Who Do You Want To Become?

The notes this week are short and sweet.  But class was pretty powerful!  Thanks to all of you who participated and contributed.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about what we talked about.

Who do you want to be?

• Oaks, The Challenge to Become - In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something...The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.
• Nelson, Reflection and Resolution - What would you like to be?  Have you found your own "Sacred Grove" equivalent where you can pour out the secret longings of your soul in prayer?  Have you really conversed with God...declared your allegiance to Him and your availability to him?

Search Doctrine and Covenants sections 23-29 for clues about:

• WHO God wants you to be
• HOW you can become that person

How Great the Wisdom and the LOVE

D&C Explanatory Introduction (2nd page, 1st 2 sentences) - If this is what the D&C is made up of, rather than always looking at the exact doctrines being taught in the individual sections, maybe we can see patterns of revelation in the behavior of Joseph Smith and his communication with and from the Lord. What does this mean for us? What can we learn about "the constant flow of revelation" that is available to us?

The first thing a strategic military leader commands in conflict is to take out POWER and COMMUNICATION on the other side.

Satan tries to counterfeit, manipulate and distort all good things to his advantage. God uses all things to OUR advantage.

Feelings don't just happen to us. We choose how to feel (agency at its finest) as we educate our desires either towards or away from God.

D&C 8:2 - He will tell us in our mind AND (not OR) our heart. Feelings are connected to revelation so we must learn to allow ourselves to feel them, to recognize them, etc.

There are over 1800 different emotions. But, Satan, in a desire to destroy communication and power (both with God and with one another) works hard to distort, destroy, and devalue our emotional IQ. Most of us only identify with 12 or 14 different emotions and frequently blame circumstances for thrusting those particular emotions upon us (even the "good" feelings).

What emotions would you MOST like to feel MOST often? For me it's the fruits of the Spirit: JOY, PEACE, LOVE

What does JOY feel like? (6:31, 7:8, 11:13, 18:13-16, 19:37-39, 21:8)

What does PEACE feel like? (1:35, 6:23, 19:23)

(Sometimes describing those particular feelings is like trying to describe the taste of salt. You know what it is. You know what it tastes like. You can tell when it is missing. But, it is hard to describe. Here is where describing what it feels like when you DON'T feel this emotion might help you understand it better.)

What does LOVE feel like? (4:5, 6:19-20, 10:21, 12:8, 18:19, 20:19,31)

How do different kinds of love make you FEEL? (Do a Word association - try to get to honest emotion not how they think these kinds of love should make them feel. And don't let them use the word love to describe how love makes them feel. Push them to discover other facets of emotion. Use my own examples. Be honest with them.)

• Parents/Family (safe, secure, capable, concern, grounded, admired)
• Friends (happy, comfortable, inspired, challenged, understood)
• Mission Companions/Those You Serve WITH (unified, grateful, humble)
• People you serve (humbled, compassionate, joyful, useful, empathetic, inspired)
• Romantic Interests (excited, insecure, attraction)
• Self (introspective, confident, resourceful)
• God (forgiveness, mercy, hope, chastised, loveable, of great worth, whole)

In our efforts to build up ZION (one heart - power, one mind - communication) by inviting all to come unto Christ we need to be more comfortable giving and receiving love. Why aren't we?

Over 300 of those 1800+ emotions are different manifestations of LOVE. Don't limit our definition of what love can be. Don't let Satan distort it into only sexual attraction or only big, drama-filled, out-of-control emotions. Doing so reduces our communication with one another and with the Spirit. It also reduces our power as we compartmentalize our relationships to fit that definition. We should be working towards "a love of God and of all men."

All love is of God. If it is not of God? It is not love. (Find that conference talk.)

Charity covereth a multitude of sins.

LOVE is associated with the heart. The Latin based words for heart: Corazon or Cogollo (Spanish); Coeur (French); Cuore or Coraggio (Italian). Courage (or to take heart) has a similar root meaning. The Latin based words for courage: Coraje (Spanish); Courage (French); Coraggio (Italian). What role does courage play in love?

When we feel love - we should express love. Why don't we? What holds us back?

An identical action with different motivation can give you an entirely different outcome. Do more things with love. Relate to one another with more love.

THE most important love we can allow ourselves to feel is the love of God. How do you feel it? Do you seek after it? How many times has He said, "Seek and ye shall find?"

"I stand all amazed at the LOVE Jesus offers me…"

When we understand that then being engaged in His work is not work at all but an expression of our love for Him and for one another. It also opens up the windows of heaven for increased revelation in our lives - he will tell us in our hearts and in our minds all things what we should do.

About This Blog

I have a friend who frequently refers to his wife as "THE Woman of Faith."  I love that.  I am so impressed with the confidence he places in her to be the woman that he and their children need her to be to call down the powers of heaven in their home and in their relationships.  And she lives up to the confidence he has placed in her.

She may not be THE only Woman of Faith in the world.  But, to him, for their family and their life together, she may as well be.  I've thought a lot about that over the years as I have watched them and learned from their example.  They embody so much of what I want for myself, for my relationships, for my home and family.

So - I grabbed this blog title a while ago and had every intention of using it to explore my faith in God and in His plan (both for the world and for me).  And then some things happened over the past couple of weeks - powerful, miraculous, heart-changing things.  And I felt like some of them were too sacred to share with the world.  So, I wrote them in my journal and called it good, thinking I might never be completely comfortable being THE Woman of Faith for anyone other than those in my life, certainly not out on the internet for the world to see.

But then, last night, after a powerful experience with one of my students (that I wrote about here), I had a couple of students ask me for my notes.  Well, actually they asked me for my PowerPoint presentation.  (I have students ask me for my slide decks almost every week.)  But I'm not into sharing that with them for several reasons.  So, I decided to use this blog to post my lesson prep notes.  That way my students can have access to some of my thoughts if they want them.  Some weeks they may be long and some weeks they will be short.  I'll try to include links to the talks and scriptures that I used to prepare each lesson.  But, that might not always be consistent either.  I'll do the best I can.

And I invite you - whether you are a student of mine or not - to leave your thoughts and impressions, to ask questions, and start dialogue.  Because even though I have been teaching religious education classes for over twelve years now, I am constantly searching for ways to increase my faith in Jesus Christ.  And I really believe that where two or more are gathered in His name (even if it is virtually) He is in the midst of them.