, my child,

My kindness shall not depart from thee!
My kindness shall not depart from thee!

20 Seconds

20 Seconds.... Doesn't sound like a whole lot of time right? We can walk a few stairs (literally a few on the hill of the RB), move up one window at a drive-through, change a printer cartridge, basically anything simple and small.

Now what made my mind spark on a concept of 20 seconds? Let me explain.

I was just walking the other day into the Wilk on BYU campus to grab lunch. As I was going in the main doors I glanced back and there was a girl walking up the steps, about 20 seconds away (give or take). Well, if you haven't guessed it yet, I continued into the building and ate. To some that might not have bothered them, but to me almost immediately I was perturbed about what I had done, or in this case not done: held the door for a lady and wished her a good day.

As the day progressed I forgot about it until I was walking up to work. I had about a 10 minute walk to arrive and that incident came back to my mind. I began to think about that girl. What would 20 seconds have given her? Maybe what she needed that day was a smile and someone to be nice to her. Perhaps there was something I could have done, but I didn't. I chose to use those 20 seconds another way.

Now the point of this is not to argue whether or not we hold doors for everyone or that we all become bell  boys to stand at every door all the time. No! (Though if the possibility presents itself, by all means DO IT!). The purpose of this is to see a larger picture: What can I do in 20 seconds? How will I use this time?

So as I was en route to work I started brainstorming of different possible actions that I, or anyone, could do in 20 seconds. Such as, in 20 seconds I could give a smile to someone, I can memorize a verse of scripture or poetry, or even physics! I could think about my family and what they mean to me. I could look for someone to help or serve in anyway, shape, or form. I could pray and ask forgiveness of my sins and shortcomings. I could strengthen relationships with friends, family, and God. I could continue to develop a talent, make goals and plans to achieve something. In reality, in 20 you can change a life. Whether it be your own, or someone else's!

It is a decision that we make everyday, every hour, every moment. How cool is that!! We can change the world in just 20 seconds! I know we can.

Rising From The Ashes

Life is about rising up. Raising our sights. Raising limits, expectations, goals, dreams... Though one of the least known, or understood, is that of rising up from disappointment, disaster, failure, and defeat. In essence, rising from the ashes.

Yesterday morning, Saturday, I was able to watch the broadcast of the groundbreaking of the new Provo City Center Temple. For those of you that don't the background of this story I will summarize. The Provo Tabernacle has stood for over 100 years in the heart of Provo. It has served many functions over the years. Yet in 2010 the interior and roof were burnt to the ground by a sudden fire. The church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) did not announce for over a year what exactly it was going to do with the site. Until general conference in October of 2011 when President Monson announced it would reconstruct it and convert it into a Temple.

"Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy

places of worship where the Lord may visit. Only the home

can compare with temples in sacredness." 

A temple is a very holy place. It is a place where I feel at peace. I can feel close to Heavenly Father. It is a place really where "heaven touches earth." It is a place where a family can be united eternally, and not "just till death do us part." It is a place where I love to be. 

So yesterday when I was watching the broadcast yesterday I felt great. I was so happy to be apart of the groundbreaking of this new temple, a place that is so dear to me. After the ceremony Elder Holland invited all to come and use the shovels to move the dirt take pictures and what not. I looked at my friend Abe and we knew. We drove down as quick as possible to get in and we did. We took pictures, saw Elder Holland and what not. But the thing that struck me the most was the burnt-out building I laid my hand on. At the moment it was there in ashes, but was destined to be something even more, re-built for an even great purpose: To be a House of the Lord. Out of ITS ashes was rising something even more magnificent. 

All weekend I have reflected upon that moment when I laid my hand on the temple, for shortly afterward a group of children came to place their hands on it as well. I smiled at them. I began to think about life. About the joys and sorrows of it. Many times in my life I feel defeated, tired, weakened, full of error etc. It is hard. Like life metaphorically speaking turns to ashes. 

Though with the Master Architect Jesus we can be rebuilt from our ashes to BECOME something greater. We can BE who we are ment to be. We can transform our hearts and souls. And you wanna know a secret? That is the way life was created to be!! To learn and grow. To go through our days of fire and refinement in order to become the person, man or women, who our Creator knew (and still knows) we can be. I am so grateful that we have a Savior to help us. I could not go forward with out Him.  

Just as the ashes of the tabernacle are being raised to something new, so to can our lives be daily. By our daily interactions we can be taken to a higher plane and become someone better; closer to who we are supposed to be. I love it. This is why life is great because we can rise from the ashes!

Welcome to: Life is Great!!

So This is my first shot at this whole Blogging thing! We'll see what happens!

For you all (whoever will read this) to know I chose my title of this blog to show the great things in life. As I write I hope to share the great things in my life and in others with whom I know. I hope that as you read, you will start thinking about your life and look for all the ways God has blessed you and why your life is great! Now hear me out, we all go through hard things and from time to time I'll put some things on here that show that. However, we could never learn nor grow if we did not have those experiences, thus improving our lives. So whether you or I have a 'good' or 'bad' experience, it'll help us to have an awesome life. 

Hope you enjoy!