The Other Shoe – Step 12 Service

My daughter-in-law and I went together to buy a gift for my son’s birthday.  We bought him a new pair of new running shoes.  They were quite expensive, but he is very much in need of shoes that can take a beating.  I joked with him yesterday that I bought him “a shoe” for his birthday.  We had a good laugh, but come to think of it, that’s how I feel about all my efforts to bless people’s lives these days.  I’m never capable of giving people exactly and completely what they need, just a little part, a little portion, a little token of my love.  Even the pittance I give did not originate with me.  It all comes out of the store I’ve received from the Lord. One of the most important things I can remember as I prayerfully go about today delivering less than a complete pair of shoes to those who are in need,  is that the Lord will complete all my efforts.  One way or another, the Lord always comes along with the other shoe.

By Nannette W. Posted Friday, February 10, 2012

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

“‘Chews’ to have a Happy New Year”

Today I want to share about happiness.  One of our newest holiday traditions is a giant family New Year’s Eve party.  This year was our “third annual” and there were 13 adults and 14 children.  (Yes, we were outnumbered!)This event is sponsored by none other than yours truly.  Of course being the grandma, I can’t let an opportunity like this go by without trying to impart some kind of grandmotherly wisdom.  So this year after dinner had been had and the kids had watched a movie and multiple games had been played, I sat the kids (grown and not) down and gave them each a pack of gum.  On each pack were the words “‘Chews’ to have a Happy New Year!”

My message was short and simple.  Whether or not we have a happy new year, or not, is largely up to us.  It begins with a choice.  For me it’s not a matter of commandeering my attitude and pasting an “I will be happy” smile on my face. I want more than the look of happiness.  I want the real thing through and through. I choose it!  I want it!  And what I really want is an important part of the recipe. It’s the first ingredient.

Today I understand that my choice is not the only factor.  I literally can’t change a thing about myself—sad to happy, discouraged to cheerful, frustrated to peaceful, or angry to accepting—without the power of God.  But the truth is that He can’t change a thing about me without my permission—without my choice.   I have learned that change is a matter of my will—my choice, and His power.  I can desire happiness and I can work for it to the best of my present God given ability.  I can choose to let go of some things that stand in the way of my happiness and choose to do the things that bring happiness.

This year I “chews” to have a Happy New Year and leave the miracle to the Lord.

By Nannette W.

Posted Sunday, January 15, 2012

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W.All right reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

“We Don’t Ever Have To Put Christmas Away” Step 3 and 12

This was the first Christmas in years I have been completely devoid of the desire to “take down Christmas,” as we say.  The first year I remember feeling this way was my first baby’s first Christmas.  My mother-in-law had always decorated her tree with little birds.  She was growing older and was unmotivated about setting up Christmas trees, etc.  A nice poinsettia was all her heart desired.  She graciously gave me all her little birds and the family tradition was carried on in our home.  Mandy was just the right age to be fascinated with the tree and especially with the delicate birds.  I remember taking the tree down, sometime after New Year’s Eve, during her afternoon nap. Tears streamed down my cheeks at the thought of her waking up. It would never be her first Christmas again, and her first Christmas tree covered with little birds would be nowhere in sight. Vanished!

This year I think I could’ve left the tree up indefinitely or at least until the glacier of ice and snow in our front yard melts. My children all voiced to me at Sunday dinner January 4^th that this would be highly inappropriate.  I knew they were right, but I love plugging in the tree on December 26, when all the Christmas parties are over and all the gifts have been bought, wrapped, unwrapped, and taken home.  Somehow at that moment the light on the tree looks different to me. There’s almost a tangible feeling of rest in the room. I had the idea of maybe putting everything away slowly and asked my husband if he would just bring the storage boxes into the house and tuck them away in the family room.  Well, I guess hadn’t really shared with my husband my plans to enjoy the Christmas setting a little longer; I went out for a couple of hours and when I walked into the house the whole tree was down and all the decorations were stacked in neat little piles waiting for my attention.  I gave up and spent the rest of the evening boxing up Christmas. I made the best of it, but I felt like I was boxing up “peace.”

As usual it feels nice to have it all tucked away in the garage again.  And as I write I am struck with the truth that many things don’t keep forever, but Christmas does. Taking the wreath off the front door, boxing up the decorations, and throwing away the last of the goodies on the kitchen counter – Those are the things we do to declare the holiday has ended.  But, there really is no end, because Christmas is Jesus Christ.  His life and the life He has given us is never ending, everlasting.

No matter how much we wish they would, babies don’t last. This year was Mandy’s first Christmas with her first baby.  Now she’s the one with a lump in her throat as she celebrates the lasts of all the firsts.  Even the little glass birds don’t last forever. One by one they have been replaced by more durable, less delicate varieties. But Christmas lasts forever. The day after Christmas and the day after that and on and on day after day the same blessings that come to us because of the life of Jesus remain available.  Christmas is truly The Gift that keeps on giving.

When I box up Christmas I’m not boxing up the His peace, His love, His grace, His revelation or the daily tender mercies that come because of Him. He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the word giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

We can endure all the things of this life that change before our very eyes, because Christ has made all the good and all the joys of this life Eternal. We Don’t Ever Have To Put Christmas Away!

By Nannette W.

Posted Friday, January 9, 2009

From Nannette’s Christmas Archives Re-posted January 6, 2012

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All rights reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

Lessons From the Stable All Year Long

Now that we’re on the “other side” of Christmas I thought I would write a little piece about taking Christmas into the new year. My latest post is called “Lessons From the Stable All Year Long.”  It’s highlighted on my daughters Kendra’s wonderful Blog “The Things I Love Most” as part of her “25 Days of Christmas.”  She asked me to be a guest writer for Christmas day.  My post is right under her closing comments.

You can read this post by going to http://thethingsilovemost.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy this thought!  Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas Eve Instruction on Finding the Perfect Gift – Perfectionism and Step 1-3

If I wasn’t “finishing up” at Target or All-A-Dollar or Kmart at 5:45 on Christmas Eve, I guess the season wouldn’t be quite the same.  On December 24, 2002 I was given the following insight.  It has made a difference in every Christmas Eve thereafter.

Exhausted and touching on frantic, I completed my Christmas buying that year by going to three stores just as the 24^th sun of December was setting, trying to find that perfect, within my budget, healthy (at the request of the children) stuff to stuff in the…(well you know).  First, I flew in and out of some store with the word dollar in the name but obviously not geared for the authentic “I’ve got no money left” shopper!  Then it was on to The Dollar Store with a big finish at Kmart.

I miraculously ended the Christmas shopping within budget, but as I pulled into the garage I had a sinking feeling that what I had purchased was just not right at all.  I entered the kitchen, helloed everyone, turned on the Christmas music and declared that the holiday could now begin.  I noticed my daughters had removed the unfinished chicken, thankfully, from the crock-pot and put it into the ever-faithful oven “in hopes that the dinner soon would be there.”  (Is that a line from a famous Christmas poem?)

As I stood at the sink working toward perfection in the kitchen, I pondered, as I often do while cycling the dishes.  “Just why, Nannette, why is gift giving so completely unsettling to you? Why do you put off the thinking of, looking for, purchasing, wrapping and giving of gifts?  Why are you so “anxietous” (a family word) over every phase of this activity?  I’ll tell you why,” spoke the Messenger to my mind.  “It’s because you always want to give the perfect gift, isn’t it?  You want it to be just the right thing and there is never enough time or money or creativity or understanding to pull it off.  That’s it, isn’t it?”

Then came the instruction.  “Nannette, there is only one perfect gift and it will not matter how early you line up at Shopko the day after Thanksgiving or whether or not you have a wheel barrow full of money with which to fight off the crowds and pay at the register.  You will not be able to buy it.

Your Heavenly Father already conceived of it and His firstborn and only begotten Son already volunteered to be it and it has been offered to every one on your Christmas list!  So let go of the notion of reinventing the magnificent and allow your humble giving of the less than perfect to be a perfect reminder.  Let it bring to your philanthropic heart and near empty hands the testimony that His gift is The Gift that makes up for all lesser offerings.  There is no other gift beside Him.  Allow the contrast to be a symbol of your humble station and His abundant, priceless, perfect present.

By Nannette W.

Posted Wednesday, December 24, 2008

From Nannette’s Christmas Archives Re-posted Saturday, December 24, 2011

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

The Holiday Miracle We Pray For That We Will Not Be Given

Holidays and food—they just go together.  This though comes to mind every time I’m invited to a holiday celebration that involves lots of food—and don’t they all?  It’s called “Michael’s Thanksgiving Day Prayer” but it might just as well be called “Everyone’s Christmas Prayer,” or “The Holiday Miracle We Pray For That We Will Not Be Given.”  Enjoy!

“Michael’s Thanksgiving Day Prayer” – Abstinence

It was finally pie time.  So many pies! So many flavors! So many decisions! Pie with whipped cream? Pie with ice cream?  “Maybe just a little of both,” I heard someone say. The turkey and rolls started to make their way back out onto the counter, something to balance out all that pie I suppose. “Hey, who brought the eggnog and 7-Up?” questioned one of the uncles with great excitement!

The Thanksgiving Day sun was setting. The cousins were starting to get a little wound up.  My grown children, the parents, were starting to say things like, “Stop! Remember we don’t run in Grandma’s house!” and “No you may not have a fourth piece of pie!” In our family, generally speaking, the later it gets the more energy the children have. With 17 children and 21 adults we were almost outnumbered and it was time to either mesmerize them by playing The Santa Clause 1, 2, 3, and 4 videos, or for the adults to gather up all the energizer turkeys and head toward home for a long post-pie nap.

I stood at the kitchen sink visiting with my brother. “Before we leave,” he said, “I’ve got a story to tell you: This morning before driving down to your house for dinner, I gathered everyone for family prayer.  I called on Michael (age 14) to pray for the family and this is what he prayed, ‘Please bless us that we will be able to eat as much as possible without getting sick.’”

We had a good laugh.  I’ve prayed that prayer myself a thousand times. I’ve been so certain Heavenly Father would hear my prayer and grant me my wish that I’ve gone ahead and put Him to the test.  Time and time again I have hoped for a negligible outcome as I’ve taken in more food and more calories than my body has the capacity to deal with in a healthy way only to be shocked at the after pains.  Without exception I felt sick not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually.

I don’t think you have to be a compulsive eater to relate to Michael’s prayer. In many Addiction Recovery Meetings I’ve heard participants say, “Hi, I’m _____ and I’m addicted to MORE.”  It doesn’t seem to matter if our destructive practices center around the computer, the bar, the refrigerator, the mall, or the neighborhood pharmacy, our prayer has been much like Michael’s Thanksgiving Day request.  “Dear Heavenly Father, please, just this time, grant me the miracle of indulging without consequence.”

This year I am happy to be a compulsive eater who is a grateful Thanksgiving dinner survivor, ninety-seven pounds down from my top weight, but I certainly have not finished my course work on the subject of cause and effect.  I had to smile at the Lord’s sense of humor the other night.  I started developing this little piece of writing late in the evening.  Before climbing into the covers and without thought of what I had just finished writing, I knelt at the foot of my bed and said, “Dear Heavenly Father, once again I’ve stayed up much too late. I know I should have been in bed a long time ago, but please bless me with the ability to wake up early, feeling great, and with energy to accomplish good things in the morning.” As I whispered these words Heavenward I could almost see the corners of the Lord’s mouth turn up just a bit, and with a twinkle in his eye, and His brows slightly raised. He seemed to whisper back, “Oh, I see Nannette, might you be asking for the miracle of indulging without consequence? It reminds me a of the Thanksgiving prayer of a little boy I know, ‘Please bless us that we will be able to eat as much as possible without getting sick?’”

By Nannette W.

Posted Monday, December 7, 2009

From Nannette’s Christmas Archives Re-posted December 20, 2011

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All rights reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

“Falling” Into Christmas – Step 10 – Daily Accountability

Quoting my daughter…“Sometimes I think the most constant thought in the mind of a little boy is, “What should I do next to drive my mother crazy?”

My daughter called and related the following experience to me.  She said she might call it, “Wild Boys on the Loose,” “Irresponsible Mothers,” “Christmas Tree Festival Gone Bad,” or “So There I Was…” but her first thought after it happened, after everyone in an auditorium full of Christmas Tree Charity Cheer was staring at her and her children, was “Here’s Something For Mom To Blog About.”

Today my daughter and her children went with some friends and their children to a charity event where decorated, donated Christmas trees are on display. They remain on exhibit for several days.  Each tree is sold to the highest bidder and the money goes to charity. Things were going great in the beginning. There was a band playing. The children had a great time dancing to the music. They walked up and down all the rows of trees. She reports being pretty impressed at how good the kids were about not touching things.

The moms decided the Princess Tree was the perfect opportunity to take a picture of all their daughters.  They lined all the little ladies up in front of the Disney Christmas creation. Then one of the moms suggested that they take a picture of all the little boys in front of one of the sets of three twenty foot, attached to each other, wooden, lighted trees that stood in multiple places in the hall as decorations for the festival. As the moms focused their attention on their princess daughters their royal sons started crawling in between the wooden trees. They got them to stop, line up, and smile for the camera. My daughter’s friend turned around to tell her she had gotten a very cute picture of my grandson, TJ. My daughter looked up just in time to see that the boys had resumed their play near the wooden trees. She was about to step in and break up the nonsense when catastrophe struck! Too late!

One little fellow pushed another one, who fell against the three wooden trees. Suddenly the trees began to fall down right before their eyes. She said she was amazed by the number of thoughts she could have in the 5 seconds it took her to get over to the trees. She said that the whole thing felt like it was in slow motion.  Her first thought was, “Those trees really aren’t going to fall are they?” She pushed her friend aside and they both ran toward the disaster in progress.  In desperation she thought about running behind the scene but rethought and was glad she hadn’t!  The three wooden twenty-foot trees would have fallen on her.   In the end all they could really do was watch them crash to the ground!

She stood there shocked over what had transpired, with complete embarrassment as the crowds turned and looked on, but feeling much gratitude that no one had been hurt and that there had been no domino effect on the other trees in the building.

Finally she addressed her two-year-old son. “TJ, tell me what happened.”

“I pushed Mowoni ( Moroni ), Mowoni pushed the twees (trees), and the twees fall down.”

As my daughter finished sharing this incident with me Step 10 came to mind—“Continue to take personal inventory and when you are wrong promptly admit it.” I don’t know what it is about the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, but I seem to have more than average opportunity to practice this step at this time of year.  Maybe it has something to do with high expectations, too little money, long to-do lists, hurry, hurry, and more social gatherings than my calendar can handle.  My daughter’s experience caused me to think about the obvious nature of most of my own wrong doings.  Like crashing twenty-foot Christmas trees, my daily errors are not usually hidden out of sight or wrapped in “who’s to blame” confusion.  This season I want to stay ahead of the game and be like TJ.  When “the twee falls down” my confession should be immediate, simple, honest, and without excuse.

By Nannette W.

Posted Friday, November 28, 2008

From Nannette’s Christmas Archives Re-posted December 19, 2011

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sen

Merry Christmas and “Dime Store” Serenity – Step 12 Service

As far back as I can remember the Christmas season seemed to bring with it both excitement and anxiety.  I grew up as the oldest child in a family of nine.  When December 1^st rolled around one of my biggest concerns was how to get enough money to buy each of my siblings and my parents a Christmas present.  As the seven of us were growing up we were each expected to do a weekly household job, without pay, just because we were part of the family. My father was a schoolteacher and my mother was a stay-at-home mom.  There was not much excess.

I think back with gratitude that my mother had a plan to help us take care of our financial age 4-11 Christmas worries.  Without fail, every Saturday morning for several weeks before the Big Day the old 3’ by 4’ piece of blackboard came out from behind the couch. Mom would use the chalk and fill the blackboard with lists of lots of little jobs (vacuuming the edges of a room, cleaning this drawer or that shelf, wiping window sills, cleaning a mirror or a window, shining up the woodwork etc).  The list represented all the extra little things that needed to be accomplished around the house to really spruce the place up for the holidays. Mom took advantage of our need for a little money. Next to each job she chalked in how much money she would pay for that job “well done.” Each job was worth anywhere from five to twenty five cents. There were things on the board for all ages. I remember being very motivated by this system.  As a job was completed we were paid and the completed task was erased.  It was fun to see the little old black board empty by noon on Saturday.

When it was empty it meant we had each moved one Saturday closer to that magnificent yearly family excursion to the local “dime store,” Newberry’s, where we would each purchase eight Christmas treasures.  We split into two groups, each group being manned by one parent.  Each of us got to push around our own cart. We thought that was pretty cool. We were required to bring a coat.  The purpose of the coat was to provide cover over our secrets.  There must have been much less concern over shoplifting back then.  We sleuthed around the store, hiding things behind our backs, whispering in Mom or Dad’s ear, waiting for validation that the choice we had made for someone was “a great idea, honey!”  I don’t think we ever had more that ten or fifteen dollars to spread eight ways. But, we all came home satisfied that we had worked for and secreted away eight “somethings” that were really going to bring smiles on Christmas morning.

Every year our Dad lovingly hand flocked a little tree for our “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas in Los Angeles” mother. Before our shopping spree each year it was bare under the tree. After the shopping was complete there was no pause between entry into the house and our scurrying into some hiding place with paper, tape, and a stack of old Christmas cards we’d cut up to make just the right tag for each gift.  Most times the tag was bigger than the gift.  In one fell swoop we would move from having nothing under that tree to having a carpet of forty little things wrapped as only children can wrap, awaiting Christmas morning.

I don’t remember even one of the things I received as a result of this humble Christmas tradition.  All I remember are feelings—the feeling that my mother cared enough to help us have a good experience giving to each other, a feeling of excitement at finding just the right thing that could be paid for with what was in my pocket, and the feelings of anticipation, of looking forward to the hour when all those little dime store packages would be opened one at a time with lots of “Thanks, that’s just what I wanted!” with hugs all around.

One of the most wide-spread troubles of our day is the problem of debt.  Spending is an activity that has become a compulsive/addictive behavior for many.  Maybe the message of this old Christmas memory is “Keep It Simple.”  Surprises don’t need to be costly. Expressions of our love for each other don’t have to involve money at all.  As kids we couldn’t have had any more fun if we’d each had a hundred dollars to spend.  Although gifts will be given, maybe this Christmas the most important thing I can do for others doesn’t have to involve a tangible wrapped, ribboned and tagged gift at all. Maybe the greatest contribution I can make to others is to live in recovery, with the serenity and sanity that come from living within my means.  Just as our mother helped us as children, the Lord can help us live this way, with JOY!

By Nannette W.

Frist Posted Sunday, November 30, 2008

Re-posted From Nannette’s Christmas Archives, Friday, December 9, 2011

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved.

Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

 

Up, Up, and Away with Christmas!

This year I’m trying to decorate up or back or out! Up with all manger scene pieces, back with the musical snow globe, and outside with the unstable wooden reindeer I usually set on the hearth.  The idea is to somehow keep as many Christmassy things within sight, but out of reach of the twenty little fingers living at our house this Christmas and away from all the small cousins who visit frequently.  This year I am the grandmother of two walking one-year-olds and five children in the three to five category.  I think I’ve done a pretty good job.  So far the only casualty is a broken wing on an angel from a six dollar nativity.  But it’s still early December.  Little birds and gold balls now adorn the Christmas tree. As I write the little ones are still asleep in their wee little beds.  Wish me luck!  We won’t even think of putting the gifts under the tree—not yet.  We thought of fencing in the tree.  Maybe it will still come to that. We’ll see.

I’m not usually the fussy nervous grandma type, but I don’t want to be on decoration alert all season, and I don’t want to put my children in that position either.  It might not be so bad except for Hattie.  You’d never ever guess it by looking at her as she sleeps.  So innocent, so petite, so sweet, with barely enough hair to see that she is going to be blond.  With just one look you might ask if she’s even walking yet.  Oh yes—Hattie not only walks, Hattie climbs.  It’s all we can do to keep her from dancing on the dining room table. We try to keep the kitchen chairs tucked in for her benefit, but she has bumped her little face a hundred times trying to summit the kitchen table to watch the birds outside the window take their breakfast.  I have even caught her trying to scale the bookcase.  Hattie is dangerous! I told my daughter that maybe I should just get Hattie some climbing gear for Christmas, some ropes and a carabineer and some chalk.   Hence, for me it’s up, up, and away with Christmas this year.

As I brought in a particularly delicate box from the garage and stood determining the best  “up” place for safe-keeping of its contents, I could see in my mind’s eye the Lord give me a twinkly smile and say, “Aren’t you glad I don’t place all things Christmassy out of your reach Nannette!”

Standing there alone in the middle of the living room I smiled back and in the spirit of conversing with the Lord in all things I said, “You’ve got a point.  Yes, I am glad, Lord!  Christmas is a celebration of Christ, and all these decorations and gifts I’m trying so hard to protect are reminders of You aren’t they. You have been so generous in placing symbols of Your life and Your work up close and personal and everywhere.  What is it that Paul says?—‘All things denote there is a God.’  You place Your reminders where they can be experienced and picked up and handled.”

“In fact, Nannette, that is what my gospel does, it places all things Christmassy within your reach.  I put all the plain and precious reminders of my mission out where they can be touched and where they can touch you, and change you.  And if I place something up like the stars or the sun or the mountain tops or the birds it’s definitely not for safe keeping.  It’s for inspiration.  It’s to encourage you to climb.  Climb! Climb! Climb! I picked all your names for gift giving this year—every year!  Maybe I should give all My spirit siblings some climbing gear for Christmas—ropes and carbineers and chalk for Christmas and a book filled with maps of great climbs.  Oh wait, I already have.  I’ve given them My words and the words of the prophets and the principles and ordinances of the gospel.  There is no better climbing gear and instructions in all the universe.”

Maybe Hattie is the best symbol in the house of what the Lord wants me to do with Christmas.  He wants me to ascend—to climb a bit higher every new year of my life.  His philosophy isn’t “Up Up and Away” as in put it way away, when it comes to Christmas.  His symbols and gifts are all labeled, “Touch me.” “Try me.”  “To be opened immediately!”  And His call is, “Come, climb up, up, and away with Me—because of Christmas.

By Nannette W.

Posted Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All rights reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.

Think Small – Doing the Next Right Thing – Step 11

When the requirements of the season get BIG I have to think small.  I doesn’t matter whether the season is Thanksgiving or Christmas or a season of great sorrow or heart-wrenching trial or enormous responsibility or wonderful celebration…I have to think small. Today I learned something new about the “think small” principle.

This morning I was reading the Book of Mormon.  I glanced across the page and could see I was going to bump into one of my favorite verses advocating for the small the Lord uses to accomplish the big.  I couldn’t help myself—I skipped and read through the underlined verse that ends with these words, “by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29).  Such great news for me during a season when everything feels big! Thank Thee Lord!  Then I went back to the place on the page where I had been reading before my eyes had strayed.  Chapter sixteen of First Nephi is largely about a big problem—starvation in the wilderness—and what Nephi did that led to a successful conclusion.

• He endured the anger of his family.
• He took action and willingly constructed a new bow.
• He was humble, and even though his dad was having his own crisis of faith, he went to him for patriarchal advice.
• He looked to the Lord’s compass, the Liahona, for minute directions.
• Finally, he did as instructed and was led to the top of a mountain where he found food aplenty.

As I read my way through the story and arrived back at my underlined verse I realized something new.  Following the story of Nephi and his broken bow, just before the promise that the “small leads to great,” there are these four words, “and thus we see.”  It suddenly became clear that this verse doesn’t just stand alone. This verse actually refers back to the story that has just been told.  I realized that the “small” that brought about the “great” in Nephi’s story was his exact obedience to the next little thing the Lord asked him to do.  Aha!

Today in all the hustle and bustle I am going to keep in mind that it’s not just any “small” thing I choose to do that brings the “great.”  The direction to the right “small” comes from Jesus through my personal Liahona, the Holy Spirit, and the power to multiply small into great is the Lord’s.

Merry Christmas Season everyone!  And may all the small things in your lives be under the direction and accompanied by the power of the Lord, and may He multiply them to accomplish all the great he desires to do in and through you!

By Nannette W., Posted Thursday, December 1, 2011

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W.

All rights reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit.  This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.