Teach children of their heritage

The month of July is wonderful time here in Utah. With our Independence Day celebrations, and then our state celebration of the Mormon pioneers settling in Utah, it opens up the door for conversations about our heritage.  


Why is it important for to teach children about their heritage, and what things should you be sure to teach them?


1.  It is important for our children to know of the past and the things that brought about their freedom in this country. They must know of the brave souls that fought for our liberty. They must know of the struggles that this country went through as a new and struggling nation of God loving people who desired freedom to worship and live.  They must know about the Constitution of the United States of America. You must help them to understand the constitution, what it is, what it stands for, and what it means for them going forward.  You must do it, the public school system may cover it for just a brief moment, but it is watered down and sugar coated until it has lost much of what it is. The school system cannot make up for you sharing your own experience and love for this country. Teach your children to honor the flag and other symbols of our freedom, for it is a rock upon which they must stand.  Teach them the pledge of Allegiance. Teach them the star spangled banner.  Teach them about the land of the free. Teach them to be brave. Teach them to honor the freedoms they have and to stand in liberty.

A great read on the history of our country is Seven Miracles That Saved America: Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope


2.  Our children should know about their Grandparents, Great Grandparents and so on. It is important for them. I have found great strength through knowing my grandparents. My Grandma turned 94 this year. She is one of those people I have looked to for inspiration over the years.  In fact, one of my very first blog posts was all about her.  Our extended families can give us clues to our life. We can learn from their mistakes and we can gain wisdom and strength from their life experiences.  Make it an experience for your children by sharing the stories of their close ancestors.  My mother in-law is a great story-teller.  She has shared many stories about my Husband and his family. She makes it fun for us all to learn about our relatives.

3. Most of all teach them of their Spiritual heritage. We are all Children of God. Teach your children of that God who created them. Teach them to love the scriptures.  Our evening time for the past several months has been spent in telling the stories of the scriptures. My young children are begging to know more. Every night it is, "just one more Bible story!" They are hungry for the word of God.  I have had to step up my studies of the scriptures just to keep up with them. It is a wonderful thing to see their eyes light up as I tell them stories of the great prophets, and tell them about the miracles that came about through faith in the Lord.

It was just a few generations ago that most people read the scriptures and family Bibles were cherished treasures, but it is a tradition that has gone away in many parts of the country. It is time to bring it back.

It is a time to take a good look to at the word of God especially the book of revelation as we are upon the doorstep of the things John saw concerning the world as it comes very close to the time when Christ shall come again. Just take a look around, you will see that the signs of His coming are all around us. 

May you and your family find hope for the future as you turn to the past.

Blessings,
Happy Momma

recognizing the answers

Do you ever struggle to recognize the answers to your prayers? You are not alone! Many have struggled with this.

Sometimes prayers are answered in large ways, but more often it is that little thought, or that simple little thing someone does. When we take time to recognize those small things, and give God thanks, we tend to find more of them and we see the hand of God has been in our lives. Let me share some examples with you so you can see what I mean.


Mary is struggling with finances and is in need of a bit of extra this week. The gas tank is on empty and the pantry seems a bit bare. She prays for relief. The next day, a friend offers to take her to lunch. The day after that, she finds a forgotten $20 bill.  Have her prayers been answered? Many may say it is just coincidence, but I say yes, her prayers were answered in a very real way. She was taken care of when she was needing it. God said yes, and provided for her in her time of need.

In my own life, when finances have gotten a little tight God has provided. Sometimes it has been in the form of a friend needing help with a job and asking my husband to assist them. For myself, it has been daycare jobs for family or friends that paid enough to cover some of the basics and it seemed that the payments always showed up just at the right time. 


Another example is that of Amy who is struggling with the pressures of her job and family life. She is feeling overwhelmed by it all. She is feeling hopeless and in despair. All of a sudden there is a phone call from a friend who just happened to call and say "hello" This is an answer to prayer.

Susie is struggling with her son. He has some behavior issues that cause Susie to be at the "end of her rope" She has been praying for help knowing what to do. She has struggled through many days with her son and his behavior, nothing seems to be working. She is learning patience, but it is growing thin. The struggles continue, then one day while talking with a friend the answer seems to come in a small and simple way. This friend is struggling with her own child, although their troubles and issues seem to be so different, Suzie's mind is awakened to something that might just work. She begins to feel a small glimmer of hope in this "new thought". 

Sometimes we get those "thoughts".  Do not discount them, often they are overlooked answers to prayers. Explore those little thoughts and see what comes of them. See if God is saying, "flap your wings and fly."  Sometimes it is only when we look back and realize that it all started with that one little thought that we  can see our prayers were answered.

There is a song that helps me to remember that while I do not always know what God has in store, he can see the big picture. This is especially helpful to remember when dark clouds are near and I cannot see more than just a few steps. 


Click here to listen on you tube


Blessings by Laura Story



We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise




My Prayer for you today; May God bless you in your struggles. May you find that your prayers are answered and that He has always had a hand in your life.
 
Happy Momma

What do you seek?

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. (Article of faith #13 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)


Part of this comes from Philippians 4:8-9
8. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
9.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

How I love these words of inspiration.  Practice being good and God will be with you. What a great promise given to us.

Seek after the good things. There are so many good things out there, yet often they are overshadowed by the "Other things" The biggest challenge is keeping our eye on the main goal. One of the Devils greatest tools is distraction. He gets us to forget what it is that we really desire.

 

 

 

How can we keep from being distracted and caught in the Devils trap?  We can seek after the "good things" in life. By seeking out good music, books, friends, and so on we are surrounding ourselves with constant reminders of what we are striving for, constant reminders that we are choosing the things of the Kingdom of God thus keeping the Devil from permanently distracting us.   

 

Choose to surround yourself with goodness. Choose righteousness. Choose God.  Teach your children the same. 

 

God bless you all on your journey,

 

Happy Momma   

 

Governed and guided by God

 

This spring I had the opportunity to read a great book from the  heart of faith series called The Preacher's Bride .  It is a historical fiction book that takes place in 1650's England. It was interesting reading as the author Jody Hedlund takes you on a journey into the life of a young puritan woman as she deals with a trial of her faith and of her faithfulness to the church and it's teachings. I was so intrigued as the story takes the form of her inner thoughts. As the story weaves along you are drawn in as she is feeling torn by her desires but in the end her faith keeps her well grounded. It got me thinking about my own life. One of the parts that made me think was a passage where she is talking with her husband who is a preacher. They were talking about how they choose to live their lives differently than others at that time because they chose to be governed by God and his rules and laws. It got me thinking about my own life and how I choose to live my life of faith.     


Governed can be defined  as; to have a predominating influence. What are the predominating influences in your life?  Are the scriptures, prayer, fasting,  and the other things of God the largest influence over your life, or are there too many other things that distract you from letting God's word direct your path? Do you live by faith, or does fear enter in all to often.  2 Timothy 1:7-8  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
⁸ Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Do we heed the words of Timothy? In verse 13 he says Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou has heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.  Do we hold on tight to the words of God? Are they in our hearts and minds constantly? Do Christ's words have an influence on us and the way we live?  At this time in the worlds history we must be holding tight to the words of God, if not we will be swept up into a world that will not be governed by anything or anybody, a world that only gives itself to carnal desires, a place where lawlessness rules and everybody is serving their own selfish desires.

Those who live with faithful hearts are called to build up the Kingdom of God. They are called to live by the rules of God as taught in the bible and other scriptures to walk uprightly before him, to be governed and guided by faith and to be a light to the world. We are to called to teach others that there is a better way. We cannot shy away from that calling. We must stand firm in our faith and in our actions. We cannot be caught up in the worldly things. We must make the choice to govern ourselves according to the knowledge and faith within us.



May you find joy and happiness in serving the Lord, Jesus Christ. May you find the courage to stick with and stand up for your beliefs and your right live according to faith. 



Below is an Amazon link to the book referenced above.


                                                                  
                                                         The Preacher's Bride


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