208,451,008th born of Heavenly Parents (me)

Well, somewhere thereabouts. I've been pondering my premortal self. Birth order is only one of the many mysteries. Nick is the oldest, then me, then Jean, then Jon, then Michelle, then Emily, then Eric. Of course we're talking fiction here. We lived in a home together, 100 individuals per home. All of these residences were occupied by significant others. Parents to be, children to be, siblings to be, and so forth. We lived together in the same village for 1000 years, then...

You write the next few sentences.

shake your cheerios

I used an object lesson you may like: Take a bag of cheerios out of the cardboard box so that all you have is a see-through container. Put a ping-pong ball at the bottom of the bag and cover it completely with about 6 to 8 inches of cheerios. Then shake the bag gently. After about 10 shakes the ping-pong ball will magically pop out on top! There are many applications but try this one:

From the May Ensign, 1997, Henry B. Eyring:

"Sometimes we will receive counsel that we cannot understand or that seems not to apply to us, even after careful prayer and thought. Don't discard the counsel, but hold it close. If someone you trusted handed you what appeared to be nothing more than sand with the promise that it contained gold, you might wisely hold it in your hand awhile, shaking it gently. Every time I have done that with counsel from a prophet, after a time the gold flakes have begun to appear and I have been grateful."

Today in seminary, one of my students said she never wants kids. So I told her to shake her cheerios and not chuck them out too soon. In other words, don't throw away the idea of motherhood before some significant time has passed and opportunities have come your way.

Ruth and Boaz

So, Ruth's mother-in-law had Ruth go and lay by Boaz's feet on their first date. Boaz is so classy that when he wakes he doesn't freak, he just say, who dat? Ruth's request was for his mercy and grace to cover her. Here were two virtuous and upright people going through a ritual: Boaz, acting as goel, or redeemer, covers her with his skirt (blanket). He reassures her all is well: he will be her protector and bridegroom. They marry and become a covenant couple. Ruth is the convert to the church; Boaz the life-time member. They have a son, Obed, who has a son, Jesse, who has a son, David....who has a daughter, Mary, and a son, Joseph, who have a Son, Jesus. Boaz typifies our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Ruth typifies our adoption into the family of Christ, our conversion, rebirth, and covenant relationship with him. Christ has us covered. He loves us.

Whitestone

Jean and I have thought our last names combine into a rather romantic sounding pen name. So, when Michelle said she'd set me up with a blog, I decided to use it. The words on this blog will be my own unless I credit Jean. It's just a start. A place to say a few things as they come. I want to find my voice and share a few thoughts from time to time. Don't take what I write too seriously. Most of my thinking is incoherent. Writing it down is like trying to get Seth, Maryn, Jonas, Zane, and Annie to agree on who should be president. So just roll with it and don't hold me to some high standard of grammar.

First thought: I love my family.

a beginning...

here's to many words of wisdom...