One thing that I enjoy about my calling is the opportunity to visit other units within the stake, although I do enjoy sitting with my family more at church. Recently as I have listened to the talk given and the lessons, I am coming to understand a little bit more about grace and the doors we choose to open and close in our lives. The stake theme this year for ward conferences comes from Moroni 10:32 and the church wide youth theme is 1Nephi 3:7. The sacrament talks pricked my heart today and provided a reassurance that none of us are every lost. God loves us and Christ has paid the price for each of us. Grace has become a topic that I desire to know more off. From the best I can tell there are two main ideas associated with grace. The first from Ephesians that we are all saved by grace alone and the second from 2 Nephi 25:23, that we are saved by grace after all we can do. In an essence are they both not true? We are all saved through the atonement from death because of the resurrection and maybe Nephi tells us the "all we can do" is believe in Christ, as he repeats throughout the entire chapter. One of my favorite quotes about grace comes from Emily Belle Freeman, she states: "...grace is not
just for the salvation of sinners, but also for the bestowing of blessings. It
is given through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He was willing to come down and
come in to help each of us become. His grace is the gift of transformation, an
endowment of strength, divine assistance and enabling power, the elevating of
souls, and the healing of hearts. Grace is His favor and His kindness and the
tenderness with which He extends His mercies. It is His touch on our heart and
how we reflect that within our life. Grace is always there, but we notice it
most in our weakness, in our brokenness. The Lord has the capacity, He has the
ability to reach into every one of us and make us the best we could be in that
situation. And He will touch my heart. And then I will be able to reflect that
version of myself in that situation because of His grace. He's going to magnify
me, He's going to increase my capacity to be the best mom, to be the best
spouse, to be the best friend, to be the best of whatever I am entering into,
because He has promised he will meet me there and He will extend His grace to
me, and through Him, I will be able to accomplish that—whatever it is—so much
better." I love, love, love that!
Today during our youth lesson, several images of doors were shown and we talked about the types of doors and what they are used for. We talked about the imagery of open doors and closed doors and how they can mean so many different things to everyone. Maybe for some a closed door represents restrictions but for others safety, could the door material have anything at all to do with the portrayal? I jotted the following down today: I am never alone. Christ is there and at the door waiting. Renee'- are you mindful of all the struggles and decisions that Jake or each of your children are contemplating? Am I a safe-haven for them and a source of goodness?
