No Coincidences

Tag: existence

Wren Sonora Quackenbush 1/20/2025

It’s interesting considering what you can glean about a soul in the signs they give before their arrival.

On Monday 1/20/25, someone asked me if I wanted to play basketball that night, I said I probably shouldn’t because Beth wouldn’t appreciate that. He asked when the baby was coming. I said, “Any day now. She’s being stubborn.”

Maybe because Ivy and Sage both came a week early, maybe because Beth was extremely done with this pregnancy, maybe a combination of factors, but for 14 days leading up to Monday 1/20 we were thinking it would be any day.

That led to a lot of anticipation. WHY AREN’T WE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL?

Friday 1/17 Beth and I spent the night on the couch as she was having irregular contractions most of the night. We were ready at any moment to pack up and leave.

Flash forward to 1/20 and I was at basketball practice when Beth called. She thought it was really happening this time. I told the team and was off, not super optimistic that it was actually happening. Once I arrived at the house, I knew it was happening.

We quickly gathered our bags and were out the door. Ivy and Sage waved with Grandma and Aunt Jane from the front door. I’ll probably always remember that image. My two girls, my world, not fully realizing how their worlds were about to change – in challenging but amazing ways.

I’m writing this from the hospital and I’m so excited for them to meet their new sister.

What Wren lacked in initiative pushing us to the hospital she made up for once we arrived. We got to the hospital around 5:00pm and she was born at 6:05pm.

Ivy and Sage’s births were fast and felt whirlwind-like. This had a whirlwind feel given the pace, but it really didn’t feel frantic at all. It felt very under control. Of course, who am I to say? Beth would probably say it was a complete whirlwind of chaos.

When Beth and I were planning to get married our Bishop at the time had a sit down with us. I remember him commenting on how Beth came from a family of five children and I came from a family of six. He made a statement that I’ve remembered ever since. It was something like, “You two will have no problem having children.”

I’m not sure how he meant it at the time, but with how Ivy, Sage, and now Wren have come, I can’t help but feel like it was a Bishop’s blessing. That’s how I’ve taken it ever since.

Wren’s coming could not have gone any more smoothly.

It felt like a blessed and sanctified process.

It felt guided and protected.

Again, Beth might not agree, I’m ultimately just a bystander to the process. I think she would agree though. Maybe we should ask her.

This isn’t to say that difficult pregnancies or deliveries are any less special. On the contrary, challenges sometimes make the blessings more powerful. We all have our own experiences with this miracle. And that’s what each and every birth is: A miracle.

I am grateful for a strong and capable wife that can do this unimaginable thing. We are blessed that this process has gone well for us three times. I do not take this for granted.

So Wren arrived with a lot more hair at 6:05pm.

I’ve described this process before. See Ivy and Sage’s welcome to life posts. I’ll try to put it into words for a third time.

My heart didn’t split, it expanded. As I looked at Wren, Ivy and Sage flashed before my eyes. I thought about how I loved each of them so powerfully. I can’t remember if I was brought to tears immediately with the other two. Maybe I should go back and read their posts. I wanted to write this before reading Ivy or Sage’s so this could be completely original.

But as I looked at Wren I had to hold back tears. Not sure why the third hit me so hard. Maybe it was the pace of things. Maybe three is a special number, and when your heart expands that third time, something special happens.

I don’t know.

All I know is I love her so much.

It’s crazy, you know. I can’t believe I’m here, on earth. I can’t believe I’ve been given the power and ability to create life. The greatest gift of all existence, the power to create life, and it’s been entrusted to me. I can’t believe I have three daughters. I can’t believe I have a wife that is so special and such a great mother. I can’t believe I’ll get to be with them forever, for the rest of this life, and beyond. I can’t believe Wren was born into a covenant, ensuring that as long as I do my part she will be mine forever. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I often think about what I did to deserve all this. And I can’t for the life of me figure it out.

But I’m anxious to say thank you one day.

So, welcome to this life Wren. It’s hard but rewarding. It’s scary, but if you know why you’re here, there is peace. It is overwhelming, but you’ve been given a family to help with that.

I love you baby girl and look so forward to seeing how your personality shapes and develops to add to our family. Thank you for coming to join us. We love you so.

January 23, 2025
What is the Power of Faith?

What is the power of faith?

Well, by it the worlds were made so… what can our faith do?

I’ve written about a miracle I saw happen in my post Miracle Baptisms.

I was once told a story that strengthened my faith and taught me something about the power of faith. By the way, this is a true story, not made up. If you don’t believe me, have faith.

The story goes like this…

There was a guy attending ASU. His parents planned a big cruise vacation over the winter break. This guy had been praying and looking for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone. Who? He didn’t know, just someone. He had made a commitment to baptize a friend before the end of winter break.

When his parents told him about the plans for the cruise he declined. His parents were shocked. “Why??? We’re going on a family cruise!” He explained he already had plans.

“What plans?!” They asked. “What could be more important than our family cruise?”

“I’ll be baptizing a friend at that time,” was his response.

Oh… they thought. Well, that is important. They asked who the friend was. He told them he didn’t know, yet.

Let’s break this down. Here was a cruise. It existed. It was paid for. It was happening. It was a guarantee.

This guy, though, had another guarantee. He had a commitment. He would be baptizing someone at that time.

Soon after the conversation with his parents (aka the testing of his faith) he was sitting outside on campus reading the Book of Mormon. An acquaintance from class walked by and asked what he was reading. A few weeks later our hero was baptizing this friend at the precise time his family was on their cruise.

Some would say the cruise was a sure thing and the baptism was not. The baptism was a pipe dream, a shot in the dark. It was unlikely to happen.

What role did faith play in this story?

Obviously, faith was everything.

Soon after declining a sure thing, an all-expense paid cruise vacation, the interaction happened.

While this guy could have been on a cruise, he was doing something vastly more important, baptizing a friend.

What is a cruise when compared to the eternal salvation of a soul, of one of God’s children?

I don’t know the rest of the story. I don’t know what happened with the individual that was baptized. My faith tells something special happened. What if this individual joined the Church of Jesus Christ and devoted himself to it? What if he went on a mission? What if he baptizes five individuals on his mission and shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ with countless others? What if he marries in the temple and has five children? What if those children are raised to worship Christ and bear testimony of Him throughout their lives?

Fact – that cruise turned into one baptism.

Faith – that one baptism turned into thousands hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and coming closer to their Savior.

Where does faith end and fact start? – That’s up to us.

“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”
Doctrine and Covenants 18:10

“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!”
Doctrine and Covenants 18:15

June 17, 2021
Lectures on Faith – Lecture 2: The Object of Faith
A main theme throughout the Lectures on Faith is God’s perfect attributes. Logically, for us to be able to have any faith in God He must be perfect. We must know that we can trust God and, in turn, His Son, Jesus Christ.

The major theme I took away from Lecture 2 specifically is how we have attained faith throughout history. Lecture 2 presents the profound idea that our faith in God is always dependent, or comes initially, from the faith of another. Consider this, if no one in your life ever mentioned any sort of higher being, any sort of God, any sort of creator, would you come up with the thought on your own? You think about God because He is someone we have been taught about since Adam.

Even if your parents aren’t the ones who teach you about God, you learn about God from someone. I would venture to say that in the world today every single person on the face of it has heard of the concept of a supreme being. Why is this? Where does our innate belief/consideration of God come from?

Lecture 2 points out that there was an unbroken chain of testimony that started from Adam and was handed down through Abraham. If you read Genesis carefully and do the math you will see that ancient prophets handed the knowledge of God down for generations. It continues today.

Adam knew God in the Garden of Eden. When he left the Garden Adam still knew God. We know Adam’s sons knew God. Abel provided sacrifices to God. Cain spoke to God even after murdering his brother. This shows us that God spoke to men even after the fall and continued to speak to them as they continued to fall into transgression. There is something significant here that I’d never considered. Abel first got his knowledge of God from his father, Adam, as did Cain. After they were told about God by Adam, then they had to develop their own faith in God. They had to learn, trust, and depend on Him, or not.

The important thing to remember from this: we all start our faith by leaning on the faith of another. We possess dependent faith. This leads to another profound truth: God possesses independent faith. God’s faith is not reliant on any outside source. As discussed in lecture one, God’s faith is perfect.

I’ve been studying the lectures alongside a video series that I will link at the bottom. There were many amazing thoughts and ideas presented in that video, related to this second Lecture on Faith.

Faith is faith until it happens, then it is knowledge. Since God has perfect faith, He doesn’t need to wait for something to happen for Him to know it. He knows it is going to happen. His faith is perfect therefore His knowledge is perfect. It’s simple when you think about it in these terms, but it’s so critical. It’s why we can have perfect faith in Him, BECAUSE we know His faith is perfect.

IMPORTANT: God is not still progressing. This is important for us to understand. God is not still learning. If He was, we couldn’t have perfect faith in Him.

This leads to a question: isn’t life boring for God if He has mastered everything?

In the video they gave an awesome analogy. Imagine you’re an accountant. You master every aspect of accounting there is. You have a perfect knowledge and ability in accounting. Would you get bored with accounting? Probably. So, what would you then do? You would teach others how to also master accounting. God is the master accountant. He has attained all knowledge on life, faith, eternity, creation – so what does He do? He teaches us. What a thought! We are being tutored by the God of the universe. That’s what makes this life so important. When we consider that we are learning and being personally groomed by God Himself, what power it adds to our existence here!

This leads to another important thought. What was Christ’s ultimate message while here? I think it would be service. Love through service. Give through service. Charity. Without charity you are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2, Moroni 7:44) Why did Christ teach this ever-important principle? Because His Father, our Father, God is the ultimate server. He is doing everything He does to teach us. We truly are “His work and His glory” (Moses 1:39).

I want to conclude with two last realizations:
1. The scriptures help develop our faith by teaching us of God. This is important.
2. Faith comes by hearing the word of God through the testimony of the servants of God, that testimony is always attended by the spirit.
You aren’t told to have a testimony. You’re not made to know Jesus is the Christ. These are things you must come to a knowledge of through the spirit. Think about it. Christ, in His whole ministry, never told anyone He was the Son of God. He always let them come to that conclusion on their own. One example is Peter who He told, “blessed art thou for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Another example is Christ to the woman at the well (John 4). Christ didn’t go telling people who He was. It had to be revealed by the spirit. This is why signs come by faith, and not the other way around (D&C 63:7-12).

Our hearts must be open for us to receive the testimony of Jesus Christ. 2 Nephi 33:1 “When a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it UNTO the hearts of the children of men.” Not INTO but UNTO. It’s then on the heart of the individual to accept or reject the testimony. The system is in place. The system has been in place for God’s children to develop faith in Him from the beginning. Once the testimony is carried to the heart It’s then on the agency of the individual to receive or reject that testimony.

God has perfect faith. We are here to develop our faith so that we can be like Him. He is the great accountant, and we are his protégés. It is His hope, His glory that we can become like Him. As we develop our faith here it will benefit us for the rest of eternity. I know I say it a lot, but, what a thought.

Video 3 (Lecture on Faith 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-o59d9ioGA&list=PLc5yYrpPFm2umksQf3jgULxoV4YIXTd2h&index=3

Lecture on Faith 2: http://lecturesonfaith.com/2/
December 31, 2020
Lectures on Faith
Lectures on Faith – Introduction and Lecture 1: Faith Defined.

I’ve been watching a series of videos on the Lectures on Faith as supplemental material to my study of the Lectures.

If you’re not familiar with the lectures on faith, you can read them all here:

https://lecturesonfaith.com/

It’s unclear who officially wrote the Lectures on Faith, though they were approved of and taught by Joseph Smith. At a minimum, the concepts and theology of them comes from revelation given to Joseph Smith. Yet another example and evidence of his calling as a prophet.

I write here my notes and thoughts on these videos and the lectures. There are seven Lectures. The 10 video series I’ve been watching spans almost 5 hours and reviews each of the Lectures. In writing this it will help me put together my thoughts and understanding on what Joseph Smith tried to teach us about faith. Through this process I know my faith will grow by studying these principles. What Joseph Smith taught about faith is beyond profound, it is revelatory. I will need to study his words and all supplemental material for the rest of my life to get a grasp of the profound and eternal nature of faith. I look forward to reading over my notes here many times to refresh my mind and expand my knowledge on the subject.

Video 1 was an introduction to the Lectures. Video 2 was all about Lecture 1 – Faith Defined.

First, what are the Lectures on Faith? They are principles put together by Joseph Smith to help early elders to share the gospel.

What do the seven lectures cover? (from Video 1)

Lecture 1 What is faith?

Lecture 2 Links the principles of faith and the doctrine of revelation. The power of human testimony is the medium with which the gospel is passed from generation to generation.

Lectures 3 and 4 The character and attributes of God. If we don’t understand the attributes of God, we can’t have confidence to exercise proper faith in Him.

Lecture 5 The Godhead, nature of the members of the Godhead.

Lecture 6 The Law of Sacrifice.

Lecture 7 The fruits of faith.

What is the plan for the Lectures on Faith?
1. Teach what faith is.
2. Teach how to obtain faith.
3. What happens if you obtain faith?
Bob Millet

My favorite part from the first video was this suggestion from Bob Millet, one of the panelists. His suggestion was this: read the Lectures on Faith 20 times then you can start to study them.

Now that I have an overview on what all 7 lectures will cover and teach, I can get into Lecture 1.

Lecture 1: Faith Defined

Obvious question to start, what is faith?

Faith is the first principle in revealed religion and the foundation of righteousness. Faith is the substance of things hoped for but not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The lecture starts broad – faith is the belief that something will come to pass. Then it gets more religious in tone: “the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”

Faith is a principle of action. Faith implies works, it implies activity, both physical and mental. Just as faith is the moving action in all things temporal, so it is with spiritual (paragraph 12).

By faith God formed the earth. I think this is the most profound point from Lecture 1. That it is God’s faith that is His power. Take faith from God and He would cease to exist (paragraph 16). I know to many this seems like outright blasphemy. But before rejecting the idea without thought, consider what is being said. Faith is a principle of power. It is the power by which God formed the earth. Take away His faith, take away His power, He ceases to be God. Luckily for us God’s power cannot be taken away.

God’s faith and knowledge are equivalent. It is God’s perfect faith that allows His perfect knowledge. Consider: faith is believing in something that you haven’t yet seen. Since God’s faith is perfect what He has faith in will be, it will exist. We mortals look at faith as weak, unproven, unscientific. It is God’s trust in the Plan of Salvation that makes Him create worlds. It is God’s perfect faith that created those worlds. It is God’s perfect faith that makes Him the Almighty.

Again, faith is the power of God. If faith is that important, it adds a whole new meaning, explanation, and understanding to this life. Why do we move through life as if through a misty darkness, unsure of everything? Why the veil that covers our eyes and fogs our minds to so much that we used to know? Why don’t we know where we come from? Why don’t we know where we’re going? Why doesn’t God send angels down to tell us which church is true? Why doesn’t God allow profound miracles to occur before unbelievers’ eyes so they can KNOW that He exists? The reason God doesn’t do these things is due to the importance of faith. We are here to learn faith, develop faith, grow faith; because it is that important. God does not want to take that opportunity of growth and development away from us. He won’t. He knows how critical it is.

Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things: by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeably to the will of God. Without it, there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence!” (Paragraph 24).

Link to Lecture 1: https://lecturesonfaith.com/1/

Link to Video 1 An Introduction on the Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiV4dCY9OEA&list=PLc5yYrpPFm2umksQf3jgULxoV4YIXTd2h&index=1

Link to Video 2 What is faith?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_EXFQK-KJE&list=PLc5yYrpPFm2umksQf3jgULxoV4YIXTd2h&index=2
November 12, 2020