Yesterday I was privileged to attend the funeral for a wonderful woman who passed away last week. Evidenced by the large crowd at the service, this woman will be greatly missed for her love of life, her unconditional love, and her unfailing service to all she encountered.
Her daughter shared a story about Chris and her constant purchase of CTR rings. Her daughter wondered why her mother bought so many CTR rings. She thought maybe her mom was misplacing them over and over again and she started to worry a bit about it. One Sunday she was with her mom. Unbeknownst to Chris, a young man was struggling with some life choices. She felt drawn to him and told him that though she didn't know him, she could feel his strong spirit and she knew he could make the right choices. She then reached down and removed the CTR ring she wore on her right pinky finger and handed it to this young man in hopes that he would be reminded to make the right choices. Her daughter realized that Chris wasn't losing her CTR rings, she was giving them away just as freely as she gave her love away.
Chris touched many lives and left an impression on mine. She was full of love for everyone. No one was a stranger to Chris and she always had time to visit, even if it was at the grocery store in the frozen food aisle.
While it is hard to lose someone we love, it makes it a little better knowing that she fought the good fight and she made choices that have lead her back to the Savior. She was prepared to meet God and her life was a testimony of her beliefs and values. To me, she exemplified charity and I will forever remember her example of kindness and love.
Every time I look at my CTR ring, I will remember Chris.
Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, September 29, 2008
Doing Good
“We believe in . . . doing good to all men.” (13th Article of Faith).
As members of the LDS Church, we believe that we should follow the command by the Savior, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35).
Love is the best motivator. When we love others, we seek to serve them and to do good. When I was younger and would hear people say in church, “I just love all of you so much,” I’d think to myself, “How can that person love me? He doesn’t even know me.” As I’ve aged, both physically and spiritually, I’ve come to realize that it is possible to love my fellowman without actually knowing each person. When I try to help others, I am showing my love for the Savior.
When we love others, we “ . . . are willing to mourn with those that mourn, yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort . . .” (Mosiah 18:9). A friend of mine recently lost her teenage son. When I heard the news, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I imagined how I would feel if I lost one of my children and I spent the following days thinking about her and her family. I tried to figure out how to serve her and let her know of my love and concern. Since my sister is much closer to her, I volunteered to watch my nieces and nephews so my sister could travel and be there in person to comfort her. As I thought about this tragedy, I felt this scripture come to pass because I felt that, along with his mother, I was mourning the loss of this young man.
I remember well watching the news when the Twin Towers fell. I remember the aching I felt inside for all of the families directly affected by this enormous tragedy. I did not know any of the victims personally, but I still felt such sorrow. I cried tears of grief with them and prayed for them.
We believe in doing good to all men, regardless of whether or not they deserve it. This can be especially true when we donate to charities or give to others. When we were traveling back from Arizona one night, we stopped at a gas station. A very drunk Native American man approached the vehicle while my husband was inside a convenience store helping some of the kids with a potty break. The gentleman slurred as he spoke and told me how he had no money. As he looked around our van and saw some Cheetos on the floor he said, “I ain’t got no chips.” I quickly handed him the bag. When he then said, “I ain’t got no woman, either,” I apologized and told him I couldn’t help him with that problem, but would gladly give him more chips.
Doing good to all men means we try to help one another. We see a need and we serve. We try to be kind and generous with our time and our resources. We show respect and try to empathize with those around us. When we do our best to help our fellowman, we are doing good and we are showing the Lord that we are his disciples. If we are truly trying to become like the Savior, we will be anxiously engaged in a good cause and looking for opportunities to do good to those around us.
Return to the neighborhood.
And while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. Welcome to the yourLDSneighborhood newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the LDS newsletter brings you LDS articles, LDS products, LDS services, LDS resources and LDS interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.
As members of the LDS Church, we believe that we should follow the command by the Savior, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35).
Love is the best motivator. When we love others, we seek to serve them and to do good. When I was younger and would hear people say in church, “I just love all of you so much,” I’d think to myself, “How can that person love me? He doesn’t even know me.” As I’ve aged, both physically and spiritually, I’ve come to realize that it is possible to love my fellowman without actually knowing each person. When I try to help others, I am showing my love for the Savior.
When we love others, we “ . . . are willing to mourn with those that mourn, yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort . . .” (Mosiah 18:9). A friend of mine recently lost her teenage son. When I heard the news, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I imagined how I would feel if I lost one of my children and I spent the following days thinking about her and her family. I tried to figure out how to serve her and let her know of my love and concern. Since my sister is much closer to her, I volunteered to watch my nieces and nephews so my sister could travel and be there in person to comfort her. As I thought about this tragedy, I felt this scripture come to pass because I felt that, along with his mother, I was mourning the loss of this young man.
I remember well watching the news when the Twin Towers fell. I remember the aching I felt inside for all of the families directly affected by this enormous tragedy. I did not know any of the victims personally, but I still felt such sorrow. I cried tears of grief with them and prayed for them.
We believe in doing good to all men, regardless of whether or not they deserve it. This can be especially true when we donate to charities or give to others. When we were traveling back from Arizona one night, we stopped at a gas station. A very drunk Native American man approached the vehicle while my husband was inside a convenience store helping some of the kids with a potty break. The gentleman slurred as he spoke and told me how he had no money. As he looked around our van and saw some Cheetos on the floor he said, “I ain’t got no chips.” I quickly handed him the bag. When he then said, “I ain’t got no woman, either,” I apologized and told him I couldn’t help him with that problem, but would gladly give him more chips.
Doing good to all men means we try to help one another. We see a need and we serve. We try to be kind and generous with our time and our resources. We show respect and try to empathize with those around us. When we do our best to help our fellowman, we are doing good and we are showing the Lord that we are his disciples. If we are truly trying to become like the Savior, we will be anxiously engaged in a good cause and looking for opportunities to do good to those around us.
Return to the neighborhood.
And while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. Welcome to the yourLDSneighborhood newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the LDS newsletter brings you LDS articles, LDS products, LDS services, LDS resources and LDS interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Benevolent
The 13th Article of Faith continues with, “We believe in being . . . benevolent . . . .”
Benevolent can be defined as being charitable, helping others, expressing kindly feelings or goodwill, and something that’s intended for benefits instead of profit.
When we moved my daughter up to Provo, we were unloading boxes from our big van. I took in some boxes to her apartment and when I returned to the van, I saw several young men and women all helping us unload things. I remarked that all the years doing service projects at church had made these young people ready and willing to pitch in.
Recently, our high school added a service requirement for graduation. All students are now required to render at least 20 hours of service in the community in order to graduate. To me, this addition to graduation requirements signals a concern that our youth are not involved in enough charitable service. In speaking with my daughter’s adviser, though, the adviser commented that she wasn’t at all worried about my daughter meeting the requirement because she was aware of all of the service that we do in the Church. Isn’t that a great way for the Church to be recognized?
Benevolent isn’t just a word to us in the LDS Church. We practice being benevolent by participating in service on a regular basis. In my community, we clean the highway twice a year. It’s amazing what people throw out their windows as they drive down the road. In Mutual, we regularly serve others by cleaning the cemetery, building ramps, painting, cleaning, and moving others. My husband and my son spent 10 hours one Saturday, moving two different families.
This week for our Mutual activity, we will be going to different houses in the area and doing a Service Scavenger Hunt. The girls will clean or do other service for a community member in exchange for points. At the end of the activity, we will add up the points and see who did the most service. It’s kind of a fun twist on service.
The Church has been involved in service projects for areas of the world affected by storms, hurricanes, fires, drought, and poverty. We regularly have humanitarian projects where we assemble school kits, newborn kits, and kits for homeless shelters. Local wards assemble the kits, send them to Church Headquarters and then the Church delivers them throughout the world. The Church is as visible as the Red Cross during times of disaster.
Once each month, usually the first Sunday of the month, we fast for two meals. We are encouraged to donate what we would’ve spent on those meals, or more if our circumstances allow it, to a Church fund called Fast Offering. These funds are then administered to people in our local communities who are in need. As members, we do not know who benefits from our donations, we only know that our donations go to help people within our own communities.
The Lord has blessed us with everything we have. None of it belongs to us. Learning to donate our time, talents, and finances to help others is a small way to show our gratitude to the Lord for His many blessings.
Benevolent can be defined as being charitable, helping others, expressing kindly feelings or goodwill, and something that’s intended for benefits instead of profit.
When we moved my daughter up to Provo, we were unloading boxes from our big van. I took in some boxes to her apartment and when I returned to the van, I saw several young men and women all helping us unload things. I remarked that all the years doing service projects at church had made these young people ready and willing to pitch in.
Recently, our high school added a service requirement for graduation. All students are now required to render at least 20 hours of service in the community in order to graduate. To me, this addition to graduation requirements signals a concern that our youth are not involved in enough charitable service. In speaking with my daughter’s adviser, though, the adviser commented that she wasn’t at all worried about my daughter meeting the requirement because she was aware of all of the service that we do in the Church. Isn’t that a great way for the Church to be recognized?
Benevolent isn’t just a word to us in the LDS Church. We practice being benevolent by participating in service on a regular basis. In my community, we clean the highway twice a year. It’s amazing what people throw out their windows as they drive down the road. In Mutual, we regularly serve others by cleaning the cemetery, building ramps, painting, cleaning, and moving others. My husband and my son spent 10 hours one Saturday, moving two different families.
This week for our Mutual activity, we will be going to different houses in the area and doing a Service Scavenger Hunt. The girls will clean or do other service for a community member in exchange for points. At the end of the activity, we will add up the points and see who did the most service. It’s kind of a fun twist on service.
The Church has been involved in service projects for areas of the world affected by storms, hurricanes, fires, drought, and poverty. We regularly have humanitarian projects where we assemble school kits, newborn kits, and kits for homeless shelters. Local wards assemble the kits, send them to Church Headquarters and then the Church delivers them throughout the world. The Church is as visible as the Red Cross during times of disaster.
Once each month, usually the first Sunday of the month, we fast for two meals. We are encouraged to donate what we would’ve spent on those meals, or more if our circumstances allow it, to a Church fund called Fast Offering. These funds are then administered to people in our local communities who are in need. As members, we do not know who benefits from our donations, we only know that our donations go to help people within our own communities.
The Lord has blessed us with everything we have. None of it belongs to us. Learning to donate our time, talents, and finances to help others is a small way to show our gratitude to the Lord for His many blessings.
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