I had the chance to go visiting teaching today! Sometimes it is difficult to get it all set up, but when I actually go it is always like a breath of fresh air for me. The sister that I visited today is so incredible; I feel like the Lord inspired the Relief Society presidency to make me her visiting teacher so that I could catch a glimpse of the kind of woman I should strive to be. She has many gifts, but one that has been blatantly clear and quite personal to me is her uplifting nature.

I cannot leave this sister's presence without feeling uplifted, loved, and more happy than I was before our interaction. I don't know how she does it, but she truly does have a gift. And I want to have that gift too! As I left her house today, I started pondering about the power to uplift. This is the conclusion that I've come to: I believe that this gift or power is something that is available to all of us.

Just as it is with other gifts, it is something that comes more easily to some people and not as easily or naturally to others. Thank goodness we are not left to our own devices as we strive to develop divine attributes and become like our Father in Heaven! Who better to teach us how to develop this gift than our Father in Heaven? He is truly the source of all joy and can teach us how to uplift one another if we will ask Him and then listen for His answer.

I have found, through personal experience, that more often than not prayers like this are answered with an opportunity to exercise the trait that you are seeking to develop. In other words, God probably won't all of a sudden just bless you with this awesome gift that you are asking for. Rather, He will give you an experience to develop it yourself. Certainly He will not leave you helpless, but He will also require you to do your part. I find the unfaltering faith that He has in His children and His high expectations in them to be the crowing pinnacle of His beautiful parenting style.

Heavenly Father has given us an all too often untapped power - the power to develop divine traits and become more like Him. He has truly given us the power to become who we want to be, and given us this unfailing promise:

"Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened." ~3 Nephi 27:29

 He will open doors for us and give us opportunities to develop any trait that we desire to have, all we have to do is ask for His help. He will help us to become as good as we want to be. That means that we have so many miracles that are just waiting to happen within us! I love the scripture in Luke 6:45:

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."

 It is a miracle that we can have the power to uplift one another, and I hope for more opportunities to develop this gift within myself. In fact, I hope to have a whole collection of good treasures in my heart by the time I bite the dust! I know that we can have any treasures that we want if we will just ask the Lord, "for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:31)

Between the rigors of being a mom and the winter weather, my exercise habits have fallen into a little bit of a slump over the last few months. I have been trying, however, to get back into a good routine of exercise and overall activity. As I have been getting back into this habit, I've been struck by an interesting principle that can be applied to our lives.

Whenever you are performing any kind of exercise that requires balance, one of the best ways to stabilize yourself is to focus your eyes on one spot in front of you. I have tested it multiple times, and it really does work. If you are trying to balance but you are not focused on one particular spot, it is a lot more difficult to balance than it would be with that focus. And so it is in each of our lives.

Heavenly Father has given us a specific focus: our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we focus on Jesus Christ - what He has done for us, how to become like Him, and returning to Him again - we find that our lives feel a lot more balanced than if we try to divide our attention. Obviously, we are human and have many different things that demand our attention and our focus. We, however, are capable of making something our main focus and allowing other things to follow after that. As we do this, that main focus infiltrates every other area of attention and is able to influence that as well.

I see miracles in my own life as I set my sights on the Savior and make my relationship with Him and Heavenly Father my first priority. As I do this, I find that I become better in the other areas that require my attention. I am a more patient and gentle wife and mother. I fulfill my callings with more willingness and happiness. My friendship is more genuine and full of love. As I focus on my Savior, I see myself being blessed with the ability to be more like Him. Because I am a normal human being, sometimes I falter and get off balance. Sometimes I look up and realize that my priorities have shifted and that is why I am feeling off-balance, so to speak. Luckily, my Heavenly Father loves me and He is always there to remind me where my priorities should lie, and then rescue me and bring me back to where I need to be.

Just as a sailor out at sea searches for and focuses on the light that shines forth from the lighthouse on the shore, we must focus on the light that shines forth from our Savior. If we will do this, we will be able to remain balanced and safe amidst the storm that rages around us. This doesn't mean that hard and heavy waves won't be sent our way, but it does mean that we will be able to make it back in spite of the storm. I know that as we focus on Jesus Christ, we will see miracles in many areas of our lives.

I love what the Bible Dictionary says about miracles:

"Miracles should not be regarded as deviations from the ordinary course of nature so much as manifestations of divine or spiritual power ... they are simply works, or the natural results of the Messiah’s presence among men ..."

As we focus on Jesus Christ, we let Him into our lives. Those miracles that we see in ourselves are evidences of His presence among us. I look forward to seeing many more miracles in myself over the course of my life as I continually learn how to focus on Him, and in effect, balance my life.

This video is an entire talk by Howard W. Hunter called "The Beacon in the Harbor of Peace". If you just want to watch a short clip from it, go to http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-10-1100-peter-walking-on-water?lang=eng

The responsibilities that accompany being a mother are daunting and, at times, overwhelming. Before I even held my sweet baby in my arms, thinking of the task ahead of me was overwhelming. Now, as I watch this little person growing and learning so quickly, I realize more all the time the magnitude of the responsibility that my Father in Heaven has entrusted to me. I am raising one of His children! He has entrusted His little one to me, to teach her what she needs to know so that she can live a life worthy of returning to Him again one day.

When I think of the task that lies ahead, I have found that I need to be careful in the way that I allow myself think. If I'm not careful, I find myself feeling fearful and inadequate. The adversary is a sneaky opportunist. Only he can take something wonderful and tempt us to twist it and find the negative in it. Certainly the Lord would not have us be fearful or feel inadequate. In fact, I am sure that He would have us view the magnitude of our responsibility and feel empowered by the faith that He has in us! One miracle in this is that He has not left us to our own devices.

The daunting task of being a mother has humbled me and helped me stay close to the Lord. I am constantly reminded of the fact that I need my Heavenly Father's help as I raise His little one. As I have sought His help, I've seen yet another miracle in my life: He truly has been by my side, helping me. At first, most of the help I received was physical. I needed support to make it through the sleepless nights and the lonely days, and I felt His hands lifting me on multiple occasions.

My daughter's physical needs aren't nearly as great now as they were during the first year of her life. As I've watched her grow and learn at a rapid rate, I've been turning to my Heavenly Father in prayer and asked Him to help me teach her. The answers I've received have been tender mercies to me, and they have helped me become a better mother.

These answers usually come as quiet promptings that help me recognize things that I should be teaching her now. For instance, when she was 10 months old, I had a thought that I should start making a special effort to teach my daughter how to pray. At first, I shrugged the thought off thinking she was too little for such things. The thought persisted, however, and I realized that this was a prompting from the Lord in answer to my prayers. And so, I began teaching my 10 month old baby to fold her arms and close her eyes when we pray. To my surprise and utter delight, my little sweetheart started folding her arms whenever we prayed after just two weeks.

Now granted, she is still a baby. Sometimes she babbles while we are praying. She doesn't always keep her arms folded the whole time that we pray. Sometimes she pries her way out of my arms and runs around the room. But I know that I have planted a tiny seed inside of her; I have started to teach her about the importance of the way that we communicate with our Father in Heaven through prayer.

About six months ago, my thoughts were turned to a pertinent question: How do I teach my children to build their foundations in Jesus Christ? I took this question to the Lord, and through promptings and answers that came during my scripture study, I received an answer. The answer the Lord gave me was this: You teach them to cling to their covenants. A few weeks after I received this answer, I listened to the Relief Society broadcast. To my surprise, almost every talk spoke of the importance of covenants and how teaching our children to keep their covenants will help them build a strong foundation in Jesus Christ! What a blessing and miracle this was for me! It was like the Lord was smiling down on me and reminding me that I was on the right track because I had sought His help.

I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who gives us grand responsibilities and then stands behind us and teaches us everything that we need to know so that we can succeed! Isn't it beautiful that as parents, we also have a parent to go to and seek help from? And He isn't just any father, but the Father of everyone who has lived, does live, and ever will live upon this earth! We have access to help from the ultimate parenting expert! The beauty and mercy of this concept warms my heart.

The miracle in all of this is that He is teaching us to become like Him. This earthly experience as a parent is an opportunity for Him to tutor us and teach us about what He does! He certainly will not leave us helpless, but He will remain by our side and teach us if we will just ask Him for help.

Interestingly enough, this post is actually completely different from what I thought I was going to write about today. I just sat down and the words came, and when I was halfway done writing I realized that I was writing about something completely different than I had set out to address. That must mean that someone needed it, and maybe that someone was me.

With the harsh winter that we've been experiencing in West Virginia, my mind has been turned toward the hope of spring and the warmth and bright colors that accompany that time of the year. While I can't say that I enjoy everything about all four seasons, I can say that I find beauty in each one. From the magic that lies in the sparkle of untouched snow to the majesty of the changing trees in the fall, every season brings with it the beauty of God's creating hand.

As I've thought about this, I've also pondered the fact that seasons can be likened unto our lives. In many ways, our lives follow the same patterns that the seasons follow. Life naturally brings with it ups and downs. Sometimes the winter storms of our lives feel as though they will never end. In spite of the storms, however, there is something tremendously beautiful about the hope of spring. That hope is what can help us get through the stormy weather.

When spring finally rolls around, trees and plants that appeared to be dead through  the winter experience new life! Green leaves spring forth and flowers bloom as the freeze that prevented their growth dissipates. Sometimes, we may feel a sort of death inside of us. Whether it is from trials, sorrow, sin, or separation from God, the darkness and misery that can accompany such things can strangle us. At such times, happiness can beome dormant, I suppose, but we must remember that happiness never dies because it lies in someone who lives. We must never forget that we can find hope through Jesus Christ.

I've experienced many different winters throught the story of my life, some worse than others. Just as the patterns of the seasons never fail, my Savior, Jesus Christ, has never failed me. There is always a spring that follows the storm. And just as there is new life around us after the passing of winter, I see new life and growth within myself following each storm that life throws my way.

I am grateful for my Savior and the new life that He offers us, not just after we die ourselves, but also throughout our journey here on earth. He can renew us and make us better in spite of the difficulties. When we feel like life is pressing down on us and we have lost all strength, He is there with arms outstretched, ready to lift us up. He can truly make miracles in our lives if we will reach out to Him and wait on Him. His spring is everlasting and His happiness eternal, and that is truly a miracle.