This Is a Living Gospel

Every Sunday I look forward to writing this blog and I begin my day with the excited energy of what Heavenly Father will open my eyes to today that will help me write something to uplift and inspire my fellow LDS artists. Artists in general see life with a different set of glasses, but being LDS artists, we are blessed to see things in a whole different world!

Last week I started to read the Bible again, and in the first chapter of Genesis I read about the creation of the world. The first day God separated the light from the darkness; the second day He created the atmosphere. Then the third day He created dry ground, plants and trees, herbs, and all vegetables and flowers. The fourth day He created the sun, moon, and stars. (Did you know there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand in all the earth?) Now being an Energy Therapy Specialist, the thought started to form, Is it me or is God showing us that we are just like Him? See, as an artist, whenever I have a project due I start the task slowly, but by the third day I start to really kick it up, my ideas get clearer, and I redo something I see needs to be addressed so that it can function better. Now back to my story.

Then on the fifth day God created all the animals in the waters. But the sixth day was tremendously busy because He created all the animals on the earth as well as man and woman. Wow! That sixth day was jam packed!

In sacrament meeting I couldn't help but bear my testimony on feeling so blessed to be guided by the Holy Spirit in my life because He made sense of everything I have ever gone through. When I was a child my family broke up and I and my sister were starved by my mother who was all caught up with her 40-years-older boyfriend. Some of my experiences would make you wonder what purpose would Heavenly Father have in giving that experience to a child? But I share with you that I have seen value in all my trials and struggles. I especially value that experience because every thing I have ever eaten since I have savored. And because of my experience with starvation, I promise you that I probably love good food more than anyone. You would think I'd be this huge person, but I'm not because of the experience I also learned to feel the energy of my body while eating, so I stop when I need to. I shared with them about seeing Heavenly Father's artist side in the first chapter of the Bible, and how when we look through the scriptures that we will find ways in which we are like either the prophets or even Heavenly Father and will be encouraged in our desire to become more like them.

On the way home from church, my oldest daughter shared that her teacher told the class this is a living gospel and that our spiritual experiences should be what happened to us that morning, not years ago.  We need to seek the Spirit's guidance so that we are led to see life in a whole new way, every moment of every day. I assure all of you that He will show you the value of all your struggles if you will but ask. He loves all of us so tenderly and completely and He wants to show us those qualities we possess that are like His, I believe, because then we can be inspired to reach for the hope and faith that no matter what our struggles may be, we can have the vision of living with Him forever. May your week be one that makes you cry as you marvel at the enormous love He has for you, because you feel it to the depth of your soul, as His individual child, is my prayer.

Happy creating!
Linda