I do not boast . . . but behold, my joy is full

One of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon is Alma 26.  Ammon and his brothers are returning to the land of the Nephites with the thousands of converted Lamanites.  I've always imagined this like a missionary reunion where they gather together and swap missionary stories.  I can picture Ammon standing up, and with the excitement of a new RM, recounting how thrilling it was to go into the land of their enemy and being able to baptize so many even with the odds firmly against them.  "Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might ..." (Alma 26:5)

I can also picture the small  remaining sibling rivalry that leads Aaron to 'rebuke' his brother.  'You're getting a little conceited there brother.'  But Ammon's response reminds us that the difference between pride in ourselves and praise to the Lord is our focus and motivation.  "But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." (Alma 26:11)

This time of the year, lots of people like to write the obligatory Facebook posts or emails about all the things they are thankful for all month long.  I have to be honest, to me they sometimes have come across as boasting.  'Look at all the things I have that I bet you wish you did.'  I want to rebuke them like Aaron did and stop them form bragging so much.  But, Ammon reminds me that if the motives are pure, being thankful is not boasting in one's self, but boasting in our God who gave it all to us.

So write your posts.  Make your lists.  Let us all "boast in [our] God, for in his strength [we] can do all things"!  (Alma 26:12)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The spirit in loud places

Sometimes you can feel this spirit in very unusual places.  We were framing some walls in the basement yesterday and of course all of the kids wanted to "help".  Sometimes their help just means more work.  But, I have noticed lately that with work, church, and other commitments that I haven't been able to spend as much time with them as I would like.  So, I tried to use their help as much as possible.

As I was nailing the top board to the studs, all of the kids said they wanted to hammer some too. I put one nail into each board and then started another in each one.  One by one, each of the kids took a hammer and started banging.  Even little Max got into it with his plastic hammer.  With that many hammers going at the same time, it became very loud and chaotic!  It was in the middle of this noise and confusion when I felt the Still Small Voice.  A warm feeling came over me and I had a sudden deep appreciation for my family and how blessed I was to be their father.

I think it's kind of a 'guy thing'.  But, it meant a lot to me and made a big difference in how I tried to treat my children the rest of the day.

Blog Intoduction

Our stake president recently challenged us to have what he called a Daily Dose of the Spirit.  This is where we take time each day to do something to feel the Spirit of our Heavenly Father in our lives.  It could be reading the scriptures, listening to a conference talk, or listening to the Tabernacle Choir.  It's a time we set aside from our normal activities to feel the spirit.

I have also been reminded by the preparation my wife, Amber, has been doing for her Sunday School class of a talk that President Eyring gave about keeping a journal of where he saw the hand of The Lord in his life.

So, I decided to combine the two with a little twist.  I thought I would use this blog to journal what I learned from my daily dose of the spirit or other places when I have felt the spirit.

We'll see how I do.