This year’s Advent calendar theme is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Perhaps these words can help you connect with the Savior each day until Christmas.
You should be able to download and print the calendar using the tool at the end of the post.
With love,
Angela
Thou gracious God, whose mercy lends
The light of home, the smile of friends,
Our gathered flock thine arms enfold
As in the peaceful days of old.
Wilt thou not hear us while we raise
In sweet accord of solemn praise
The voices that have mingled long
In joyous flow of mirth and song?
For all the blessings life has brought,
For all the sorrowing hours have taught,
For all we mourn, for all we keep,
The hands we clasp, the loved that sleep.
The noontide sunshine of the past,
These brief, bright moments fading fast,
The stars that gild our darkening years,
The twilight ray from holier spheres.
We thank thee, Father; let thy grace
Our loving circle still embrace,
Thy mercy shed its heavenly store,
Thy peace be with us evermore.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
I can’t read these words (or hear them sung) without images from my life coming to mind to match the phrases. Perhaps it is the same for you.
Writing a blog means that I look at experiences with the thought, “How/when/should I share this?” I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner today. I wanted make a post to highlight some of the things for which I am thankful this year, and it would be so colorful and full of pictures. But preparations for the dinner and Christmas have taken my energy this week, and I realize that the blog is already a running list of gratitude. I’ve written more than 100 posts in 2024 and they showcase some of what Heavenly Father has done. Just some. Thank you for being my blog friend and reading along.
“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”
-Russell M. Nelson
One paradox of gospel living is that if we want to be gatherers, we will need to scatter in some way.
This might look like spending time away from home, scattered about in service.
Elder Cook taught, “When we shine, we gather.” Abandoning old habits, scattering them in the wake of better choices and Christ’s grace, has an effect of making a person shine.
Our family may be scattered for now, but wherever we are, we can be gatherers. Each time we have sent a family member to serve a mission, I have felt the blessing of additional spiritual strength. This is another paradox of gospel living, that in feeling incomplete, I become more intact in Christ. Gathered.
I’m pretty sure that the words this Apostle spoke to us won’t live in memory as long as what he did after the meeting.
He invited every person who wanted to shake his hand to come forward. A long line formed as most people in the audience joined the line. He asked their names and showed genuine interest. We watched him do this for about an hour and a half as he stood at the end of our row in the chapel. One by one, he ministered to all.
I am not the type to stand in line to meet important people. It could be shyness or ingrained patterns of trying to be invisible. Heavenly Father knows this about me, and He also knew I needed some encouragement. So, we had front row seats to observe a Special Witness of Christ express love in the pattern that Christ has shown. When the crowd was gone, I didn’t need to do anything but stand up in order to meet Elder Gong because he was right there waiting at the end of our bench. This is the grace of God.
A few months ago we took a shift to clean the temple from 10 pm to midnight. People are doing this all of the time, and it was not a big sacrifice. I helped clean the baptistry, and part of my job was to dust the walls of the laundry room, which were not dusty, unlike the walls of my own home.
I was regretting that I wasn’t having a spiritual experience in this temple laundry room when this song came to my mind. The Spirit reminded me that caring for this room was a way to show my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for this temple and for His goodness to me all my life. So, I finished my shift, singing this song in my mind. The Spirit showed up for me in the laundry room that night to expand my vision.
I should ask the question more often, what can I do this day to show my gratitude to God?
Blue + yellow = green.
Blue=initial reaction to trials
Yellow=God’s response to prayers
Green=courage and determination enhanced as a result of prayer
The formula is clear in Alma 58:9-13. Just read the highlighted words and apply them to a challenge that you are facing. This formula has worked for me my whole life.
I couldn’t get photos of everyone as we hosted this gathering, but it was a nice day with loved ones.
Before Mark was set apart as a missionary, he wanted one last gathering with his Sanchez cousins who are his age, so we invited them to spend part of conference weekend here. MMSK is pronounced “misk,” and it’s an acronym of their names. Mostly, there was a lot of nonsense going on as they “watched conference”, but I think that the time together was important.
Mark and Richard attended a session of General Conference on Sunday. They brought the binoculars, which was a great idea.
When Mark sent in his mission papers last spring, I assumed he would be on a mission long before now. We’ve had a long preparation period, which was good in many ways and challenging in others.
We had time for more spiritual preparation and temple worship. Mark received mentoring in Preach My Gospel and got some work experience from his Sanchez grandparents. We had time to travel this summer.
The long wait means that the bandaid is being removed very slowly. I am pretty fragile lately.
Now that Mark has had a few days of home MTC, he is excited to go to the Provo MTC next week. Everything is as it should be: the wait, the anticipation, the emotions accompanying a goodbye, the excitement, his assignment. Everything.