A Note From Les… If today you are rising from defeat, succeeding in failure, buffeting the storms of life, then this is the day you become the best version of yourself. This is the day you see your eternal worth, the day you step forward in courageous confidence, the day you change for the good. This is the day you love yourself with more grace, and love others with more understanding. This is the day you receive that grace, and…
It’s Monday morning, the start of a new week, a week for both you and me will be extremely busy. As you start out your week, I invite you to think about what it means to be busy. Lee Iacocca counseled us to keep busy. “In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.” Henry David Thoreau took the opposite side of the spectrum and strongly…
A failure in 1957 led to a present-day miracle. The failure was the death of a little girl “gravely ill from congenital heart disease.” The miracle was the healing of my heart. The world of health care was much different 65 years ago when President Russell M. Nelson was pioneering efforts in open-heart surgery. Pioneering efforts are fraught with trial and error, mistakes and failure. Yet, few have more dire consequences than the pioneer efforts in medical care. But without the…
I have often found myself, by choice or circumstance, in the arena, battling my fears, trembling in fear, defeated more by myself than the battle. Not anymore! I am in the arena. I know why I am there. I stand in more confidence. I rise when I’m struck down. I empower others to also rise. My inspiration for today’s thought comes via Aaron Kelson, a good friend from our college days, who shared his thoughts on Teddy Roosevelt’s passionate speech…
I joined for the connections and knowledge. I was quickly was embraced by the love and hope. And Wednesday I came home with a guitar. Yep, life doesn’t get much better. Or does it? Time for a story! DREAMING OF SPEAKING I have long enjoyed sharing stories, one-on-one, in front of a group, and on a stage. But that wasn’t always the case. While even as a youth I like to share stories and give talks in church, I didn’t…
There have been many over the course of my journey who I have seen as SPIRITUAL GIANTS. As I have pondered what it is that makes a person a spiritual giant to me, I believe it comes down to three core principles. FAITH They believe in their God and in the essence of how they connect with God, even if they doubt, have questions, or struggle to live the precepts they ascribe to. They hope for that which is true,…
My friends Jenna Riser and Emily Marlow have caused me to ponder again on my journey with body image. As I have contemplated I have poured my thoughts into creating. If I may share… First, a couple of stories, And then a gift of poetry. GYM INTIMIDATION I have often felt intimidated in the past when going to the gym because scrawny old me couldn’t lift like other men could. Lifting was unfamiliar, I really didn’t know what I should…
We Stand All Amazed that the Lord can do impossible math. As we recently learned when we met Dallas Jenkins, Creator of The Chosen, the Lord will multiply our efforts. As we show up with our meager loaves and fish, the Lord will do the “impossible math”, as Jenkins calls it, to feed the 5,000. We Stand All Amazed at the love Jesus offers us. We “marvel that he would descend from his throne divine / To rescue a soul so…
Dallas Jenkins isn’t worried about the multiplication. No, we’re not talking about new math that made helping with homework nearly impossible for me after my kids hit the 3rd grade. We’re talking about loaves and fishes. The creator of The Chosen, a TV series based on the Life of Jesus of Nazareth, was in Logan Wednesday evening for the USU Arrington Lecture Series at the USU Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall. Jenkins referenced several times the New Testament story of the feeding…
In the well-known poem “Footprints In The Sand”, a weary traveler realizes “at the very lowest and saddest times in his life” there was just one set of footprints. Upon sharing his concerns, the Lord gently teaches His “precious child” that “During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” The Old Testament Prophet Jacob, as he dreamed of a ladder reaching up into heaven, also…