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Sabbath Devotional :: Legacy
When I was married, my grandmother gave me a quilt made of fabric my great-grandmother had saved for her great-granddaughters’ wedding presents. The fabric was brown and red with geese and roses studding the border. In truth, when I first received it, I thought the blanket was quite ugly. But I thought the fact that my grandmother had saved the fabric and continued her mother’s project was remarkable. I don’t have many memories of my great-grandmother, but I do recall that she always seemed frail, yet somehow also powerful and arresting. She was an artist. Several of her paintings hang in my parent’s house. She was curious and creative, vivacious…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Relief Society and MWEG: Conduits for Learning and Accessing His Power to Do Good Work
I am a stake advisor in a YSA stake. In January, I had the fantastic opportunity of teaching Relief Society in one of our wards, comprised of members in the older YSA age range (26-35). I was asked to talk about what Relief Society means to me, which sounded easy enough. However, I have to admit that I’ve had mixed feelings about certain aspects over the years, especially as a young biracial woman from New York City who joined the Church in her early 20s without having grown up in any church. For many years I did not feel like I belonged; I was too different. And as the daughter…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Exponential Blessings
Remember how the brother of Jared followed heavenly instructions to create his unusual boats? But he recognized a design flaw: how to provide the travelers with light. The Lord explained why the Jaredites couldn’t have windows or use fire, but instead asked the brother of Jared, “What will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?” (2:25). It is intriguing to me that the Lord would provide detailed instructions for these barges, and yet allow a major element of their usage to be up to human ingenuity to solve. The brother of Jared did his…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Uphill Business
I was reading a chapter in “At the Pulpit” and thought Eliza R. Snow’s words held a particular resonance with some of my feelings lately. Here is the chapter in question: https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/…/part-1/chapter-14 One of my favorite parts of the Church History Department’s publication “At the Pulpit” is the historical and biographical context provided at the start of each chapter/address, which I always find gives the words much more depth and meaning as I can then take them in within the broader context that shaped and inspired them. This particular address by Eliza R. Snow was given at a meeting of the retrenchment organization, which is described at the beginning of the…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Carry On
My daily scripture study, as simple as it is, has been a source of peace and motivation for me. In the last few weeks, two experiences stand out. One day, the news left me feeling overwhelmed and gloomy. I woke up the next day feeling exhausted and unmotivated. As I was praying, I told Heavenly Father that I wasn’t sure that my work in MWEG could make any difference. I felt a small inspiration to pray that the Lord would magnify my efforts. I was reminded that I can’t make a difference alone, but the Lord can. I have since shifted my perspective and changed my prayers. I am willing…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Facing the Storm Together
It’s Valentine’s week, so let’s kick off this devotional with a little love story, shall we? Not the romantic kind of love, but a love just as deep and resonant. The type that requires bravery and commitment and trust. And also holding hands. (You’ll see.) You may have heard this one. It’s a story that John Lewis, the late civil rights icon and former Georgia senator, shared about his childhood. When he was young, his father, who had been a sharecropper with his mother, purchased a swath of land in rural Alabama to settle on. At times, large storms would gather, and John would watch wide-eyed as lightning struck the…
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Sabbath Devotional :: They That Be With Us
Do you know the story of Elisha and the army of angels? Like, the whole story? I’ve been reading through the Old Testament recently for a project my husband and I are working on, and the end of that chapter totally shocked me. So, there’s an army from neighboring Syria that shows up to attack the prophet Elisha and his humble band of prophet apprentices. Elisha’s servant sees them approaching and is (understandably) terrified. He runs to tell Elisha what’s going on, and is (also understandably) baffled by the prophet’s apparent calm about the situation. Elisha prays the servant might see the ambush more accurately. The servant’s eyes are opened,…
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Sabbath Devotional :: God Speed
Have you ever wished, like me, that you could watch General Conference in real time on double speed, or have an express lane at the temple? In our hurried, efficient world, I find myself wanting to just check things off the list and move on. However, a recent read, Reconnected by Carlos Whittaker, prompted me to think more carefully about this instinct. The author is a social media influencer accustomed to a lot of screen time, and he spent seven weeks at both a monastery and Amish farm without his phone in order to reconnect with God and himself. Although not of those faith traditions, Whittaker grew in their rhythms of devotion…
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Sabbath Devotional :: A New Year
“The problem of pain, of war and the horror of war, of poverty and disease is always confronting us. But a God who allows no pain, no grief, also allows no choice. There is little unfairness in a colony of ants, but there is also little freedom. We human beings have been given the terrible gift of free will, and this ability to make choices, to help write our own story, is what makes us human, even when we make the wrong choices, abusing our freedom and the freedom of others.” — Madeleine L’Engle, in “Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art” L’Engle continues: “Jesus, too, had to make…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Four Pledges for the New Year
“Four pledges for the new year: I will listen, I will learn, I will labor, I will love. As we fulfill these pledges, we can have the guidance of our Heavenly Father and in our own lives experience true joy.” — Thomas S. Monson At the beginning of each year, this quote comes up in my Facebook memories. It inspires me. Those four pledges seem so simple. And they are. But they are also deeply meaningful ways for me to progress. Every year I commit to getting a little better than I was before. I will listen. I will listen to others, especially my own family members. I will listen…
