Grace

I had some thoughts from Easter and General Conference that I wanted to write down.  I would love if any of you chimed in and shared your feelings.  Hearing other people's experiences is very powerful.

As usual Elder Uchtdorf's talk really hit home with me.  As many of you know I am not the poster child for a prime example of LDS living.  I have needed the grace of God so many times in my life I often wonder if His grace really is sufficient.  Does anyone else ever feel that way? Thankfully, we have Apostles of the Lord to help give us His word and help realize our true potential.  I was reminded again that we will never reach our true potential without His grace.

How many of us get frustrated that we try and try to be obedient and still feel like we are coming up short?  How often do we burden ourselves with the frustrations of our sins and weaknesses?  I truly feel that this can be one of our hardest trials in life.  The battle that wages in our own heads can be crippling at times.  That feeling of never being good enough is very real.  So how do we find that happiness that is preached to us?  How can we be happy even during our hardest struggles? How can we look ourselves in the mirror each day and be happy with what we see?  I am realizing more and more that the grace of God is what carries me through.

Although it has been years since the hardest trial of my life and I came out of it a better person in many aspects, I still need the grace of God on a daily basis.  Elder Uchtdorf said that obedience alone will not be enough for us to return to our Father.  I love how he pointed out that every single child of our Heavenly Father is in need of his grace.  No matter how good of a life we are living, we still fall short because of our sinful nature.  If you look at that through the eye of man it can actually be pretty discouraging! But if we are able to try and look at it through the loving eye of a Heavenly Father who has provided us with such a perfect plan, it becomes a source of happiness and joy.  For those of you that are parents, think of the joy it brings you when you are able to forgive a child.  Think of a time when a child is trying so hard to do what is right but they slip up and come running to you for help.  Even if it happens again and again we open our arms and love them and help them.  How amazing is it that we have a Heavenly Father that treats us the same way!  We don't have to live our lives in agony over our weaknesses.  Rather we can strive to be better with the knowledge that our Father will make up the rest.

Now I'm not saying that the grace of God is an excuse for sin.  We all need to put our heart and soul in to repentance and improving our actions.  We all need to strive to love others.  We all need to strive to be the best we can be.  But we need to allow God's grace to aid us in our progress.  Allow the enormous sacrifice of our Savior to do what it is meant to do!  And be happy about it! Lift our heads up each day and know that even when we fall and come up short, our Father is reaching out to pull us the rest of the way.  What an amazing truth.

Whether our current struggles are mighty or small, God's grace IS sufficient.  If I have learned one thing through all of my life's trials, it is that we ALL need God's grace and that we all can find happiness through allowing it to work in our lives.

Make The Most Of It

          In the beginning, when I was a single dad, I would drive up to Sugarhouse every Wednesday night to see my kids.  By the time I left work and got up there I would be lucky if I had 2 hours with them.  Every time it was the same. I would pick them up and Ty's favorite song (don't ask me why) was Skyscraper by Demi Lovato.  He would call it "Scottie Scraper" and he would sing his heart out.  We would drive to the same Paradise Bakery, sit in the same booth, and order the same food.  Then we would head over to the same Barnes and Noble, go upstairs, sit on the floor, and read the same books.  I would drop them off and start the long drive home.  Hal talks to me about those days all the time.  They will never forget it and neither will I.
         Tonight we were able to spend a couple precious hours with Hal and Ty before they head to North Carolina for 6 months.  Although I completely understand that this is how our life is, it doesn't make the time away from my kids any easier.  Half of a year away from them.  That is a lot of missed moments.  Thank goodness for facetime :) My point tonight is this:  How many moments are we missing when our kids are right in front of us?  How many times have we allowed our selfish desires to interfere with an important moment with our kids.  I know life is busy but it's never too busy for them.  I would do anything to have more time with my kids and I even find myself missing opportunities when I have them.
         Make the most of it.  Make the most of everything we do but especially the time with our kids.  Yesterday I was 18 and in high school.  Now I'm 32 and have an 8 yr. old.  Time moves along so fast.  Let's all make a little bit more of an effort to make the most of our time with our children.  They will forever be grateful and remember the small moments we spend with them.

Love you my friends,

Matt