Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read that because of the wickedness of the people and their serving other gods, the Lord brought evil consequences unto them. 2 Chr. 7: 22 "And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them."

In the D&C we're told to teach by the Spirit. Instead of taking thought beforehand what to preach, we need to constantly treasure up the words of God in our minds and when the time comes, we'll be told what to say at the very hour we need it. Sometimes I can read scriptures day after day and wonder how much I'm really retaining. But many, many times I'll have a situation come up in my life and suddenly a scripture will pop into my mind with the very answer I'm needing. If we study and keep the word of God constantly in our minds, things will come to us that we need at a particular time. D&C 84: 85 "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us to listen and understand. The thought that went with this, written by Linda Neukrug says: When the grown son of a friend of mine took his own life last year, I didn't know what I could say that would help her. I got an armload of books about grieving and chased down support groups on the Internet. Then I prayed about it and felt led to speak to Ellie, one of my coworkiers who used to be a counselor. I headed into her office and mentioned something I'd seen on her bulletin board--a Band-Aid in a beautiful oak frame, labeled "The Golden Band-Aid." "I don't want to take up your time," I said, "but I know you used to be a counselor, and ... well, I see you have this Golden Band-Aid. Is that an award you got for knowing how to help people?" "To my astonishment, Ellie laughed. "No! It's a reminder to keep my mouth shut, even if I have to clap a Band-Aid over it! What do you think is the hardest thing a counselor has to learn?" I shrugged. "It's just to listen. That's our best and hardest job. And if there's some advice I feel U must give, that means I need to listen all the more!" And so I listened to my friend. I heard about her son's first day at kindergarten and the time he stole a Mars bar and she marched him back to the store. I heard about the aware he'd been given for citizenship in first grade. And much, more later, I listened in amazement as my friend told me how helpful I'd bee. "You're the only one who sat with me as long as I needed it and listened. Everyone else wanted to fix me or get me through it." I blushed, remembered how close I'd come to doing just that. And that's why I always keep a Band-Aid or two in my purse...to remind me just to listen. God, help me approach problems with an open mind and open ears, but not an open mouth. Matt. 15: 10 "And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:"

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