Sunday Inspiration

Desire

I really, really loved this talk, Desire by Dallin H. Oaks, from General Conference in April 2011.
I listened to it yesterday while I was doing the dishes and then later that day I read and studied it in my copy of the Ensign.

So much of what he said was so true and amazing.

Here are some of my favorite parts.

" Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions."

"The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming."

3 essentials that precede a promised blessing 1- desire, 2- labor, and 3- faith (see Enos 1:9-12)

"When we have a vision of what we can become, our desire and our power to act, increase enormously."

Qualities of eternal beings
1- forgive all who have wronged them
2- put the welfare of others ahead of themselves
3- love all of God's children
begin with a desire for these qualities and then pray for them


It's interesting how study of spiritual things all links together. Today I was reading in 2 Corinthians and one of the themes in chapter 2 was the fact that Saints should forgive and love one another. I love it when something I study is reinforced by something else I find in the scriptures.

Have a good day!

Leila Aboulela- my favorite author right now

I haven't shared much about my favorite books or thoughts lately. I don't know why.

I discovered a new author and I absolutely love everything she has written. Her name is
Leila Aboulela. I randomly picked up her latest novel- Lyrics Alley- at the library and read the inside flap. It sounded pretty interesting, so I took it home and loved it. Her style of writing is so beautiful and the stories I find so very interesting. She writes about her native country, Sudan and presents Islam and Muslims in such a beautiful way. I just really love her books.
I enjoy reading about new places and cultures and also really appreciate a beautiful story that can be told without crude language or explicit love situations.

I have read all of her books, my favorite is Minaret. I am slowly reading her collection of short stories right now, which I had to get through an loan from Emory library. I know she doesn't have anything else published yet, so I am savoring each short story and then I will probably read them again since I have the book for a couple more weeks.

Enjoying the last bits of Summer

It has been really nice outside recently. A few weeks ago the kids were coming home from school and getting in their swimsuits and playing in the water because it was soo hot. Now, they can play outside and not get too sweaty, which they really love.
There was a clearance of sidewalk chalk at the store the other day, so I bought a few packs that had brighter colors than usual. The kids have been outside making all sorts of pictures. Ryanne was really proud of her DARTH somebody picture that she made in Jonah's honor. (He attended a b-day party that day and had his face painted as that character, so he was very impressed by Ry's pic).
Savannah with a unicorn
They all worked together on this giant light saber
I need to go back outside and take some pictures of all the animals they made for their zoo. Some of them are really fun.
Ry was able to bring home "Lucy the Llama", her 1st grade pet and Savannah just happened to be holding our neighbors cat at the same time. They were soo happy with these pets. We took Lucy on a walk and showed her all the fun animals that people on our street own- chickens, cows, horses, dogs, cats, goats, ducks, etc. Fun times all around!