Challenges - Endure them Well :)

This summer has been SO BUSY. I have a huge "to do" list that threatens to overwhelm me (Don't worry; I'm determined not to let those overwhelming thoughts take place in my heart! :)). There are other challenges, too. Sometimes I just wonder WHEN certain challenges will end! Then I remember, (LOL) Oh yeah... perhaps not until this life ends! ;) But it's OK. I just need to remember to ENJOY the moments of JOY laced among the fabric of the struggles of this life. LIFE IS GOOD. Everything that is challenging about life is challenging to make each and every one of us better and life sweeter, even if later. This life, this world, much of it is tough. But it won't last forever. And if we endure it well - one day we're going to find ourselves on top of the world! :D

PS. Some of our small daily challenges have to do with choices that others make, right? :o). Sometimes our challenge is to respond appropriately. Sometimes we are tempted to judge, or to be irritated or impatient. When this happens to me I try to remember that people act up when they themselves are struggling. It is during these times when they really need our love the most. Here are a couple quotes that put things into perspective...

Don't these just make you want to give the turkey in your life a big hug? :D

PPS. I am so anxious to find the time to write a good post about the happy things going on in life this summer! I hope I get my thoughts together and pen them down here soon!!! Wish me luck! :D

Corine :D

BRAVE

Hi...  I just found this great song and video. :)

And I think I should have watched it OVER AND OVER AGAIN (some time ago), to get the idea DEEP into my mind. :) I think I will. :D BECAUSE... COURAGE is what I have been working on developing for the past couple of years. I don't know why, but it seems that I will develop courage in one area of my life (and think I am now totally courageous! ;o) - only to discover that I have other areas in life in which I STILL need to be Brave (BIG-TIME!)! :o What's up with that???

I just realized that I need to figure out what I am doing to be brave in some areas of my life, and apply that principle to ALL aspects of my life. I wonder what it is that causes me to be so brave sometimes?

I have made some amazing progress - let me tell you! :o However, I still have room for more. And this song just gets me EXCITED to get BRAVER! :D

I hope you are blessed to feel brave! :D

Do you ever struggle with being brave?

What helps you to be brave?

Corine :D 

Principles of HOPE and True Confidence...

I found an AMAZING video recently which I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!. I know I already told you about it here, but I'll mention it again! :) The words amaze me, because they totally describe a healing that has taken place inside of me... allowing me to see and appreciate the beauty in myself AND IN MY LIFE! (It also tells who healed me and how! :))

Then today, I found another fabulous video on a friends blog. Both give insight to what helps a girl to feel beautiful and confident (of course, these principles must apply to young men as well, I would think...)

I have recently realized that a big part of winning the battle of good over evil, consists of being able to distinguish between truth and lies. Lies disarm, discourage, and disable us. Truth arms us with hope and power to overcome and sets us free! Did you know that with TRUTH there is always HOPE? :)  Satan disguises lies as truth by mixing a bit of truth in with lies so we will see lies as truth and lose hope; but if we recognize lies as lies, they can't discourage us. I REALLY believe that. I believe that if I truly want to be all that I can be and enjoy life to the fullest, then I have to BELIEVE TRUTH, not lies. Jesus Christ has helped me so much with this! He has CHANGED ME- by helping me to recognize lies woven into truth, disregard the lies, and change negative thoughts and beliefs to positive (there is ALWAYS hope! :)...

Now, for that MUST HEAR song which sums up so much of what I have learned... I actually put it on the sidebar of my blog, so you may have already seen it while here. But just in case...

I will also share with you the new video that I found today on a friend's blog. It is also amazing... :) This video hones in on the importance of VIRTUE. This is a topic which I at one time thought of only as sexual purity (which IS so important and really does affect a girl's confidence). I have since learned that virtue is even more. Virtue also has to do with having/believing thoughts that are true. When I believed negative things about myself (lies from the adversary) I was easily discouraged and didn't like myself or my life like I could have. I didn't realize it at the time, but negative thoughts are not only self defeating and demoralizing, they are also untrue, thus, they aren't virtuous thoughts...  We need to look for the good in ourselves, and think as kindly about ourselves as we would our dearest friends. We need to give ourselves, the hope we would give to our dearest friends! THIS HOPE GIVES CONFIDENCE TO OVERCOME! And only then can we have virtuous thoughts which allow us to have the spirit to be with us continually...

I hope you have a hope-filled and VIRTUOUS/confident life! :)

PS. A note to my best friends... Thank you, for always supporting and encouraged my choice to live virtuously. I love you! :)

Corine :D

The Great and Spacious Buildling...

I haven't read this book yet...

I didn't even know it existed, until I read about it on a friend's blog post... But I HAVE read Lehi's dream - over and over again; and I LOVE IT!... :)

Lehi's dream is one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon (perhaps my favorite). Why? Perhaps because it is one that I think of so frequently. I have looked at my life OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and asked myself, "Where am I RIGHT NOW in Lehi's dream?"

The first time I applied this dream to my life I looked back on my life and could seem myself in different parts of the dream at different times in my life. It was SHOCKING! Who would think that a good girl like me would ever be anywhere other than holding to the rod or partaking of the fruit? ;) Honestly though, I truly was surprised at what I learned... 

I learned that when I was worried about what others thought about me, pride caused me to let go of the rod; at these times I realized that I literally hid some of my beliefs so I would not be mocked, rather than sharing these sacred beliefs and letting my light shine. When I realized that I had actually been among those who let go of the rod when the people in the great and spacious building mocked me, I VOWED TO NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!

I won't give you a run down of my life and everywhere I have been, but I will tell you this...

The times I have loved my life the most, have been the times when I have been partaking of the fruit of God's love - when I was FILLED with the love of God, because I was so determined to follow His lead, and be the very best example I could possibly be! :) 

The HAPPINESS that come when one feasts on Christ's words and really talks to Christ - is inexpressible! You find yourself DOING SERVICE, and TRULY LOVING the Lord and your men. And the happiness just fills you up so you feel... FULL... :) The more I read and pray, the happier and fuller I feel! :D

I love to re-examine my life frequently with the backdrop of this wonderful vision. It is truly an inspired masterpiece worthy of contemplation! :D

If you haven't mastered the technique of comparing your life to Lehi's dream, I admonish you to give it a whirl! :) You may have to read the dream several times, and pray for inspiration to know how to see yourself in that dream before it finally happens. But I can guarantee that once you do - you will never be the same again! It will change you in ways you may not even yet dream about! :)

Happy Reading! :D

Corine :D

The Will of God

Hi.. :)

We all deal with personal struggles... Things we desire to change or improve in our lives. And like a roller coaster ride, we make progress, then regress. We progress further, and seem to regress again. It can be discouraging. Is it possible, that we are progressing, even when we think we are regressing?



There is one sure way that we can be sure we are progressing... It all comes down to trusting and yielding to God's will...

Ultimately, we must remember - HE KNOWS WHAT IS BEST. :)

No greater happiness can be found than in doing what is RIGHT and in OBEDIENCE to the lord

 - no matter what the consequences - 
 - no matter the challenges. -

Ultimately, the long term consequences will yield greater fruits of happiness than any of us could EVER hope to experience via our own paths...

Sigh...
We ARE loved...

Corine :D