Bringing the light of the gospel into your home

I wanted to share a talk with you. We read it recently for Family Home Evening and I think everyone deserves the chance to read Jean B. Bingham's (First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency) words.

I Will Bring the Light of the Gospel into My Home

My favourite part was the story of a girl who lived on a hill on one side of a valley.
Each late afternoon she noticed on the hill on the opposite side of the valley a house that had shining, golden windows. Her own home was small and somewhat shabby, and the girl dreamed of living in that beautiful house with windows of gold.
One day the girl was given permission to ride her bike across the valley. She eagerly rode until she reached the house with the golden windows that she had admired for so long. But when she dismounted from her bike, she saw that the house was abandoned and dilapidated, with tall weeds in the yard and windows that were plain and dirty. Sadly, the girl turned her face toward home. To her surprise, she saw a house with shining, golden windows on the hill across the valley and soon realized it was her very own home!

It's very easy to do (especially with pinterest and instagram out there), and I am probably the most guilty of them all, "we look at what others might have or be and feel we are less in comparison".
Yes, we can bring the light of the gospel into our homes, if we look for and share positive things about others and let the less-than-perfect fade away. Instead of judging others and ourselves, count your blessings, encourage people to be their best, and love unconditionally.

Our overarching goal (I guess you could even say New Year's Resolution) this year is just that, to bring the light of the gospel into our homes more.


You can read her full talk here.
 

January Update

As some may know, Bradley is graduating from the University of Lethbridge this May with an undergrad degree in applied statistics with a concentration in psychology and I am so proud of him. He has been busy applying to Grad schools and scholarships as well as keeping up with his current work load. A few of the prospective schools are (in this particular order) University of Manitoba, McMaster University (in Hamilton, Ontario), University of Alberta, and just in case, University of Lethbridge. Where ever we do decide to go, we are planning on being there for the next 4-6 years.

It's no small decision.

I have a feeling our summer is going to be full of academic conferences, leaving little time for much of anything else. But oh, what an exciting time in our lives.

In other news, the Paris temple is being dedicated this May! I would love to go... (see aforementioned summer plans). The temple is located along the bus route I would have to take every Sunday to get to church in Versailles, but while I was there, there was only the foundation to be seen.

I finally get to take a kickboxing class like I've been wanting to for ages! It actually starts this coming Monday, and I'm so excited!

I promise there will be more of these monthly updates, until then...

Let go, let God