What A Great Father's Day

   It has been a few days since Father's Day, but I've still been thinking about it. It seems that the time I can't celebrate Father's Day with my dad is when I think about him the most. I guess the old saying, "you don't know what you got 'til its gone" applies here. The longer I am away from home the more excited I am to see him and my family again.

   I appreciate my father so much more now that I have been gone from home for a while. Nothing could replace all the summer days working together or being out on family trips. I'll always appreciate the counsel and direction he gave me, often times it was without having to even say a word. Just watching him be him was enough to realize I wanted to be just like my dad.

There's my mom and dad,
but right now its about the man on the left.

   Its been a fast, but oh so long six months since I last seen the man known as Brett George. What I've come to understand during that time is that without him being my dad to help raise me and teach me what I needed to know I wouldn't be ready for this experience called "life".

   There's something even more important that I've come to understand! Without my Heavenly Father I wouldn't have been ready for the experience of life.

It will be two years until I can see my father and personally thank him for all he has done for me.

It will be many more years until I can see my Heavenly Father again and thank him for all He has done for me.

"O my Father, thou that dwellest In the high and glorious place, When shall I regain thy presence And again behold thy face?"

"may I  meet you in your royal courts on high? Then, at length, when I've completed All you sent me forth to do, with your mutual approbation Let me come and dwell with you."

   O My Father hymn # 292

How to Boil a Frog

   Alright, so has anyone else wondered about boiling frogs? I know it sounds like another one of those weird things that I think about, but trust me there's a point to this.
   Anyone that knows cooking would say that whatever you're planning on making involves a pot of water there is a process. You get a pot of water, heat it up until it starts boiling, and then put in whatever you're boiling. Sounds pretty simple right? Well, with boiling a live frog the process is switched around. If you were to throw a frog in boiling water it would jump out as soon as possible because it doesn't feel good being in boiling hot water! Its obvious to the frog that boiling water is no good for his health and he knows if he stays in much longer he's going to be cooked.

   However, when the frog is placed in a pot of water at room temperature over the stove top this is what happens...

Hmm I'm feeling good right now!
 This is pretty nice!

Ahh, some extra heat.



Ahh that hits spot!



Oh geez I'm not feeling so well.

Aaannd... *Croak*



 Ohhh Nooo!! Froggy what happened to you!!??

   See, what happened to our amphibious amigo is something that can happen to us as well. He was perfectly fine and comfortable as he sat in his nice cool water and as the water slowly got hotter it didn't bother him. It was just slow enough for him to get comfortable with the change and accept it. However, things did get worse and he couldn't handle it anymore...

   Our lives are also like this. Things can get worse for us if we let it. We can let ourselves slip into a sense of "whatever" and let our lives get out of control. That's why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is here in our lives. Its here to help us see if we might be in a pot of water thats ready to boil.

  

   As King Benjamin says in Mosiah 4:30 of the Book of Mormon,

"But this much I can tell you that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts,

and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue

in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the

end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not."

   The last thing I have to say is this:

The gospel can and will bless our lives. On one condition though, we have to live it and do our best. The gospel is the one thing that will bring us true happiness and it is what gives our lives a sense of order and purpose. Once we stop living it things get out of control fast. So the last thing I beg you to do is...please don't be a boiled frog.