4 Simple Steps for Seeing God's Hand This November

This past week, I have learned a lot about seeing God's hand in my life--noticing His Divine Signatures--which is fitting as it is now November, the month of Thanksgiving. 

You know what's amazing? The story of the brother of Jared. His faith was so strong that he literally could not be kept from seeing God's hand. I've never thought about this other than the literal interpretation, but today it clicked in my mind and I realized that we need faith to see His hand. And maybe, if our faith is strong enough, His hand will become unequivocally apparent to us. Can you imagine having so much faith, that you can't be kept from seeing all of the Divine Signatures in your life???

So here are my goals for this month to strengthen my faith and see more clearly God's hand in my life:

1. Pray every morning to notice His hand in my life.
2. When I do notice a Divine Signature throughout my day, stop and say thank you. 
3. At the end of the day, write in my journal the Divine Signatures I noticed.
4. In my  nightly prayers, thank Him again for all of the instances where I noticed His hand in my life, and pray for my faith to be strengthened. 

"And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?"

-Alma 26:2

My dreams. (Literally)

I remember a few specific dreams I had in my childhood--most of which were scary or weird enough to linger in my mind. Other than those few times, I rarely woke up in the morning and could say "I had a dream last night." But for some reason, starting a month or so ago, the dreaming started up again. Only, they weren't really dreams...more like nightmares. They really started getting on my nerves. Why couldn't I sleep in piece anymore? 

This week, after waking up from a terrible dream, I told my husband how much I hated it. He replied, "Do you pray not to have bad dreams?" So simple, yet I hadn't thought of that. I was taught from birth to pray whenever I needed help. The words from the song "Did You Think To Pray" flooded my mind, and have stayed with me this past week. Every night since (after praying to not have bad dreams) I have been nightmare-free. 

I am grateful for prayer. 

I am grateful for my sweet husband who helps me to be better. 

I am grateful for a patient and loving Heavenly Father who cares about the little things. 

I am grateful for the Divine Signatures that help me to remember Him, and appreciate His love and power.  

Did You Think to Pray?

1. Ere you left your room this morning,
   Did you think to pray?
   In the name of Christ, our Savior,
   Did you sue for loving favor
   As a shield today?
2. Oh, how praying rests the weary!
   Prayer will change the night to day.
   So, when life gets dark and dreary,
   Don't forget to pray.
3. When your heart was filled with anger,
   Did you think to pray?
   Did you plead for grace, my brother,
   That you might forgive another
   Who had crossed your way?
4. When sore trials came upon you,
   Did you think to pray?
   When your soul was full of sorrow,
   Balm of Gilead did you borrow
   At the gates of day?

Wedding Pictures

Just because today I feel super grateful. And I may have gotten my beautiful wedding pictures back (PC @ Mikki Platt Photography). So many Divine Signatures that come from the gospel, especially the blessing of eternal families. 

"Marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God...The family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World

What happens when your phone breaks...

About a week ago, my phone decided it hated me. It turned off and wouldn't turn back on. It's funny how different life felt without my phone constantly present! Turns out that even though I only had to go about a day without a phone, I noticed so many Divine Signatures come from this "frustrating" experience. I'd love to share a few:

First off, I noticed how nice it was to be just a little less connected with the world. There is so much to distract us. I loved noticing things in my day that I normally wouldn't otherwise with a phone constantly on me. It reminded me of President Uchtdorf's advice, "...we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most." (Of Things That Matter Most)

Secondly: I'm not that great at journal keeping. However, I do like to try and keep a few bullets each day of when I was able to see God's Divine Signature in my life--on my phone. HA. So I bet you've guessed by now how I felt when I couldn't get my phone to turn back on. But due to a great Dad, I was able to recover all of my little journal entries AND my pictures. This may not seem like that big of a deal, but it was a miracle to me. 

I just think it's funny, and quite frankly sad, how we can't recognize and be thankful for everything we have. A lot of the time, you don't miss something until it's gone. 

I don't know if we are capable as human beings to comprehend all God does for us. But even though we can't be perfect, we can become close!

Which brings me to one of my favorite talks from April's General Conference, Grateful in Any Circumstance, yet again great counsel from President Uchtdorf.

"And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?"

"Have we not great reason to rejoice?" -Alma 26: 2,13