Hollandpalooza

Today I made a post on facebook and this is what it said: “Someone or something is forever telling us we need to be more handsome or more wealthy, more applauded or more admired than we see ourselves as being….”…”Who is it that whispers so subtly in our ear that a gift given to another somehow diminishes the blessings we have received? Who makes us feel that if God is smiling on another, then He surely must somehow be frowning on us? You and I both know who does this—it is The father of All Lies.”(-JR Holland, 2002). Competition is not Heavenly Father’s way…so just keep putting one foot in front of the other, onward, ever onward. ♥

I love that graphic...I would love to print it on a canvas and hang it in my house.

You may recognize that Holland quote from THIS POST--I wrote about it on my other blog a few years ago. So many things he has to say mean so much to me, they come at just the right time in my life to teach me (Elder Scott is super good at that, too, but more on that later). Anyway, I just wanted to share what happened to me when Elder Holland first gave that talk back in April 2002.

I remember the day clearly; we lived in Provo in the little white house. Addie was 5 months old and we'd been married for  14 months. I was still in a post-partum fog, but keenly feeling everything.  Rich's parents had come down for conference weekend to visit family and they helped us clean up our yard. They slept on our gosh-forsaken futon and played with Addie, and all of it, especially in retrospect, was so kind of them. They had headed home Sunday, so I was laying on our bed with baby Addie, watching conference on our little bedroom TV. As I listened to Elder Holland, it finally struck me, finally sunk in, that Heavenly Father's love for us is infinite. Not only does that means we will never stop loving us, it means he also loves EACH of us--every single one--equally, infinitely. In a finite, greedy world it is hard to wrap our little minds around a love that is immeasurable, that is never diminished as it is divvied up. But on that lovely Sunday, laying there loving my baby girl more than I have ever loved anyone or anything, I finally got it. Heavenly Father doesn't deal in commodities--it's all free, flowing, and without price. My motherlove gives me a taste of that, and in turn I am better able to trust my Heavenly Father because I know He loves me--and all of us--like I love my precious babes.

This talk also made me feel vindicated in not being competitive. I know how good or bad I am, and the only judge that matters to me isn't giving out ribbons and trophies. If YOU need a ribbon or a trophy, I want you to have it-- I don't think less of you. I'm just trying to cheer on every runner.

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Elder Holland gave a similar talk this past April. Instead of teaching from the parable of the Prodigal Son, he used the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. It was equally beautiful. I also posted earlier in the week about that talk. I re-watched it Monday for personal study and it made me think of my dear little sister who tried to take her own life last Wednesday night. I fasted Sunday for lots of things, but one blessing I really hope for is that during this hospital stay, someone who can really help her will find her. I also prayed that something will help her let go of the things she has lost and help her to find value in herself as an individual--not just as a wife or mom--but as God's beautiful daughter who still has life and hope and purpose. These words are so beautiful to me:

"I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.

It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.

"Whether you are not of our faith or were with us once and have not remained, there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. 'Come boldly [to] the throne of grace,' and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast 'without money and without price' at the table of the Lord."

I love you, Pickle.

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I also had a most edifying & fun two-hour phone visit with my pal, "Aunt" Debbie today. It was so nice to talk and catch up on life and count our blessings. I have been feeling a little under-nourished from the outside, and Holland + Deb this week was like water + sun for a wilting spirit.

To read JRH's whole 2012 talk, click HERE.
To read JRH's whole 2002 talk, click HERE.