National Novel Writing Month

I came, I wrote, I conquered! 50,011 words! I emerge from NaNoWriMo victorious, so Scripture Squiggles will return Friday, December 2.

Scripture Squiggle: Isaiah 30:8

"Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever"

Wow! Not only are the people at NaNoWriMo telling me to stop slacking and start writing, but so are the scriptures!

Okay, maybe it's a bit of a stretch. But that's what this November is going to be for me as I attempt to meet the NaNoWriMo challenge of 50,000 words. Which means, no Scripture Squiggles until the first Friday in December.

If I survive, that is...

Scripture Squiggle: Proverbs 15:1

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."

When I was little, nothing infuriated me when I was already upset like my older brother. Whenever he saw me frowning, crying, or pouting, he would grin at me and say, "Don't smile!"

I always tried, but no matter what I did, my traitorous lips would turn upward and for a brief second a smile crept onto my face--always followed by me yelling at my brother to leave me alone.

But he had already succeeded. My foul mood was broken by his simple statement. My anger at my brother never lasted long; really it was born from a desire to hold onto whatever had been bothering me, rather than let it go, as I should.

After my brother's smile trick, though, I had to let it go. Because his trick was more than a brother teasing a sister. His trick was a brother's love for his sister, because he didn't like to see me sad or upset.

Now that I'm older, I sometimes still hear him when things get tough. I see his smiling face as he taunts, "Don't smile."

But I do.

Scripture Squiggle: Jonah 3:10-4:1

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

As a young wife and mother living in a small town of strangers, I spent a lot of my time at my in-law's house. My mother-in-law let me use her washing machine, and then I would take the wet clothes home to decorate my apartment while they dried. Laundry day back then usually amounted to about three loads, so we had plenty of time to talk. Pat, my mother-in-law's next door neighbor, was often one of our topics.

Pat's husband Tony worked with my father-in-law. A sweet, quiet man, Tony made friends quickly and everyone liked him. Pat was a loud-mouthed drunk, and I got the feeling nobody liked her, least of all my mother-in-law. We talked about Pat's yelling rampages that woke my in-laws up each night, the broken bottles that invariably fell out of the garbage, and how Pat had taken to coming over to my mother-in-law's house to chat.

I would commiserate with her, return home with my wet clothes (while silently thanking the Lord for giving me neighbors that kept to themselves), and share all of the stories with my husband.

We'd laugh and groan, and feel sorry for Tony. He deserved so much more in a wife. So I should have been overjoyed when I learned that Pat was going to be baptized. Somehow her chats with my mother-in-law had turned to the Church, and she had expressed interest. After a few discussions, Pat was transformed. She gave up drinking, the late night yelling stopped, and Pat became as likable as Tony.

Then why did I feel like Jonah felt when the people of Nineveh repented? Maybe it was because I had used Pat to feel better about myself. As long as she was doing bad things that I wasn't doing, I knew that I wasn't the lowest on the Lord's list.

Perhaps I was eager, as Jonah was, to see others face the consequences of disobedience. And I felt his disappointment when this known sinner turned around and repented. Instead of embracing charity and rejoicing over the rescued soul, I harbored jealousy and self-righteousness.

I, dependent on the Savior's mercy, ignored his example. He associated with sinners, rejoiced when they repented, and loved everyone.

Fortunately, I did get to know Pat. Her infectious smile and animated personality pulled me in, despite my misgivings.

Now, when I feel myself struggling with some one's repentance, I remember Pat, my Ninevehite, and I find I can more easily reach out and embrace.

Scripture Squiggle: Doctrine & Covenants 101:16

"Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God."

I can't watch the news. Too many stories break my heart and fill me with dread and worry for my family. Sometimes, especially if one or more of my children are away from home, I am so overcome with fear for them, that I almost can't function. This promise from the Lord, that He is in charge of all things, is what I rely on to ease my fears.

The Parable of the Geckos

We do our best to protect our home from the bark scorpions that lurk outside, hoping to come in and find food and shelter. But we know they are out there, so we've taught our children to be careful when they play outside, picking things up with caution in case a scorpion is hiding underneath. And we use extra caution at night, when the scorpions are roaming around, searching for bugs.

Sometimes the knowledge of this danger threatens to overwhelm us. We know the scorpions are outside, we know they are dangerous, but, although we can take steps to prevent them from coming inside, we cannot eradicate them completely.

But we also know we are not left to fight the scorpions alone. At night, the geckos appear on our outer walls. Whether they actually eat scorpions, or just the food the scorpions seek, the geckos help us keep the scorpions away. We point them out to the kids and tell them that the geckos are on our side of the fight.

Just seeing them brings us comfort. They are our reminder that the Lord's hand is in all things.

Scripture Squiggle: Hebrews 2:1

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip."

This scripture was part of our Sunday School reading for this week. It immediately made me think of General Conference, just over a week away. Very appropriate! We should give more earnest heed to the prophets' words--we are privileged to hear them speak twice a year! My goal the past few weeks has been to better prepare myself for conference, and I've challenged my family to do the same.

The following is an excerpt from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's message in September's Ensign

A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?”

“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.

The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?”

At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn't think of the details of a single talk.

His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”

The brother felt humbled by this exchange. He vowed that he would do better to remember the words spoken by the Lord’s servants in general conference.

We all know how hard it is to remember every message of general conference, and I’m confident that we need not be embarrassed if we don’t remember everything. Nevertheless, there are messages in each general conference given as a gift and a blessing from heaven specifically for our personal life situations.

The Lord does have messages for each of us, and during those sessions of conference I've approached with specific prayers and questions I have heard those messages the Lord has sent for me. Read and follow President Uchdorf's counsel and you'll find General Conference can have personal, as well as global, meaning.

Scripture Squiggle: Ether 14:1

"And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people, in which if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land."

Sometimes I think my house in Buckeye sat on some of Jaredites' cursed land. Things disappeared pretty regularly there--and never resurfaced. The first item was the knead bar to my bread machine. The last time anyone ever saw it was in the dish drainer on the counter. Gone. My son's pacifiers were next. By the time we took his pacifier away at age three and a half, we had gone through fifteen pacifiers. They simply vanished, and no amount of searching ever uncovered them. Many other items fell victim to the curse over the eleven years we lived in that house: my daughter's stuffed pony, a swimsuit, puzzle pieces (not the small 1000 piece puzzle size, but the large, 5 piece ones designed for toddlers), jeans, t-shirts, and of course, socks. When we moved out last February, we fully expected to find the missing things. We didn't really believe the house was cursed, or that imps were running off with our possessions.

But we didn't. Not one missing item turned up when we emptied the house. Yes, we even slit the cover on the bottom of our couches to see if anything had somehow ended up inside where we couldn't see or reach. Still nothing.

The Jaredites were a numerous people. The land upon which they lived had to be vast, because my new house seems to suffer from the same curse. A few months after we moved in, my toddler's sippy cup vanished. As did my free movie tickets. And now, my oldest son's i-pod.

This house seems to have more expensive tastes.