Pray with me brotha'

Chad and I have pretty much lived together our whole lives. We shared a bedroom, and then when our basement was finished we pretty much lived alone in the basement together. Chad would call it our "man-pad" because we had our TV, couches, mini fridge, and microwave; and Mom's food storage too---which made food retrieval for 2 lazy boys, very handy.

Conversations with my little brother, Chad, never went quite as I had hoped.

"Shut up."

"You shut up ya idiot."

--Yeah, about like that. I was thinking recently about a time when Chad was just entering his teenage "saga" and mine was at it's peak.

(Girls = drive boys nuts! As a teenager)

One night, Chad and I had yelled at each other-and this was like BYU vs. UTAH rivalry game, Lakers vs. Celtics--type of yelling. He went to his room and slammed the door.

I sat there on the couch. Festering in myself and telling myself why I'm right and he's wrong. I was angry, and all I wanted to do was let that anger stir inside me. Then I thought, "go pray with him."

Yeah right! Pray with that?! I wouldn't be able to pray because Heavenly Father likes happy prayers and trust me...I am not happy!

Amulek, while preaching with the Prophet Alma, said unto his people, "Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him."

I walked to Chad's room, opened his door and said, "Hey, would you like to say a prayer with me?"

We continued doing that for about 2 weeks...every night.

Our relationship began to change, our friendship changed,

Our attitudes toward each other....changed.

Find times to pray.

Especially when you feel you have no need to improve.

And especially when you're angry---

Even if he is your little brother.

Neptune and Saturn

Have you ever looked through something and seen something different that what your natural eye can see?

For instance, a microscope, telescope, or a glass filled with water?

What happens to you when you learn this new perspective? Do you learn, apply, and grow to be a little taller...a little wiser?

Or do you just say, "that's great to see" and then do nothing about it?

Sometimes you have to really focus to see what you're trying to see. I remember going to look through this massive observatory telescope; I was hoping to see these amazing views and extraordinary pictures....

I saw little dots. Lame

It wasn't until the clouds had moved and the man in charge came up and said,"here let me adjust your view" that I started to see Saturn's rings and one of Neptune's moons.

We all have in our mind-eye what we want to something to look like. In talking to a lot of different people over the years, I've found that maybe it's more about finding within ourselves the humility to turn to the man in charge and say, "I can't see very well."

And then when the time is right, and the clouds have moved...He will come to you and say,

"Here, let me adjust your view."

And you'll be amazed what you'll be able to see.