Grace

Yesterday, our discussion in the Beehive class at church was "What is grace?" I liked this definition at the beginning of the discussion outline.

Grace is divine help and strength that we receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through grace, we are saved from sin and death. In addition, grace is an enabling power that strengthens us from day to day and helps us endure to the end. Effort is required on our part to receive the fulness of the Lord’s grace.

I think that from the time I was little I understood on some level, that because I am mortal and because I make mistakes I need the Atonement of Jesus Christ to help me overcome sin and death. And I think that I have had some understanding that Christ is the one who helps me overcome challenges, but it has only been in the last couple of years that I have better understood that this help in overcoming, this help in enduring and the help we need to do hard things (this post form last year comes to mind) comes because of the same Atonement that helps us overcome sin and death. 

Sometimes when I face a challenge I think, "If I could just learn (fill in lesson I think I need to learn) then this challenge can be over." There is a part of me that thinks if I check everything of some invisible list then I will have accomplished what I needed to do and my challenge will be over. But I have learned that I cannot do it all for myself. I need to do my best. I need to keep the commandments, honor my covenants and try harder each day to be better than I was the day before, but at some point I need to turn it all over to my Savior because no matter what I do, I cannot possibly do enough on my own. I like Moroni 10:32-33

        32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
        33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

I like that it talks about being sanctified. It always makes me think of being clean, and being set apart to do the work of the Lord. Similar to my thoughts above I often thought of santification as a checklist. One day reading this scripture it occurred to me that this was completely wrong. Yes, I need to work to overcome weaknesses, stay away from evil and seek for good, but that is not enough. And for what I lack, that is where the Atonement comes in. That is when I can become sancitified, "by the grace of God."

Just a couple of weeks ago I had a very tangible example of grace occur in my own life. The youth in our ward were going to the temple at 4:30 AM (meaning I needed to be up at 4). My mom and I had plans to clean my sister's apartment in preparation for her to return home from the hospital that night, and we hoped to help her get home and get settled that evening. I am NOT a morning person and I was worried about making it through the whole day. I prayed the night before that I would be able to do all that I hoped to accomplish. The next morning I woke up just before my alarm (which is always a better way to wake up). I was ready in plenty of time and enjoyed the morning in the temple. It was very peaceful, especially after an anxious week. I was able to get things settled here at home, then went and helped my mom clean and run erands. My boys had piano festival and we had everyone ready in plenty of time (and they played well). After dinner I was able to go with my mom to help my sister get ready to leave the hospital. We were able to chat and visit with my sister, which helped her to avoid some of the worry that she had been feeling for days. I helped run more errands before my mom brought me home. It was late and I was exhausted, but I was grateful for the help I had received. I had energy throughout the day and I know that the help was divine.

Recently I was reminded of the parable of the lost sheep. As I read about the shepherd leaving his ninety and nine in search of the one that was missing, I couldn't help but think of me as the one. I (just like each of us) need my Savior. I need him because I make mistakes. I need him because someday I will die, and only because of Him will I live again, and I need Him because life is hard, and I can't do everything on my own. I am grateful that my Savior willingly leaves his 99 in search of me, and that He is always there when I call for him.

Liz's Piano Festival

Since Liz is older, she had piano festival on March 22nd. It was at a place we had never been and we really liked the recital hall. We had lots going on that day with birthday celebrations, but it all worked well around Liz's performance.

Liz started with her more difficult piece, Sonatina. 

Her favorite piece this year was Tenderly. It was beautiful and she plays it so well! I love the stretchat the end that covers the entire piano. She was a litlte worried about the last note because it is hard to play something pianissimo and still be able to hear it. But she did great. (Please excuse the little bit of crunching and whispering. Our little nephew wanted to sit by Brian, who was filming.

Liz was still nervous to play, but did great. We were all so pleased with her hard work, and she was pleased with the results.

Boys' Piano Festival

The first weekend in March, the boys had their piano festival (since Liz is in junior high now she plays later in March). It was an extra special treat to have Grandma Call here and able to attend with us.

Michael started off with "Soldier's March". He has done great with this song. The rhythm was really fun for him. (please forgive the videos. the lighting was so strange and it was making it hard for the camera to stay focuse. If you need to, close your eyes and just listen.)

His favorite piece was "Ready for Ragtime". He loved practicing this song and would play it on every instrument setting on our digital piano. Grandma likes watching him play this because of how he smiles when he plays it.

Nathan started with "Sonatina in F". His teacher gave him this piece to give him a real challenge. He worked and worked on it, finally memorizing it just days before festival. (His teacher had told me that if he was stressing out about it that he could play at the make up day in April, but was hoping he would be feeling ready to play on the usual date, even if it wasn't perfect.) Nathan did great! He had one part that he stumbled on, but was able to recover and did so well. We were proud of his hard work and diligence.

Nathan played his favorite piece second. "Old Castille" came a lot easier for him, and it is one that he will just sit down and play from time to time.

Megan's questions

A few afternoons ago Megan walked around with a small notebook and a pencil. "This is my notebook of questions," she said. "My first question is, 'how does a rocket make it out of the atmosphere?' Mom, does a rocket just go so fast that gravity can't pull it down." I said, "Yep, that is basically it."

"My next question is, 'how big is the sun?' Mom, can you google that?"

"Do you want to know how heavy the sun is?"

"I want to know how big it is from the top of the sun to the bottom." So we looked up the diameter of the sun.

"My third question is , 'how does an airplane stay up?'" I pulled up a diagram about Bernoulli's principle and we talked about air speed, air pressure and lift. 

"Keep that picture on the computer. I want to draw it in my notebook, but I will put five arrows under the wing and four on top so I remember that there is more pressure pushing up."

"And Mom I brought home one book about space and one book about NASA from school. Can I get the space books from downstairs too?"

Yes, Megan, you sure can.

WInning the Battle

For several weeks last month I was fighting a battle, the battle of inadequacy. I felt like there was nothing I did right, and on those occasions that I felt like I had done OK or done my part to the best of my ability, there always seemed to be somebody doing more and doing it all sooner and better than I . I was emotional, and it was all absolutely exhausting. I talked with my Heavenly Father, and asked for help overcoming my pride, the pride that made me feel like I didn't measure up.

The Lord answered my prayer in such an interesting way. Someone I know and love, and who also was geographically close by had an emergency and she called me. I was in a place to drop everything and go to her. As things became even more serious I was able to be with her and her family. There wasn't anything I could do to take away the burden, but the Lord gave me the opportunity to give comfort. And I noticed that as my prayers changed from focusing on how I was feeling to focusing on the needs of people I love, my first prayers were answered. The Lord was helping me win the battle of inadequacy by giving me opportunities to serve.

I am not saying that I will never have this struggle again, but I am grateful that for now, the Lord is blessing me. I know that we hear things like "forget yourself and go to work" or "when you ahve challenges, reach out and help others" a lot, but I was grateful for this very real example happening in my life.