observe and learn from others!

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't blog last week!
Hopefully all your summers are going great… I'm leaving for pioneer trek TOMORROW and I am really excited! Anxious too, but mostly excited! :) I will be sure to post about that when I get back home.

I saw this quote on Pinterest the other day and thought it was interesting. You could definitely interpret it multiple ways, but in the moment it made me wonder how many people around me have things to teach me - to teach everyone - and yet they never open their mouths.

I know so many quiet people; people that I didn't really expect much from but have really surprised me once I've gotten to know them.

The people around you have more to teach you than you might ever believe. You can learn so much about love and compassion and hard work and true joy and sacrifice just by watching others. Can you think of someone in your life whom you have learned something from, even if they never used words to teach you?

Pay attention to others. Be perceptive. You have no idea what lessons you might learn if you watch others and ask people about their lives, especially people you don't usually talk to.

What else could be accomplished by reaching out and paying attention to people, do you think? In a regional stake conference we had a couple months ago, I heard the following quote:
"Some ask in silence because their arms are too tired to be lifted up."
Could there be people around you who need - even desperately need - help but don't ask for it?
Certainly!

I feel like I'm jumping around a bit, but I think the message I'm trying to get across is pay attention to people. Don't just go through life with your blinders on, only thinking about yourself.

There are people to help. There are people to learn from. There are people who have needs and don't make them known. There are people who could bless your life greatly if you just reached out to them and got to know them.

One thing I know about people is that they can surprise you. So be aware of the people around you. We need others to help us be our best selves. And others need YOU!

People hold their tongues. They don't always tell others what they are really thinking. In fact, they rarely do. Learn to be perceptive and understanding of others. Their life will be blessed and surely yours will be as well!



Have a great week! I'll just be trekking away!

Haley

cheer up others

One thing I've learned in my life is that service heals!
It heals the server, it heals the person being served. It heals society!

When I serve others I grow closer to God. I learn how to care for and minister to others, and I also learn about myself.

There is nothing more humbling than reaching out to others, and in the process realizing that my own life isn't too bad. I always get a better perspective on my life when I stop to cheer up a friend.

Remember that nobody can go through life on their own. Some of society's greatest problems could honestly be solved if everyone felt that they had a friend who loved them unconditionally.
I mean, how great is it to know that others love you, care about you, and are rooting for you to succeed?

How great is it to know that God loves you. That even the God of the universe is hoping you will realize your dreams!

Help others to feel loved. Help them to feel not only loved, but also appreciated and needed by others and by God.
Help others to feel joy and be cheerful.

I promise your life will be so much more fulfilling and happy if you do!

Haley


P.S. I'm definitely rethinking the Monday-Thursday blogging schedule. Don't count on that.
It's just that recently I've been frustrated because I don't really always have great ideas at the top of my head to blog about. So when Monday/Thursday rolls around, I often end up settling for a post I don't really like because that's the best I can do at the moment.
Like today. I've been sick and exhausted all day and really didn't feel like blogging. But I thought this little picture and quote was cute, so that was what I went with. Haha.
But regardless of the days I choose to post, I promise I will continue to try to be good about posting often. :)
Have a lovely evening!

He GIVES and TAKES AWAY.

Job 1:21: "...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."


So the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
But wait. Does God ever really take away?
True, to us it would sometimes appear that He does.

Sometimes it feels like there is more bad than good in our lives.
Sometimes we are bombarded with trial after trial, and it can be hard to praise God when your life feels like it's falling apart.

But God's ways are higher than ours. God has a different perspective than we do. Is a loss to us always a loss in the grand scheme of things?

No. It isn't.

Many wonder, "how can there be a God if bad things happen to good people?"
Friends, God does everything for a reason. We can't always see what the reason is, but I promise that we become better people through our trials.
One day, after our earth life is long over and we have a much better perspective, we will understand why God does what He does.

I praise a God who GIVES me so many amazing things. My family and my heart and my emotions. I praise a God who gives beauty and love so freely. I praise a God who gives life.

And still, I will praise a God who TAKES AWAY. A God who is omnipotent and a God who sees all. I will praise Him when times get hard, because I know that He is mighty to save. I know that He knows what He is doing.


So can we worship a God who would let bad things happen? A God who would let people be taken from the earth early, a God who would let us feel sorrow sometimes?
Absolutely.

I will praise Him, my friend and my teacher. He always knows best.
He understands things that I never could.


Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns



Remember that all things will eventually work together for our good.

So join with me in lifting my hands always to the God who gives and takes away.


Haley.