Rise Up, O Men of God

If any of you have followed my blog over the last few years, you probably noticed my 8 month absence from LDS Printables. My husband and I moved across the country with our small children for a summer internship, and shortly after moving back to finish school we had our 3rd child, a sweet baby girl. My time and resources were dramatically depleted by the new baby and by two crazy toddlers running around, so my printables and website were pushed to the back burner for awhile. I am just now getting back to a stable schedule where I can exercise some creativity and get new printables online for you. If you have emailed me or sent me a message via Facebook or left a comment, I am working on responding to everyone now. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

I often worry about raising my children in a society with ever-changing values, and although I worry more (perhaps) about my daughters, I also worry about my son. My adorable little boy is innocent now, but he will be exposed to society’s skewed perspective on what it means to be a “real man.” I hope and pray that my husband and I can teach him to be a “real man” in God’s eyes: a man of God.

One of the first examples I think of when I think of a man of God is Captain Moroni. Alma 48:17 tells us: “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” Isn’t that incredible? If all men were like Moroni, the powers of hell would be shaken FOREVER. But why? What made Moroni so different, so worthy of such a compliment? 

Alma 48:11-13 says: “…Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people. Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.”

If I were to read between the lines a bit, I would presume Moroni lived the 13th Article of Faith perfectly: “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”

Alma 48:18-19 also tells us, “Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God. Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less serviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.”

Along with my husband, these are the men I want my son to look up to as his heroes. These are the role models, examples, and missionaries that I want to teach my son to be like. I hope and pray that as my son studies the gospel, he will learn to be a real man–a man of God.

The hymn “Rise Up, O Men of God” invites the men in the world to unite together in righteousness.

Rise Up, O Men of God

Have done with lesser things.

Give heart and soul and mind and strength

To serve the King of Kings.

Rise up, O men of God,

In one united throng.

Bring in the day of brotherhood

And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!

Tread where his feet have trod.

As brothers of the Son of Man,

Rise up, O men of God!

Rise up! Rise up! Rise up!

Let us teach our sons to be like Moroni, the sons of Mosiah, and the other heroes in the scriptures. Let us encourage them to rise up, to be better than the world, to value the freedom and welfare of others more than their own desires.

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Draw Near to God

I have tried to write this post a few times, but nothing seems to come out correctly. I don’t know how to adequately explain what is going on in my mind today, but my heart is feeling a bit…lonely. Yeah, that’s the word. Lonely.

In the last few weeks, my family and I moved away from a place we loved with friends we adored and a ward that was fantastic to another great place where we have friends and family close by, and our new ward is also wonderful. Life is beautiful in both places, and I know I have been blessed. However, I have been feeling like I’m missing something.

As I pondered on what I’ve been missing, the answer became clear: I am missing my Heavenly Father. I am missing the relationship and connection I have had with Him in the past. I miss His love, His guidance, and His comfort. I know I have felt all of those things recently, and I’m not breaking commandments or trying to stray from those things, but I think I have been too distracted to recognize them. With the start of my new Etsy business, See Nikki Create, our move out of state, two sick babies, and a million of life’s stresses that have piled up, I have unintentionally distanced myself from my Father.

That happens sometimes, doesn’t it? We get so busy trying to live our lives that we forget to counsel with the one who KNOWS our lives. We read our scriptures, but only read a few verses right before we go to bed; we say our prayers, but we are half asleep; we go to church, but we are distracted by our children or our to-do lists and we miss the spiritual lessons; we try so hard to do everything we can as mothers and wives (crafts, perfect meals, gorgeous home decorations, play dates, intimacy, etc.) that we forget the important fact that our families need God more than anything.

Luckily, Heavenly Father knows our hearts and knows that we are trying our best. He will accept us back unconditionally with loving arms, whenever we turn back to Him and make Him our priority. As Elder Uchtdorf explained in his talk The Hope of God’s Light from the April 2013 General Conference, “As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.”

I need to draw nearer to God every day. Here are my goals to accomplish this:
1. Get on my knees every morning to thank Him for my life and blessings.
2. Pray with my children when they wake up.
3. Spend a consistent amount of time every day doing gospel studies.
4. Pray for His approval on my priority list, and when I get His approval, stick to it.
5. Put my family, church service, and my spiritual growth before any other matters.

I hope that as I do this the next few days, I will be able to feel God drawing nearer to me. I know He will, because He has promised each of us that blessing.

How are you going to draw nearer to God this week?

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I Am A Child of God – Balloons

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You may remember that at the beginning of the year I posted some “I Am A Child of God” printables in a few different languages. They have been used in Primary classes all over the world at this point! I am planning on printing up a few for my own Sunbeam class in the next few weeks. 

I had a friend request that I recreate this printable with hot air balloons so that it would match the decor of her kids’ bathroom and bedroom. Seeing as how I’m temporarily in Albuquerque, NM (the most fanatic hot air balloon place that I have ever heard of), I thought it would be fitting to share these printables with my readers.

I have always been fascinated by hot air balloons. When I was a little girl, I watched “The Great Chipmunk Adventure” over and over again. In this delightful film, the Chipmunks and Chipettes race around the world in hot air balloons, and they enjoy incredible adventures and some catchy songs. I imagined it would be the greatest experience to do the same thing! I still have yet to ride in one myself (I blame it on my excessive fear of heights + lack of finances haha), but I dream of it every time I see those gorgeous balloons rising above the horizon.

I’m not sure why I think hot air balloons are so magnificent, but I assume it is because as you are riding, you are floating in the air, above the world, free to feel the wind blow lightly through your hair. The trials and problems of the world stay below you, and you can see so many of God’s marvelous creations for hundreds of miles in every direction. I imagine that I would have no worries, no fears, and complete peace.

However, with my feet planted on the ground, I can also have those three things because of the knowledge that I am a child of God. That fact alone rings so true to my heart, and I know I can do anything because of my divine inheritance.

I am a child of God. He has enabled me with some of His holy qualities. I can rise above all that is impure and unholy because of the example of my Father and His Son. Whenever you see this print, remember that you, too, can rise above the world because YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.

Have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon? What were some of the feelings you experienced?

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