{ A Little Bit of Leah }

So I know I haven't posted for a while. There are these things called college applications and wisdom teeth. . . they make life kinda busy. But I'm back on the band wagon now! Anywho, with the year 2014 quickly nearing the end, I have been thinking back on this year; specifically, I have been thinking about the Youth 2014 scripture, Moroni 10:32: " Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength , then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. " While the focus for youth has been to " come unto Christ and be perfected in Him ", I think the rest of the scripture helps us know how to do that. It says, ". . . [L]ove God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is [H]i...

Beauty: (n) a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. Thank you google. The world convinces us that beauty is based upon the clothing we wear, the makeup that covers our face, our dress size, how toned our arms/legs are, the color of our skin, and so much more. It is evident in the commercials, magazines, videos, music, social media, and more that we are bombarded with daily. Beauty, in the world's mind, is comparison. Think about it. You are not beautiful unless you are thinner than your friend on Facebook. You are not beautiful unless your lips are fuller/redder/smoother than the model in the magazine. You are not beautiful unless your clothes are more expensive/ your hair is more voluminous/ your legs are longer/ blah blah blah. Stahp! Stop comparing. Beauty is not comparison. Beauty is the individual decision to see yourself from a different perspective; it is not based upon outer appearance but ...

Society convinces you that you must "find yourself."  Many spend years trying to piece together a person who they think they are. Others travel to discover the person they have always been.  The remaining population simply moves away from home, starts a business, goes to school, finds a religion, gets married, or begins a new hobby all in hopes that they can somehow discover the person that they "truly are"; so they can "find" or "discover themselves". Guess what? Its not that hard.  In fact, you already know. You are a Child of a Heavenly Father that loves you . One of (granted, there are many) my favorite chapters in all of scripture is Romans 8. Verse 16 states, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. "  Our spirits know that we are children of a Heavenly Father. Our mortal minds (the veil) are the roadblock that prevents us from that knowledge. Our purpose here on earth is to redi...

"She made me do it!" I think that is something we've all said and heard many a time from a young child who has been caught in the act. And while we chuckle now, there are instances where we claim the same thing. As human beings we naturally blame others for our weaknesses, insecurities, and mistakes. It is embarrassing to admit you are wrong. (Believe me, I've done it far too many times.) And placing the blame on another is so easy. But you are the only one that can decide what you feel and how you act. " Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves-- to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life ." (2 Nephi 10:23) There are five phrases that could be completely erased from society's vocabulary if we decided for ourselves to have a different attitude. Let me share. He makes me so angry/happy/sad/mad. . .  No one can make you do anything.  That's the beautiful thing about the gift...

Beginnings are scary things.  Whether it's the beginning of a new school year,  a new job, a new relationship, a blog :), or a lifestyle change, beginnings can be intimidating.  Why is that?  Why are we, as human beings, so afraid of change? Change is scary because sometimes we don't want to change.  We become comfortable and our situation becomes manageable.  We refuse to believe that anything can make us more satisfied/happier/more successful/healthier/etc. . . than we are now. But we are not scared of change itself, but of the unknown. And the scary thing is that no matter how much knowledge we gain, there will always be unknowns.  Think about it this way.  There is only so much I can learn from books, online posts, doctors, moms, etc. . . about childbirth.  I will never know what childbirth is really like until I actually experience that. But do you want to know what the beautiful part of the unknown is? Even though the unknown is sc...