Contention and the spirit of contention
The best period of Nephite history, hands-down, is the few hundred years after Christ visited them. Mormon records this idyllic point in their history in 4 Nephi, saying:
There were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of...
Heaven and Hevel
My first son was born during a very busy time in our lives. I was working full-time, attending college full-time, and serving as a counselor in a branch presidency. It was a rough period of early mornings and late nights. Sometimes, I didn't see my baby boy awake for several days at a time. For his first birthday, my wife created a video of the moments she had captured and...
The last calling we receive
Three weeks ago, my wife and I received a phone call. Hope, my 57-year-old mother-in-law, had run out of chemotherapy options and was starting in-home hospice. Doctors estimated she had only a few weeks left. Hope wanted to hug her grandchildren again while she could, so we loaded the kids in the car and began the eight-hour journey to North Carolina.
Two hours away from my in-laws' house, we received...
I can't bear it (and that's okay)
A few months ago, I watched the movie Unplanned, the true story of Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson's conversion to pro-life. She had spent her entire career working on the administrative side of things, but when they were short-staffed one day, she was asked to assist the doctor in the procedure room. That's when Abby finally confronted the gruesome reality of abortion.
That moment broke Abby. And it...
Great shall be the peace of thy children
A little while before the birth of our first kid, a wise ward member gave me some counsel I will never forget. He said that when a first child is born, there are actually three people born that day: the child is born into mortality, the woman is born into motherhood, and the man is born into fatherhood. The whole family takes a huge collective step forward in their roles....
To which we owe all our happiness
In a previous post, I talk about how one's word was paramount to the Nephites, using the battle of Moroni v Zerahemnah in Alma 44 as an example. This post also covers a lesson I've picked up from that battle.
