Memorize and Repeat!

I found this great quote on a blog I often visit: ...and Spiritually Speaking.

Commit this to memory!

“Everything works out in the end.

If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end."
(then just keep repeating it, until you believe it:)

I got a good chuckle out of this ...and yet I think it might actually be true! Sometimes I feel like things will never work out but looking back I see they do.

My Goals for 2010 -and the rest of my life! (Part 1)

I've been thinking a lot about goals this January. In the past I've set a lot of goals and achieved some of them. Sometimes, discouraged by my lack of progress I've temporarily given up on striving towards my goals. Ultimately, I know that goals are key to helping us reach our potential as children of God so I've set myself some lofty ones.

Since this blog is about me --Holly's Times, and since I'm going to be intently focusing on my goals, I've decided to blog about them. I'll do it in installments otherwise this post would be way too looooonnnnng!

First and foremost I've decided that I want to be like the prophets, Enoch and Abraham. " Enoch walked with God" (Genesis 5: 22, 24) and Abraham "[sought] to be a greater follower of righteousness and to possess a greater knowledge" (Abraham 1:2) . This is what I want!!!!!!

• I want to walk with God.

• I want to be a greater follower of righteousness and to possess a greater knowledge.

The way I am going to strive for these goals are:

• Pray more, pray a lot, pray, pray, pray.

I'm going to pray on my knees, I'm going to keep a prayer in my heart. I'm going to stop hearkening to the evil spirit and neglecting to pray. I am going to pray!

• Keep a Prayer Journal

While thinking about how to improve the quality and effectiveness of my prayers I realized that I have taken the awesomeness of prayer for granted! If I were given the opportunity to have an appointment with someone of importance in the world, I would prepare for my appointment. I would write down the topics I would like to discuss with this person so I wouldn't forget and during the interview I would be sure to take notes. When I pray I have the opportunity to talk not to an imperfect mortal, but to an Omnipotent God who knows all things! And yet, inspite of this wonderful blessing of being able to talk with God whenever I want, I have fallen into the trap of vain repetitions and an often meaningless ritual.

With a prayer journal I hope this can change. I will write down those things that I want to talk over with Heavenly Father so I don't forget and I will listen and record the promptings I receive.

• Record for my posterity the meaningful experiences I have had with prayer.

Remembering these experiences will help strenthen my faith and possibly help my posterity. Making the effort to record them may also show Heavenly Father how much I do value these experiences and then perhaps He will bless me with more!

• Study, study, study the scriptures and the words of the prophets.

I want to become a gospel and scripture scholar. The definition of scholar is "a learned person; someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines". I don't want this for show but to show God I value His word and to know Him better.

In summary, I see these aren't really new goals: praying and scripture study-they are the basics that I have been trying to do all of my life, but I am still excited to rededicate myself. It will be awesome to strive to be like Enoch and Abraham! And what could be more wonderful in this life than to walk with God and be a great follower of righteousness and possess great knowledge?!

I'm off to post these on my mirror so I won't forget!

I cleaned out the fridge this morning and found a lot of apples that no one wanted to eat anymore due to a bruise here or a blemish there. I googled" healthy apple recipes" and stumbled upon a great website : Meal Makeover Moms http://www.mealmakeovermoms.com/.

It is my New Year's Resolution to eat more healthy, AND (even harder), help the kids and Vaughn to eat more healthy! Meal Makeover Moms may be a great tool in helping me achieve my goals.

This is the recipe I am going to make:

Apple Blueberry Walnut Crisp

Makes 6 Servings
Ingredients
3 large Red or Golden Delicious apples (about 2 pounds), unpeeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 pint blueberries (1 cup) or 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
3/4 cup walnuts, very finely chopped
1/4 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the apples, brown sugar, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl and toss to coat. Gently toss in the blueberries.
Place the apple mixture in an 8 x 8-inch baking dish and set aside.
To make the topping, combine the walnuts, oats, brown sugar, whole wheat flour, flaxseed, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the canola oil and stir until the dry ingredients are well coated. Spread the topping evenly over the fruit mixture.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and the topping is golden brown (cover with foil if the topping browns too quickly). Serve with lowfat vanilla frozen yogurt or a dollop of light whipped cream.
Nutrition Information per Serving: 260 calories, 16g fat, (1.5g saturated, 2.3g omega-3), 105mg sodium, 30g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 4g protein, 10% vitamin C