Open Doors

This painting is called "Let Him In" by Greg Olsen. I chose this painting because I feel that it is important that we let Christ into our lives. He is forever knocking at our door and whenever we need help, we just have to let Him in. In Matthew 7:7-8 it says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." This is the perfect scripture to match this picture. I also just love the words because of the meaning and the poeticness of it. I am so grateful for Christ being there for me all of the time. If I ever need anything, I just have to ask. My favorite part is where it says "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Life is like a giant hallways with many doors leading off into different paths. I choose one door and that is the path I take. At one point, I come to another choice of doors. Sometimes it becomes super difficult to decide which door to choose. But if I simply knock on Christ's door He will guide me to the correct door. I am never alone in this life because Christ is always there for me. He may not be physically with me but in Spirit He is. I am so grateful for this gospel and the many doors it opens for me. I think that if I didn't have the gospel with me, my doors would be severely limited.

"Precious in His Sight"

"Precious In His Sight" by Greg Olsen
Normally when I am picking a picture for my blog post it is based off of what I see in this picture. This week, however, what stuck out to me was the title of the painting. Precious in His sight. We are all precious in His sight and I know I am included in that. I'd like to start off by talking about the painting. I love that in the painting Christ is playing with a child. Children are so precious and adorable; what could be a better symbol of the word "precious"? I also love that Christ is holding a butterfly on His finger. It says to me that Christ can find beauty in all things, even in a simple butterfly. I am that butterfly; Christ sees the beauty and preciousness in me.
I'm almost certain that everyone who has walked this earth, besides Christ, has had some sort of problem of self-esteem. I know I've had struggles with believing that I'm beautiful or smart or funny or likable. It's hard in this world because there are so many things and people to compare to. Because of those hard days, I am grateful for those times where I can remember just how precious I am. I may not be the most beautiful girl or the smartest person or the funny one in the crowd. But I am beautiful, smart, funny, and important to Christ. I am a Daughter of God and that alone makes me precious.
I feel that is very important that we all find our individual worth inside ourselves. I know I have days where I struggle with my self-worth but I am sincerely trying to remember how precious I really am. I am beautiful. I am smart. I am funny. I am important. I think that after we've come to this realization and have a grasp on our personal self-worth, we need to spread this and remind others of their self-worth. Matthew 5:14-16 says, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We need to be that light and show others that they too are precious in the sight of God.
None of us are perfect; we all have our struggles and mistakes. But we are still precious to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They love us unconditionally. This doesn't mean that we should go out and do bad things because They'll still love us, but that if we do happen to make those mistakes we can remember that They do love us. I am so grateful for Their unconditional love because I know that I am not perfect. Far from it. But They still love me and that helps me to keep moving forward. It also helps to know that someone out there knows how precious I am. It's Their opinion that matters most anyways. "Those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." If someone doesn't like me because I'm not beautiful enough, then they don't matter. Christ and Heavenly Father are those who matter and they don't mind the little things. I am so grateful for the love that they give to me. Some days it's Their love that gets me through the tough times. The knowledge of my worth to Them is immensely important and helpful. It helps to strengthen my self-worth and to know that I am "Precious in His Sight."

Consider the Lilies

"Consider the Lilies" by Simon Dewey is the picture I chose this week. I actually thought of this one yesterday. Surprising right? Anyways the scripture that goes with it is Matthew 6:28 "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:" I've always been kind of confused by what this scripture means but I think I've figured it out now that it means to have faith. I'm still working on understanding that better and hopefully one day I will understand it better. But for now, I have a slightly different interpretation of "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." I take it to mean to enjoy the little things in life. I think it means to take the time consider things like how lilies grow and the beauty of them. Last week, my roommates and I decided to make a goal of looking at the BIG picture. With that goal, I decided to take it a step further and to remember to look for the little things in life that make me happy. Some days I was good at this and other days I was not. This week I've learned to notice the beauty of the mountains and trees around me. We've gotten a little snow this week and it looks so beautiful on the mountain tops.
I think this next week might be a bit of a stressful one with getting homework done and having 2 tests this week. I feel it is important for me to take the time to see the small things in life and be grateful for them. With it being November, there have been many people expressing their thanks for so many things. It has helped me to realize the things that I am grateful for. First of all, I am grateful for my family. Now that I am at college I don't get to see or talk to them all the time but I still love them so much. I love the time that we get to spend together. Mom and Dad are always so willing to help me out. I know some people that their parents won't help them out at all and they are completely on my own. I know with my parents that they are always there to help me and will be there when I need them. I'm grateful for Cory and his teasing ways. Sometimes it can get a little old but most of the time it makes life fun and reminds me of our childhood. Even though he's the oldest, he's the one that keeps me young. I'm also grateful for his help in my schooling and advice. Because we are so much alike, it's easiest to go talk to him about my school plans and change of majors and such. I'm grateful for Annie and the wonderful example she is to me. She's like supermom! She does so many things and is so happy about it. I hope I can be half the mother she is. I'm grateful for my sister Mandy Moo. We haven't always been that close and we didn't talk about boys much when I was younger. I was always jealous of girls that had that sort of relationship with their sister(s). This year I'm beginning to have that relationship and I love it! She asks me about updates on my boy life and we talk about it. She was even giving me advice last week! It was so wonderful and I loved it. I'm grateful for Josh and that he takes care of my sister. He's such a wonderful husband to her and it makes me so happy! I hope to have a marriage like theirs. I love his artistic work too and that it can bring me closer to God. I'm grateful for Jordan and the fact that he's still at home. When I went up for Jen's wedding a little bit ago he was down in his room. He came upstairs and said "Oh, I thought I had heard you." And he just seemed so happy to see me! Jordan isn't big on expressing his feelings but just those words and that I look I knew he was happy to see me and I was happy to see him too. I haven't forgotten that look yet and I hope to never forget it. I'm grateful for all of my cute nieces and nephews and the great joy that they bring to me!
I'm grateful for my roommates. I got really lucky this year with them. Yes, we have our differences but we get along so well. I've heard of so many other people having problems with their roommates but mine are just great! We have a lot of fun together and I'm so happy they've accepted me. I didn't know how it would go because they have to live with the RA. But they love me and are totally fine with it! I'm grateful for Chalese and her personality. Each day I find more ways that we are alike. We have such a great connection and I love spending time with her. We don't care how we act around each other and just enjoy doing dorky things! She is always the first one to jump up and help me when I need assistance and I am so grateful for that. I seriously don't know what I would do without her. She is going to make a fabulous RA next year and I really hope our friendship continues to develop. She is quickly becoming one of my best friends. (All of my roommates are my best friends, but Chalese especially.) I'm so grateful for Ali and her funny ways. She makes our apartment lively and is always cracking jokes. It's never a dull moment when Ali is around! I love it! I'm grateful for Courtney and her ability to laugh at anything. She just enjoys life and I hope I can do just as well with that.
I'm grateful for my other friends: my RA friends, my few friends from home that I'm still in good contact with, friends from the ward, and especially, Kiley Cash. I have so much fun with these people. I work with the most amazing people and they make my job worthwhile. As noted before, I'm so grateful for Kiley. This year we haven't talked as much as we did last year but we are still wonderful friends. This weekend has been amazing with her and reminded me of why I love her so much. I loved going to the dance together on Friday and then Denny's afterwards and just having fun! Then last night she was having a hard time with homework so she came over and I helped her. She's also struggling with 2 of her roommates so she didn't want to go home. She just stayed here for the rest of the night in between her roves and we just sat and talked. I loved when we sat down and read and laughed about our quote board last year. We had so many good times together! She is a wonderful friend and person. She is my best friend even when we have our ups and downs. I never want to lose Kiley as a friend. She means so much to me, I can't even explain it. I hope so much that she will be around when I get married because I definitely want her to be one of my bridesmaids. I don't want a whole lot of them, but for the past year I've always thought that I want her to be one of them. She doesn't know that though haha.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to come to BYU. It's hard and it's stressful, but I am learning so much. I would not be learning this much anywhere else, even at a place like Harvard. This is the place where I want and need to be and I'm so grateful that I was able to get in. I'm grateful for the atmosphere that is here. We all make fun of and joke about it, but it really is wonderful to be here. I love the little stereotypes that are true about BYU because they just make me laugh. I'm so grateful for the religion classes that I am able to take and how amazing the teachers are. I'm grateful for my other teachers and the way that they can fit the gospel into what they are teaching.
I'm grateful for my job. Sometimes it can be stressful and I don't want to do some things but I really am grateful for it. I have so much fun with it and I'm learning a lot of things. It's a good income and it placed me with the best roommates.
Lastly, I'm grateful for the place I live in. Wyview is a great place to live. It's really nice and has the things that we need. The set up is wonderful and the people around here are great. Included in my gratefulness of Wyview is my gratefulness for my ward. They are all so amazing and so giving to others. If one person needs help, there are so many people out their willing to help. I'm so grateful for Bishop and Sis. Davis. I don't think I've ever quite had a connection like this with a bishop before. He is wonderful at making all of us feel loved and welcomed. I'm grateful for so many things in my life. I hope that I may continue to "consider the lilies" and enjoy the small things in life along with the big things.