Finding Inspiration in Blogs

I am a blogaholic. I like to read blogs by moms, crafty ladies, and LDS women. I often find inspiration for my personal life and trials in some of the blogs I read. Sometimes one blog writer says just the thing to reassure me about something I worry about. Sometimes another blog writer posts about an Ah-Ha! moment she had that I really needed to have too.

Sometimes a friend is diagnosed with a cancer that the doctors say will kill her, and how she deals with it is inspiring.

Dear readers, I give you Kaci Cox.

Posts by Kaci:
My ER Visit
The Diagnosis

Small and Simple Souls

A friend shared this on Facebook. I am moved by the message and I love the music.

To me, this video says that the best heroes are those who have truly suffered, sacrificed, and therefore lived. The video points out that each of us can be the type of person history looks on and says, "This person made a difference."

What does this video say to you?

Books for Four Year Olds

My four year old niece is coming to stay with us for a week while her mom and dad are away. I'm excited to have her come and I hope that she'll still think I'm cool even though I have hardly any fun kid stuff at my house! I'm a little nervous about how I'll keep a four year old entertained for seven days.

I definitely want to take my niece to the library (my favorite place). But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I don't have a good sense of which books to check out for her! I read lots of young adult books, some grown up books, and some children's books, but I know that my niece's reading level isn't as flexible as mine.

I'll probably look for the Olivia books by Ian Falconer (I ♥ Olivia!). But what other books are not too simple and not too complicated for a pre-schooler?

What books do the four-year-olds you know like to read?

Just a little habit.

On the cover of the current edition of Vogue magazine there is a beautiful picture of a lovely woman who is definitely not wearing clothes.

I generally boycott magazines like this by flipping them over so the back faces forward. I do this so I don't have to look at (or be distracted or tempted by) an indecent picture while I'm waiting in line at the grocery store.

The other day I discovered that the back of the Vogue magazine has an ad with a woman as equally undressed as the one on the front.

Thwarted.

But not deterred. As Lost Boy and I were looking for a line at the grocery store, I placed a copy of a cooking magazine in front of the indecent Vogue magazines I passed. I'm sure having to straighten out the magazine racks after I've walked by will be a hassle for the store employees, but if Vogue (or any other magazine that puts indecent pictures on its cover) sells less copies of their magazine in the meantime that's just fine with me. I should probably write them a letter so they can be more proactive in not offending me in the future.

Lost Boy and I were waiting in line a little later when a pretty girl with an indecent neckline walked by us. If I thought it was indecent, it was worse for Lost Boy who is rather tall. A moment after the girl passed Lost Boy asked, "Are you going to put a magazine in front of her too?"

Alma 12

(This is a duplicate post from my family blog)

Last week Darren and I were reading in the Book of Mormon about Alma's mission to the Zoramites. We were reading chapters 11 and 12, where Alma and Amulek are being questioned by Zeezrom and Antionah. I love these chapters! Alma and Amulek are amazing missionaries! I've always loved how Alma (the senior companion) testifies of and reiterates what Amulek (the junior companion) teaches, but last week I found several new things to love about these chapters.

In Alma 12:7 Mormon points out that Alma and Amulek "knew the thoughts and intents of [Zeezrom's] heart; for power was given to them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy." The spirit of prophecy is a gift of the spirit, (1 Cor 13:2, AoF 1:7, Alma 9:21) which I just taught about in Sunday School a few days before we read this verse!

As we were reading chapter 12 Darren observed that all of Alma's answers to Zeezrom and Antionah's questions were short and direct. We timed Alma's responses while I read them out lout. Alma taught principles such as having a prepared heart in one minute, and doctrines such as physical death vs. spiritual death in under four minutes. These four minutes aren't exactly just an overview of the doctrine either. It's powerful stuff! Many of the scriptures we used to teach this principle in the mission field are found within these verses. I think we (as a people) talk about fluff too much when we are trying to say important things. Comments in Sunday School sometimes run up to three minutes long, which, if not done carefully, can totally take over a teacher's lesson and throw it off course. Ok, sorry... that's a tangent. I have opinions about class comments. Comments are powerful tools that most people don't develop or use well. But more on that another time. Alma is an awesome teacher. He answers questions right away and doesn't beat around the bush and preface the answer with back story or unnecessary explanations. He is a great example to me!

Darren and I also had a brief discussion about Alma 12:10 which says that anyone can learn all the mysteries of God. I have a long way to go to get started, but I believe there are people on the earth right now who know a lot more about heaven and eternity than the rest of us. But they can't tell us, because we're not prepared. (See also 1 Nephi 10:19)

Not all of our family scripture readings generate so many thoughts and insights. But for us, at this time, Alma chapter 12 was great!