One of these days...

One of these days...

• Utah moms won't feel a need to drive Escalades with 22" chrome rims.

• 16-26 year olds won't feel a need to wear the biggest pair of sunglasses known to man.

• Boys won't wear jeans meant for women.  In turn, they'll be able to have kids.  

• Tanning in a bed... will be illegal.  That's the only thought that seems to stop me on occasion. 
• People will realize they made LMFAO billionaires for some reason.  
• Teachers will get paid more the $32,000 a year.
• Parents will stop blaming everything on the coaches and refs(pshhhh... my kid's GIFTED coach!)

TO BE CONTINUED...

Time doesn't fly, but it moves - like the Hare

If you think you're the only one - you're mistaken.  There's this little reality we rarely think about, and that's the reality of the literal battle between good and evil that's all around us.  It's in our homes, it's in our places of work, it's in our schools, it's in our churches, it's in the media.  This you already know.  There are very few people that are aloof to the battle.  There are some - who have fought for both sides without even knowing it.  

The Prodigal Son was and is a small example of this scenario.  I can only imagine that at first he thought no harm of his actions, but after time it began to wear on him, and "whisper" to his heart that something was amiss.  He might have said to himself "damn it - what am I doing?" And BOOM, he understood it all meant nothing.  He was deceived, and the evil one is a master at his craft.  He made a choice to go back, to return, to repent, and to be a new man.  He was received with open arms.  As we all are, but not without making that choice to return.  

This happens everyday all around us, right?  It happens to each of us, and for some, it may even be a daily cycle - a daily battle.  We go astray.  It may be in the way we talk about someone, what we choose to watch, and even...what we choose to focus our attention towards.  Then, we hear the little whisper that says "is this you?", "did you really mean to say that?", "make the safe choice", and we choose to return to what we know.  The battle rages every day, whether big or small, it's happening.  Don't let this war have place in your heart, your relationships, your marriage, or your choices.  Time is no tortuous, it's absolutely the Hare, and it moves whether or not you're moving with it.  Marriage, family, and our relationship with Heavenly Father are absolutely the most important aspects of life - not later, not when we hit a certain age, or get over certain things, but now.  The literal battle between good and evil is most prevalent in those areas because that's ALL that matters when it's said and done.  Why not make that what matters NOW?  

GO now, tell your "people" that you love them.  If you're married, make the choice today to share your love with your spouse.  You may be the Tortuous but time is the Hare.  

Knowing very little is knowing enough

Over the last month or two I had been contemplating a few things, first; whether or not I should move from my home in Orem.  Second; whether or not I should keep the job in salt lake valley.  And third; if I was following the Lord's will, and on the path He's asked me to follow.


Well, it turns out that sometimes knowing very little is knowing enough.  I had continued strong impressions that I should stay here in Orem, in this home, with these neighbors, and in this ward.  It's been truly eye opening to see the amount of support I have had extended to me from seemingly complete strangers.  My home is now a home.  I enjoy it here, there are great people all around me, my neighborhood is wonderful, and I'm close to the high school.  


The very first day I started my job in the salt lake valley I had a unsettling feeling that I wasn't supposed to be there.  After two weeks there, I was offered the city manager's intern position with the City of Cedar Hills.  Go figure right?


Sometimes it feels impossible to know the mind of the Lord, and His will for us.  That's where knowing you're doing all that you can and all that has been asked of you IS knowing enough.  It almost has to be, especially in times such as these.  Some days, you plead to know more, you plead to feel something-anything, you plead for help to be better, you plead for forgiveness and to have mercy extended to you.  Some days it feels like your pleadings are in vain, and to no avail, but it's in times like these that you have to keep fighting and you have to be faithful.  Even if it has gotten to the a point where you feel as Job did; where all of his friends, family, neighbors, land, physical health, and spiritual protection seemed to turn against him.   In The Miracle of Forgiveness the prophet Spencer W. Kimball said:
The purity and perfection we seek is unattainable without this subjection of unworthy, ungodlike urges and the corresponding encouragement of their opposites.  We certainly cannot expect the rules to be easier for us than for the Son of God, of whom it is recored: 
             Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;(Heb. 5:8)

I've been thinking...

My grandma was one of those special people.  I know that most people could say the same about their grandmas too but, to me my grandma was nothing short of a ministering angel.  She truly was.

I've had her on my mind a lot lately.  Wishing that she were here with us.  She passed away when I was 12 and I know she's safe and happy where she is now, but the selfish part of me wishes she were still here.

There are so many things I would talk to her about, and ask for her counsel on.  She was dedicated to making our lives better and making the most of every day.  I admire my grandma.  And I miss her.  I miss little things like going to Discovery Zone with her, going camping and boating on a weekly basis literally, and having Christmas at her house with the entire family.  She brought so much into this world, and left behind wonderful children and grandchildren.  I'm privileged to call her my grandma.  I know I've made mistakes and fallen short many times but I hope I've lived my life in such a way that would make her proud to call me her grandson.  I look forward to the day that I get to be with her again.  I imagine getting a swift kick in the but followed by a long, much needed, embrace.

consequences

I don't have anything more to say today

Could this be? YES IT IS!

Exactly one week ago today I posted about having NOT received a city manager internship opportunity with the City of Cedar Hills.

This past Monday, after a two hour commute home from work in Murray I came home to an email from the City Manager of Cedar Hills.  The email read; 

Danny,                                                                                                                       

Our new intern resigned today (I guess we were too rough on him).

I am not sure of your situation, but the position is yours if you still want it.

Please let me know.

The first thing that came to me was "could this be?",  and the next thought that came to me was "YES IT IS!".  I've never jumped higher in my life after the reality of the email set in.  I ran down the hall, and jumped over and over again.  I felt like a kid on Christmas getting some sort of bee-bee gun.  Just like on A Christmas Story.  

That moment was shared between just me and Heavenly Father.  It brought me to my knees in all honesty.  I've wanted this position so badly and when I found out that I hadn't received it I watched it in rear view mirror as I slowly drove away.   But now, that's all history.  I've been offered the internship, and it took me no more than five minutes to reply to the city manager and accept the position.  

Although there have been so many minutes, hours, and days that are genuinely difficult to get through over the past few months, it's small little reminders like this that assure me of Heavenly Father's love for me.  That's something I hadn't always been able to recognize or feel, until recently.  I know He loves me now.   He's my Father.  He prepared me and He expects me to reach great heights here on earth as a husband, father, priesthood holder, disciple, and friend.  The Savior has provided me with a way to literally be refined continually in order to reach those heights Heavenly Father set before me.  He gave me an opportunity to reach those heights with someone that I love and care about more than anything else, but for a period of time, I didn't focus.  And in turn, I wasn't reaching those heights.  I believe that an opportunity will come again, in a coming day.  I know it sounds cliche, but it's true.  And I've learned that so many "cliche" things relating to the Gospel aren't cliche, they're just plain and simple truths.  To be followed.  

"Hold Fast Unto It"

There are many good things to draw from the scriptures.  Even more than we can comprehend at any time here on earth.  As I've been reading the Book of Mormon again I came across a scripture that hit home with me;  It's in 1 NEPHI 15:24

"And I said unto them that it was the ^aword of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would ^bhold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the ^ctemptations and the fiery ^ddarts of the ^eadversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."

Sometimes I think we forget, and I know that I did at times, that the word of God is our protection here on earth if we "hold fast unto it".  This particular scripture is given when Nephi's brothers ask him what the rod of iron means in Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life.  I love the phrase "hold fast unto it".  It leaves no wiggle room.  Either you "hold fast to it" or you don't.  And if you do, the protection is pretty incredible.  I can personally tell you that if you become casual in holding to the word of God, you're giving way to the adversary and blindness.  Don't do that.  Value His counsel above your own understanding and logical reasoning.  God's counsel is always right, and our own reasoning.............................isn't.  

I've been blessed recently with some peace of mind.  I know what I want to do, I know where I want to raise a family, and I know enough about how I can get there and about how I can reach those goals.  The path is slowly but surely, and very subtly, being laid before me.  I'll talk more about that in a coming day.  Sticking to the theme of this post, the Temple has become something entirely different to me over the past two months.  I can't really even put into words just how privileged we are to have them, and how grateful I am to be a temple going member.  On top of all of the spiritual benefits of the temple(including receiving the Word of God), the sheer beauty, design, and architecture of the temples bring me to tears.  There is no doubt that the temple is the House of The Lord.  My personal favorite is the Oaker Mountain Temple, for some reason, I'm just touched by it every time I've gone.  Here's a little picture I snapped on my phone this past week.

Today, make sure that you tell and demonstrate your love for those you care about.  Especially your spouse.  Don't do it later, because chances are later never comes.  Go ahead and do it now.