The Road to Jericho

 One of my favorite artists- J. Kirk Richards illustrated an article about Martin Luther King. I thought this thought was profound

“On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” Martin Luther Jr.

Positive Quotes

I taught Relief Society on Sunday- a talk about Overcoming the World (which is done by increasing our love for the Savior.)

Here are a few quotes that I just shared as a handout.  I love positive, uplifting quotes.

 

“The heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of gospel truth”- Uchtdorf

 

Often in life we forget the things we should remember and remember the things we should forget.

 

“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He can deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their  spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their soals, and pour out peace.” Pres.Benson

 

We don't pray because we're worthy. We pray because we need help. We don't take the sacrament because we are perfect, but because we are willing to be perfected. We don't go to the temple because we've made it, but because God is making us better there. We are not earning a treasure in heaven, but learning to treasure heavenly things. ~Brad Wilcox

 

 

The Lord sees weaknesses differently than He does rebellion.  Richard G. Scott

 

Your faith will grow not by chance but by choice. Neil L. Anderson

 

You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment you will ever make.  President Hinckley

Two Dogs

So true!

Fit

 So my butters are not coming off as quickly as I thought they would (at the beginning)...but regardless, I'm feeling in control and happy and have so much more energy in just two weeks.  I laugh at the team board posting (I'm doing the Meltdown Challenge) where people are exercising like 10 tens more than me....but I'm pleased with my small improvements and that I'm still committed. 

This week has been good- went to the temple with Valene on Tuesday then errands and lunch, then out with BFF Cathy in the evening since her husband is out of town and mine was roping.  She treated me to a birthday dinner since they are leaving on a family cruise this weekend.  Thursday was art class- it is my meditation and  heavenly.  Thursday night was my Girl's Night Out (and another dinner!!!), today I watched the two littles (Peyton is 3 and Ryker is 1 1/2) and we had a grand day.  Brooke came after work, then Tanner- and we had some wild games (Mallorie and Sam included.)  I didn't go out to eat ONCE today!  (and we wonder why I'm not losing butters!)

Life is good, happy.  Tomorrow is a make-up art class, then Addi's soccer party and then date night with David and Brandi and Doug (I can't remember if we are celebrating a Christmas gift or my upcoming birthday.)  A good weekend to be sure.

I love the following quote.

Yellow Brick Road

..something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart; a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor.  Marianne Williamson

Love This

“Each time you choose to try to live more like the Savior, you will have your testimony strengthened. You will come in time to know for yourself that He is the Light of the World." — Henry B. Eyring

Twinkle

Stay the Course

Quotes

The last couple of weeks, our Sunday School lessons have been on the need for personal revelation in our lives and how it comes.  I've handed out several quote sheets but these are two that I think someone needs today.

Elder Boyd K. Packer: Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings. Such words as quiet, still, peaceable, comforter abound in the scriptures... The world grows increasingly noisy. Clothing and grooming and conduct are looser and sloppier and more disheveled. Raucous music, with obscene lyrics blasted through amplifiers while lights flash psychedelic colors, characterizes the drug culture. Variations of these things are gaining wide acceptance and influence over our youth... This trend to more noise, more excitement, more contention, less restraint, less dignity, less formality is not coincidental nor innocent nor harmless. The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer. Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirt.

Neal M. Maxwell- divine guidance is so crucial...that we need to go out of our way to put ourselves in a situation in which such special help can be given. Pres. David O. McKay spoke of how the morning hours, before we are cluttered with the cares of day, are especially conducive to inspiration. Others have felt that solitude and reading the scriptures can create an atmosphere conducive to the Spirit and can be developed. After all, to read the words of Christ already before us is a good thing to do before asking for more."

Joe's Valley and celebrating

Last week David and I went with BFF's Cathy and Kirk- to their cabin in Joe's Valley as a getaway and also to celebrate our anniversaries. (Kirk and Cathy's anniversary is the day before ours.)  I laughed as I got into our car and saw David had packed his golf clubs, his new shooting bow and arrows and guns.  I asked how many activities could he possibly squeeze in?  He and Kirk are two peas in a pod...and the entire 3 days they rode ATVs and golfed and shot.....they never can do too much.  Cathy and I, on the other hand, just vegged.  We were both in "wind-down" time...and we'd look at each other and say, "So, should we go out on the ATVs?"  then we'd say, "Nah- let's just relax."  We read and napped and talked and then started all over.  And of course we played "hand and foot" when the guys came home...and ate marvelous meals. (We actually did shoot with them one afternoon.  When I hit one balloon, I was done.  Short attention-span.) (and I DID write a  poem for my upcoming writer's lunch.  Done!  Pressure off!) One night we went to a "Lamb Fry" as part of the local celebrations going on (my second time eating lamb so now I'm a pro.)  Also went to the Castle Valley pageant held out on a bluff.  The above picture is the scene before the pageant.  You could watch lots of old time demonstrations- lots of them interactive, go on wagon rides, braid a rope, learn blacksmithing.  A marvelous production (if anyone is thinking of going next year, call me so we can discuss it) and a great time with our friends.

While there, and chilling....I ran across this quote- which I love:

"I remember as a young schoolteacher (with a large and active class) asking my wife, "when does life even out?  why does it always feel like a roller coaster with so many highs and lows all in the same day?  I wish life would just level out."  Being a nurse, Debi replied, "Brad, when you get hooked up to the heart monitor, you don't want to see a straight line.  That's bad news.  It's the up and down lines that let you know you are alive."  (Brad Wilcox)


My MIL had gone to Idaho for the week while we were away and niece Ashlee brought her home when we got back.  My MIL celebrated her 89th birthday in Idaho and Ashlee was so darling to throw a party for her family there, take her to see dad's grave and also visit a brother in a rest home.  It meant so much to mom (and Ashlee, to me for your thoughtfulness!)
Came home to company for the weekend Mallory, and two sister's- Cambria and Ashlee and mom, Angie came back with mom and stayed the weekend....they had a wedding here they were helping with....plus on Saturday I threw a big  birthday party for my MIL for the "here" family.  50 people came and it was a big success.  We had such a great time.  I was going to keep it simple....just a basic taco and nacho bar.  Friday I got all the taco meat cooked....and then decided I had time enough to do some pulled pork for burritoes. Then Saturday I decided I needed to do some shrimp and pineapple cooked in honey butter for shrimp tacos with fresh mango salsa.  Etc.Etc.  The simple meal was off and running....

Boat On

Sunday when I taught Sunday School, I put these quotes up on the board since I began my lesson telling about just returning from Lake Powell.

When the tides of life turn against you and the current upsets your boat, don't waste those tears on what might have been, just lie on your back and float.

　
　

Only the guy who is rowing doesn't have time to rock the boat. Jean-Paul Sartre

　

Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.  Warren Buffett  
　

　
O God, thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small.


"Nodding the head does not row the boat" Irish Sayings quotes

　

We are the boat, we are the sea, I sail in you, you sail in me"  Lorre Wyatt


and then I found this quote that just made me laugh!-

"Marge! Look at all this great stuff I found at the Marina. It was just sitting in some guy's boat!"      Dan Castellaneta quotes  

Be a Cork!

Problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine. Otherwise they can easily overtake our vision, absorb our energy and deprive us of the joy and beauty the Lord intends us to receive here on earth. Some people are like rocks thrown into a sea of problems. They are drowned by them. Be a cork. When submerged in a problem, fight to be free to bob up to serve again with happiness...

The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment form this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you will make it harder for the Lord to bless you.       Elder Richard G. Scott

Quotes from Lesson

Yesterday I talk on 1 and 2nd Peter in the New Testament. I have grown to love Peter so much in the past few years as I've read and re-read the New Testament. In Peter, he tries to buoy the members of the church up, reminding them of who they are and of Christ's atonement for them. Then he tells them that hard times are coming. (This is during King Nero's time in Rome and thousands of Christians were killed, including Peter who was crucified upside down...at his request, because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ.) He said that you can hold your head up in the middle of the storm basically because of your faith and hope in Christ. Several people in the class asked for additional quotes or thoughts I shared in the lesson. If you read here, here they are. If I left out ones you wanted, let me know. (these are thoughts about having hope and patience and learning through our sorrows.)





We may not be able to fix the whole world, but we can strive to fix what may be amiss in our own families. Tolkien reminds us:


"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule" (The Return of the King [1965], 190).





The following story was told by Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone:"Many years ago I heard the story of the son of King Louis XVI of France. King Louis had been taken from his throne and imprisoned. His young son, the prince, was taken by those who dethroned the king. They thought that inasmuch as the king’s son was heir to the throne, if they could destroy him morally, he would never realize the great and grand destiny that life had bestowed upon him.
"They took him to a community far away, and there they exposed the lad to every filthy and vile thing that life could offer. … For over six months he had this treatment—but not once did the young lad buckle under pressure. Finally, after intensive temptation, they questioned him. Why had he not submitted himself to these things—why had he not partaken? These things would provide pleasure, satisfy his lusts, and were desirable; they were all his. The boy said, ‘I cannot do what you ask for I was born to be a king’" ("The King’s Son," New Era, Nov. 1975, 35).Bishop Featherstone goes on to remind us that we are sons and daughters of a King, children of God and that knowledge can help us shun the vile things of the world.


One night, late at night, Kent Richards, a member of the Seventy and a former surgeon by profession, was lying in a hosital bed, this time as a patient and not as a physician and over again he tried to understand the pain and adversity he was going through. As he pondered, he came to understand that during His mortal life Christ chose to experience pains and afflictions in order to understand us. Perhaps we also need to experience the depths of mortality in order to understand Him and our eternal purposes.

　
President Henry B. Eyring taught: "It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. … And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience."



Continue in Patience by Pres. Uchtdorf
　
When I was 10 years old, my family became refugees in a new land. I had always been a good student in school—that is, until we arrived in West Germany. There, my educational experience was a significantly different one. The geography we studied in my school was new to me. The history we studied was also very different. Before, I had been learning Russian as a second language; now, it was English. This was hard for me. Indeed, there were moments when I truly believed my tongue simply was not made to speak English.
Because so much of the curriculum was new and strange to me, I fell behind. For the first time in my life, I began to wonder if I was simply not smart enough for school.
Fortunately I had a teacher who taught me to be patient. He taught me that steady and consistent work—patient persistence—would help me to learn.
Over time, difficult subjects became clearer—even English. Slowly I began to see that if I applied myself consistently, I could learn. It didn’t come quickly, but with patience, it did come.
From that experience, I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort.
There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!

All I Want

Each Day

Blessings in Disquise

“We don’t have life experiences so that we can simply endure them. We must endure them WELL so that those experiences do CHANGE us. That is the purpose of those experiences. If we don’t change through them, then they are simply tragic. But if they do change us, then they are what I like to call ‘difficult blessings.’ They are blessings that we would never wish for, that we would never wish upon anyone else. But if we are honest with ourselves we realize that the best attributes we have, our love, our compassion, our desire to serve, to do better, to be better couldn’t have come about to the same degree without those experiences. And so, while we would gladly do away
with the experience, we would never trade what the experience has done to us. Unfortunately, we cannot have one without the other.”

(thanks, Susan, do you know who the quote is by?)

Movie Message Contest

Monday I watched Annee for the day. I have her Mondays until school starts. We played a zillion games of Aggravation, ran errands, swam and watched the movie Happy Feet. I had never seen it before but it had me laughing in several scenes.







Leopard Seal: Come here, sausage. I take you with ketchup!


Ramón: Yeah, but first you gotta catch up!





(April, I know you'll love that line!)











The writing in animated movies is really so cleaver....it frustrates me that I can't always hear or understand all the funny stuff or innuendo. (Not because I'm closer to 100 than 1 but because so much is going on at once.) I need to read a script so I can not miss a thing. So many of the films have great underlying messages. Lots of things little kids couldn't possibly understand make adults laugh.





After watching it, I tried to think of my very favorite animated movie. I don't think I could pick one but Toy Story and Toy Story 2 for entertainment, are hard to beat.





[Mr. Potato Head watches hopefully as Andy open birthday presents]


Mr. Potato Head: Mrs. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head... hey, I can dream, can't I?








I love all the fairy tales ( Enchanted being one of my all time favorites)....





and I love and I love and I love them all. Except for Bolt! (I love Bolt. I just don't like not being a super dog anymore....)








So, since I am up at Midway today, having a ball, eating at the Boar's Inn and some other wonderful place, laughing with girlie friends, taking a gazillion pictures, etc. - how about a little contest?

Share with me:

1. Your all time favorite animated film

2. Your favorite princess

And if you can, share with me a favorite line from one of your favorite animated movies. (We'll do other kinds of movies another time.) (you can just google "Shrek quotes" etc. if you can't remember.) Something to make me laugh or think or just remember. Anyone can enter. I'll draw the winner on Friday morning at 9:00 MST. If you don't have a blog account and don't know how to comment, just email me at mdwillpoet@msn.com and I can post it.

Adversity

Even the mere word makes me tremble. Today adversity is the topic that I'm teaching in Sunday School. I've read and read and read and thought and thought and thought and reflected on it all. There are many things that I can't share here (because of space) but I thought I would share a few quotations I am handing out on the subject. In addition, I have printed 5 pages of scriptures dealing with the subject. We can't/shouldn't think of adversity (unless it has been by our own willful choices) as punishment, but rather a natural and NECESSARY part of life. We could not know happiness without knowing sorrow. One of my very favorite quotations is that "Adversity creates two kinds of people- victims and victors." We choose.

I have found that it is much easier to speak of adversity in the past tense rather than the middle of the storm. As with hurricanes and tornados and other calamities, it is difficult to do your preparation at the moment of impact. Scripture tells us that if we are prepared, we shall not fear. Each of us need that personal fortification to survive the storms that come in life. Having a strong relationship with the Savior for me is a must. I am truly weak. I flail often. I get overcome by fear easily and overwhelmed. I'm so grateful I know when I'm empty, when I'm strong. I seek for strong......

Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them. Dallin H. Oaks

"It is not on the pinnacle of success and ease where men and women grow most. It is often down in the valley of heartache and disappointment and reverses where men and women grow into strong characters" (in Conference Report, Stockholm Sweden Area Conference, 1974, 70).

"Every reversal can be turned to our benefit and blessing and can make us stronger, more courageous, more godlike" Ezra Taft Benson

Elaine Cannon reminds us of an important way these blessings come and how we can make the most of them. "When we are pushed, stung, defeated, embarrassed, hurt, rejected, tormented, forgotten—when we are in agony of spirit crying out ‘why me?’ we are in a position to learn something"

It is the words the Lord spoke to the children of Israel through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, I have refined thee, … I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" Isa. 48:10; see also 1 Ne. 20:10).

Lord Byron said, "Adversity is the first path to truth"

Adversity is the refiner’s fire that bends iron but tempers steel. Pres. Faust

President David O. McKay said: "There are those who have met disaster, which almost seems defeat, who have become somewhat soured in their natures; but if they stop to think, even the adversity which has come to them may prove a means of spiritual uplift. Adversity itself may lead toward and not away from God and spiritual enlightenment; and privation may prove a source of strength if we can but keep the sweetness of mind and spirit" (Treasures of Life[1962], 107–8).

Let us not presume that because the way is at times difficult and challenging, our Heavenly Father is not mindful of us. He is rubbing off our rough edges and sensitizing us for our great responsibilities ahead. James E. Faust

"There is an answer to the passionate longings of the heart for fullness, and I knew it, and the answer is this: Live in all things outside yourself by love, and you will have joy. That is the life of God; it ought to be our life. In him it is accomplished and perfect; but in all created things it is a lesson learned slowly and through difficulty." Robert Browning

Disasters and tribulation are not always for the punishment of the wicked, but often for the sanctification of the righteous. Glen Pace

The Lord is more interested in our growth than our comfort.

We are not to pretend that chastising is fun. But afterwards we gain the peace and joy of well-done.

Adversity is part of the plan. It is our education in this world.

Trust in the Lord. Life is like a roller coaster- around with ups and downs. If our constant response is trust in Heavenly Father we shall be supported.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." C. S. Lewis

"Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith but they are afflictions, not sins. Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the passion of Christ." CS Lewis

"We are what we believe we are. What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step." C.S. Lewis

We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way. ~Author Unknown

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. ~William Shakespeare, Othello

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders. ~Jewish Proverb


When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. ~African Proverb

Adversity introduces a man to himself. ~Author Unknown

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them. ~John Aughey

Thursday Trivia

I have a revolving door in my house.....not really but it seems that way sometimes.

David is so in and out, I forget at moments that we are married. He went to Miami Monday morning, came home last night, left this morning for someplace else until Friday night. He gets tired of the travel. He doesn't always do this but frequently he does and it seems to come in spurts. I have mentioned that he is a trial lawyer...and he represents the University Hospital here. There is a med. school with it so when the docs leave, they go all over the country. I have wondered at times what my MIL thinks of my crazy lifestyle. I'm always running here or going out to lunch there or taking a class here, meeting friends there. The other day I mentioned it to her and said, "When I realized that my husband's career was going to leave me alone so much, I had to make a life for myself." He's always had 60 hour plus work weeks....we had dinner when the kids were growing up between 7:30 and 8:30....because if we didn't, the kids would have never gotten to eat with their dad! Besides being busy, David is a great dad and husband. I love him to death. (how about to "time and eternity?") (to infinity and beyond....)

I forgot to mention last week I got a message on my answering machine- a voice singing "Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married....." PPP (Pretty Patty Petty) was calling from Boise and I knew right away that Kyle, her daughter, got engaged! Kyle lives in Salt Lake and works for the new IHC hospital and I knew that she had met someone she really liked. They will have a small reception (in our yard!) in July. PPP came down for the weekend to help with wedding plans. I get to have her tonight until tomorrow noon! I've mentioned how PPP and Kyle would come and stay with us and Kyle, being a year younger than Tanner, would have sleepovers in Tanner's room. When they got about 10/11, it dawned on us that sleepover time was over! Kyle always called Tanner "THAT boy" and also called Lagoon (the amusement park) "The Goon."

About ten minutes after PPP called, the newly weds, Trista and Tobin called from Provo. Their summer jobs didn't work out and they had just gotten back from Colorado and were homeless. Could they stay until Saturday? Of course!

Today is "THAT boy's" birthday. What can I say about my baby that I haven't whined about, cried about, gone on and on about since he just got married a few months ago. Tanner has been a gift to me, given after I regained my sanity from the other children....5 years (planned) after the last child. He was joyful from the day he was born....was so easy that Elaine was sure I was giving him drugs! Even as an adult, he wakes up happy and goes to bed happy. He is good and kind and funny (always makes me spurt chocolate milk out of my nose) and I adore him.

I just want to mention for any Williams relatives that might be reading this, Jenny Jaggi (Jared's wife) had their baby Sunday evening. A boy....Jacob (Jake) Scott Jaggi. All is well!

This morning is a jam-packed day. I'm going uptown and meeting Sophia for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. She's bringing me the wedding tablecloths she borrowed and I'm taking her Liza's and Barbie's contest winning cookbooks. We missed out on our get-together this weekend so this will have to do. Pottery Barn afterwards to get a gift for Ashley Davies shower this evening. Since it is Tanner's birthday (and dinner) and a house full of company and a shower, it should be a wild night!

I got art re-scheduled at Rochelle's tomorrow since Patty will be here...but in the midst of everything, son Ryan will bring all his Young Men here tomorrow night to camp on our backyard! They swim, ride horses and always do a service project for us. Since Ryan serves in a Hispanic ward, their bbq is carne asada rather than hamburgers. YUM! I think this is their 3rd year coming here. (no park fees!)

In the midst of this craziness, I'm also trying to prepare my SS lesson for Sunday. This week it is on Spiritual Gifts (1 Corn. 12:4-11, also in D & C and B o M.) I've loved reflecting on the topic and things (gifts) of the spirit that sustain us. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

The best fruits are plucked for each by some hand that is not his own. C.S. Lewis

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.~Ruth Ann Schabacker " (this is actually in vinyl over my French doors in my bedroom)

President George Q. Cannon taught: "If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the Gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, "Oh I cannot help this; it is my nature." He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them."
Discernment is a light of protection and direction in a world that grows increasingly dark. You and I can press forward safely and successfully through the mist of darkness and have a clear sense of spiritual direction. Discernment is so much more than recognizing right from wrong. It helps us distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant, the important from the unimportant, and the necessary from that which is merely nice. Elder David Bednar

Stake Conference

This has been our Stake Conference weekend and yesterday put me over the top. As we were leaving the Stake Center, J. was talking to some people and asked me a question and I couldn't even talk...I stammered some gibberish (my normal conversation)...because I just wanted to get home and go into my closet (really wishing I had really CLEANED it last week when I said I would) and just weep (happy weep) and have a little gratitude conversation with God.

Elder Todd Christopherson lives in our Stake and spoke at the end. He told how topics are chosen at General Conference and shared some interesting stories. He shared how in his own preparation, he met with leaders of other Christian churches and they discussed concern over "softness." Rather than being strong in the faith, strong in the scriptures, strong in commitment, strong in the battle against sin....their fear is that we are becoming soft. Soft in the faith, soft in commitment. Soft never wins the battle.

One of my favorite speakers was Larry Tippetts. He taught Institute for many years (maybe still does) and I took classes from him years ago (before Michael Wilcox.) He began by posing the question from God we find in the scriptures, after Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, "Adam, where art thou?"

Now, God being God didn't have to ask where Adam was physically...the question was "Adam, where are you in your heart? Where is your loyalty? What path do you choose?" Bro. Tippetts said, " With God there are two directions "toward or away." He went on to talk about Christ being the only "living water" - that which truly fills. We try to fill ourselves with so much that won't sustain. Besides the story in the scripture (Jesus meeting the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well), he shared the analogy CS Lewis tells in one of his books. In The Silver Chair- a little girl is very thirsty and goes to the stream to get a drink but is frightened because Aslan the Lion is there. She is afraid although he welcomes her to come and drink. She is frustrated because she wants to drink but doesn't want to go through Aslan. She wants some other place to drink.....then Aslan says, ""There is no other stream"

And really....there IS no other stream.

They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters. Jer.2:13
Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. John 4:6-15
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. John 7:37

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.