Reading Books!!

It was March 2010 and my family and I were in Salt Lake City, Ut visiting some friends but also had another agenda on our list.  We were visiting Shriner's Hospital to have Willie's feet checked.  Three months prior Willie had ankle surgery and had two screws placed in each ankle.  Dr. Carol is trying to stop his growth plates so that it will straighten out his body enough to then finally do surgery on his knee.  He has a floating knee cap and whenever he runs, jumps or plays and he does this often, at times it goes out of place and he falls.  Willie will then cry and then I will cry.  My heart breaks because he can't catch himself when he falls-he only has one arm. But so far everything looks really good for Willie.

In the mean time while visiting this family I was contemplating my life and how I can better learn and grow and be a better person, wife, mother, sister and friend.  I learned to love reading in the mission field.  I actually was a terrible reader growing up.  I was always found in the lowest reading groups at school.  I will never forget 6th grade. It was the year the whites were bussed to Kermit R. Booker.  And I was always in a class of color.  I met some really cool girls and great little dancers. :)  Needless to say I read when I can find time but I set a goal to read a book a month and so far I am reading a book every 3 months. But I decided to read books of inspiration. And I wanted to learn more about the lives of the Apostles and Prophets.  To me they are the epitomy of life lessons.  They always have a story to share or some life lesson that brought them closer to God.  And from the time I was little my survival was staying close to my Heavenly Father.

On this trip I spoke to a lady at Deseret Book and she suggested the book Yearning for the Living God.  It was written by F. Enzio Busche.  I had never even heard of him.  Apparently he served in the Quorum of the Seventy and his story was amazing.  I won't go into all of it but he was an Eastern German Boy who found the gospel and as he looks back at his life he sees how the Lord played a significant role in getting him to where he needed to be.  And it is a great book about Faith.  I decided to that with every book I read I would write a little testimony inside the book of what it did for my life.  I thought maybe if any of my kids pick one of these books up then maybe they can learn something about me and how I function in life.  I underline a lot in my books.  I find that if I need a quick pick me up I can look to a quote that may have helped me or can help me.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this book:

1.  We have to follow our convictions in our lives.  Otherwise, we will not be able to stand.  Even when it is not popular, and even when people sometimes can't understand us, it is necessary to stand by our convictions. Otherwise, we are unable to stand.

2.  Nothing can be hidden, and even every thoughtless spokenword will be brought to our painful awareness one day.

3.  I saw that if every act of labor were done with love and care, this world would heal.  There would be lifght, even divine light, in the heart and soul of every man and woman enabling us to grab one another's hand and to dance like innocent children, filled with the exuberance of neverending joy.

4.  I believe one of the greatest challenges for members of the Church is to ensure that our lives are not led by routine.  When we are governed by routine, we tend to become insensitive to the need to walk with the companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

5.  Sooner or later, we will overcome our shortcomings if, through the love of Christ, we see in one another only the good, even when there are sometimes only small attempts to put that good into action.

One of my favorite stories was about a woman who was very ill.  Mind you this all takes place in Germany so I am sure the circumstances in the 40's and 50's were sparse.  But the ward she belonged to loved her so much that they traveled to the closest Temple and they began to pray for her.  This woman was also in a wheel chair.  While they were praying for her they did not know the Faith they were excercising.  When the loving ward members returned to the town they corresponded with stories and found that at the very moment these members were in the temple it was the same moment this woman was healed and was able to walk away from her wheel chair.

My thoughts were turned to my faith and how humbled I was at the lack of it there was.  I visit teach a wonderful sister named Lorrie.  She has Fibremyalgia and I began to pray and ask for repentance because I know that if my faith was strong enough she could be healed from this disease.  I spoke to Lorrie about this and we both just cried.  I wish my faith was stronger and I wish that I would live more righteous to be more of a light in peoples lives. I struggle everyday with my own self worth and these books give me hope that everyday I can keep trying and keep moving forward.  I don't feel sorry for myself and I am not asking for a pity party. I am simple expressing my weaknesses that I know with much diligence can become strengths.

The next book I start is by Larry H. Miller.  He since has past but the few pages have already inspired me to not waste my time during the day and look for opportunities to be a better mother and greater wife.