A glimpse into my scripture journals! :)

This is inside my TOPICS journal. This is the one on Repentance. On the left side I have scriptures and quotes that go with it. The papers in the middle are two talks that I really liked on the topic. I printed them out as pamphlets so that one talk fits on one piece of paper front and back and then I folded them in half and taped them to the middle. I love this trick b/c then I can organize all the incredible talks that I read. The right side of the notebook are my thoughts on the subject. It was really cool how things just came to me as I was reading and thinking of things. I was proud of me for listening to the spirit and writing intelligent things. 

 A few of my thoughts that I will share that ended up in the notebook. ;)

• The change must happen before Christ's Atonement will help us. We must do our part of the work before mercy will help us complete it. As stated in Helaman 5:10, Christ will save us from our sins but not in our sins.
• When change has truly taken place, we will no longer have a desire to continue in that sin, but shall feel true joy.

I have no artistic capabilities but this was my drawing on the similitudes of Abraham Sacrificing Isaac and the crucifixion/Atonement of Christ. I put drawings and graphs and things to give it some variety. ;)

I can't remember who this is... I think that says Hagar up there. I drew a family tree on this one too. There are scriptures, my thoughts, quotes...etc. You get the idea.

So, there you have it.... a glimpse into each of my three scripture journals... my regular scripture journal, women in the scriptures journal and my topic scripture journal. I tend to get distracted on things and study them a little more so I decided to add a topics journal about two days ago. It has really helped me to focus all that learning some place. LOL! :)

House of Israel Picture Book

I so want this in my scripture journal but since I don't know how to do this I figured my blog journal will just have to do. Enjoy a better understanding of the House of Israel. :)

Open publication - Free publishing

The Well of Him Who Liveth and Seeth Me (Hagar)

It is very hard to talk about Sarah without Hagar or Hagar without Sarah but I am going to try. The two posts may have the same information repeated in each other but I am going to start with Hagar today.

It is thought that Hagar was given to Sarai by Pharoah. Some even think that she was Pharoah's daughter, royalty, "for he preferred to see his daughter the servant of Sarah to reigning as mistress in another harem" (Ginzberg, Legends, 1:223).

Sarah was unable to get pregnant so... (Genesis 16:1)

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my ^amaid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

In revelation given to Joseph Smith, we learn that was commanded by God to have her husband marry Hagar. D&C 132:65...

[Sarah] administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take ^aHagar to wife.

 This implies that Hagar was a righteous woman if she was to carry Abraham's seed and to become part of the family, even she was a "concubine" instead of chief wife. And, if you're curious, a concubine is a legal wife who was elevated from servant status by marriage. She was no equal to the chief wife who was always a free woman.
Hagar ended up getting pregnant which caused a bit of contentious between these two righteous women as we read in Genesis 16:4-6:

And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

 5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was ^adespised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

 6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her ^aas it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

When she ran she found a fountain of water in the wilderness. This is where the angel of the Lord found her. This interaction, in itself, is enough to convince me that Hagar was a righteous woman. True, angels have appeared to the unrighteous but it's generally to rebuke them. That isn't what happens here. The angel comforts her and tells her to name her child Ishmael.
The well that Hagar and the angel spoke was called Beer-lahai-roi which, according the footnotes means "The well of him who liveth and seeth me". And... Ishmael means "God hears". God heard Hagar's cries and sent an angel to comfort her and give her the choice to return to Abraham and Sarah.

In those days infant mortality rate was not good. When a child was weaned (generally at the age of 3) was cause for celebration because the child made it through the high risk time of life. This is also when Sarah decided that it was time to send Hagar and Ishmael away. For me, I always thought this was cruel and selfish of Sarah. Even Abraham thought,

"the thing was very  grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son" (Genesis 21:11).

In Genesis 21:9 we learn that Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac. Then, in Galatians 4: 29, Paul refers to it as Ishmael persecuting Isaac. Either way, it seems that Sarah feared for Isaac's safety so she said that Abraham should cast them out. In Genesis 20:12 we read,

 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in ^aIsaac shall thy ^bseed be called.

Abraham was again told to hearken Sarah's words. In this time, if a chief wife saw cause to reprimand a concubine then she had three choices.... free the concubine and send her off on her own (usually with a paper stating her emancipation), return her to servitude or punish her. So, really, Sarah chose the best consequence that was available. Hagar and Ishmael would be free! There is further proof of Hagar's freedom in Genesis 21:21 when Hagar alone chose a wife for Ishmael out of Egypt. A slave couldn't have done that.

Abraham gave them away with food and water but when it was gone Hagar feared for the death of her son who was seventeen by this time. She laid him under a bush and turned away because she didn't want to see him die. God heard the voice of Ishmael and sent an angel to Hagar again. The angel asked 'What is wrong with you, Hagar?' Then told her not to worry because her son was heard. The angel continued to say (Genesis 21),

 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great ^anation.

 19 And God ^aopened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

 20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an ^aarcher.

 21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a ^awife out of the land of ^bEgypt.

Ishmael did have a great nation, as promised to Hagar.

Genesis 25
12 ¶Now these are the ^agenerations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom ^bHagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, ^cbare unto Abraham:

 13 And these are the names of the sons of ^aIshmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

 14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

 15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; ^atwelve princes according to their nations.

 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

 18 And they dwelt from ^aHavilah unto ^bShur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

We assume that there were good feelings between Ishmael and his father, Abraham, because in Genesis 25:9 Ishmael and Isaac bury Abraham together.
Now for our questions to ask ourselves:

1. What is unique about this woman and her story?
2. How does she fit into the time period in which she lived?
3. What Christlike qualities does she exemplify?
4. What would I ask her if I met her?
5. How can I relate to her?
6. What can I learn from her experiences?

 1. What is unique about this woman and her story? Hagar had nothing and had little choice in what became of her life since she was a servant. However, she was obviously faithful and the Lord looked out for her and made her the mother of nations.
2. How does she fit into the time period in which she lived? Poor Hagar started off as a servant from Egypt and later became a concubine and then a free single mother.
3. What Christlike qualities does she exemplify? She knew that God lived and watched her. He was there when she needed help and she trusted Him that He knew what was best for her or she never would have returned to Abraham the first time she fled.
4. What would I ask her if I met her? I would ask her if she and Sarah were friends before she became Abraham's concubine. It seems like they would have had to have been for Sarah to have chosen her to be part of the family.
5. How can I relate to her? Life wasn't easy for her and I think she tried her best to make something good out of an awkward situation. I try to do the same. ;)
6. What can I learn from her? I can learn to trust in the Lord. Even when all seems hopeless and the chief wife hates me because I'm pregnant and I've run away and in the wilderness, the Lord will still hear my cries and come to me. He will leave the decision up to me but because I trust him so much, I will do what He suggests because He knows and can see the entire picture while I can't. Hopeless to me may mean openings for new opportunities and blessings.

Why do we have trials?

I found a new scripture while reading about the similitude between Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac with the Father sacrificing the Son (I'll post about that later).

This is a common question we ask, "Why do we have trials?" "Why must I go through something challenging AGAIN?" People always respond that it's to make us strong or to test us. Yeah, yeah... Well, I found a scripture that is absolutely amazing!! Doctrine and Covenants 136:31 reads,

My people must be ^atried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the ^bglory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not ^cbear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.

If you follow the footnote of 'glory' is says to look in the topical guide under 'celestial glory'. In the bible dictionary there is "Glory of the Lord" which says,

Glory of the Lord, or of Jehovah. An expression that occurs frequently in the O.T. It sometimes denotes the fulness of the majesty of God, revealed in the world and made known to men (Num. 14:21–22; Isa. 6:3; 66:19); in other places it denotes some outward and visible manifestation of the Divine presence. 

What a very cool scripture, isn't it?

My first love note from Collin

We have an old chalkboard outside, under the carport. I write notes to the kids sometimes. Collin is in kindergarten and in kindergarten they learn to spell things phonetically instead of the correct way.

So, yesterday I wrote "Collin and Ryanne are Awesome!" Today, Collin ran inside and said, "I have a surprise for you!" So I followed him outside and found this.... "Mom I Luv Yoo." He made it a point to show me that he included the period. LOL! He's learning punctuation right now. ;) Isn't it awesome! I'm so excited! =o)

Ostara 2012

Yeap folks! It's spring again and that means it's time for the spring celebrations. Wiccans refer to it as "Ostara" and it has been going since before the birth of Christ. It's symbols are eggs, chicks, and bunnies. Hmmm... sound familiar? Yeah, so that's why we have our spring celebration on Ostara. We celebrate Easter with a whole week of Christ. This way the kids aren't all focused on eggs and candy and focus more on (in my opinion) the most important event in history... the atonement and resurrection of Christ. So.... here are pics from our spring celebration! :)

I am aware they don't have baskets. We got to checkout and the cashier realized one of the baskets was broken. Wal-mart was overly crowded and I was in line forever. I decided no baskets this year. LOL!

The kids each got a super hero cape and mask, a Frisbee, chocolate, chalk, a puzzle (one Tangled and one Spiderman), and a new bath thingy.

The Atomizer and The Ladybug -- they came up with their own superhero names. ;)

The eggs for Spring egg hunts of course. ;)

Applewood Julep... our Spring drink. yum!

Applewood Julep
1 quart unsweetened apple juice
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 cup orange juice
¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Garden salad w/ Raspberry vinaigrette.... yumm!

Honey Cake for dessert!

Honey Cake
1 cup honey
1 cup applesauce
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup strong brewed decaffeinated coffee (I actually used Roastaroma herbal tea b/c we don't drink coffee)
  In a large bowl, mix together the first 3 ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, spices and baking soda.  Add the flour mixture to the wet stuff, alternating with the coffee; beat well.
Pour into a greased 9″x13″ pan (or, alternatively, three 8″ square pans).
 Bake at 325*F for 60-90 minutes* for the large pan, 60 minutes for the three smaller pans
*Just watch for it to be spongy and golden brown.

And that was our celebration! Happy Ostara!!! :)

Scripture Study Journal

Remember my excitement in finding the Redheaded Hostess and my post about her cool study tips? Well, I have more exciting news about her!

This is me fresh out of the shower so no judging, k? :) Yes, I ordered her scripture journal!!! Isn't that super exciting? Here's proof!

It is incredible!! Here are my notes I took on the Abrahamic Covenant inside the notebook. :)

Don't you just love it and want one too? I sort of wish that I had gotten a TOPIC journal too and use it for the women in the scriptures since I'm focusing on them. Oh well, I'll just keep going with my plain notebook for that one. ;) So, if you want to know more about the journal then click here and if you want to see the selection of journals and how to purchase one of your own then click here. Perhaps you're more talented then me and can make your own. I just thought I'd spend the $10 and buy one and then maybe I can figure it out later. LOL! :)

And, no, I was not asked to put an ad on here for them or review them or anything. I just wanted one and love the one I got so I thought I'd share. ;)