Blue Raspberry Sky

I have been hesitant to write about religious things for a long time now.  I guess you might say I allowed the opinions of others to bother me...  I didn't want to be one of those that trivialized the scriptures, or made life seem more perfect than it is.  Being LDS does not mean everything is going to go smooth in your life.  It's more realistic to say that it doesn't. But I was listening to a 2017 Time Out For Women talk, and in it Laurel C Day  showed a clip of an address that Elder Holland gave.  He said, "Be of good cheer.  We are COMMANDED to be of good cheer."  And I thought to myself, "Oops."  I know that's something I've been lacking in, so I started looking for ways to have "good cheer," and I remembered that sharing what I've learned about gospel principles makes me happy.  So I'm going to write this, and I am just going to hope that even though I tend to wax long winded on gospel subjects, it will be okay to th...

I'm taking the Personal Finances class in the Self Reliant courses that are offered by the church and enjoying them very much.  A lot of it is review for me, but that doesn't mean I'm not learning anything.  In fact, I have come to understand some principles in a deeper way, and I find myself doing things that I "should" have done long ago;  things I knew I needed and wanted to do, but never seemed to find the time or remember. Don't underestimate the power of a positive group environment.  And even if you think you already know all there is to know about this stuff...  trust me.  The Lord can teach you more.  ;) One of the things I struggle with is the balance of TIME.  Finances too...  but I'll get to that later after I do the budget.  I want to share something about time.  If you've ever listened to Dave Ramsey or taken a course on finances, you've probably heard the concept of: 1) Receive Income --> 2) Pay Tithes a...