Heart Prayers

Have you ever just thought to yourself that a certain small thing would be a wonderful addition to your day or life.

Just real quick, for example, this afternoon I was very thirsty. I had lost my water bottle and thought to myself, I just would love it if I could find my water bottle again. It had been missing for a few weeks.

It was just a thought, but at the same time it became what I like to call a "heart prayer." Part of my heart sincerely wanted a water bottle, so that I did not have to repeat the lack of water I experienced today.

Funny thing about heart prayers is that I have a tendency to forget about them. The same was true about this heart prayer until this evening.

My mom sent me a text with the words, "Did you have a grey water bottle?" I replied yes, but it has been lost.

Her response was "I found it under the seat in my car."

It was then, as the Lord answered it, that I remembered my heart prayer.

Planner

I am a person who loves having people and purpose in my life.

Give me a group of friends and tell us to do something just real quick and I will have a joyful experience.

Put me in a classroom and tell me to learn... I will be happy.

I love being busy, having things to do, and people to do them with.

What is there to help me accomplish all that I need to? Well, that is where my planner comes in.

Yes. I use a planner. I love it actually.

Every night I plan my next day and make sure I have everything done that I need to do. I write down thoughts, ideas, things to do, and the occasional drawing throughout the day. At the end of the night I am able to review my day and see where I can improve the next day.

I love a day where my planner is full. I know that that day was time well spent.

Stolen Blessings

Just real quick, this is a semi long story made into a blog about my first experience in buying a car.

It started awhile ago with me deciding I wanted to save up money and buy a car. I worked really hard and saved up money as best I could. And finally I had enough to buy a decent car. I budgeted to make sure I could pay for all of it and wouldn't have to go into debt.

Then came the searching.


My dad and I (because first car buying should always involve your father) looked online at the car ads and wrote down six or seven we wanted to visit and then went to bed for the evening. We slept well, knowing that we had some good cars and a plan to make this purchase happen. I needed the car that next day and we knew we would get it.

The next morning we went on the website for "one last look" for deals.

We found an awesome deal. A really nice car, and a very good price, and needing to be sold quick. At the time it was exactly what we wanted.

My dad called the man and spoke to him. He told my dad that he needed a down payment on it so that he would hold it for us. My dad then called me and had me go meet the man and give a $400 down payment. We got a receipt for it and had his promise that he would hold it. The excitement filled the air and I was so happy with the thought that I would be a car owner that night.

That night came and my parents and I went to his house to meet up with him. We drove there and were suprised by what we found when we got there.

He apparently lives in the cemetary.

He lied to me. He stole my money. The happiness at the thought I had for the future with my own new car was gone. I felt empty. I had been robbed. What a horrible man?! Why oh Why?!?! These thoughts were just a few of my thoughts.

We called the police and started an investigation. What else could we do? We prayed that all would work out. I have faith it will.

Funny thing about car shopping though is:

I still needed to buy a car.

With four hundred dollars less of a budget we went back to car shopping.

We went to the next one on the list and saw a car that didn't run very well, had a super bad paint job and needed a lot of work. I told my dad "it isn't as nice as the fake one" and we moved on.

By this time I was done with the whole car shopping thing. It had been a horrible day and I felt like I had be robbed by Satan himself. I asked if we could go home.

On the way home my mom said that she had a friend who was selling a car we could look at, so we decided we would look at one last one.

He was asking $2000 dollars for a pretty nice car that needed some minor fixes. I felt really good about this car, but wasn't about to go handing my money away.

I offered him $1000.

He said, "How about $1500?"

I said "$1000 cash."

Deal.

It ended up being a really great deal. A blessing. With the four hundred stolen and the one thousand dollars it was less then I had budgeted for. Some of the repairs were simple fixes that saved me about four or five hundred dollars that I thought I would need to spend to get the car running again.

A man stole from me, but still I was the one blessed.

Laughing all the Way

This past weekend I think I had one of the funnest road trips in my entire life, which is saying a lot.

I am a big fan of a good solid road trip, with bonding time, jokes, random screaming, and funny pictures of sleeping people. I have wonderful memories of all of my great trips on the road.

One trip during high school I rode across the country with my parents and grandma, and let me tell you that that trip is not just real quick, so I needed something to occupy my time. My Grandma had her crocheing, my mom had her "happy place" (i.e. she falls right asleep whenever she is in the car.) I decided that I would take a coloring book and crayons. It ended up being a great decision because once I was home I gave my friends a gift from my trip, a page I colored.

Anyway, this past weekend I drove some of my greatest friends to Colorado. I had so much fun and smiled in my heart and laughed the whole way.

You should all road trip sometime.

Inspired Binders

On my desk are two miniature three ring binders. Inside are some paper with words written on most of them. Some pages have drawings or doodles, some contain illegible cursive. Many words are thoughtfully written. Others are just real quick scribbles of quotes made while someone talked.

Those binders alone are worth very little. But to me they are worth something more. The words, sentences, notes, plans, even some of the drawings are inspiration from Heaven.

Little words in a binder. Messages from God.

One binder is full of notes from meetings, trainings, and conferences. Every once and awhile you will see underlines or stars on really great quotes. Scripture references are found in brackets. Arrows point to the main points. Some pages are full of color.

I love that binder. It is black. On the cover is a picture of my family. Behind that picture is my brother's wedding announcement. On the back is a song. Come thou fount translated into Croatian. The words "Ti si Divan, o Nas spase" at the top.

In between pictures of my eternal family and the words "You are wonderful, O our Savior" are found teachings that have changed my life.

The second binder is white. On the cover is a postcard of Christ teaching a little boy. The boy is looking into his face and you can see his focus. On the back is a postcard of Christ in the Americas called "The Bible and Book of Mormon testify of Christ."

I love this white binder of mine. This is my study journal. The words are of things I have learned or that God inspired me to write down.

One tab says talks. The pages that follow are different talks I've written. Many of them I have never given. I love reading them, studying them, and learning from them.

When I receive a prompting I like to write it down and keep in safe.

I know God has blessed me with loads of inspiration found in each of my inspired binders.

A morning in story

Five thirty and a light was just shining through my window. I woke.

I didn't need to go to work until three in the afternoon and I was waking up now. Why? What was the story of today going to be. Why would it start like this?

I was alert, ready for the day, and it was so early. "Why?" I asked myself. "Maybe so I could go back to bed" I thought, but...maybe not. I couldn't go back to sleep. I decided to begin the day and see where it took me. The thought came to me. "You should go running."

I went running. A bright crisp perfect morning for a run. It was grand. The sun was just waking up as well. The mountains were lit like a painting that God had made just for me and had woken me up to see. His excitement to show me the creation of this day seemed palpable in the air. The temperature was the perfect temperature for an early morning jog and I was very impressed.

I then went home and got ready for the day. Sleep had left me. Today was just too great a day.

I read my scriptures and gained a greater understanding of Christ's love for me. My testimony of how Faith in the words of scripture or prophets grew as I read some simple teachings of the Book of Mormon.

Faith can bless us in so many ways. Who knew what you could learn so early in the morning? Another good reason to be woken up by the sunlight at five thirty in the morning.

I felt like God's hand had tapped me awake though that ray of sunlight in the window. That had to be the reason why. After all, I repeat it was five thirty, and why else would it be?

For the day continued...

It continued with a windy afternoon, power outage, and storm clouds, with gloomy colors in the air. I was fine. For, I had the memory of a wonderful peaceful morning. I had the memory of God's hand in the start of the day and knew that life was okay. The storm would pass. I can rest well with the assurance that when I wake I am still part of God's plan. A plan of Happiness. Some of which happiness I found in the just real quick story of my morning.

I learned this morning that its always nice to be woken up by God.

Ubiquitous

I learned a new word today and it was just real quick but it seems to have sparked a lot of thought for me.

The word is Ubiquitous.

I was sitting next to a girl and she asked me what it meant. I said, "I don't know, why?" She replied, "it just came to me but I don't know what it means."

So I looked it up.

It means omnipresent. Being present everywhere at once.

Ubiquitous.

I kind of felt it meant more than that to me at that moment though. As I read the words of what it meant it struck me. Maybe it doesn't just mean omnipresent.

For me it seems to be Heavenly Father reassuring a girl who was about to perform a talent that "Ubiquitous." I'm always there for you.

Ubiquitous. You are not forgotten.

Ubiquitous. There is always hope, guidance and help.

Ubiquitous. Don't forget.

Ubiquitous. With my help everything is possible. Just trust.

Although it was a new word for me, Ubiquitous is eternal.

God is Ubiquitous.