Lady Cady

Faith * Family * Life

Faith

The Critic or the Friend

I caught myself recently being critical of someone. Was there any need for me to be judging them? Nope. Maybe I was right, maybe I wasn’t but the truth is it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what Heavenly Father thinks and He loves us all despite each one of our flaws. So I stopped myself and decided I’ll take my imperfections and try once more to be better. 🙂

It’s easy to be the critic.
It’s easy to be the crowd.
It’s easy to be a complainer.
It’s easy to be proud.
It’s harder to be different.
It’s harder to be kind.
It’s harder to look for the good
And embrace what you may find.

But at the end of the dusty road,
Or the end of one more day,
Someone will affected
By the words you chose to say.

So let the Savior be your guide
In everything you do.
Let him do the work to change your heart
From Hard to Something New.
Then little drop by little drop
Your life will change you see.
And if you quietly embrace it
Soon you’ll be who you’re meant to be.

Courage

In my humble opinion, courage takes many forms and looks different for each one of us. It’s not always what you see in movies or on TV. Most of us are much more courageous then we ever recognize or give ourselves credit for. What are the hard things you do that no one knows about? What about the hard things others do that you don’t know about? We all bravely carry burdens. We are all asked to do hard things in our own way so why not have courage and take a moment to think the best of someone else.

I might not be a person
You’d expect to do hard things.
I’m quiet and uncomfortable
If I’m ever asked to sing.

And if the crowd becomes to large
My peace gives way to fear
And I’m searching for an exit
That is never, very near.

I’d much prefer to stay at home
And wear my favorite jeans.
But sometimes what you think you see
Isn’t what it seems.

I bravely had four surgeries
To bring my babies here.
I’d bravely do it all again
To bring them all so near.

I’ve spent most of my whole life
Without having any mother.
But with my faith I know someday
We’ll again see one another.

I sacrifice much of my day
To teach each of my kids
And leave behind the list of things
That other mothers did.

I quietly sit back
And watch my family grow
While I do much of the clean up
And serve more then they know.

Carefully I carry
A sleeping baby all day long
And with my teen I listen to
“Just one more” of his songs.

I help my husband quietly
Do his best to serve the ward
As he does his best to lead them
And humbly serve the Lord.

I try to spend much of my time
Reading scriptures everyday
Even when I don’t quite
Understand just what they say.

And while I’d like to have
A lot of money in the bank
I spend much of my free time
Serving those who never thank.

Heavenly Father and the Savior
Are the only ones who know
Exactly all the hard things
Even the ones I never show.

For Bravery isn’t always
A thing you think it is
But being willing to do the work
That is His and only His.

So while I might not be a person
You’d expect to do hard things
(And I’m quiet and uncomfortable
If I’m ever asked to sing…)

And when the crowd becomes to large
My peace will change to fear
And I’ll be searching for an exit
That probably won’t be near.

And I still prefer to stay at home
And wear my favorite jeans
Sometimes what you think you see
Isn’t what it seems.


What is Compassion?

At times the world can be a bleak place. I for one, am an optimist and believe in the power of kindness. When you give it a chance, you will be surprised where it may take you! And not only will it change someone else’s life, it will change yours as well.

What exactly does compassion mean to you?
Is it helping someone up who is feeling rather blue?

Holding hands with someone who is feeling quite upset?
Or helping someone older do their best not to forget?

Perhaps it’s full forgiveness when someone did you wrong.
Perhaps it’s full acceptance of someone else’s song.

Is it searching for the good in a person you just met?
Or searching for the good in someone you’d rather soon forget?

Perhaps a home-cooked meal for someone lost in grief.
Or an afternoon spent raking someone else’s leaves.

Perhaps it’s patience as you quietly sit listening to a tale.
Perhaps it’s patience as you follow someone driving like a snail.

Is it seeking understanding in a world you don’t quite get?
Is it offering forgiveness to a choice you much regret?

Perhaps it’s lots of patience for someone older than you.
Perhaps it’s lots of patience for someone younger than you.

The kind place of compassion has many, many faces
And when you let it fill your heart, it will take me many places.

The kind place of compassion will never steer you wrong
For the kind place of compassion is where we all belong.

General Conference Study Journals! :)

General Conference is this weekend! I know everyone sits at different places on the scale of how much they enjoy Conference weekend but I for one love Conference and Conference weekend! In full disclosure, I typically miss about half of what is said in any given session – not because I have other places to be but because I have these four other younger people I share a house with that all have varying needs and seem to think I’m the answer to those needs… (But I’m totally okay with that because I know this phase of life will be gone before I know it and I will miss it.) Because of this though, I’ve really come to love these little General Conference Addresses – Journal Editions that Deseret Book has been releasing the last few years!

These journals make it so easy to go back and study the talks. Something this busy mama is so grateful for. (And, if I wake up early enough before everyone else, I can take a few minutes and study uninterrupted!) They are a great size to shove in my backpack if I want to take them with me somewhere else, like somewhere I need to sit and wait for my kids… They are about $8 each, which isn’t bad. Usually sometime around General Conference, Deseret Book will email out a coupon code. That’s my particular favorite time to order a copy. Or preorder actually.

I have my own color coding system I use when studying any of the Journal Editions of scripture or General Conference talks. It makes it nice to look back at a talk and quickly find a quote I liked. I use a green colored pencil for all things that are good/I should be doing/want to do. A yellow colored pencil for any warnings. A red colored pencil for anything that is a “Don’t do this!” type of thing. And a blue colored pencil for anything that I find really interesting. I love there is plenty of room on the sides to write down my own thoughts as I study too. Sometimes I write a lot of notes. Sometimes only a few. Sometimes none. And that’s okay! Sometimes I highlight almost everything. Sometimes a few things. Sometimes barely anything. Really, it’s a personal thing so whatever works for you!

General Conference is such a special time. We are so incredibly lucky to have a Prophet and Apostles, Alive and Well, to teach us and guide us and help us navigate Life. How little that blessing has been on the earth. How few of God’s Children have had that blessing. Why do we waste that blessing? We need it more then ever as we get closer and closer to the Second Coming. And the world around us gets crazier and crazier. If you are already a post-General Conference-studier, good for you!! If you aren’t, why not start now! You won’t regret it.

A Mother’s Prayer

On the wall in the Mother’s Room in our ward building, there is a picture of Christ surrounded by children. I find myself in there once or twice on any given Sunday and the picture always makes me think about what it would have been like if I had been a mother in the Americas when Christ came. How special to have your child blessed by Christ! But since I live, um, a few years later then when Christ was here that’s not our earthly experience. I think you might agree with me that Life is Crazy. While it can be stressful for myself at times, I think I worry more about my kids and how they will navigate their future because, well, I won’t always be there to help them. But I know I can do my best to help them come to Christ during our time in many, many ways. And also send as many Mother’s Prayers towards Heaven as I can squeeze in during my lifetime. 🙂

Jesus won’t you bless this babe
Like you did to those of old, 
Who you gathered all around you 
And told Them to “Behold!”
This babe is just as sweet and kind
As those you once beheld.
The ones you gathered by your side 
And lovingly upheld.  
He may be here now with me
Instead of in your arms.
But he’s just as sweet as those before
With all his baby charms. 
And while his time is different 
Then those who came before
He could use your strength now with him –
Maybe even more. 
For his time here is a dark time 
As we prepare for you again. 
His time here is a dark time 
In a dark world filled with sin. 
I hope that he can navigate 
The things that he must do.
I know that he could use the strength 
Of someone strong like you. 
Oh Jesus won’t you bless this babe
Like those you did of old,
So he always has the strength he needs
To be kind and strong and bold. 
Jesus all my love for him 
Is more than words can say. 
And by your side is where I wish 
Him each and every day. 

I See the Blessings

In my humble opinion, trials are not always the most enjoyable experience in life. Somedays I feel like I just travel from one Trial to another, never getting a chance for a little vacation between stops. I know someday I will look back and be grateful for each one and the person they helped me become but until then… I hold onto my faith and one of my all time favorite quotes from a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland “If sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived.” (“The Inconvenient Messiah”, Feb. 2, 1982)

It’s easy for discouragement to creep itself on me
It’s easy to forget that God has any love for me.
At times it seems that everyone is blessed beyond belief
At times it seems I’ll never feel the kind hand of relief.
Sometimes it feels the more I try
The more the Blessing Well is dry.
Sometimes it seems the more I try
The more blessed is the Other Guy.
Sometimes I think the more I try
The more I just sit down and cry.
But before I let discouragement make its next meal out of me
I try and take a moment to see what I don’t see.
And then while sitting there, in yet another trial,
I begin to see things hidden there that make me want to smile.
Like the thirty extra minutes that the baby took his nap
And the fifteen extra minutes the toddler cuddled on my lap.
Or the simple little note I found tucked within my book
That simply said “I love you, Mom!” when I opened up and took a look.
There’s also things that can’t be seen, like how much I’ve learned to love
Or how much more time I spend now in prayer to Him above.
Or how much I’ve learned the value of serving one another
Or how much I now appreciate all the things done by my mother.
How often do we think our blessings just aren’t what we need.
How often does our Father know they’re there to grow a seed.
Sometimes it seems we only see the things we think we lack
But fail to notice that the Savior is there carrying us on his back.
No matter what, we’ll always hurt as our trials make us grow
But someday we will look back and see the value and we’ll Know.
It’s easy for discouragement to creep itself on me
But I try my best to see the love my Father has for me.
I try my best to notice the kind hand of relief.
I try my best to see that I am blessed beyond belief.