Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Free Audio Books by Roseanne Wilkins - Enter to Win!

Friend and author Roseanne Wilkins has donated two audio books to my blog for a fun giveaway. Why? Because she's awesome. What are we celebrating? The fact that my blog readers are awesome.

All you have to do is leave a comment stating that you'd like to be entered to win. Then I'll throw everyone into Random.org and will pull out two winners. And what are you winning, you ask?


Hidden in the Heart

Cathee is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder for several years. During a vacation with her four year old daughter to Topeka, Kansas, she meets Garrett, a widowed therapist. He hopes Cathee will let him help her work through her issues, but her past has come back to haunt her.







Change of Heart

“…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass…” Alma 37:6

Christina Andrews, a beautiful college student from a small town in Kansas, is only one insignificant person out of billions of people inhabiting the planet. 
Not long after settling into her college dorm, she’s dating three attractive men. Christina’s never spent much time dwelling on her past, but when it comes time to make eternal decisions, the fact that her father was a rapist takes center stage. 
How can she listen to the whisperings of the Spirit when her father was a criminal? Will she be able to step aside from her past to make the decisions that will ultimately save many lives, and will she be able to find the kind of love that lasts forever?




These are Audible files. If you aren't already an Audible member, you'll need an account, but that's okay - you can use your Amazon sign-in information to pop right in there.

So, leave me a comment by this Friday night at midnight (Utah time, July 19th) and see if you're one of two lucky winners! And thanks, Roseanne!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The Curse of Writer's Block

People talk about writer's block like it's the worst thing in the world, and, for a lot of writers, it can be. When you know there's a story in there that needs to come out and you just can't find the words, you might become frustrated or depressed. I have the following suggestions for helping to combat writer's block.

1. Watch some movies on a subject matter similar to your plot and keep your brain fed along those lines.
2. Watch some movies that are entirely different and give your brain a break.
3. Read for inspiration.
4. Play the "what if" game - do some brainstorming and ask yourself, "What if this happened" or "What if this character was killed," etc.
5. Talk your plot over with a friend or a spouse. Often, talking about it will spark new ideas.

However, these ideas aren't the main point of this blog post. I actually want to talk about why I feel that writer's block is not a curse, but instead, is a message.

The times when I've had writer's block have been the times when I needed to focus on something else. I believe that the cosmos tells us things, and if we're being stumped in our writing, it's very possible that we need to take a break and work on something else. Writer's block can be a sign of fatigue - do you need to take a break and catch up on some sleep? It can be a sign of being undernourished - have you been skipping meals to fit in your writing? It might indicate that you need to turn your brain off and let it rest. I don't see writer's block as being a bad thing - I see it as being an indicator of a problem that can be fixed.

Writing is hard. It involves the emotions, and that's exhausting. It involves the brain, and that's exhausting too. Then there are the physical aspects - you're sitting still for long stretches without exercise, you're typing or writing with a pen, both of which are hard on the hands, and you're giving yourself eye strain. You are taxing your body when you write. and if you don't take the time to rebuild, of course you're going to burn out.

So listen to those messages and give yourself what you need, and maybe you'll find that the writer's block goes away more quickly.

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

What Do Mormons Believe about Grace and Mercy?

One of the things I love about blogging is the ability it gives me to share my thoughts and feelings with others. I'm a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon. I love my religion, but I totally understand that others do not. What I would like to do today is take a moment to explain one area of Mormonism that seems to be misunderstood by those of other faiths. I'm not offering this up in an attempt to convert anyone or to start any arguments. I'm sharing it just so those who are interested can learn more about it for their own curiosity's sake. That's all.

When I have heard those of other faiths speak about their concerns regarding the LDS Church, one thing I hear mentioned frequently is their perception that we disregard the saving power of Jesus Christ and instead are trying to get to heaven on the merits of our own good works. This is the issue I would like to explain more clearly in this blog. Please keep in mind that I don't speak for the Church - I only speak for myself, in my own words.

First off, please let me begin by saying that I am grateful every single day for the saving power of Jesus Christ. I know that He made it possible for every one of us to return to live with Him, if that's what we want. His Atonement makes everything else possible. He is my Savior, He is my friend, and I honor and praise Him. In no way whatsoever do I discount anything He did for us - I am forever grateful for it. And I know that it is only through Him that I will be able to have eternal life. There is nothing I can do on my own that would ever make that possible.

So why do Mormons perform good works? Why this emphasis on service, if we don't think that's what's going to get us into heaven?

Christ spent His life serving others. That was a major part of His ministry. He blessed the sick, he comforted the sad. He reached out to those around Him. We want to become like Christ, and so we perform good works as He did. We don't think there's a giant scorecard - that if we just take around one more batch of cookies, it's straight to heaven for us. We serve others because it's what Christ would have us do, and because it makes us feel good. Then, at the end of our lives, it is the saving power of Jesus Christ that determines our exaltation.

In addition, I've always believed that if you're gonna walk the walk, you should talk the talk. If I'm not willing to serve my fellow man, I shouldn't call myself a follower of Christ. It's just how I feel about it.

And serving others takes our attention off ourselves and helps to purify us. The more time we spend doing good things, the less we want to do bad things, and we become better people.

So why do we need to be purified?

We believe that heaven is the place where God dwells, and that He is holy. We believe that in order to be able to abide His presence, we will need to be significantly better people than we are now. Picture it like wiping the mud off your shoes before stepping on a white carpet. If you stepped on that carpet and left a mark, you'd feel awkward, right? Well, we don't want to feel awkward around our Heavenly Father. We want to know that we did our best. That's why we seek to become better people. Again, not because we think that our 'goodness' will 'earn' us a spot in heaven. Spots can't be 'earned.' We want to prepare ourselves to be more comfortable in His presence and less ashamed.

One of our scriptures tells us that "no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God" (3 Nephi 27:19). He helps us to become more clean as we live the commandments.

What about repentance?

We believe that because we make poor choices frequently, we need to recommit frequently. Repentance is basically a way of saying, "I kind of goofed today, but I'll do better tomorrow." It's a way to take responsibility for our actions.

If you made a promise to a friend and you broke it, wouldn't you want to apologize to that friend? Or would you say, "He knows I'm sorry. I don't need to say anything to him." Repentance is apologizing to the best friend we'll ever have. Of course He already knows we're sorry, but as we apologize, it helps us to become better people.

To summarize, the gospel as taught by the Mormons not only teaches the saving power of Christ, but it embraces it. We know that He is the key that unlocks the gate, He is the source of all light and truth and joy, and He is the only true way. Because we believe these things, we want to develop a closer relationship with Him. We want to behave how He would have us behave. We want to try to be better every day. That's why we do good works and repent. We know we'll never get to heaven on our own - we just want to be properly prepared to receive it. We want to appreciate it. We want to understand what it is we have been given.

I know that there will always be differences between the different religions, and that's more than all right because we each need to decide for ourselves what we believe. Again, I didn't post this to try to convert anyone, but rather, to offer some information that might or might not be useful. It's my hope that it is.
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