Letters to my son:
I read some great stuff in Phillippians this morning. In Phill 4:6-13, it has some powerful messages.
First in vs 6 I had noted to “ask correctly.” Then I realized that asking correctly, in part, meant to always show gratitude in our prayers and supplication.
I love this verse (7), “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” First, the peace of God passeth all understanding—isn’t it true that when we have truly found that deep peace in Christ, it is beyond our comprehension. And when we feel that peace, we understand life on a whole new level and do not want to return back to our old state.
“Shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ–” If you remember the stickman, then you remember that the subconscious mind is the heart. Our subconscious is what moves us to action. Our “mind” is our conscious mind that accepts and rejects what we hear. If we are giving thanks in our prayers and feeling that powerful peace that takes us beyond our own understanding, then we will have Christ in our hearts (subconscious) and mind (conscious) so that we will be thinking of Him and acting like Him because it is in our subconscious (heart) to do so. And what we think about and have in our heart, we DO– take action on. LOVE this!!
In verse 9 I have circled the word DO. This is a great verse for us to understand. It says, “These things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you.” Isn’t it true that when we DO what we have learned, then we have PEACE and the spirit. It requires action like being baptized and living the principles or commandments, We need to DO those things we are taught.
Verse 11 tells us to learn to be content. I like that. We can be content no matter our circumstances. Contentment is really peace, I think.
Then verse 12 and 13 caught me today. “I know both how to be abased and abound.” Abased means humble. Abound seemed to me like abundant. We need to be humble and abundant at the same time. It’s like the law of polarity (opposition) a little, but in a positive way. If we want to be abundant and prosperous, we must first be humble by giving thanks in all things.
And the last verse is just powerful no matter what….”I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” This is just TRUE!! There truly is nothing we can’t do through Christ. It is HIS work. We are HIS children. There is nothing we cannot do in this life if we do it with our eye single to Him and with His help.
Last night I was working on my Personal Progress in Young Women. I read this scripture in James 1:22-27 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves….” I’ve heard this scripture over and over, but it finally resonated with me. I have understood the teachings of the gospel and many of them are repeated over and over. For example, I know that to keep my family safe and have the greatest chance of having my family stay on the right path and having them forever, I must do these 3 basics things: Read scriptures daily, have family prayer daily, and have Family Home Evening once a week. Simple, like looking at a staff, yet sometimes not easy to do. Too much of life gets in the way. 
I have to admit that I get in great resistance to journaling. I love having my thoughts saved, but dread taking the time to do it. A few years ago, I started a “Webster Weekly” where I wrote down what was going on in the family. I liked it. I like it even more now when I go back and read all the funny things my kids did. So I suppose that I am not in too much resistance to it, but really struggle to sit down and write. Probably because I want to write a lot and don’t feel I have much time.