Your Happily Ever After Part 2

Well, I apologize that I didn't finish this post yesterday, but I bent over to put on some socks, right after dinner last night and I got a terrible catch in my lower back. It continued to get worse and by 1:00 am I was hurting so bad that Jeff had to help me get into bed. The catch then went on to put pressure on a nerve and I was in a ton of pain. It caught me off guard because in the last 2 years I haven't that type of pain at all. It scared me because that used to be my life, all I could do was sit with my feet up or lay down. I didn't have much UP time at all. I pray that this isn't going to get worse,  that I will know what and what not to do. Anyway, I was down all day today too! This was definitely a BIGGER THAN ME DAY to say the least!

Oh well, let me share with you the rest of my presentation the other night... (like I had mentioned, I got the idea from this book I got at Chistmas called YOUR HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

 Our next princes was Snow White...

 Step mother basically hires a hit man ( known as the  huntsman) to kill her, yet he couldn’t and let her go into the forest and killed a pig instead and brought back the pigs heart to the evil queen instead.

Her problems all stemmed from the evil queen comparing herself to Snow White.  It is hard not to compare ourselves when you look at the movies, TV stars, and all the magazines  around us showing us,…just what we are suppose to look like . First of all can you say photoshop? Most of what we see is not real and even if it was … we are all different and were not created to look like carbon copies of each other.  It is in comparing ourselves with others that we truly find misery and unhappiness.  This has always been something that I have struggled with as a child of Incest


Many times when I look in the mirror I don’t feel good enough or acceptable, but I realize those thoughts do not come from my Heavenly Father. They are negative and truly keep me from reaching my true potential.
Coming out with my abuse was one of the toughest things I have ever done, I had to go to the Lord many times in prayer and ask if I was really had it in me to break generations of abuse that had been in our family, so that I might protect my children ( the next generation).
I think it is ok to ask the Lord for a confirmation of some kind. We have one of the greatest examples of  that in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. This is where Gideon was called to deliver the Israelites out of the hand of the Midianites.
In Judges 6:12 we read where an Angel appeared unto Gideon and told him the Lord was with him and that he was a mighty man of valour. Then Gideon said… (vs 13) If the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us?
The Lord just reminded him in (vs 14) to go and save the Isrealites because I have sent you and that He would be with him. 
 This is my favorite part… (vs 36 -38 ) ( lay sheep skin down )
Then Gideon still wavering in his belief that he can do it, asks (vs 39 -40)
I don’t think that Gideon was asking for signs from the Lord to prove something to him, this was different Gideon was asking the Lord to just tell him one more time FOR SURE that he could do this.
In a world where so many people are comparing themselves to each other, we would do good to remember that we are capable to do just what the Lord wants us to do.
“Remember it is not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not! “

 Then there was Rapunzel out of all the princesses and stories I believe that I related to her best...well except I didn't have long thick beautiful blonde hair, I didn't live my first 16 years in a hidden towel and ...well, let's go on... 

Rapunzel didn’t know her divine heritage and I think her second lesson she had to learn was to get the toxic people out of her life.
First it is important to stay away from people who are toxic or draining. You know the type…you feel worse after you have just been with them or have just hung up the phone after talking to them. If there are people like this that are draining you, it is important to either get new and healthier friends around you or….set some boundaries.
Realizing who she was made all the difference in the world. I think that is vital that we each day do the same… realize our divine heritage. So that I don’t forget this… I have this poem on my mirror to read and memorize each day. It is amazing how you feel after repeating this every day. And I have one of these for each of you to take home tonight and put on your mirror if  you like. It goes like this…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 


And last but not least is…Cinderella

 Cinderella’s problems were many but one of the biggest ones I feel was …that she felt Alone!

But the truth is we are never alone, and the other truth is as quoted in the this book… that sandwiched between our  “ONCE UPON A TIME “and our Happily Ever After we will have to experience great adversity. It is all part of the journey we are on.  The Lord knows that the situations in our lives have to be a certain way in order to teach us.

 Refiner's fire

Some time ago, a few ladies met to study the scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse:

"And He (God) shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver"  ( Malachi 3:3 ).

One lady decided to visit a silversmith to learn about the process of refining silver. After the smith had described it to her, she asked,  "But Sir, do you sit while the work of the refining is going on?"

"Oh yes, Madam," replied the silversmith; " I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."

The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

God sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure.

Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "When do you know the process is complete?"

"Why that is quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished."

 I can personally tell you that the Lord is there and available to all of us. None of us should ever have to go through life alone, if we do it is by our own choice. I couldn’t and wouldn’t trade the relationship I have with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for anything. When did I learn the most in my life… when times were hard, but they have been oh soooooo worth it.

So let us all remember this quote...

"Always remember you are braver
than you believe, stronger than you
seem, smarter than your think, and
twice as beautiful as you'd ever
imagine!"

And when we believe this...let us teach it to the next generations...I know that I am trying to teach that to my granddaughters
Good night all your wonderful Princesses out there!