Friday, September 23, 2011

Doggy Tales

I know that it has been ages since I have written but tonight I figured I would start up again with my unexpected turn of events. I had just gotten done with a photo shoot and I headed home. Home is not very close to the bank so I decided to stop on the way. As I left the bank, I noticed a very worried lady starring towards the busy street in a panic. When I asked her if she was ok, she pointed to 3 stray dogs running around, a big, a medium and a little. They came back over towards the Vons parking lot and weaved in and out of cars to get through. A couple of us followed behind trying to herd them into safe areas while I called animal patrol. They circled around several times in and out of the parking lot acting like this was the last place they saw their owner. So sad :(. They were all nice and fairly well behaved but the midsize one seemed very friendly but scared. I ran into Baskin Robins and asked for some bowls of water which they kindly provided for me and I got all 3 of them to drink. The big one and the little one ended up wandering off but the middle fella, or gal was sticking around. The other sweet lady with me had to leave, so there I was...a parking lot away from my car, sitting on the curb in front of a nail salon sitting with a stray dog. Then I had the idea of asking if someone would grab me a leash from target or Vons so that I could actually walk with him and keep him with me, so I began to ask..... "excuse me, could you help me with the stray dog....." I truly expected someone would quickly help. I mean, I'm on an iPhone, I'm in nice clothes, my hair is done ok, I don't look threatening, but instead of helpful hands, I got several people glancing over and completely walking past me. Tears actually filled up in my eyes realizing how so many people do the same thing every day of their lives, but not in the same situation as me. Unfortunately their situation is a lot worse. Finally I got up the courage to ask another couple who gladly came over and pet the dog and went to the store to get a leash. Great! Now they're really gonna think I'm nuts cause their Christ like generosity made all the tears start fallin. At this point I had already called animal patrol again because 45 min had passed. They again told me someone would come as soon as possible. This same nice couple went in to get their ice-cream and when they came out they said that they would like to bring it home for the night and bring him to the shelter tomorrow to see if he has a micro-chip. Im obviously being a total big baby today because when they said that, i totally started crying again! We exchanged phone numbers and will both make sure that it gets taken care of.....possibly take him myself :). I hope those others have found their way somewhere safe too.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dream Morning of March 16 2011- Finding Christ...

The past 5 mornings I have woken up around 6:30 am or before to study the scriptures. A wonderful friend of mine inspired me to do so....along with Heavenly Father obviously. After reading yesterday, I visited several other scriptures relating to riches and money. I often battle with this in my head because I don't ever want greed to be part of me, but during this day and age, saving, planning, living, etc. requires money. So how do I find the balance in desiring wealth and financial abundance while still maintaining my humility.

In Psalms 62:10 it reads: "Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your hearts upon them."
Ecclesiastes 5:19: Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God" 
And in the Book of Mormon...Jacob 2:18: "Before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom."


Trust me...this is leading into my dream, I promise!

So I can see here that yes, many times in the scriptures, money and riches caused a lot of problems, but they have also been used for good and have been given as gifts from God.

In my dream, I was taken to this underground excavation of what looked like a VERY wealthy ancient society that had been buried underground over time. It was the largest collection of gold ever found. there were golden statues and tons of other things made of pure gold. This women (I have no idea who) secretly led me to a path that had a secret, off limits gate at the end. We went in and it was like a shopping mall, but there was artwork everywhere. Most of this artwork was ancient and special drawings or paintings of Christ. I looked around in amazement and with a small but humble feeling of pride and honor to be in the presence of something so sacred. The collection of gold had left my mind as I entered into the presence of something worth more than anything else.

Preserved, more than the largest collections of fine gold & riches ever found, was Christ. He took first priority over all else.

When I woke up and was review and journalling this dream, I felt as if I had subliminally passed a test. I felt like Heavenly Father testes me in my weakest, most revealing, unhindered and truthful state.....(dream land). Was I going to be able to look past all the gold, and blindly follow someone I didn't even know to the real sacred treasure? Yes. I did. I truly know that God heard my question and revealed to me my own personal answer.