Sharing Testimony Strengthens Faith

Testimony is important beyond comprehension; even my own!

It has been a little over a month since last, and I have witnessed many wonders of the Lord as well as seeing His loving hand in my life--day to day!

I have felt His guiding arm through seemingly difficult circumstances.

I have seen how He has strengthened me in order to be humble and endure experiences well.

I have a firm assurance that He blesses His children (us) and does indeed listen to us.

I have also felt the influence of His spirit, and the closeness of the veil.

Along with that, I know that ministering angels are never far away, and testify of light and truth!

In this past month I have contemplated my own testimony as well as studying and pondering upon the scriptures. My husband pointed out to me that scriptures are basically testimonies upon testimony. I got to thinking this through and realized that apostles and prophets of old, all the way to now have instructed to study and ponder the word of God. By studying the scriptures, thus being one of the forms of His word we attain greater spiritual knowledge, light, faith, and happiness.

Testimony is one way of building faith!!!

This to me was AMAZING!!!

A simple principle finally just made sense and clicked.

I started thinking about why as Children of God and as Followers of Jesus Christ we need to consistently and constantly bear our own special testimonies.

Not only does testifying of truth strengthen others faith in spiritual trials, but it also builds and strengthens our own faith in difficult circumstances which lie ahead.

Diligently growing our faith is so important, for if we are not anxiously engaged in a good cause, or going forward we are not at a stand-still, but we are actively going backwards. 

Hold tight to the truths that you DO know.

Satan would have us second guessing ourselves upon truths that we know to be true; he would have us forsake our precious testimonies and little by little follow him through spiritual mists and darkness.

Hold fast to the ground that you have already won from Satan.

 The Bible, both old and new testament - along with the Book of Mormon bear witness that God lives, He blesses the lives of His children, and He loves each and every one individually. Jesus the Christ is the son of God, the Holy Messiah; He atoned for each of us personally. He knows our struggles, pains, and difficulties throughout this life. He also knows our strengths, joys, and because He knows us in this way He knows how to perfectly succor His people. He runs to the aid of us, he is always knocking at the door, and God does personally speak to us in this latter day. We have the opportunity to CHOOSE to follow the Good Shepherd, we DECIDE to open the door and let Him in, and we have to ACTIVELY open our ears to HEAR HIM; and our eyes to SEE His mighty hand in our life!

This is a painting that I am almost finished with called "With an eye of Faith" It captures a simple child's prayer, as well as encompasses the hope that a little child has while practicing to SEE with the eyes of faith.

    And... some simple, yet beautiful little moments of light and love in the busy days of being a mother to Lillie and Glenn, being a wife to my magnificent husband, and simply trying to be a follower of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Perception on Perfection

Friends, it has been sooooo long!!!
life seems like it is just f l y i n g right on by... it seems only yesterday my dear sweetheart and I got married for time and all eternity -- but it's been over a month!
After getting married we moved to Logan so both of us could continue our education at USU, I was SO excited to move to a bigger city, and experience life a bit differently...I was excited to learn and grow! (don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sanpete, and small towns just make my heart HAPPY and my soul SMILE... but for me it was time to move and experience something outside of my little bubble)
OH MY... 
it has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. Let me tell ya, it's not all roses and perfectness. (life was never like that before, so why did I think that it might get that way now?)
perception of perfeciton
The human perception on perfection is quite interesting...and to me it's kind of funny.
I'm taking an Art History class this semester and after a discussion on the human form in art I was fascinated by just how much we reach for the unattainable. As humans we have something in us that just has a NEED to create, through music, literature, dancing, and through art. Humans have been creating art f o r e v e r .
I never truly realized it but the human form dominates our lives so completely, it makes a HUGE difference in our day - to - day lives, but something interesting
we are NOT surrounded by r e a l i s t i c images of the human form. 
Humans are hardwired in the brain to exaggerate and idealize the human figure; our search for "perfection" comes from culture, or environment, family, lifestyle, religion, beliefs, and many other things!
As humans there is something within us that has a desire to learn, to grow, and become something greater than we were before, and this is a beautiful thing. Artists create a more "perfect" version, poets create a more Utopian world, and even athletes create a more defined image of their own bodies and abilities. It is our human nature to become and create, but do we take this to the extreme? Do we push and push so much that we end up telling ourselves lies? 
I know that I have been guilty.
How many people do you know that are perfect?
How many incredible stories of inspiring people had the perfect figure, the easiest life, were the smartest, or the most perfect family life?
We tend to study the outcasts, drop-out students, orphans, and the "ugly ducklings" of life.
Like, Einstein, Corrie Ten Boom, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Helen Keller, and Jesus Christ.
Those are the stories that inspire & bring HOPE! 
"Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are." -Brene Brown

So much of my life has been waiting to be good enough, practicing and hoping that someday I would be able to show my random interests like, ballet, dutch, painting, drawing, etc. All I want is to make people HAPPY, and to put a SMILE on their faces!!! I keep on telling myself to wait til I can do this...wait til I'm better at that... but I'm learning that the  p r o c e s s  is ALWAYS more b e a u t i f u l  than the results.

People don't only want to see the masterpiece, the end result; empathy and understanding comes from seeing the journey and the progress made all along the way. 

Being authentic is putting aside that "perfect" perception and that one "perfect" moment to shine and share the CrAzY self that you are! (because we are ALL truly crazy, and THAT is truly l o v e l y!) 

It is being brave enough to share you, despite your flaws, imperfections, mistakes...that is how we as humans CONNECT with each other along this journey through the human experience!

As we are more authentic we will start to see those around us as the Lord sees them, and our focus will be less internally and will become more of an outward focus.

How can you choose to be Authentic?

How can you share your LIGHT with another person today?

Random Fun Fact: Having an outward focus (service oriented) reduces stress.

Stress is the inward focus of all that WE have to get done...focusing on others loads WILL lighten our load...and WILL put a smile on your face!

Keep being YOU!

You are powerful beyond comprehension; YOU are a child of God!