~ The Abundant Life~

 

“Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

(Sarah Ban Breathnach)

To be frank....2013 has been a rough year for the Packard household. That my friends is saying something considering we are only two months in. I have spent the past few months with the "poor me's" and frankly it is not only exhausting, but an unnecessary self inflicted torture. I realised today that though times may abound, the tender mercies surrounding me are far more abundant. The following is a post dedicated to my ABUNDANT life!

We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.

(Thomas S. Monson)

 

 

"Feeling the security and constancy of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing. Such love nurtures and sustains faith in God. Such love is a source of strength and casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Such love is the desire of every human soul.” (More Concerned at Home)

 

“Often we assume that [the people around us] must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. … We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.” (More Concerned at Home)

 

"Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk.” (The Love of God)

 

"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

 

"A good laugh and long sleep are the two best cures."

(Irish Proverb)

 

 

 

"Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it's a cinch."

(Thomas S. Monson)

 

"Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17).  

 

 

 “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; “And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost”

(D&C 50:41–42).

 

“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 18:2)

 

 

 

 

“There are great challenges ahead of us, giant opportunities to be met. I welcome that exciting prospect and feel to say to the Lord, humbly, ‘Give me this mountain,’ give me these challenges.”

(Mountains to Climb)

 

"And whoso ^areceiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go ^bbefore your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my ^cSpirit shall be in your hearts, and mine ^dangels round about you, to bear you up."

(D&C 84: 88)

 

 

 

“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

(John 16:33)

 

“Be still, and know that I am God”

(Psalm 46:10)

 

Why should we mourn?
Or think our lot is hard?
Tis not so, all is bright
Why we think to earn a great reward?
If we now shun the fight
Gird up your loins
Fresh courage take
Our god will never us forsake
And soon we’ll have this tale to tell
All is well! All is well!

^{(Hymn; Come Come Ye Saints)}

 

 

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

(James Barrie)

 

I saw tomorrow passing on little children’s feet

And on their forms and faces her prophecies complete.

And then I saw tomorrow look at me through little children’s eyes.

And I thought how carefully I must teach if I am wise!

(Anonymous)

 

“Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. Be a person in whom they can have faith. When you are old, nothing else you've done will have mattered as much.”

(Lisa Wingate)

 

 

The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”

(William James)

 

"Be of good cheer! The future is as bright as your faith."

(Thomas S. Monson)

 

 

"Hope, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear."

(Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

 

"When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord."

(David A. Bednar)

 

 

 

"There are clusters of memories embedded in each of your lives. And these can help us to “remember how merciful the Lord hath been.”

(Neil A Maxwell)

 

"Never surrender.

Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart."

(Dieter F. Uchtdorf) 

 

 

 

 “But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Ne. 1:20).

 

 

 

 Brethren, as you submit your wills to God, you are giving Him the only thing you can actually give Him that is really yours to give. Don’t wait too long to find the altar or to begin to place the gift of your wills upon it! No need to wait for a receipt; the Lord has His own special ways of acknowledging.

I testify to you that God has known you individually, brethren, for a long, long time (see D&C 93:23). He has loved you for a long, long time. He not only knows the names of all the stars (see Ps. 147:4; Isa. 40:26); He knows your names and all your heartaches and your joys!

(Neil A. Maxwell)

 
I am a blessed daughter of God.

All IS well

ALL IS WELL