(Talk given on Sunday, December 27th, 2009 at Scottsdale Coronado Ward, Scottsdale Arizona. Ben Hur)
When Leyla and I were asked to speak about resolutions and goals, I was like…
“Darn, so much for flying under the radar!”
Setting goals and coming up with plans for the future are something I like doing, and on most days, I think I am pretty good at it.
However, follow through is not one of my strongest suits. When I get started, I take off like a rocket. Maintaining momentum is the part I tend to struggle with.
“Now, why am I saying all of this…?”
Because of my struggles with ‘achieving’ my goals, I have sought out solutions of one kind or another to help me get closer to where I want to be.
Through prayer and my own personal efforts, not to mention the help of my lovely wife, I have found ‘ONE’ common theme to solve my dilemma.
“Just Do It!”
Taking action and continuing to take action is the only way to get any task done.
Of course, it helps to ‘WANT’ what you are questing after, but ultimately… you have to act in order for a thought to become reality.
For me, one of the biggest secrets to making it through this process has been facing my fears and obstacles.
No matter what we want to achieve in life, the road will often be sprinkled with mistakes and stumbling blocks.
Being prepared for this fact of life, and knowing that it cannot be avoided, has helped me realize that these bumps in the road are out of my control in most cases, and are only lessons of how ‘NOT’ to do something.
Using this knowledge as it pertains to the gospel and one of my personal passions, I would like to challenge everyone to create for themselves a spiritual goal relating to fellowship.
Having been ‘less active’ and ‘inactive’ for a little over a decade, I am coming from a place of experience when I suggest we reach out to our less active brothers and sisters.
From time to time we’ll hear someone quote David O. McKay’s saying,
“Every Member A Missionary”
How often we actually heed this calling… is only something we can answer for ourselves.
Many of us, including myself, find ourselves wrapped up in our own lives and all that it pertains.
Day-to-day life in today’s world tends to steer us towards more worldly tendencies where the spirit often gets drowned out and keeps us from hearing its promptings.
Whatever the reasons may be for their inactivity, it’s safe to say that many of our fellow members have, at one point or another, been touched by the spirit.
“What can we do as individuals, if not on the whole, to let these brothers and sisters know we care?”
For me, the simplest thing that really meant a lot to me… was knowing that somebody cared.
Even better, that more than one person realized I wasn’t around, and ‘truly’ cared enough about me to let me know.
Now just take a moment to reflect…
“Would you want to “Fellowship” with people who didn’t speak with you?”
“What if no one noticed you weren’t at church and ‘NEVER’ expressed to you personally ‘in’ or ‘outside’ of church that your presence was missed?”
Let us all try to find our own personal way to reach out over this coming New Year.
Maybe we can mail a post card or a calendar of Ward events. Or, we can reach out with a phone call, or even a personal visit, and not just to our Home or Visiting Teaching families.
If we all took only a few extra minutes a week to reach out to a handful of people, seeds could be planted.
Recently, it was brought to my attention that one of our ‘active’ members has taken it upon themselves to find out the birth dates of other members of varied activity and send them a card for their birthday.
“Can you imagine what it might feel like to receive more than a handful of birthday cards from a list of strangers?
No pressure to come back to church, or to perform in some other manner.
Just acknowledging that an individual is remembered, thought about, and loved.”
Something that touched Leyla’s and my heart and contributed to our coming back this last time, was a care package the sisters put together as a relief society project.
Certain life events had us teetering on the edge of whether or not we felt wanted enough to return. It really meant a lot to us and was a contributing factor in our coming back.
One thing we cannot do is give up and not even try.
We can’t worry about whether we will offend or turn people off of the gospel.
For many, the porch light isn’t even on.
If you think about it…
“Would you be offended if someone expressed care and concern for you?”
I know I wouldn’t be.
Growing up, I was my father’s home teaching companion. With some words of wisdom from my mother, she encouraged my father to take along a little note or treat to our inactive families.
One family in particular opened up over time and eventually allowed us in the door. Ultimately, they came back in due time and received several calling as time moved on. One of which, was scoutmaster, where the brother turned out to be a great source of inspiration to me even until today.
This lesson that I learned at such an impressionable age has stuck with me. A lesson which lends to why I try each month to have a flyer or treat for my Home Teaching families even now.
It’s the little things that mean a lot. Even if your budget doesn’t allow, do the best you can to reach out.
Start out with those who you are called to serve monthly, and then expand that list a little each time. And don’t do it just once. Follow up occasionally and let those members know it wasn’t a one-time thing.
Many of us here can relate to one another in more ways than just the spiritual kind.
Being family… maybe we can spend time outside of church with more than our usual cliques.
Many families I know, even if not all are members of the church, tend to come together often enough to share a meal or even have some fun. And some even gather more than once a month amidst busy schedules and all.
Even Uncle Jim or Aunt Suzy who are infirmed and bed-ridden are included and never forgotten.
We are all here on the same journey. We ARE family; brothers and sisters striving to return home to our heavenly family.
Any way we want to paint the picture, we can’t fool our father in heaven.
It is my hope that by next Christmas we will need the chapel overflow in order to fit our family.
[Bear testimony…]
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
New Year and Goal Setting
(Talk given Sunday December 2009 at Scottsdale Coronado Ward, Scottsdale Arizona. Leyla Hur)
Good afternoon brothers and sisters.
Just to give you a little hint about the difference between my dear husband and I, and for those of you who may not know me or what my passions are; when Brother McComas called and asked us to speak today, my poor husband’s face dropped as he said “Darn, so much for flying under the radar”; while I was nearly jumping for joy at the chance to get up here and speak to you all. You should have seen the look I received from my husband at my excitement.
You see, we have been members of this ward for over five years now, and while we have been active and inactive over that time frame, we have never once been asked to give a talk.
And the phone call also came just a few days after my husband shaved off his beard after over 10 years of not seeing his face. Many have wondered at this sudden change, and even some wondered if there was going to be another major change in callings.
So here is the deal, I tend to get rather philosophical around 2AM; call it lack of sleep which give off the effects of deluded “visions”, or whatever; but generally, my husband never listens to me… except this one night… So maybe we were “sharing” in the 2AM deluded “visions”, or possibly I actually had something pertinent to say?!
As I was sitting there, getting into one of my “philosophical” moments, I shared a thought with my husband; I told him that very often we hide behind things and this prevents us from moving forward in our lives. The things we hide behind could be physical in nature, or a false perceived image which we create… also known as a FEAR or (False Evidence Appearing Real).
When we remove the obstacle, or idea, that is preventing us from reaching our full potential, and we stand completely unhindered, amazing things start to happen.
Then I looked at my husband… and all I saw was “the beard”. As a side note I said to him; “Your obstacle that you hide behind is your beard. You want to attain so much, you move forward at rapid speed, but then stop way short of your goal, and I think that the FEAR overwhelms you and your beard is something that you can hide behind” Then I said these words, “You should shave it off.”
The next thing I know, my husband is getting up and off the sofa and heading to the bathroom… razor in hand.
And yes, I do have the entire process documented on video, and will be coming to a You Tube channel near you.
For most of you, you know who I am and what my passion in life is; for those of you who don’t, my name is Leyla Hur and my passion is empowering people and helping them identify, and overcome the obstacles which hold them back in life, helping them realize and live a life of success.
Now many people misunderstand the meaning of success, and attribute the word to finances; and surely it is represented in that manner, but success comes in all avenues in life.
For us, as Latter-day Saints, we look towards living a purpose-driven life and one which will afford us to reach the Celestial Kingdom and dwell with our Father in Heaven, and our families for all eternity.
Often times, people will become deluded with the belief that for us to attain the Highest Degree of Glory, we must be perfect. What we forget, or overlook is the fact that this life is a journey and that each step we take, is a lesson that we must learn. Each step affords us the opportunity for choice and consequence. Every choice we make comes with a consequence, and those consequences are either going to be positive or negative in nature depending on our choices. But nevertheless, each consequence also brings with it a beautiful opportunity to learn.
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said it best when he said “Come what may, and love it.”
In other words, whatever life brings you, whatever choices you have made which have caused a consequence, don’t disparage at it, but rather embrace it and look at it as a life lessoned learned.
We are at the end of a year and a brand new year is on the horizon. I have been quite amused to hear many of my friends and acquaintances say “I can’t wait for this year to be over and the New Year to begin; things have simply GOT to get better in 2010.”
What deems the end of a year and the beginning of a New Year? Nothing more than a clock striking midnight and the signifying of a new day. How is this different from any other day of the year? Nothing really, except that on January first, we have the opportunity to start a new calendar.
In actuality, each day that we wake up and arise to is an opportunity to create something new and wonderful. Most of us are doing this automatically without even thinking about it.
For many, the end of a year signifies endings and new beginnings, but what if we were to turn our attention to this on a daily basis? What if, at the end of each day, we turned our thoughts to reflecting on the day which has just passed, and we looked for the wonderful lessons and learning opportunities we encountered that day?
At the end of the year, many give thanks and gratitude that the year has ended and a new one beginning, but what if we changed that which we were grateful for? If we were to take 10 or 15 minutes each evening before we retired, and prior to our nightly prayers to truly reflect on the day, and kept abreast of those things which we had to be grateful for, our prayers would be filled with greater richness, and the blessings returned in favour, would be abundant.
Sister Marjorie Hinckley has said; “It’s a valuable exercise to close your eyes every once in a while and think “what is the most wonderful moment I have lived through during the past year?”.” Imagine if we were to do this on a daily basis, how more fulfilled and richer we would live our lives.
In the March 1971 Ensign, Sister Geraldine P. Anderson said: ‘People who take time to truly pour out their hearts in gratitude, who frequently count their blessings before [the Lord] verbally and praise him for his goodness, are the ones who talk to him in an easy and personal manner. Isn’t this the way all great prophets have approached their Maker?”
I am a firm believer in living in an attitude of gratitude. Each moment of each day, our brains create thousands of thoughts, and unfortunately, many of these thoughts are negative. Oft-times we are bombarded with these thoughts from images we view, words we hear, and energies in situations we are involved in. How can we stop these thoughts from occurring so that we can remove the negativity from our lives and in so doing, allow the Spirit to enter in? When these thoughts begin to arise, immediately stop them in their tracks, and that sometimes means we also have to stop in our tracks, and start counting our blessings and start practicing gratitude for each.
As the wonderful hymn goes; “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by
When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings; money cannot buy, Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all. Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort given you to your journeys end.”
The Chinese Taoist Philosopher Lao Tzu said; “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” When we look at the Book of Mormon, and the very first prophets we are introduced to, Lehi and Nephi; theirs was a huge journey, but they too had to take the first step. So where am I going with this?
All thoughts such as “I want to…” or “I’ll try to…” are nothing more than half-hearted attempts to sway us into a delusion of non-action and non-committal to ourselves. Each step can only be taken by the ACTION of taking that step.
ACTION being the key-word here. It takes 21-days to form a new habit, and while most people make New Year’s resolutions, most also give up the task of what they have resolved to change after a week or more. To create positive change in your life, and in the life of those around you, you have to be consistent, maintain your momentum.
I often view the brand New Year as a marathon… for the adept athlete, they start off the marathon pacing themselves, this pacing helps them keep the momentum going, and as they come to the final leg, they pick up the pace and as the finishing line comes into view, often will sprint the last distance to the end.
For the novice, they may often look at those around them and start off at a sprint, and may even for a time, be leading the pack; however, as their burst of energy wears off, they have no more reserves to carry them through to the finish line, often leaving the race without completion.
Each year, many of us resolve to cut back on calories, pick up on exercising, read so many chapters of scriptures each day, and more; and we start off the year in a “Gung-ho” manner, only to reach a point where we realize that we set our sights too high, and that reading 10 chapters a day of our scriptures, in a determined effort to read the entire quad in a single year, may have been just a little unrealistic. Or that on January 2nd (because we ALL give ourselves January 1st “off”), we’re going to hit the gym and do a full hour of high-impact aerobics, only we are huffing and puffing climbing the stairs to the changing rooms, worn out before we hit the class.
Have you fallen into this New Year’s resolution “trap” before? I know I sure have.
As we end this year, my hope, and challenge to you is to pace yourself. Realise that January 1st is just another day, no real difference to February 1st, or even December 28th. If you have determined to make a positive change in your life, you can do it right now.
The boy-prophet, Joseph Smith did not wait until January 1st to enter into the woods that bright spring morning to seek the answers to the question burning in his heart; and neither should you.
Seek for positive change in your life, and seek it today. Take a few moments to understand what it is that you desire in your life, identify what may be the issues holding you back, and when you can identify them; go to your Father in Heaven in prayer and ask Him to help you to remove these blocks. When you find yourself faced with a fear, illumination of that fear will remove the “scare” factor when you can see clearly what it is.
Like the child who is convinced a monster lives under their bed; upon the light being shined under the bed with a loving parent to illuminate that there really is nothing there to fear, the child can then find solace in deep slumber.
Once illuminated, it can cease to exist and your stride towards your end-goal can be reached.
Sheri L. Dew has said; “The antidote to the distractions of the adversary is Jesus Christ. Light is stronger than darkness. Jesus Christ illuminates our vision of who we are and why we are here and gives us courage to move forward in the journey toward our heavenly home.”
Brothers and sisters, this past year has been a year especially difficult for many throughout the world, and indeed in this very ward. The drop in the economy has caused many to lose their jobs, their homes, and more. While all around us, we are seemingly surrounded in darkness, and for many, that darkness may have seeped into our own homes, and our own lives.
One of the greatest blessings we have, is the knowledge that we have been given the gift of agency; and in this gift, we have the ability to make choices. While around us there may be many who are “tempest tossed”, and while it may indeed be infiltrating our own lives, we can choose to get pulled into the storm of chaotic depression, despair, panic, and ill-ease; or we can turn our hearts, our minds, and our KNOWLEDGE to our faith, and follow Him, and allow Him to ease our minds.
When we turn our hearts and minds to our Father in Heaven, and to our Eldest Brother, who is Jesus Christ; we can truly be healed of our earthly woes. And even though we may be facing our darkest hours, Their Light can illuminate that which is truth and that which is fiction which we have created within our own minds, and panic-state.
We have all heard of the many blessings, even miraculous blessings showered upon those with faith and who give up of their controlling every aspect of their lives, and letting Father step in and take the bitter cup from us. And herein I believe lies the secret… and that is to give up control and give it up to God.
We have heard that we are never given more than we can carry, and for some of us, we may wonder what on earth Heavenly Father is thinking, and has he forgotten this fact. But when we get through the storm, and we look back, we can see that our father truly DOES KNOW us, and KNOWS exactly what strengths we possess.
When I look back over the past 10 years of my life, I have seen the times when I have been tempest tossed. 10 years ago, my first husband committed suicide, leaving me homeless, and on a path of utter destruction. I was mis-diagnosed and then over-dosed. On my 29th birthday I suffered a massive seizure, my heart stopped, and once resuscitated, I was inturbated and on life support in a coma. Upon coming out of this state and released from hospital, I was diagnosed with having residual brain damage and no chance for cure. The result of the seizure and coma acted upon my brain as if I had had a massive stroke; I could not talk, walk, read, or write. I was told to go home, get a good hobby, and live out my life the best I could. There was NO hope.
But I did not accept this. I KNEW that my Father had more in store for me. I made my determination and my decision; then placed complete and utter faith in my Father and allowed Him to help me as I lended the action steps I needed to take to become whole. My faith did not waiver, and without any occupational, or medical assistance; and with sheer determination and indelible faith, in 45 days, I was walking, talking, reading, writing, typing, and re-learning how to use the internet.
Heavenly Father KNOWS us, he KNOWS what we can and cannot handle, he KNOWS our worth “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10)
As we allow Him to truly enter into our lives, we will see the miracles as they flow. The darkness will be illuminated and the way will be made clear.
This life is a journey, and each step brings us closer to our end goal. As you go home today, and before you say your prayers tonight, think back on this day, reflect on the wonderful gifts you have been given in opportunity to learn. Focus on what your end goal truly is; remember tomorrow is a brand new day, and we need not wait until midnight on December 31st to create the changes we wish to change in our lives; as Sister Michaelene P. Grassli has said; “Every day – every minute – is a new, blank page of life. Regardless of our past, we can have a fresh start at any moment and write on that page what we choose. We are empowered in that by the Savior, in whom all becomes new.”
(Testimony)
Good afternoon brothers and sisters.
Just to give you a little hint about the difference between my dear husband and I, and for those of you who may not know me or what my passions are; when Brother McComas called and asked us to speak today, my poor husband’s face dropped as he said “Darn, so much for flying under the radar”; while I was nearly jumping for joy at the chance to get up here and speak to you all. You should have seen the look I received from my husband at my excitement.
You see, we have been members of this ward for over five years now, and while we have been active and inactive over that time frame, we have never once been asked to give a talk.
And the phone call also came just a few days after my husband shaved off his beard after over 10 years of not seeing his face. Many have wondered at this sudden change, and even some wondered if there was going to be another major change in callings.
So here is the deal, I tend to get rather philosophical around 2AM; call it lack of sleep which give off the effects of deluded “visions”, or whatever; but generally, my husband never listens to me… except this one night… So maybe we were “sharing” in the 2AM deluded “visions”, or possibly I actually had something pertinent to say?!
As I was sitting there, getting into one of my “philosophical” moments, I shared a thought with my husband; I told him that very often we hide behind things and this prevents us from moving forward in our lives. The things we hide behind could be physical in nature, or a false perceived image which we create… also known as a FEAR or (False Evidence Appearing Real).
When we remove the obstacle, or idea, that is preventing us from reaching our full potential, and we stand completely unhindered, amazing things start to happen.
Then I looked at my husband… and all I saw was “the beard”. As a side note I said to him; “Your obstacle that you hide behind is your beard. You want to attain so much, you move forward at rapid speed, but then stop way short of your goal, and I think that the FEAR overwhelms you and your beard is something that you can hide behind” Then I said these words, “You should shave it off.”
The next thing I know, my husband is getting up and off the sofa and heading to the bathroom… razor in hand.
And yes, I do have the entire process documented on video, and will be coming to a You Tube channel near you.
For most of you, you know who I am and what my passion in life is; for those of you who don’t, my name is Leyla Hur and my passion is empowering people and helping them identify, and overcome the obstacles which hold them back in life, helping them realize and live a life of success.
Now many people misunderstand the meaning of success, and attribute the word to finances; and surely it is represented in that manner, but success comes in all avenues in life.
For us, as Latter-day Saints, we look towards living a purpose-driven life and one which will afford us to reach the Celestial Kingdom and dwell with our Father in Heaven, and our families for all eternity.
Often times, people will become deluded with the belief that for us to attain the Highest Degree of Glory, we must be perfect. What we forget, or overlook is the fact that this life is a journey and that each step we take, is a lesson that we must learn. Each step affords us the opportunity for choice and consequence. Every choice we make comes with a consequence, and those consequences are either going to be positive or negative in nature depending on our choices. But nevertheless, each consequence also brings with it a beautiful opportunity to learn.
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said it best when he said “Come what may, and love it.”
In other words, whatever life brings you, whatever choices you have made which have caused a consequence, don’t disparage at it, but rather embrace it and look at it as a life lessoned learned.
We are at the end of a year and a brand new year is on the horizon. I have been quite amused to hear many of my friends and acquaintances say “I can’t wait for this year to be over and the New Year to begin; things have simply GOT to get better in 2010.”
What deems the end of a year and the beginning of a New Year? Nothing more than a clock striking midnight and the signifying of a new day. How is this different from any other day of the year? Nothing really, except that on January first, we have the opportunity to start a new calendar.
In actuality, each day that we wake up and arise to is an opportunity to create something new and wonderful. Most of us are doing this automatically without even thinking about it.
For many, the end of a year signifies endings and new beginnings, but what if we were to turn our attention to this on a daily basis? What if, at the end of each day, we turned our thoughts to reflecting on the day which has just passed, and we looked for the wonderful lessons and learning opportunities we encountered that day?
At the end of the year, many give thanks and gratitude that the year has ended and a new one beginning, but what if we changed that which we were grateful for? If we were to take 10 or 15 minutes each evening before we retired, and prior to our nightly prayers to truly reflect on the day, and kept abreast of those things which we had to be grateful for, our prayers would be filled with greater richness, and the blessings returned in favour, would be abundant.
Sister Marjorie Hinckley has said; “It’s a valuable exercise to close your eyes every once in a while and think “what is the most wonderful moment I have lived through during the past year?”.” Imagine if we were to do this on a daily basis, how more fulfilled and richer we would live our lives.
In the March 1971 Ensign, Sister Geraldine P. Anderson said: ‘People who take time to truly pour out their hearts in gratitude, who frequently count their blessings before [the Lord] verbally and praise him for his goodness, are the ones who talk to him in an easy and personal manner. Isn’t this the way all great prophets have approached their Maker?”
I am a firm believer in living in an attitude of gratitude. Each moment of each day, our brains create thousands of thoughts, and unfortunately, many of these thoughts are negative. Oft-times we are bombarded with these thoughts from images we view, words we hear, and energies in situations we are involved in. How can we stop these thoughts from occurring so that we can remove the negativity from our lives and in so doing, allow the Spirit to enter in? When these thoughts begin to arise, immediately stop them in their tracks, and that sometimes means we also have to stop in our tracks, and start counting our blessings and start practicing gratitude for each.
As the wonderful hymn goes; “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by
When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings; money cannot buy, Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all. Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort given you to your journeys end.”
The Chinese Taoist Philosopher Lao Tzu said; “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” When we look at the Book of Mormon, and the very first prophets we are introduced to, Lehi and Nephi; theirs was a huge journey, but they too had to take the first step. So where am I going with this?
All thoughts such as “I want to…” or “I’ll try to…” are nothing more than half-hearted attempts to sway us into a delusion of non-action and non-committal to ourselves. Each step can only be taken by the ACTION of taking that step.
ACTION being the key-word here. It takes 21-days to form a new habit, and while most people make New Year’s resolutions, most also give up the task of what they have resolved to change after a week or more. To create positive change in your life, and in the life of those around you, you have to be consistent, maintain your momentum.
I often view the brand New Year as a marathon… for the adept athlete, they start off the marathon pacing themselves, this pacing helps them keep the momentum going, and as they come to the final leg, they pick up the pace and as the finishing line comes into view, often will sprint the last distance to the end.
For the novice, they may often look at those around them and start off at a sprint, and may even for a time, be leading the pack; however, as their burst of energy wears off, they have no more reserves to carry them through to the finish line, often leaving the race without completion.
Each year, many of us resolve to cut back on calories, pick up on exercising, read so many chapters of scriptures each day, and more; and we start off the year in a “Gung-ho” manner, only to reach a point where we realize that we set our sights too high, and that reading 10 chapters a day of our scriptures, in a determined effort to read the entire quad in a single year, may have been just a little unrealistic. Or that on January 2nd (because we ALL give ourselves January 1st “off”), we’re going to hit the gym and do a full hour of high-impact aerobics, only we are huffing and puffing climbing the stairs to the changing rooms, worn out before we hit the class.
Have you fallen into this New Year’s resolution “trap” before? I know I sure have.
As we end this year, my hope, and challenge to you is to pace yourself. Realise that January 1st is just another day, no real difference to February 1st, or even December 28th. If you have determined to make a positive change in your life, you can do it right now.
The boy-prophet, Joseph Smith did not wait until January 1st to enter into the woods that bright spring morning to seek the answers to the question burning in his heart; and neither should you.
Seek for positive change in your life, and seek it today. Take a few moments to understand what it is that you desire in your life, identify what may be the issues holding you back, and when you can identify them; go to your Father in Heaven in prayer and ask Him to help you to remove these blocks. When you find yourself faced with a fear, illumination of that fear will remove the “scare” factor when you can see clearly what it is.
Like the child who is convinced a monster lives under their bed; upon the light being shined under the bed with a loving parent to illuminate that there really is nothing there to fear, the child can then find solace in deep slumber.
Once illuminated, it can cease to exist and your stride towards your end-goal can be reached.
Sheri L. Dew has said; “The antidote to the distractions of the adversary is Jesus Christ. Light is stronger than darkness. Jesus Christ illuminates our vision of who we are and why we are here and gives us courage to move forward in the journey toward our heavenly home.”
Brothers and sisters, this past year has been a year especially difficult for many throughout the world, and indeed in this very ward. The drop in the economy has caused many to lose their jobs, their homes, and more. While all around us, we are seemingly surrounded in darkness, and for many, that darkness may have seeped into our own homes, and our own lives.
One of the greatest blessings we have, is the knowledge that we have been given the gift of agency; and in this gift, we have the ability to make choices. While around us there may be many who are “tempest tossed”, and while it may indeed be infiltrating our own lives, we can choose to get pulled into the storm of chaotic depression, despair, panic, and ill-ease; or we can turn our hearts, our minds, and our KNOWLEDGE to our faith, and follow Him, and allow Him to ease our minds.
When we turn our hearts and minds to our Father in Heaven, and to our Eldest Brother, who is Jesus Christ; we can truly be healed of our earthly woes. And even though we may be facing our darkest hours, Their Light can illuminate that which is truth and that which is fiction which we have created within our own minds, and panic-state.
We have all heard of the many blessings, even miraculous blessings showered upon those with faith and who give up of their controlling every aspect of their lives, and letting Father step in and take the bitter cup from us. And herein I believe lies the secret… and that is to give up control and give it up to God.
We have heard that we are never given more than we can carry, and for some of us, we may wonder what on earth Heavenly Father is thinking, and has he forgotten this fact. But when we get through the storm, and we look back, we can see that our father truly DOES KNOW us, and KNOWS exactly what strengths we possess.
When I look back over the past 10 years of my life, I have seen the times when I have been tempest tossed. 10 years ago, my first husband committed suicide, leaving me homeless, and on a path of utter destruction. I was mis-diagnosed and then over-dosed. On my 29th birthday I suffered a massive seizure, my heart stopped, and once resuscitated, I was inturbated and on life support in a coma. Upon coming out of this state and released from hospital, I was diagnosed with having residual brain damage and no chance for cure. The result of the seizure and coma acted upon my brain as if I had had a massive stroke; I could not talk, walk, read, or write. I was told to go home, get a good hobby, and live out my life the best I could. There was NO hope.
But I did not accept this. I KNEW that my Father had more in store for me. I made my determination and my decision; then placed complete and utter faith in my Father and allowed Him to help me as I lended the action steps I needed to take to become whole. My faith did not waiver, and without any occupational, or medical assistance; and with sheer determination and indelible faith, in 45 days, I was walking, talking, reading, writing, typing, and re-learning how to use the internet.
Heavenly Father KNOWS us, he KNOWS what we can and cannot handle, he KNOWS our worth “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10)
As we allow Him to truly enter into our lives, we will see the miracles as they flow. The darkness will be illuminated and the way will be made clear.
This life is a journey, and each step brings us closer to our end goal. As you go home today, and before you say your prayers tonight, think back on this day, reflect on the wonderful gifts you have been given in opportunity to learn. Focus on what your end goal truly is; remember tomorrow is a brand new day, and we need not wait until midnight on December 31st to create the changes we wish to change in our lives; as Sister Michaelene P. Grassli has said; “Every day – every minute – is a new, blank page of life. Regardless of our past, we can have a fresh start at any moment and write on that page what we choose. We are empowered in that by the Savior, in whom all becomes new.”
(Testimony)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Hur Family Newsletter 2009
It seems that as we are getting older in life, the years are simply flying past in the blink of an eye. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting down to write last year’s family newsletter. Can anyone explain this, and is there any possible way for us to slow time down a bit?
As we sit and reflect back on this year, we see that the theme of 2009 was definitely change; not so much challenge, although many around the world will probably view it as such.
In the Hur house-hold, we too have been affected by changes and at times deep sorrow this year.
As most of you know, Ben and I have not been blessed with children, and we view our animals as our babies. In March, our beloved Boxer Molly passed away at age 16.
This was a tremendously difficult experience for us and especially for me as I had never been around when any of our furry-family members passed away before. We sat with Molly through her darkest moments, and were with her as she took her last breath and went Home.
Three days after Molly passed away, we were given a three-week old boxer puppy whom we named Shanti Sue. She was still nursing and so we began the arduous task of bottle feeding her. What a little baby she was; and for the first time in my life, I experienced true exhaustion. I came close to understanding post-partum depression! But what a true little angel she was and she brought us many hours of laughter, and a fair few hours of frustration too. What do you do? You have a puppy and its all par for the course.
Sadly, the person who gave her to us had irresponsibly bred his dogs with no prior medical attention to the parents, and no vaccination for the parents. The weekend before my birthday, we had to put Shanti to sleep because she was diagnosed with distemper.
This was the darkest hours in our year. It took us quite a long time to move forward as the impact of both deaths compounded in intense grief.
Despite the pain, we must move on and move forward.
In April, we launched my online magazine, “Magnify You” to great reviews and fast growing international readership base.
In May, my co-host on my radio show, Manifesting the Positive, and I celebrated our first year on air.
Throughout the year, I have been interviewed for various magazines and radio shows, as well as being a co-author in two new books; “The Power of Persuasion” by Justin Sachs and another book still in production.
In September, I was nominated for the Women Business Owners 2009 Woman of Courage Award, and went on to win this award in October.
September came with another blow… Labour Day Monday, one of our cats mauled me after jumping on my lap and landing on our other cat who was sitting under a blanket on my lap; he freaked out and I became his target.
The attack landed me in the emergency room of our local hospital where I was admitted and underwent emergency surgery and follow-up surgery the next day.
While this was a shocking event, and surprising that it would land me admitted in the hospital, there is always a blessing in all situations; this came when I was diagnosed with having severe diabetes, extremely high blood pressure, and high cholesterol; otherwise known as Metabolic Syndrome. We say this is a blessing because I am not one to go running to the doctor at a whim and would not have discovered this had I not been admitted to hospital.
This has lead to my having to change my lifestyle around completely. As I work daily at getting my sugar levels down, which is difficult due to how erratic the sugars are; and I am now on four shots of two different kinds of insulin every day.
As my health was deteriorating, I made the very difficult decision to take an extended hiatus (I don’t want to say “retire” just yet) to shift my focus and work on getting my health back in order.
I have had to reduce my work schedule almost completely, and “Magnify You” has been put on hold indefinitely and Manifesting the Positive is now being hosted each week by Stuart. As my energy permits, I am recording segments with Stuart to air. I have also scaled down my consulting considerably.
But anyone who knows me knows that I can hardly sit still for very long. As my focus has shifted, it seems to those on the outside that I am doing even more now that I was before; however, that is not the case. We are both doing a lot of service work with our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and in October, I completed several blankets which we presented to an old people’s home this past month when we went Christmas caroling. Ben and I enjoyed helping at the Bishop’s Storehouse the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, and over 200 families were served with enough food for their holiday meals. It was a blessing to be able to serve in this capacity and give back our time and effort.
We have enjoyed working with the full-time missionaries in their great and marvelous work, and we have enjoyed various opportunities to entertain.
In October, I threw Ben a surprise birthday party, and was completely delighted that it actually worked and he was completely surprised. This was followed by a dinner party the next night at our favourite Asian seafood buffet restaurant with more friends.
Our neighbour threw a lovely Halloween party in our courtyard, which unfortunately Ben could not attend due to being under the weather, but I did and enjoyed myself thoroughly.
The beginning of November, we held a “See Ya Later” party for one of our full-time missionaries returning home at the end of his mission. We have remained close friends and he is now a permanent part of our family.
Thanksgiving brought us the opportunity to entertain again, and we enjoyed having the full-time missionaries, and some friends around our Thanksgiving table which was truly laden with delicious foods.
As the year was waning down, I decided that we needed to have a complete change, and this caused us to embark on getting a lovely new sofa, and then rearranging our whole home. It sure was a big job, and we found we had quite a lot of excess items to donate to Goodwill, and the results in our home are wonderful.
As change seemed to be the theme this year, Ben and I were talking late one night (I do seem to get rather philosophical around 2AM, just surprised that Ben actually listened to me this time! LOL), and this resulted in Ben deciding he needed to make a change, and went into the bathroom and shaved his beard off! This was the first time in over 10 years he saw his face, and the very first time I have, other than in photos.
I must say, the first few days were strange and he garnered quite a few looks from me as I simply could not stop looking. But now that the “strangeness” has worn off, he sure does look good and I am really loving the new look. I surprised many people when I announced the introduction of my “new boyfriend”. And many did not recognize him, in fact one asked him if he was my son! Yep, I think I may finally give in and get the old bottle of hair dye out and wash the gray out.
This last week before the holidays, I am caught up in baking goodies for a bake sale a friend is holding this weekend, and making cookie dough to refrigerate so that we’ll have goodies during the festive days ahead. I am also making latkes as we are in the Chanukkah celebrations. Christmas cards are being delivered, and generally last-minute running around. But through all the rush of the season, we are taking special care to stop and smell the proverbial roses, and lend appreciation and gratitude for all the glorious blessings which have been bestowed upon us.
So as this year comes to a close, and so many events occurring throughout, we see with hindsight that is 20/20, we see the opportunities to learn; to do better, to do less, but to always be open to creating change, and striving to make those changes positive.
We wish you, and your family, a VERY Merry Christmas and a beautifully blessed, happy, peace-filled, and loving New Year.
Blessings,
Ben and Leyla Hur
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