No Coincidences

Tag: god

  • Road Trips

    Road Trips

    I consider myself a relatively laid-back individual.  I have some high-strung tendencies that I try to keep under control.  I would hope most people would say I’m a “go with the flow” kind of person.

    There is one specific circumstance where all my patience, laid-back, go-with-the-flow ability goes right out the window.  That’s for road trips. 

    I know I’m not alone on this.  I’m one of those people that considers the 4.5 hour trip to Las Vegas as a Nascar race.  That analogy holds true more for pit stops than in actual speed.  I consider a bathroom break a great opportunity for that semi-truck I so meticulously passed to quickly catch right back up to me.

    This angst once on the road starts well before we even enter the car.  The week leading up to a trip I’m constantly thinking about what I need to do, what I need to pack, creating a checklist of what I need to pack, double and triple checking my list of what I need to pack, etc.

    The Road Trip Has Always Been DIY—These Experts Are Here to Change That | Condé Nast Traveler

    I drive Beth absolutely crazy.  I’ve tried to tone it down for her sake.  I’ve tried to “enjoy the ride.”  She can comment on how successful I’ve been in that.

    Last week we were travelling for Christmas.  Imagine my average travel angst multiplied by 10.  What presents do we need to bring?  Are they wrapped?  Did we bring warm clothes?  On and on it goes.  Which is why the coincidence of my Monday guided meditation was bizarre in its timing. 

    It was literally titled, “Daily Trip – My Urgency Story.”  The meditation was described as “the antidote to your own urgency story.” 

    I listened to it a couple times throughout the week to try to mellow myself out. I’m not going to provide any advice here on mellowing out on trips. I already posted a hypocritical post two weeks ago. Don’t need another.

    All I’ll say is this: if you think God doesn’t have a vested interest in your day-to-day life, stop and look.

    That’s all.

    He’s always watching and helping. We just need to see it.

    No Coincidences.

  • What to do with all the Love

    What to do with all the Love

    I was meditating and thanking God for all He has given me in this life.  It was the day after Thanksgiving.  I had just watched Ivy with so much love around her, as detailed in Love has Afforded Me Much.  Ivy was surrounded by aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins, second cousins, great uncles, great aunts and the list goes on.  She was receiving so much love.

    That visual again brought me to realizing and remembering that was me 30 years ago.  I was the one having love poured out on me.  It brought me to a repeated thought: what did I do to deserve this?

    What did I do to deserve the family I was born into?  Now, how lucky I am to be one half of the uniting of two families – the Quackenbushes and the Cannons.  How blessed will Ivy be from a life of love from those two extended families she’s been born into? 

    How blessed have I been from being born into the Leaches and the Quackenbushes? An un-quantifiable amount of blessed.

    Where does that blessing come from?  Where does it stem from?  What was the catalyst of this blessed, love-filled life I’ve been given?  The catalyst, the starting point, is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Three of my four grandparents converted to the church.  My fourth grandparent came from a faithful family back to the days of Joseph Smith.  I am forever grateful for my grandparents and the generations of love and family they’ve created.

    A similar story can be said from Beth’s side of the family, the Cannons and Vauterlauses.

    The thought that occurred to me while meditating, to add to how Love has Afforded me Much, was this: I started to pray to God to please bless all those who didn’t have all the love Ivy had on Thanksgiving Day.  All those who don’t have great family dynamics, who feel lonely, who feel lost, who feel afraid; I asked God to let them feel His love.  I asked Him to spare no angels in pouring out blessings on those who don’t feel loved in this world.

    Then it occurred to me.  Love has Afforded me Much.  God has given me a surplus of love.  A love I can’t quantify.  It’s my responsibility to share that excess of love I’ve been blessed with, with God’s children, my brothers and sisters across the globe.  I pray that I can share the love that’s been given to me with those around me.

    I believe the greatest thing I can do to share that love, the greatest thing any one of us can do that have been given (Luke 12:48) so (D&C 82:3) much (Boyd K. Packer), is to share the source of that love.  The source of that love is Jesus Christ, His Gospel, His Church.  It is our responsibility to share with others what has blessed us so.

    Love is important.  Supporting someone, listening to someone, loving someone, these are all noble.  But what of generational love?  What of the love that permeates through families – of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren?  That’s what my grandparents created.  That love started with missionaries sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with three of my grandparents, and with the gospel being shared to one of my Great Great Grandparents by Joseph Smith.

    I am grateful for this Church.  I am grateful for the blessing it has been to me and my family.  I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me this greatest of all blessings.  I feel a noble responsibility, a beautiful weight to share it with others.  My wish is that the world can accept Jesus Christ and experience the love he has to share. 

    I love Jesus Christ, and I am forever grateful to Him. 

  • Sidney Rigdon Miracle

    Sidney Rigdon Miracle

    21 August, 1842. 

    Apparently, it had been thought that Sidney Rigdon meant “to renounce his faith in Mormonism” when he took the stand on 21 August 1842.  Instead, he “appeared to bear his testimony of its truth, and add another to the many miraculous evidences of the power of God.”

    I stumbled upon this story while reading a commentary on Doctrine and Covenants section 124 verses 103-110.  In these verses Sidney Rigdon is admonished to continue to stand by the Prophet Joseph Smith, along with other commandments, and “if he will hearken unto my voice, it shall be well with him” (verse 110).

    Smith and Sjodahl remark that, “Sidney Rigdon, according to a generally prevailing impression, was more or less under the influence of a spirit of apostasy.  It is related that, in Liberty jail, he declared to his fellow-prisoners that the sufferings of the Lord were nothing compared with his, and while the faithful Saints were straining every nerve to complete the Nauvoo Temple, he had no word of encouragement to them.  As a consequence of his disposition, he did not have good health.  Like the Corinthians who partook unworthily of the Sacrament (1 Cor. 11:30), he was ‘weak and sickly.’  The Lord, therefore, points out to him the cause of his ailments and promises to heal him, if he will do his duty and stand by the Prophet as a true counselor.”

    The admonition from the Lord in section 124 was given on January 19, 1841 so it was 19 months later that he took the stand to detail the miracle he had experienced to those gathered.

    As mentioned, given Sidney’s recent state of apostasy, I’m sure the gathered congregation was expecting to see some potential fireworks.  They got fireworks, but not the apostasy-themed ones they were expecting. 

    Sidney told the congregation that his daughter Eliza died.  She was pronounced dead by a physician.  I will quote the story from the Joseph Smith Papers.  “after a considerable length of time she rose up in the bed and spoke in a very powerful tone to the following effect in a supernatural manner: she said to the family that she was going to leave them (being impressed with the idea herself that she had only come back to deliver her message and then depart again,) saying the Lord had said to her the very words she should relate; and so particular was she in her relation, that she would not suffer any person to leave out a word or add one.  She called the family around her and bade them all farewell with a composure and calmness that defies all description, still impressed with the idea that she was to go back.  Up to the time of her death she expressed a great unwillingness to die, but after her return she expressed equally as strong a desire to go back.  She said to her elder Sister, Nancy, ‘it is in your heart to deny this work, and if you do, the Lord says it will be the damnation of your soul.’  In speaking to her sister Sarah she said, ‘Sarah, we have but once to die, and I would rather die now than wait for another time.’  She said to her Sisters that the Lord had great blessings in store for them if they continued in the faith, and after delivering her message she swooned, but recovered again.”

    It goes on to say that she continued in a near death fashion for 36 hours before she called her father, Sidney to her.  Continuing from the Joseph Smith Papers: “the Lord had said to her, if he (Sidney) would cease weeping for his sick daughter, and dry up his tears that he should have all the desires of his heart; and that if he would go to bed and rest, he should be comforted over his sick daughter, for in the morning she should be getting better and should get well.”  Sidney had wept and prayed for his daughter’s life.  His daughter told him the Lord had commanded her to stay for Sidney’s prayers.

    The account continues, (Sidney speaking), “It has also been rumored that I believe that Joseph Smith is a fallen prophet.  In regard to this, I unequivocally state that I never thought so, but declare that I know he is a prophet of the Lord, called and chosen in this last dispensation, to roll on the kingdom of God for the last time.  He closed by saying as it regards his religion he had no controversy with the world, having incontrovertible evidence, that through obedience to the ordinances of the religion he now believes, the Lord had actually given back his daughter from the dead.”

    There is so much to unpack here.  A few things that caught my attention –

    Sydney being weak due to taking the sacrament unworthily. 

    The statement potentially made by Sidney Rigdon to the effect that the Lord’s sufferings were nothing in comparison to his, blasphemous indeed. 

    Interesting that Eliza was commanded to give the precise words of the Lord.  Shows the importance of the Lord’s words, when He speaks, we listen and when we relay His message it must be precise.

    Also, interesting that Eliza at first didn’t want to die, but once she had met the Lord, she didn’t want to come back to life.  Why did she ultimately come back?  Because the Lord commanded her.  I believe this not to be out of duty to Him (though of course it was) but out of love.  The Lord doesn’t force. 

    My concluding thought is on the cunningness of the devil.  I haven’t studied the life of Sidney Rigdon much after he officially left the church.  After reading this story I looked a little more into Sidney Rigdon.  Apparently, after Joseph Smith’s martyrdom Sidney went on missions to the East to preach and gather followers to his new church.  Sidney called it, “the most successful mission he had ever undertaken.”  Where is this church today?

    What I thought about the cunningness of Satan is this: Sidney Rigdon appears to never have denied the faith. Maybe that source exists and I haven’t seen it.  What Sidney did instead was claim the authority as his own.  He was misguided and pride took over.  He believed the authority rested with him and so, instead of denouncing the faith, he tried to promote it in his own way.  God had chosen his prophet.  Sidney Rigdon couldn’t upheave that.

    I believe there is a lot to be learned from this story from Church history. I noted just a couple of the interesting points that could result in their own post. Ultimately I settled on this important point –

    I’m not sure where Sidney Rigdon’s church is today.  I know where the Church of Jesus Christ is today.

  • Temple Miracle

    Temple Miracle

    I don’t recall a good temple miracle story for myself.  I love the temple.  I feel peace in the temple.  The truth is, I’ve felt like I have a difficult time after the temple.  The idea that you can take the temple with you and feel peace in the world after leaving, I’ve personally not experienced that.  My experience has been more that as soon as I leave the temple Satan doubles and triples his efforts to bring strife and impatience into my heart.  I feel the world engulf me when I leave that peaceful home.  Of course, those are probably my own shortcomings.

    So, if you asked me my best “temple story”- a story where I felt overwhelming peace, or received a profound answer to prayer, or something drastic in my life changed after a visit, I wouldn’t immediately have an answer.  That’s not to say those things haven’t happened.  I believe if we don’t write down the miracles we experience we seldomly remember them.  What a sad thing to forget miracles.

    Salt Lake Temple

    Which leads me to writing this, to be sure I don’t forget this subtle, but profound and important miracle.

    Recently Beth and I went to the Mesa temple open house.  It was an extraordinary experience.  It was my first time doing a tour of a temple.  I’ve obviously been in the temple many times, but never taken a tour.  Also, it’s been a while since I’ve been to the temple.  Since Covid, I’ve only been to the temple once, for my sister’s wedding, aside from this recent open house visit.

    Touring the temple was amazing.  Every picture inside the temple was spectacular.  I had a hard time not pausing to stare at every picture of Jesus Christ I encountered.  I would have held up the tour if I had done so, but I love staring at any depiction of Christ and trying to fathom who He is.

    The beauty in every detail of the temple is awe-inspiring.  It is a place of pure peace.  I kept tears at bay as I walked through the halls and eternally significant rooms as I realized how much I had missed that place. 

    This leads to my miracle.  It’s small, almost unnoticeable, but significant.

    Beth and I had been having some difficulty the few days, maybe week, leading up to this open house visit.  Normal marriage stuff.  Strife, snippy comments, unkindness, our house hadn’t been a super peaceful and happy place.  I say this with the vulnerability of knowing we (as people, society, etc.) don’t often admit these things, but it’s important to understand what happened after the temple.

    There was something I realized I needed to say to Beth earlier that day, but it was difficult to say because it’s extremely difficult for me to be “touchy-feely” or “lovey-dovey.”  Wasn’t how I was raised. So there was something I needed to say but it was going to be difficult.  Then, after the temple, it came out so naturally and easily.  I believe the temple brought it comfortably out of me. Maybe because being in the temple had reminded me of the covenants I made there with Beth.

    On our drive home from the temple I told Beth this:

    “Things have been hard the past few days but that’s marriage.  It’s not always going to be great.  It’s going to be difficult and we know that.  But I need to remind you, and I need you to know, I’m not going anywhere.  I’m never going anywhere.  And neither are you.  We are here for each other no matter what, no matter how hard it gets.  We made covenants to each other and I plan on keeping mine and I know you plan on keeping yours.  And throughout any challenge we’ll become closer, and more united, and stronger for those challenges.”

    This led to a conversation about the covenants we made and how important our faith is to us, and to our relationship.  I know Beth and I will always be together because I know what our relationship is centered on.  Our relationship is centered on Jesus Christ and a covenant we made with each other that included Him.  Without that rock, without that stable foundation, the world is just too shaky and full of turmoil.  But I know we will grow through any challenge because we made eternal covenants and we plan on sticking to them.

    Where Beth and I were sealed for eternity

    I believe being in the temple in some subconscious way reminded me of the covenants we’d made and made it so easy to have that deep, emotional, and important discussion.

    I’m grateful for the temple and the covenants I’ve made there.  Life and marriage is difficult enough.  With the option of walking away, too many do.  The temple is God’s house and I know that to be true.  I know it is a beacon in a dark world.  I know it is where peace can be found.  I know it is where eternal covenants and a welding link can be established.  I am eternally grateful for that home. I am grateful for the miracle it provided me that day. I am grateful for the miracle the temple is in my life every single day, whether I visit it or not, due to the covenants made there.

    San Diego Temple
  • Do I Learn from Ivy?

    Do I Learn from Ivy?

    Sometimes I find myself praying for God to change Ivy.  Not big changes, stuff like, “help her to not be grumpy,” “make her sleep well,” “help her to be happy.”

    Then something hit me that I of course knew but needed to come face to face with. Ivy is just going through her motions.  It’s more important for me to learn to control mine. 

    Ivy can be grumpy, mean, crying, not sleeping, screaming, and causing all other sorts of havoc.  That’s not what matters.  What matters is my patience, my learning, my growth.

    I’ll say it again, Ivy’s going through her motions, and I’m learning to control mine.

    There will come a point when she will be responsible for her actions and will be accountable for her behavior.  How can I expect her to be great at controlling her behavior as she gets older if I haven’t mastered my own behavior yet?  She will learn from my (and Beth’s) example.  It makes me think of the Macklemore song called Growing Up where he says,

    “I’ll be patient, one more month

    You’ll wrap your fingers round my thumb

    Times are changing, I know

    But who am I if I’m the person you become

    If I’m still growing up”

    (Side note, as writing this I almostttt lost my patience as I pulled a piece of paper out of Ivy’s mouth and kept her from deleting everything I just typed.  The joys of fatherhood 😊)

    Back to my point, Ivy does what she does and is what she is, innocent and perfect.  I’m the one that needs to change.

    So, when I find myself mistakenly saying, “Heavenly Father, please comfort Ivy and make her know she is safe and watched over so she can sleep tonight,” instead I say, “Heavenly Father, give me the strength, energy, and patience, that even if Ivy doesn’t sleep a wink tonight, I can help her know she is watched over, I can make her feel comforted, and I can have complete patience with her as she helps me to grow.”

    I am eternally grateful for fatherhood and all it is teaching me.