It’s just amazing!!

I had the most incredible experience today.  I was struggling with the whole concept of teaching the Old Testament for my calling in church.  See, I am a Gospel Doctrine teacher for our ward and I love teaching but teaching the Old Testament terrifies me.  When I opened up the schedule and found that I was going to be teaching the first lesson of the year, I started to panic.  I was hoping that I would be the fourth teacher to teach…you know, get three lessons over with and see how the other teachers teach the Old Testament.  As I opened up my scriptures, I realized that the reading material was discussing Moses 1.

MOSES CHAPTER ONE!!!

I began to get excited.  I love book of Moses.  I LOVE CHAPTER ONE!! 

It is the preface to the Old Testament.  It shares with us three IMPORTANT things:

Who are we?

How can we overcome the influence of the adversary?

What is God’s work and glory?

I started with an object lesson and everything just unfolded from there.  It was awesome.  After the object lesson, I shared a quote by Elder Dallin H Oaks, “Consider the power of the idea taught in our beloved song ‘I am a Child of God'.’ …Here is the answer to one of life’s questions, ‘Who am I?’ I am a child of God with a spirit lineage to heavenly parents.  That parentage defines our eternal potential.  That powerful idea is a potent antidepressant.  It can strengthen each of us to the mind of a …person the powerful idea that he or she is a child of God, and you have given self-respect and motivation to move against the problems of life.”  I shared a personal experience and then opened up to the class.  Oh my goodness, what I witnessed was amazing.  The Spirit was strong…it was on fire.  Hearts were touched, emotions were shared and testimonies were strengthened.  I absolutely love my calling.  I am so grateful for the privilege and opportunity to teach using the Holy Ghost as the teaching guide.  Aw…I love it!

I really  love it!

~Michelle

thoughts hovering over thousands of file folders

I do have the greatest intentions sometimes to do things that I want to do but…sometimes they just stay in my brain and I put them aside so that I can accomplish other things. I have many blog entries in this brain of mine for the month of December and I still plan on posting them but I need to stay current with the thoughts that are permeating in this brain of mine. See…my brain is made up incredible adorable looking file folders. Some of them have bright colored flowers on them and some have polka dots, others have stripes or a chevron pattern or even plain ones…they are all creative and amazing. Right now in this brain of mine, I think there are a thousand file folders opened with lots and lots of thoughts escaping and just hovering over the top of these file folders seeking the opportunity to be thought about and moved back into their appropriate file folder.

So, as we start the beginning of a new year, I hope that you will stop by to hear of my thoughts, adventures and opinions. I am so grateful for a new year and look forward to many beginnings and experiences. Happy New Year Friends!!

~Michelle

Books!!!

I love to read!  I love to dive into stories that take me to far away lands for several hundreds of pages.  I love when I cannot put down a book until the very last page.  My goal this year was to take at least 25 adventures.  I did not accomplish my goal but I did experience 21 of them.  YAHOO!!!  21.   Some were ones that I loved the entire adventure and others were ones that I just couldn’t wait to finish so that I could start a new one that brought happiness and a lot of smiles.  So for 2013, I read:

1.  Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella

2. Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella

3.  Funeral Potatoes by Joni Hilton

4.  Her Good Name by Josi Kilpack

5.  Austenland by Shannon Hale

6.  Sisters in the Mix by Joni Hilton

7. Bah Humbug! by Heather Horricks

8.  Luck of the Draw by Rachael Renee Anderson

9.  The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

10.  Divinely Designed by Rachel Renee Anderson

11.  The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachel Renee Anderson

12.  Peculiar People:  An LDS Comedy by Gideon Burdn

13.  Prank Wars by Stephanie Fowers

14.  Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F. Wright

15.  Blind Side by Clair M. Poulson

16.  Mafia to Mormon:  My Conversion Story by Mario Facione

17.  Cover Up by Clair M. Poulson

18.  Working It Out by Rachel Renee Anderson

19.  Pumpkin Roll by Josi S. Kilpack

20. Fair Catch by Cindy Roland Anderson

21.  Attachments:  Why You Love, Feel, and Act the Way You D by Tim Clinton

Lots of fun and interesting adventures!

Next year, my goal is 30 books!!  I can do it!!  Yes, I can!

~Michelle

Snow!!!

This morning as I left for work, I did not grab a coat, nor did I grab any gloves, nor did I wear decent shoes…when I looked outside my window at work…I could not believe what I was saw.  Seriously?  At that moment, I realized that I was not dressed for the weather outside.  I was dreading going outside after work.  The thought came to me…hmmm…maybe I will just stay the night at work.

When I walked outside, I looked at my car…I noticed that I my car had been cleaned off.  I had a SNOW ANGEL.  I looked at Vieve’s car and it was cleaned off too.  She had a Snow Angel!!   I am so grateful for the Snow Angel that rescued me from being frozen too death.   I am truly blessed. 

When I arrived home from work, my drive-way had been cleaned off too.  I had a SNOW ANGEL at home too!!  WOW!!!  I am so grateful!

 

~Michelle

Pizza!!

Guess what?  Dominos sells gluten-free pizza!!!

I know that you are so excited when I find something that might be able to eat.  HA HA!!  Just know that I am loving this adventure (ok…not loving it at all) that I am experiencing.  It has been tough but I am learning lots.  So, tonight when I tasted this pizza it wasn’t exciting or something that I will want to have very often but it is something that I can turn to when everyone else is eating delicious pizza.

~Michelle

A special little treat…

 

This morning when I arrived at work, sitting on my desk was a special little treat.  I was so excited.  My dear sweet friend, Vieve, found some sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free treat. Seriously, I was so excited.  I have wanted a treat so bad and had been dreaming of any type of deliciousness. HA Thank you Vieve for thinking of me.  You truly are a great friend and I treasure our friendship.  Thank you for the treat but most of all thank you for the sweet card.  It truly touched my heart.  You are amazing!!

~Michelle

Mom’s tree (well, one of them…she has many)

When it comes to Christmas time, my mom goes all out.  She decorates every room in their home and within each room, she has a Christmas tree.  I love going to their home because it is so magical.  She is very…hmmm…how should I say it?  She is so picky when it comes to her trees.  In fact, when we were little, she would announce that it was time to decorate the Christmas tree.  In most homes, the little ones would help decorate the tree but in our home, it was much different.  We snuggled on the couch and watched Mom decorate the tree.  She loves her trees and everything has to be placed perfectly in its place.  Well, I had the opportunity to decorate her tree (I was nervous the whole time).  When I placed the last ornament on the tree, I breathed a sigh of relief.  FINISHED!!! 

I think that I did a pretty good job.  What do you think? I love Christmas time!!!

~Michelle