grace.

i taught the lesson in our relief society class this past sunday afternoon. the topic was my choice and finally on saturday afternoon (of course) after months of pondering and praying... came to this:
weak things become strong through him. 

i have been learning to teach from the spirit and less + less from the manual and prepared outlines. the magic that happened during that one hour with my sisters was amazing.
we discussed.
we taught each other.
and we ran out of time.

"...if we are truly humble, meek, and reachable in the face of our weakness and we don't just give up... because we don't know how to do it or it isn't a reasonable priority today.  we don't stop trying to improve just because last year's new year's resolutions didn't make it to february. we keep working on our endless list: the less-than-stellar sunday school lessons, our impatience with our children, our lackluster prayers, our fifteen extra pounds, our irritability with coworkers, our messy garage, and all our other human weaknesses.  and as we do so we are open to learning, willing to prioritize and to be as prayerful, patient, and honest with ourselves and others as we know how to be.
...and when we are not, we try again, confident in God's love and grace..."
- from Weakness is Not Sin by Wendy Ulrich

we talked about our own weaknesses. and then we talked about how we overcome them. how they bring us closer to the lord. how sometimes we just need to shift our focus a little bit and how sometimes we even find strength in them...


PS: download your own 5x7 prints here. one for you and one for your neighbor.
oh, and read that book. it's good.