Does Heavenly Father Get Tired of Us Asking For Blessings?

I often hear a sentiment similar to this expressed in Sunday School or other places. It often comes up near to when someone describes Him as resenting our lack of gratitude.

On the one hand, there is the Parable of the Unjust Judge who finally gave in because he was pestered so much. And the Lord does tell us that he will not give us a stone or a serpent when we ask for bread and fish.

And on the other hand, I wonder if we are assigning our own feelings to God.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Does God get tired?

Does He get tired of us asking for blessings?

Does He get sick of us the same way I get sick of my kids' constant requests and frequent ingratitude?

Or is asking for blessings just what He wants us to do because that is how we come to Him?

If the Unjust Judge blessed the widow just because she continued to ask so much, surely the Just Judge is ready to bless us. But how many times? Am I wearing out my welcome?

What Difference Does It Make To Know That I Am A Child of God?

That's the question I'm going to ask the Primary kids in Sharing Time today.

It's hard to imagine not knowing this truth. It's so simple.

And so powerful.

I've known it for so long that I can't remember not knowing it.

But, when I think of it slowly, I think that it makes all the difference in the world.

I think it changes how I treat my neighbours, my enemies, my brothers and sisters.

I think it gives me confidence that I am valuable. And hope that I am heading somewhere.

It gives me patience. Not all the time, of course, but sometimes.

It gives me freedom and peace.

"Mom, Are We Christian or Mormon?

Janie asked me and I didn't know."

Shoot! I wish we'd had this family home evening lesson a week sooner.


Mormons are Christians.

Mormons believe in Christ.

I believe in Christ.

I am a Christian.

Where is He?

there were

thirty-one snowmen
four fire trucks
one mayor
one member of parliament
two bubble machines
one gigantic christmas tree
forty-four air cadets
three marching bands
one scottish dance troupe
an inflatable santa on a motorcycle
a couple of rock bands
one scout troop
a 4-H team
four girl guide groups
and handfuls of mini candy canes

and just when I had lost all hope,

there was one simply robed woman
sitting calmly on a donkey
led by a quiet man

and I thought
that maybe
all is not lost

Don't I KNOW Anything?

I knew when I began this blog that I had more questions than answers, but I had no idea the discrepancy would be so dramatic.

The tally at the top has been unnerving me for weeks now.

So, I've been wracking my brain to find Answers. I'm coming up very short.

I don't know what color to paint my living room.
I don't know how many kids to have.
I don't know what to pack for lunch that anyone will eat.
I don't know how to both simplify and magnify my church callings.
I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
I don't know where I put my keys.

But, there are a few things I do know. There aren't many, I've realized, but they're the big ones. The answers that really matter, I have. I have them and I know I have them.

Here's One. Answer #10--I Know That God is the Father of My Spirit and the Creator of My Body and that it is my potential to be like Him.

and Answer #11--I Know What Matters Most in Life. I don't do it a lot of the time. That's the problem, of course. But I know what it is.

and Answer #12--I Know That Heavenly Father Speaks To His Children. He speaks to prophets. He spoke to Joseph Smith. My life is happy because of the truths He teaches.

The disparity between Questions (193) and Answers (12) is still ridiculous, but if this were a weighted formula, I think I would be coming out ahead.

Instead of

Q + A = Me,

Something like

Q + KA = Me, where K = ∞.

What's A Pioneer Trek?

Here is a dizzying 3.5 minutes of pictures that represents:

Thousands of hours of preparation
9 buildings painted
1 temple built
185 youth attending
55 adult leaders
18 re-enactment scenes from Church History
26 rehearsal days
3 work-Saturdays that involved hundreds of men
5 days of living in a history lesson

And hopefully hundreds of changed lives. Hopefully, youth who now appreciate in a real way what men and women will sacrifice for what they know to be true. Minds that recognize that meeting hardship with courage and persecution with patience is the Lord's way. Hearts that will see their own trials as an opportunity to shine the way pioneers of the 1800s did.

I hope that hundreds were strengthened and taught. But, I know for sure that one was.

President Christensen asked if it was all worth it. I've asked myself that for months now. His answer was, "Absolutely!"

My answer is not so simple. Mine sounds like, Please let it have worked. Please let the youth understand what we tried to communicate in all of these hours of labour. The Newel K Whitney store full of treats and wooden toys, and the blacksmith who fashioned "prarie diamond" rings out of nails, and the stilt races, and the quilting, and the daily newspaper, and the square dancing, and the stool crafts, and the stained glass, and the rifle shooting. These were all only a backdrop to convey the real message: Jesus Christ has a church on the earth. He is real and He offers the way to happiness for the 80 years we get on earth and the eternities we get after those 80 years. His church was organized on the earth many times, including in the 1800s by Joseph Smith. But it is not Joseph Smith's church. It is the Lord's! It continues on with a living prophet. And it will continue on until the Saviour comes again. Saints in the 1800s knew it. That's why they endured what they did. People know it now. That's why they spend thousands of hours creating a pioneer Trek. His work deserves our very best efforts and our sacrifice. Oh, please let them have heard the message. Then it will all be worth it a hundred times over.

Why Does Christ Descend From Bathsheba?

I've wondered about this for a while. Somehow it didn't seem right for his genealogy to descend from fornication and murder, especially when there were even other wives of David that seemed more suitable (i.e. righteous.) But I have a theory now.

Christ's lineage is one of kings (Solomon) and sinners (David) and converts (Ruth) and prophets (Abraham). It is not chance that His lineage does not follow the most righteous line from Adam to Seth to Noah and down. Just as it was not chance that He was born in a stable. It includes representation of all types of people.

Christ is truly God to all the world--to every race and caste and religion, to every level of righteousness, to converts and to the original chosen people, and...

...to me.

Answer # 2 -- I Know He Lives.

Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, Tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20)


(He Is Not Here, by Walter Rane)

Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here, but is risen. (Luke 24)



(The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre, by Dan Burr)

I know He lives. And it sustains me.