Welcome, Welcome!!

We'll be under a state of chronic construction here at our "Inspirational Oasis"! 

(Kind of like Route 84)
I will be adding quotes, poems and stories as time allows. 

In the comments sections I have tried to add some biographical information about the person who gave the quote, if you'd like to add more information or find that something needs correcting please don't hesitate to add comments.
 
I just discovered how to add the Index! How exciting! This is so much easier than flipping through pages trying to find things :)
Oh, one more thing about the index, if you see a post that you think should be under a specific topic and I didn't put it there, please let me know, I will gladly add it to that topic.

Tough Love...

"...we must do as Paul says; speak 'the truth in love.' (Ephraim 4:15) And even when we must confirm our love lest the other individual 'be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.' (2 Corinthians 2:7-8) In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are asked to show forth an 'increase of love' - not the same level of love, but a visible 'increase'! (D&C 121:40-44)"

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Growth and Development...

"Furthermore, it is clear that in our daily labors, in our families, and in our church associations is a significant share of the clinical material that God has given us to practice on.  This means we will experience at each others' hands some pain, some lack of fitness, and certainly some genuine mistakes.  In fact, as we see each other developing and growing (as well as sometimes when we are not at our best), we are privy to an intimate and precious thing."

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Who We Really Are...

"Two great commandments are inextricably bound up with each other.  Mortals can clearly do much good even though they are disbelievers, but someday they will see that even their good deeds were done because of who they really are and because of forces deep within them that moved them so such actions - even though they did not, at the time, recognize or acknowledge those divine forces within them."

"It is possible for all to develop such love, because carried within each soul born on this planet is the light of Christ, which can illumine the landscape of life, even if the carrier does not understand that light within." ( D&C 93:2)

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

The Lord's Love For Us....

"Eternally Encircled in His Love"

Sister Bonnie D. Parkin

October General Conference 2006

" I know of a young mother with five little children who called an older sister, her valued mentor, and asked, "Can we go  on a hike?" Her friend knew that meant she needed to talk. Halfway through an eight-mile loop, the young mother finally said , 'I just can't believe that Heavenly Father loves me; I've made lots of mistakes in my life. I can't feel that I'm worthy of his love; how can He possibly love me?' Sisters, this was a woman who made temple covenants and was  active in the Church. And yet she still felt unworthy of His love. The older sister quickly responded, “Of course He loves you. You’re His daughter. Do we frequently reject the Lord’s love that He pours out upon us in much more abundance than we are willing to receive? Do we think we have to be perfect in order to deserve His love? When we allow ourselves to feel “encircled about eternally in the arms of his love,” ¹ we feel safe, and we realize that we don’t need to be immediately perfect. We must acknowledge that perfection is a process. This is a gospel of eternal progress, and we must remember to appreciate the journey."

Serve all...

"We can serve by enduring well, for our steadiness will steady others who are otherwise on the verge of giving up... We can serve by giving deserved, specific praise... Teaching is a significant form of service, just as is witnessing to one's neighbor."

"Let us so live and serve as to give no one cause to speak with justifiable spite of us. People may say untrue things that hurt us and that may even temporarily hurt the work, but let us never give cause for calumny.  Let us so serve that those who are unrighteous, as Paul counseled 'may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say,' of us." (Titus 2:8)

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Giving and Receiving...

"Let us think of service not only as giving, but also as receiving righteously.  Parenthetically, one of the many reasons some of today's children have not learned to give is that some parents do not know how to receive."

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

What is Beauty?

"How ironic it is to envy someone who has a pretty figure but who is a spiritual cripple... Think for a moment how different it would be if people took on that physical appearance which would reflect distinctly how well they are doing spiritually.  How would some of today's so-called beautiful people really look? A highly publicized movie star, if her life were fully represented in her appearance, might be ugly, perhaps with a hunched back, a prune face, and a withered arm.  In contrast, think of Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, his beauty was not seen by the multitude.  Under such telling circumstances- when the outer person reflected the inner person- whom would we applaud?  And who would really deserve our pity?... The faithful but perhaps plump woman whose nails are worn, but who is a giving mother, wife and neighbor has a queenly beauty and a regal way, if we could but see her as she really is; her beauty will not be taken from her by the passing years.  The paraplegic in the wheelchair who refuses to indulge himself in self-pity - his giving and achieving has genuine glamour.  One day he will stand very tall and straight; he should do so already in our eyes.  When we see 'things as they really are,' we shall see others and ourselves as we really are." 

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

The Savior vs. Selfish People...

"Jesus did not find pleasure in hanging on the cross; joy came after duty and agony.  He went to Gethsemane and Golgotha out of a sense of supreme service, not because it would meet his needs.  He fulfilled all things by giving all in that remarkable and special act of service.  He descended below all - taking more than all of us put together have taken - before being lifted up."

"But selfish people are forever taking their own temperature, asking themselves, "Am I happy?"

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Roles in Life...

Matthew 22:39 ... "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

"In keeping the second great commandment, the most significant and basic service we can regularly render unto others will emerge from our most basic roles - as brothers and sisters, as parents, as neighbors, as disciples....those of us who try to escape from or neglect, our basic roles will find that we have only made the effective keeping of the second great commandment even more difficult."

 - Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Selfishness...

"Selfishness leads to self-pity, which leaves no room for compassion, empathy or service to others."

- Neal A Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Expectations...

"...for a host of reasons, correct conduct under stress is more likely when one has correct expectations about life.  If we understand the basic purpose of life, we will find it easier to see purpose in our own life."

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

Repentance...

"Paul overcame the stigma of his being persecutor and became an apostle with the missionary sway of his time."

- Neal A Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Joy...

"Past mistakes and imperfections need not keep us from present and future joy."

- Neal A. Maxwell "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Plan of Salvation...

"We knew before we were born that we were coming to the earth for bodies and experiences and that we would have sorrows, ease and pain, comforts and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments.  We knew also that after a period of life - we would die.  We accepted all these eventualities with a glad heart, eager to accept both the favorable and the unfavorable."

- President Spencer W. Kimball

Temptation...

"I have seen men tempted so sorely that finally they would say, 'I'll be damned if I'll stand it any longer.' Well, you will be damned if you do not."

- President Taylor

Lift Eachother...

"Thee lift me and I'll lift thee and we will ascend together." 

- Robert D. Hales' Wife

Bought With A Price

Neal A. Maxwell
All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience
pg2/3
There is little doubt, for instance, but that a goodly portion of our pride proceeds from some assumptions we make about ourselves and our lives - assumptions that are at first soothing but very wrong. We think, for instance, that we "own" ourselves. It is perfectly true that our individual identity is guaranteed, that we are agents for ourselves, and so forth - but this truth, when it is torn away from other realities, gives us a very lopsided view of things. Without the ransoming atonement of the Savior, we would be stranded souls, doomed to die with no hope of the resurrection or of individual immortality. We were literally purchased by Jesus. (Acts 20:28) Quite true, we do not yet have to acknowledge that reality, though someday we will. Nor are we now even forced to follow the conditions that the Purchaser laid down. So in a sense we are quite free to do as we please, just as if we were our "own"....this illusion underwrites the false assumptions that we make about our time, our talents, and our possessions that each of us sees as "mine." We may even feel noble when we give of our time and means, and we are apt to be somewhat grumpy if anyone, especially a prophet, reminds us that all that we have belongs to God anyway........

The Value Necklace

By Sister Kathleen Dempsey (who graciously let me post this on my blog - Thank you!)

The necklace I wear cannot be seen,
it hangs around my heart.

The white gold chain, shines each day
by impressions the Spirit imparts.

By choice to act upon these prompts,
good works are surely done.

The chain holds now two unseen gems
fastened by the Holy One.

Integrity keeps individual worth in bloom
as I progress throughout the day.

Personal knowledge of the Church that's true
keeps the Enemy far away.

Come Follow Me, Come Unto Christ
by faith the path will be,

But if I fall, repentance is,
the gift that sets me free.

White purity of mind and heart have,
kept me from deep sin.

My virtue is the sacred place,
my soul has been wrapped in.

I know I am his daughter dear,
when doubts begin to grow.

Divine nature is the torch that lights
inside my heart to glow.

The sweet peace of temple experience
keeps me going back for more.

The values learned in Young Woman
lead me safely to its door.

Now on my knees at days long end
scriptures have been read.

With gratitude for all this help
its time to rest my head.

Oh, but wait! I can't forget THIS,
in keeping my chain bright.

Family and Prophet, Bishop and Saints
who pray for me at night.

Standing in Holy Places today
filled my chain with gems that shine.

Standards high, my Light not hid
shown forth for all mankind.

With all these gems I go to sleep,
they do not weigh me down.

For Father will, one bright judgement day,
place them lovingly into my crown.

The Lorax

A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean. 

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

 - Dr. Seuss

From Dream to Reality

If you think it, it becomes a dream.
If you write it down, it becomes a plan.
If you tell someone, it becomes a commitment!

Freedom.....

Neal A. Maxwell

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

"As one who suffered much in a concentration camp, Victor Frankl observed that the one freedom that conditions cannot take from us is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward those very conditions, grim as those may sometimes be."

Be the House.....

C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity, pg 174

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently, He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of  --- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace."

God's Love For Us!

"The soul is like a violin string: it makes music only when it is stretched. God will tutor us by trying us because He loves us, not because of indifference!"

Eric Hoffer

Suffering....

Neal A. Maxwell

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

The myopic and despairing soul-cry and question, "If there is a God, why does He permit suffering?" reflects a basic failure to understand the very nature of life with its components of chastening and suffering. And as for that question, it is not difficult to imagine who originated it, however understandably sincere some are who now raise it. The question strikes at the heart of Father's plan, because it comes from him who rejected that plan!.....Thus the relentless love of our Father in heaven is such that in Hisomniscience, He will not allow the cutting short some of the brief experiences we are having here. To do so would be to deprive us of everlasting experiences and great joy there. What else would an omniscient and loving Father do, even if we plead otherwise? He must at times say no.

Furthermore, since there was no exemption from suffering for Christ, how can there be one for us? Do we really want immunity from adversity? Especially when certain kinds of suffering can aid our growth in this life? To deprive ourselves of those experiences, much as we might momentarily like to, would be to deprive ourselves of the outcomes over which we shouted with anticipated joy when this life's experiences were explained to us so long ago, in the world before we came here.

We Are Not Our Own.....

Neal A. Maxwell

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

There is little doubt, for instance, but that a goodly portion of our pride proceeds from some assuptions we make about ourselves and our lives - assumptions that are at first soothing but very wrong. We think, for instance, that we "own" ourselves. It is perfectly true that our individual identity is guaranteed, that we are agents for ourselves, and so forth - but this truth, when it is torn away from otherrealities, gives us a very lopsided view of things. Without the ransoming atonement of the Savior, we would be stranded soulds, doomed to die with no hope of the resurrection or of individual immortality. We were literally purchased by Jesus. (Acts 20:28)

Quite true, we do not yet have to acknowledge that reality, though someday we will. Nor are we now even forced to follow the conditions that the Purchaser laid down. So, in a sense, we are quite free to do as we please, just as if we were our "own"......

This illusion underwrites the false assumptions that we make about our time, our talents, and our possessions that each of us sees as "mine." We may even feel noble when we give of our time and means, and  we are apt to be somewhat grumpy if anyone, especially a prophet, reminds us that all that we have belongs to God anyway......

these are hard sayings that bruise our pride. Unless, unless, through humility and obedience, we can transform feeling owned into a grand sense of belonging, and being purchased into gratitude for being rescued, and dependency into appreciation for being tutored by an omniscient God, which He does in order that we might become more dependable and have more independence and scope for service in the future.

Death

Neal A. Maxwell

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

pg 2

God is never suprised....by unexpected arrivals in the spirit world because of unforeseen deaths. But we must always distinguish between God's being able to foresee and His causeing or desiring something to happen, a very important distinction!

The Veil Helps Us Use Our Agency!

Neal A Maxwell 

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

 pg 1

But mercifully the veil is there! It is fixed by the wisdom of God for our good. It is no use our being irritated with the Lord over that reality, for it is clearly a condition to which we agreed so long ago. Even when the veil is parted briefly, it will be on His terms, not ours. Such partings of the veil happen, of course, but in private settings and often with instructions or needed reassurances to expedite God's work and always to reward faith - not to moot faith. ....... We are cocooned, as it were in order that we might truly choose. Once, long ago, we chose to come to this very setting where we could choose. It was an irrevocable choice! And the veil is the guarantor that that choice will be honored.

Selfishness

The Dog In The Manger

A DOG lay in a manger, and by his growling and snapping prevented the oxen from eating the hay which had been placed for them. "What a selfish Dog!" said one of them to his companions; "he cannot eat the hay himself, and yet refuses to allow those to eat who can."

Aesop's Fables

Dream Big!

Your dream is not big enough if it doesn't scare you.

Matthias Schmelz 2008

How Can I Faith in this Scary World?

How Can I Have Faith When The World Seems So Scary?

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin - Friend January 2007

* Always have faith, first of all, in our Heavenly Father and in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

* Just move forward regardless of the world. As you read the scriptures, you will know what you should do.

*In every age we are faced with a choice. We can trust in our own strength, or we can journey to higher ground and come unto Christ.
* Keep busy in doing the right things. Peace and hope come from knowing the Lord and our Heavenly Father and following Their way of living.
*Sometimes the world appears dark. Sometimes our faith is tried. Yet we should not despair. We should never abandon our faith. We should not lose hope.
* Be of good cheer. Have faith and confidence. The Lord will not forsake you.

The Ordinary Things in Life....

Do Not Fear

Boyd K. Packer

"Find happiness in ordinary things, and

keep your sense of humor."

Why Would People Rally Against a False Claim?

Bruce R. McConkie

Pearl of Great Price Student Manual pg 57

Why should so many religionists unite against an unknown youth of no renoun or standing in the community?

Would the whole sectarian world shiver and shake and call for a sword if some other unknown 14 year old youth in an obscure frontier village should claim that he was visited by angels and that he saw the Lord?

The problem when Joseph Smith announced such a claim was that it was true and that Lucifer knew of its verity.....

Is not the persecution itself a witness of the reality of the First Vision? Or if it were not true, would the worldly wise and the intellectual religionists today devote their talents and means to defaming Joseph Smith and the work that bears his imprint?

What is it to anyone else what we believe unless they in their unbelief fear lest our doctrines are true and our practices may have divine approval.

Over, and Over, and Over AGAIN!?!

Teachings of Elder Henry B. Eyring:

"When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention."

Let Go and Let God.....

From the book Simplify- A Guide to Caring for the Soul by Carolyn J. Rasmus

Nancy M. Christensen shared in an Ensign article that all of her life she had been worried about "what if?"..... As she grew.... she continued to have even more plaguing questions that resulted in anxiety attacks.... She became even more anxious when she realized such feelings were not "reasonable expectations for a mother of four young children."

Her answer came one fast Sunday.... As soon as the meetings were over, her 5 and 7 year old sons raced to see who could get home first. They each grabbed the door handle, trying to turn the knob of the locked door. When mom arrived home, she put the key in the lock, but because of the boys' strong grip, she couldn't turn the key. Out of her mouth tumbled the words, "If you would just let go for a minute, I could turn the key and let you in."

"As I said those words.... I imagined the Savior standing next to me, repeating my own words back to me. 'If you would just let go for a minute, I could turn the key for you. Let go. Let me help.' "

Gardening in the Gospel....

Elder Hugh B. Brown, member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for many years told of purchasing a rundown farm. One day he noticed a currant bush that had grown more than 6 feet high. The bush had no blossoms and currants. Having been raised on a fruit farm, he recognized the problem, got his pruning shears, and went to work. He clipped it back until there was nothing left but stumps.

"It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying.... And I looked at it and smiled and said, 'What are you crying about?' You know, I thought I heard that currant bush say this:

"I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me because I didn't make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here."

"I said, 'Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn't intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, 'Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, Thank you, Mr. Gardener.'"

Christmas Poem

It's Christmas time at our house

And we're putting up the tree

I wish I could find one simple way

To remember Christ's gift to me.

Some little sign or symbol

To show friends stopping by.

The little babe was born one day

But He really came to die.

A symbol of his nail-pierced hands

The blood He shed for me...

What if I hung a simple nail

Upon my Christmas tree?

A crimson bow tied 'round the nail

Like His blood that flowed so free

To save each person from their sin

And redeem as for all eternity.

I know it was His love for us

That held Him to that "tree"

And when I see this simple nail

I know He died for me.

Author Unknown

Defining Mercy....

"My favorite 1828 dictionary defines mercy in a beautiful way: 'That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant.' In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy."

Simplify - A Guide to Caring for the Soul

by Carolyn J. Rasmus pg 52

FEAR!

F E A R

Fear leads to Anger

Anger leads to Hate

Hate leads to Suffering

-Yoda

Prayer Alone Is Not Enough....

Prayer Alone Is Not Enough

(Rabbi Jack Riemer)

We cannot only pray to You, O God, to end war;

For we know that You have made the world in such a way

That we must find the path to peace

Within ourselves and with our neighbors.

We cannot only pray to You, O God,

To end starvation;

For You have already given us the resources

With which to feed the entire world,

If we would only use them wisely.

We cannot only pray to You, O God,

To root out prejudice;

For You have already given us eyes

With which to see the good in all people,

If we would only use them rightly.

We cannot only pray to You, O god,

To end despair;

For You have already given us the power

To clear away slums and to give hope.

If we would only use power justly.

For You have already given us great minds

With which to search out cures and healings,

If we would only use them constructively.

Therefore, we pray to You instead, O God,

For strength, determination, and will power,

To do instead of only to pray,

To become instead of merely to wish,

For Your sake and for ours, speedily and soon,

That our land and world may be safe,

And that our lives may be blessed.

Ma the words that we pray, and the deeds that we do

Be acceptable before You, O Eternal,

Our Rock and our Redeemer.

A Funny One!

"I'm so unfamiliar with the gym I call it James."

Chi McBride on the Ellen Show

Changing Your Family

"Big changes in you will lead to even larger changes in your children."

James M. Harper "Creating Healthy Emotional Bonds In Families"

~Like a Child~

Ways to be Like a Child

When children try to reach something on a high shelf without help they often make a mess or break something. When we as parents find out we say something like "why didn't you just ask me for help" or "I would've helped you if you had just asked." Like us, ,our Heavenly Father wants to help if we will just ask Him.

"Big Boys Don't Cry"

"Growing Young"

by Greg Simpson

I've gone so far from my home

Seen the world and I have known

So many secrets

I wish now I did not know

'Cause they have crept into my heart

They have left it cold and dark and bleeding

Bleeding and falling apart

And ev'ry body used to tell me,

"Big boys don't cry"

Well I've been around enough

To know that was a lie

It held back the tears

In the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons

Well we are children no more

We have sinned and grown old

And our Father still waits

And He watches down the road

To see His crying boys

Come running back to his arms

And be growing young

I've seen silver turn to dross

Seen the very best there ever was

And I tell you

It ain't worth what it costs

I remember my Father's house

What I wouldn't give right now

Just to see Him

And hear Him tell me

That He loves me so much

Chorus

And when I thought that I was all alone

It was Your voice I heard calling me back home

And I wonder now, Lord

What it was that made me wait so long

And what kept You waiting for me all that time

Was Your love stronger than my foolish pride

Will You take me back, now

Take me back and let me be Your child

'Cause I've been broken now

I've been saved

I've learned to cry

And I've learned to pray

And I'm learning

Learning even I can be changed

Chorus

And be growing young