life in color

I've been mulling over this post for a while but hadn't gotten the push to sit down and write it... until today. I woke up early this morning with an intense headache that felt like a small creature was trying to crawl its way out of my left eye. After 3 naps, 2 sumatriptan, an excess of caffeine, a trip to the bathroom to throw up and 11 hours of frustration, I'm finally starting to feel better. My battles against my head aren't normally this bad. However, regular headaches have been a part of my life for a few years now (passed down from my sweet mother's genetics). There is rarely a day that I'm not conscious of my body and making minor adjustments to try to prevent an attack.  I don't tell you this to get sympathy. There are far worse ailments of the body and mind than this, but headaches are (and I think will continue to be) one of my trials. And as with all trials come blessings and insights, and I wanted to share a few of the lessons I hav...

I probably haven't earned my right to use a Star Trek quote as a blog post title since I've only seen two of the movie remakes, but an image of Spock with his jet-black hair and pointy ears and hand raised in the Vulcan salute kept running through my mind as I read my scriptures the other day. In my study, I came across a verse where the Lord promised His people that if they were righteous, they would prosper. I hadn't ever really taken much notice of this phrase, though it is oft repeated throughout the scriptures. Was this prosperity solely in terms of land, flocks and other temporal blessings? As I pondered, I decided that the blessings of prosperity must be more than just financial stability because I have met a lot of really faithful people who struggle to put food on the table. I do believe that our Heavenly Parents provide temporally for Their children, but I also concluded that to truly prosper means to be provided for spiritually, to be filled with joy an...