Relating to Sariah

In the Book of Mormon, it talks about a woman named Sariah. Sariah was a righteous woman, and married to a prophet. However, at one point, the Lord commands Lehi, her husband, to send their sons Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi back to Jerusalem to get the plates of brass, which contain the scriptures and a historical record of their family.

Time passes and Sariah begins to doubt. She calls her husband a "visionary man" and was sure that her sons had died.

In 2 Nephi 5 it states,

2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.

 3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.

 4 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren.

 5 But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness.

 6 And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi,comfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews.

I have always had a hard time relating to Sariah. I had always thought, why did she doubt, didn't she know her husband was a prophet? What was she so worried about?

Her sons returned from their mission successful, and Sariah said the following:

 8 And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.

After her sons returned, that's when Sariah gained her testimony that her husband was a prophet, and from then on, we don't hear of her doubting again.

Saturday, while Grig and I were at the temple, he received revelation concerning our family. My husband is not a prophet, but the Lord does give him (and me) revelation about our lives and how we should guide our family.

I had a hard time, because I hadn't felt the same thing. However, as I prayed to receive my own confirmation of what my husband felt, I overheard some men next to me talking about Nephi's journey back to Jerusalem and how when the Lord gives us a commandment, He will provide a way for us to accomplish the things that he tells us to do (1 Nephi 3:7).

Grig and I have a very equal relationship. Usually when we pray for guidance, we both receive confirmation of what the Lord wants us to do. However, sometimes, only one of us will feel something. Grig has trusted in my impressions in the past, and I am learning to trust in his, even when I don't feel the same. He's a very good man, and trying hard to do what is right.

Sometimes it's easy to doubt someone we love, just as Sariah did. However, I felt the Spirit testify to me that I need to trust in my husband and honor his role as husband and father. That was a good enough answer for me. That doesn't mean that I still don't have to push down doubts occasionally, but it means that I know that I am doing what the Lord wants me to, and He will provide a way for me to have faith in my husband's words.

If I can have sufficient faith and believe, in due time I will see that my husband was correct, and then, like Sariah, I can say, "Now I know of a surety." Until then, I am learning to trust in the Lord, and in my husband.

Link to this picture's source

Arkhon's Tricks: New Video!

Wanting It All

When I was younger, I received a gift card for Barnes and Nobles.

I was super excited. I have always loved books, and so it was thrilling for me to be able to purchase more of them, especially when I didn't have to use my own money.

My dad took me to Barnes and Nobles and I began to browse the books. I found three books that I really wanted, but together, they added up to more than I had on the gift card.

I could see my dad's eyes light up. I could practically see him thinking, Ah-hah! An excellent teaching moment!

He turned to me and said, "Now you have a decision to make. Which book are you going to put back?"

I looked at the three books. It was a really tough decision. I didn't want to choose only two; I wanted all of the books. Then, suddenly I remembered something.

"I have some cash in my wallet!" I exclaimed. "I can buy all of them!"

Books are awesome. Period.

My dad's face fell. I could tell that he was disappointed. That hadn't been the lesson that he had wanted me to learn. However, I was just thrilled that I didn't have to choose and that I could have everything.

I've been thinking about that experience a lot lately.

Recently, we've had to face a similar decision. There are four fairly expensive things coming up. We have felt drawn to purchase all of them, but if we buy some of them, we probably won't be able to buy others. All of them are good things.

We have felt drawn to look at some Norwegian elkhound puppies, and we've felt that if Grig gets his appointment and raise at work that we will be able to buy one. However, we've also recently found out that some of Grig's extended family is coming soon to visit his parents' in Virginia, and we want to travel there and visit them.

On top of those two things, we've also felt recently that we need to start looking at purchasing a new vehicle, one that has more room. As it is, all the people that live in our house can't really travel with us anywhere. We don't have enough room in our car.

Finally, we've been feeling that maybe the time for the next baby is going to happen soon, which is another huge expense.

A lot more than this, anyway. 

The hard thing is, I want all of these things. I'm really hoping that somehow, things are going to work out so that we can afford to pay for each of these wonderful blessings. I'm afraid though, that we're going to have to pick, and that's going to be really hard to do.

We've been praying a lot, and we are waiting to see what happens, especially with Grig's job. We've been trying to save and be frugal, but even so, currently we can barely afford any of these things.

I'm sure things will work out, I just don't know how yet. I trust in my Heavenly Father, and I know that if something is supposed to happen, that He will help it to happen. For now, we're just hoping and praying that we'll make the right decision when the time comes.

The Right Time

Currently, Grig and I are struggling with a decision. With the passing of Dakota last October, we've been contemplating getting a second dog. When we prayed about it before, we felt like we should wait until after Christmas.

Then, a few days after Christmas, a friend of ours had us keep their puppy for a few days. It was so neat to see how gentle Arkhon was with the puppy and to realize how much easier puppy training is when you have a backyard. It was really fun to hold their fluffy little guy and to play with him.

During the same time, I discovered I wasn't pregnant. That realization was especially heartbreaking this month.

So, with those two things combined, I began to look at puppies again.

For a long time, we've been looking for Norwegian Elkhound pups, but there are no breeders on this side of the United States. We had begun to give up on owning them anytime soon. However, the day after the puppy left, I discovered some elkhound pups for sale on in a nearby town.

The timing seemed miraculous. Grig was especially excited. His first dog was an elkhound cross, and he loves the breed. He immediately texted the seller, and we made an appointment to come out and see the pups.

We went and looked at them last night, and they were the most adorable, fluffy puppies I've ever seen!

This isn't the pups we saw, but it gives you an idea of what they looked like. 

They are only four weeks old right now, so we were mainly coming to see the facilities and meet the parents. We were pretty impressed with the family, and the mother and father elkhound had great temperaments!

The pups cost more that we really should be spending right now, but we could do it, if we felt it was right. Things have happened in such a way that it is hard for us to feel like finding these pups is just a coincidence.

We feel like this is the right breeder and the right parents, but we aren't sure if this is the right time or the right litter. We've been doing a lot of praying.

Mostly, we just want to make the right decision. We don't want to do something that's going to financially hurt us, but we also don't want to miss out on this opportunity if the Lord provided it.

Decisions can be hard sometimes.

Especially when they're this adorable.

Again, not the exact pups, but still very cute. 

MM: New Beginnings

I'm so excited for 2016! I'm just sure it's going to be a great year full of awesomeness! (Sorry, we may have been watching too much Kung Fu Panda at our house.)

One thing that I've been thinking a lot about lately as I've been setting my goals is my Savior. During Christmas, the church came out with a video that asked the question, "What would life be like without a Savior?"

This is the video if you want to watch it. It made some points that I had never really thought of before.

One that is sticking out this morning is the question, "What would it be like to make a mistake and to have no hope of the mistake every being forgiven or forgotten?"

Sunday morning, when I stayed home from church because I was pretty sick, I had a dream that I was pretty angry with one of my brother-in-laws. I was being pretty rude, and in the dream I thought, "I really should apologize, but I'm still too angry!" When I woke up, I was really glad it was just a dream and had never happened. I'm not usually deliberately rude to people, and I would have felt really bad if that dream had been reality. It may have irreparably damaged my relationship with my brother-in-law forever.

In 2015 I made plenty of mistakes. I missed lots of goals, and fell short of the mark. I often did my best, but occasionally, I wasn't even trying.

I am so grateful that every new day, every new week, every new month, and every new year, we can start over. I'm so grateful for new beginnings. Every time we wake up, we can choose to do better and to try harder. We can choose to let go of the past and look forward to the future. We can do our best to repent of our mistakes and turn toward our Savior.

I'm so grateful that we can be forgiven.

I can't even imagine facing the future, knowing that I was so far removed from Heavenly Father already that there was no point in even trying. Because of Him, there is always a point. No matter who you are, what you've done, what you've been through, or the mistakes you've made, the Lord is always waiting for us to turn to Him. If we do and we truly repent, He will forgive us. We may still have to bear the consequences of our actions, but we are all His children, and He loves us very much. As long as we are trying, He will help us in the way that will be best for us.

After all, He gave us His greatest treasure, so that we all could return to live with Him again. No matter the pain that we feel, I don't think it can compare to the perfect grief and sorrow our Father felt as He watched His son suffer and die.

I know our Heavenly Father loves each of us, and our Savior came to this world so that we could return to live with Him again, as long as we choose to accept his atonement. The Lord gives us commandments because He loves us, and as we do our best, He will help us to strive toward perfection.

I know that we can all do better this year than we did last year. It IS worth it to set goals, even if previously you haven't succeeded. Set daily, weekly, and monthly goals, and you'll find that your yearly goals won't be forgotten.

Let's all do better for this new beginning in our lives!