Songs For The Season

So this year Christmas is going to be unique. I've never had one like it in the past and there never will be one like it in the future.

My life as I've known it up to this point has been a ball of crafty-creative-bits-of-thread-and-felt-mess. My fingers are ususally covered in some kind of ink or paint or tie-dye or pencil lead. When I think of talents that I want to share with other people it's my artistic side that I feel I can share best. Christmastime is when I'm feeling it most because there is nothing than I love more than to make gifts by hand for those I love.

A few days ago I was struggling because I've chosen not to focus on that for an entire year and a half.  There will be no long nights at the sewing machine to get all of the pieces thrown together and there will be no hidden handmade treasures stashed in a corner to hide from my family until Christmas morning. There are some small ways for me to express my right brained side, but not with the full devotion that I once had the time to do. What I am learning is how to develop other talents. My weak things are becoming strong.

I'm all about encouraging people to spend time on art, to learn a new craft, or to try out a new fascinating hobby. Right now though I'm all about developing my ability to open my mouth to testify of truth.  The gift that I want to give everyone this season is a chance to grow closer to the Savior.  My heart is in an imaginary box under a figurative tree for Christ this holiday season.

What's interesting is that as I've been writing this blog post the words I was planning didn't come out. Apparently my fingers know something that my brain hasn't quite figured out yet. I made this small playlist of Christmas songs that have been my favorites. I hope that as you listen to them and ponder the real meaning of Christmas you can decide to make this holiday more meaningful in your own family.

One of my absolute favorite Christmas songs is Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel by Brightwood and I couldn't find it to share on this playlist :( but that little link should take you to where you can hear it!

You're Weird and I Like That

I'm happy.

I'm me.

I'm fearless.

And it sure hasn't always been that way.
This blog began 5 months ago when I had a lot of fear.
Here I am, thrown out into the middle of Tennessee and Kentucky with nothing but scriptures, prayer, a few skirts, and a companion with a huge responsibility to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Every action is a reflection of my love for the Savior. I didn't know what I was doing. I still have a ton to learn.

But what I do know is this:

The Lord called me here for a reason. There are people here that will learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ because they need to hear it they way I teach. I wasn't called because I'm a perfect teacher but through my diligence and the things that God throws my way I keep learning and He's helping me to become more Christlike.

I can do this. I have 13 more months to live it up!

(thanks to emily for the encouragement to post a picture of myself, even if it is an old one...)
(and thank you to arielle elise for the inspiring post about letting go of fear. she shared some great quotes!)

General Conference

Has everyone already written about General Conference? I may be a few days late to the blog world for writing my thought and sharing some of my notes, but I guess it's good that I'm getting to it at all. I'm really a blogger with the best intentions but not much follow through. Luckily this art post series is going well and still regular! Here's a peep into my study journal so you can see what it looks like in the brain of Sister McCall:

Pretty scary stuff huh?? Do you want to know what was the most exciting to me? Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles gave a talk that was the same theme as my blog! In other words, what you're reading right now is pretty much divinely inspired ;) His talk is titled Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear and you better believe that's a link right to it! Elder Perry asked us to "be bold in our declaration of Jesus Christ".  Sometimes I wonder when I'm blogging if I'm being too bold or straightforward. I wonder if maybe no one will want to read what I have written because it is so gospel centered. This talk encouraged me to to keep it up! I have a blog for personal fun ridiculous things that I will be writing on after my mission and I can do absolutely whatever I want on it.

Right now my purpose is to be BOLD!

I encourage anyone who may read this to be bold in your faith! Proclaim it! Teach others about what you believe! I would love it if more people would just come up to me and tell me about their faith!



And as a treat to you for reading through this post here's another crazy page out of the journal!

*Lord, Save Me*

The first time I saw this painting was 4 months ago when I was at the MTC (Missionary Training Center).  Three weeks before that I had gone to a singles conference in Medford, OR where we went to the temple, had a few workshops to choose from, a service project, and of course dinner and a dance!

One of the classes that I chose was about scripture study and really understanding the doctrine behind the stories in the scriptures. A passage that we focused on during the class was that of Peter walking on water to Christ. Click HERE to read the passage of scripture depicted in this painting.

*

 What I find most fascinating is that we are usually quick to judge Peter and think that this story is about him losing his faith. I think I was in that same boat (har har. lame pun NOT intended) until I went to that workshop in Oregon. The instructor asked us to reread verses 31 and 32. Um, how did they get back into the boat? That part of the story is left out! I believe that Peter, after looking up at the Savior and recognizing the need for his direct focus on Him, walked arm and arm back to the ship with Christ.

Think on that a while!

The Parable Project

For the next 6 weeks the missionaries in our zone (all of the missionaries in the Nashville area) are focusing on parables found in the scriptures. I love that Christ taught in parables so the principles He shared would be understood only by those who were searching for truth. Remember when I wrote about ships and how I love the nautical stories in the Bible? Well I'd like to share another parable that I love!

This painting of the parable of the 10 virgins has always inspired me because it holds so much symbolism! One semester in college I took a course called Spirituality in Art where we analyzed symbols in paintings, sculpture, architecture, and music. Go click on that link to learn about the symbolism behind this great painting by Gayla Prince!

Have you read about the 10 virgins before? It is found in Matthew 25. At the time Christ told this parable it would have seemed to the Pharisees that he was just telling a story about some silly bridesmaids that didn't have light on their way to a wedding feast. What I love is that with further understanding and study we find that each one of us is one of those virgins on the path to the Savior. The oil in our lamps is our effort and preparedness. If there isn't enough oil in my lamp I'm not going to be prepared to meet the Savior at the end of my journey!

I'm going to do my best this week to apply the parable of the 10 virgins to my life so I will have oil in my lamp!



Maybe My focus Isn't That Great

I've recently written a post about baptism and I'm already kind of losing steam on the mini-series (why does that always happen??) So click HERE to go back to the post about baptism :)

Some suggestions for scripture study are 2 Nephi 31:4-8 , Matthew 3:13-17 , and Moroni 8:25-26

Faith Is Like A Little Seed

Alright, here we are at post #1. Faith. Something I should know a little bit about considering the title of my blog and my current full time work as a missionary. But then again faith is something that is always changing, growing, and extending! 

*

The lessons we teach every day come from a manual called Preach My Gospel. You can go ahead and click on that link and read it yourself if you like. I know that it helps me so much in my scripture study and as I have come to understand basic principles such as faith and prayer my testimony of Jesus Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has grown to a point I never even knew it could be. Here's a quote from the manual that explains why that is. 

"When we have faith in Christ, we accept and apply His Atonement and His teachings. We trust Him and what He says. We know that He has the power to keep His promises. Heavenly Father blesses those who have faith to obey His Son."

Faith is an action word! Did you notice that about those words in bold? Accept, apply, trust, obey, those are all things that require action on our part! Faith is not just a nice complacent thought, it's acting upon our understanding of God's plan for us! 

In the Book of Mormon there is an excellent parable that is like an equation; try this thing and then you will receive an answer! You can find it in Alma 32:26-36. In these verses the prophet Alma compares the word of God, or the scriptures, to a seed. If scripture study is treated like planting a seed what does that require? When I have gardened in the past it has taken constant daily care to make sure the soil is good, there is enough water, sunlight, no weeds are growing, no bugs are getting to the leaves, it's not exactly like you just thrust a seed into the ground and expect tomatoes or flowers the next day! 

It's the same idea with growing a testimony of the Savior. First you have to just open the scriptures up to get to know what Christ even teaches in the first place! Then application becomes necessary. Try out some teachings! 

Time is short and I have to run. Remember how I said this was going to be a mini series? Well it's going to require some action. Go read that scripture in Alma and when you comment let me know what your plan of action is!

Sunshine Sunday

Things that made me happy today:

*Braids*

No, this isn't me. But it sure is wonderful to braid my hair like this the night before so I don't have to worry about doing my hair when we run out the door to church at 8am!

*Men's MoTab CD*

Oooh their cover of Billy Joel's Lullaby is my new favorite song. We were listening to it as we drove home last night and I was just looking out the window at the beautiful moon and enjoying the perfect moment.

*2 Nephi 31:20*

I gave a short talk today during Sacrament meeting based off of this verse. Then when I went to class with the young women and we read it again! Must have been inspired ;)

*Wearing my Anthropologie dress*

No picture. But oh have happy a pretty dress can make you feel!

*Little girls laughs*

*

Cara and Autumn were just laughing up a storm today and oh how a girly giggle is just the sweetest sound ever!

*Talking about Eternal Families in Sunday school*

*

Someday I will be married for eternity in a Temple of the Lord. Talking about the blessing of an eternal marriage in Gospel Principles class today got me so excited for when that time will come for me!



Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me

I love most all things nautical. This love may have stemmed from my Dad's obsession with Popeye or from growing up playing in the ocean. My fear of sharks is unbelieveably ridiculous so not all pieces of this obsession really make sense.

Proof of the Popeye fanaticism. This is my first Halloween!

You may be wondering at this point ok, nice story, what does this have to do with anything? Lets try to make a connection here Sister McCall! Here it is!

I love studying parables in the scriptures because they are stories that teach principles of the gospel in a way that applied to the lives of those present. It wouldn't do much good to teach with an analogy they didn't understand! (You know I don't understand fishing metaphors!!! Name that movie?) 

During His ministry several of Christ's disicples were fishermen and he taught them how to spread the good news of the gospel by saying "come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." Mark 1:16-17 

So this applies to me how? I'm not a fisherman. How do I come to understand these passages today? Well I do have that fascination of the ocean and I have really come to love these sea-faring scriptures through music. I posted a link to some Hymns last week and I suggested listening to the "Master the Tempest is Raging". I'm going to share that link again but this time listen to "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me."

My thoughts are not always as organized as I'd like them to be and I have a few other thoughts about ocean/fishing/sailor things that I have come to love in the scriptures.  So hopefully this will become a little series of posts so I can share just one idea at a time.

Check out a new link in the "goodies" section of the blog to find the image that got me thinking about this topic!

Stretch!

I put post-it notes everywhere! When Sister Warwood and I go to visit someone and they aren't home we always leave a sticky on the door with a little message. We also love inviting people to read passages of scripture and we'll write them on sticky notes. This website Things We Forget always gives me a little inspiration and its like an internet sticky!

*

I like this one because we have been talking about enduring to the end a lot in our companionship study. I set big goals and have my sights set on big things because I know some day I can make it! My super big ulitmate whole reason for living goal is to return to live with God some day!

Everyone can have that goal and everyone has the potential to make it! Leave me a comment with your address and I'll send you a real sticky note reminder of your divine worth!

I love y'all!

Worth of a Soul

Sister Warwood and I cleaned out the bookshelf in our front room the other day and we found some small cards with pictures of Christ at different points in His ministry. It's interesting to me how depictions of Jesus Christ are so personal. I didn't feel a connection with the represention of Jesus on those cards, but I knew they were nice so I left them on the shelf for someone else to find and enjoy.

This painting, Worth of a Soul by Liz Lemon Swindle is one of my absolute favorite images of Christ. I like it for a few reasons. One is that it is tranquil and calm. There is so much turmoil in the world and I know that the Savior suffered for every pain of every individual. He is there to succor us in our afflictions.  I love how innocent children are, and we are all admonished to become like little children and put off the "natural man" to become like Christ. Mosiah 3:18

*

I am also drawn to Byzantine icons of the Savior.  My love for this artwork stemmed from a class I took in college titled Spirituality in Art.  These likenesses of Christ are not intended to soften the heart and do not in any way reflect that "Jesus is my homeboy" attitude (I really don't like that phrase). These illustrations of the Savoir remind me that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God. They bring reverence to Him.

*

I know that having representations of Christ in my home and around me in life are essential as reminders to be like Him.  What are some of your favorite portrayals of our Redeemer?