For Unto Us a Child is Born, Unto us a Son is Given

Our ward (church group) is doing an advent candle this year. Each day starting Dec. 1 we burn down a part of the candle while we read from the scriptures about the life of our Savior. This has been such a beautiful and special time for Job and I to reflect on Jesus Christ who's birth and life we celebrate this time of year. Reading these passages each night has really helped me focus more on Christ and less on fluffy, commercial things. I still love other Holiday traditions, don't get me wrong, but keeping the focus on Jesus brings a lot of peace. I thought I would include the references here in case anyone else wants to join in. It really brings the spirit into our home and lives. Enjoy!

          Day/Event                                  Reference          Jesus Christ...
Day 1-Raising the daughter of Jarius, Luke 8:41-56, was compassionate
Day 2-Forgiving a sinful woman         Luke 7:36-50, was forgiving
Day 3-Healing a nobleman's son         John 4:46-53, had power to heal
Day 4-Cleansing the temple                 John 2:13-17,was reverent and opposed evil
Day 5-Calming the storm                    Mark 4:35-41, had power over the elements
Day 6-Blessing the children                Mark 10: 13-16, loved children
Day 7-Dining with Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42, made people happy
Day 8-Suffering in the garden,            Luke 22:41-45,was submissive and sacrificed for others
Day 9-Washing the feet of the apostles, John 13:3-17, was humble
Day 10-Choosing his apostles,             Luke 6:12-13, was prayerful
Day 11-Advanced in learning,              Luke 2:51-52, obeyed his parents
Day 12-Was baptized,                           Matt. 3:13-17, was obedient to God's law
Day 13-Sermon on the Mount,             Matt. 5:2-16, gave counsel
Day 14-Christ in the temple,                 Luke 2:42-49, taught when he was twelve
Day 15-The Lord's Prayer,                    Matt. 6:9-13, taught how to pray
Day 16-The sower,                                Luke 8:5-16, taught with stories
Day 17-The lost sheep,                          Luke 15:4-7, helped sinners
Day 18-The Good Samaritan,               Luke 10:29-36, was kind
Day 19-The Comforter,                         John 14:26-27, promised the Holy Ghost
Day 20-Fishes and Loaves,                   Matt. 14:15-21, performed miracles
Day 21-Lazarus,                                    John 11:40-44, raised the dead
Day 22-Mary's visitation,                      Luke 1:26-33, is the Son of the Highest
Day 23-His birth,                                  Luke 2:1-11, fulfilled prophecy
Day 24-Shepherds visited and wise men brought gifts, Matt. 2:9-12, Luke 2:12-16, was worshiped.

Get More Joy!

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I love this weekend!

I love settling in to watch General Conference each April and October. I love the spirit I feel, the inspiration I get, the testimonies I hear which strengthen my own, and the words that I know are coming from my Heavenly Father to guide and help me in my life. General Conference is this weekend and Job and I greatly enjoyed today's two sessions. Looking forward to two more tomorrow :)

Lovey-dovey notes

I love little love notes from Job in Spanish :)

Post-it via-googleimages

Looking for the Good

Last night Job and I read President Uchtdorf's message in the March 2011 Ensign. It is called Looking for the Good. He speaks about looking for the good in people, and refraining from criticism.

It really made me think about how sometimes I can be pretty pessimistic about people, and situations in general (like maybe yesterday's post? But please don't take that too seriously, I was mostly joking and really do find humor in that particular situation ;)

It is easy to just see the bad. Let's face it, there can be a lot of "bad", difficult, hard, challenging times in our lives. Lately I have been feeling sorry for myself, looking for the bad in things, and faultfinding because the bad is sometimes the easiest to see. But Presidents Uchtdorf's message was so uplifting and inspiring, it really made me want to become more of an optimist. Because there are SO MANY good things and people in my life :) If I just take the time to notice them I know I will be a lot happier.
Here is a short part of his message that I really like:

"We have a choice. We can seek for the bad in others. Or we can make peace and work to extend to others the understanding, fairness, and forgiveness we so desperately desire for ourselves. It is our choice; for whatever we seek, that we will certainly find."

Being an optimist is heart healthy too! :) Check it out

Today my glass is definitely half full!

It's the little things too

Today I am grateful for:

A car that runs

A husband who seeks to find balance between all aspects of his life

Comfy, worn-in shoes to go with the skirt my mum made me

A freshly mopped floor

Frozen homemade tamales just waiting to be warmed and enjoyed

A warm apartment to escape from the huge piles of snow outside

A wonderful ward family at church who I learn from constantly

Fresh flowers from hubby to brighten up our apartment.....

I realize I am a pretty bad flower arranger. I should take a class :)

...and as the ever suavola Yul Brynner would say,  "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera" :)

Happy Father's Day!

I love father's day. This one has been difficult, for obvious reasons, but I know my dad is still with me and I love him so much. I also am so grateful for a wonderful husband who will be a fantastic father some day as well. So, in honor of father's day Job and I wanted to share a few videos that we like. They are both really good so enjoy! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTIzjVxvV2U&feature=related

This one is just too cute, we watched it over and over again when we first saw it.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=bd163ca6e9aa3210VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&locale=0

Here is one from the church that I liked. It talks about overcoming trials and the dad in it reminds me of so many men I know and what they do for their families.

P.S. I don't know how to get the videos right on here so you'll have to copy and paste the links but they are worth it :)