Live In It

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance, but live right in it, under its roof." -Barbara Kingsolver, found via finestquotes.com

I love that. Live right in it! That's exactly what I feel the whole One Word movement is all about, living right in the word we have chosen. My word just happens to be hope, and fits right in the quote above.

 I know that I hope in my Savior, and that I truly want to live in that hope. I want everything I do to find its beginnings in the hope I place in my Savior. I don't want to act out of fear or desperation or anything else but hope: trust and faith in God that he will direct me for good (Alma 37:37). I want to live under hope's roof, to make it my anchor  (Heb. 6:19, Ether 12:4), letting it make me sure and steadfast.  Hope is powerful, my friends.

Linking up with Jen at Finding Heaven. :)

Blizzard Blog Hop 2011

Welcome to Happily Ever Now. This blog is where I express myself and connect with others. My name is Rachel, I am going to be 23 a week from tomorrow.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in colloquial terms, a Mormon. I believe that I am a child of God, that my Heavenly Father sent Jesus Christ to be my Savior, and that I can return to live with them someday if I am obedient to the laws and principles of the gospel.

I just graduated from Brigham Young University last August with a B.S. in Psychology. I want to work with teenagers after I get my master's degree. (I'm taking my GREs for the first time in a week....its gonna be a practice run, I can just tell..)

 Right now I am living with my mom after separating from my husband, a US Navy sailor. I miss him every day, and hope that maybe we could make our way back to each other. But if not, I'll just plug along and find a new life, new love.

A big focus for my blog this year is One Word 2011. My word is hope, and I am blogging about my journey with this word.

Welcome, new readers, and love to those who already read.

Hope Is

Hope is scary
Hope is hard
Hope is painful

I am learning to hope in the Lord,  but I am also hoping for specific things.  Things I want, and am trying to determine if they are what the Lord wants for me. The hope for these things, events, people, could not come to fruition, and that makes is scary to hope, hard to hope, painful to hope. That's why the core of my hope is in my Savior, and what he has planned for me. Why I pray to see if my hopes are aligned with His plans. But even if they are, I can't control anymore than my own actions, and neither will God. He may plan something, and influence us, guide us. But he can't guide us if we aren't seeking Him. So I hope for something, but know that it may not happen. And that is just terrifying.

 But I know that God will catch me if everything falls through, that his works are not frustrated when people exercise their free agency. He just adapts. And I can trust in that, hope in that. That makes hope beautiful and safe.

Hope is beautiful
Hope is safe

Love Those Movies!

Anyone notice that the E! channel has The Princess Diaries on all the time lately? Not that I mind,  I could watch that movie over and over and never get sick of it. I decided to share a list of movies that I just don't get sick of.
They are in no particular order

• The Princess Diaries
• Legally Blonde (though sometimes, with this one, I have to start with the scene in the bookstore right after the "costume party")
• Mamma Mia
• The Time Traveler's Wife
• Just Like Heaven
• Sweet Home Alabama (seeing a trend? I love Reese Witherspoon)
• Dirty Dancing
• The Princess Bride

These are some of my favorites, though if I really tried I'm sure I could name more. What movie do you never get sick of?

Shattered Heart, Meet Your Healer

Healing is a process, and it doesn't help the process when the door is not completely shut or open. This separation with the intent to divorce feels like a revolving door sometimes, where for a stretch of time,  I will be healing and recovering just fine, and then one little thing will send me shooting back to down to the depths of rejection and hurt. My favorite little moment, to add on to quite a few lately, is my estranged husband using the lame lame line that maybe some people just make better friends than lovers. Twist that knife, sweetheart.

What keeps me going, even when I am in searing pain, is my faith. I know that my God can heal this, will heal this. That when all is said and done, I will be whole because God gave me a Savior. My job is to turn all this hurt over to Him (Matt 11:28-30), to hope in Him (1 Pet 1:18-21). As long as I keep my focus on my Savior, nothing can go permanently wrong (Howard W Hunter, BYU Devotional, 3/14/89, paragraph 9). Pray with me that I can follow my Savior completely and wholly, holding nothing back, that I will listen and obey even if it seems hard or inconvenient.

Mormon Messages: Create

I don't think you need to be Mormon to appreciate this beautiful message. I love what President Uctdorf has to say here, and his strong, steady, grandfatherly voice. I also love the editing of this video, the music and the images add so much.

My favorite quotes: The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.

Think about it, your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.

Enjoy!

As of Late

I found this on Critty Joy's blog. I love reading this blog. She is such an inspiration to me. And after I found this As of Late meme, the post to go along just started writing itself.

Lately, I have been blogging more and seeking community through bloggi
Lately, I have been chasing hope, with the encouragement of new friends.
Lately, I have been playing with my hair, seeing what different things I can do with it. I am in love with my diffuser.
Lately, I have discovered that I am truly a night owl.
Lately, my life has been one big series of ups and downs. But it is good because of my God.
Lately, I love praying for my friends, seeking God's hand in their lives.
Lately, I have spent a lot of time with best friends before they go back to their regular lives.
Lately, I love haunting YouTube and watching videos of songs that fit my situation. The best I have found is from a BYU animation professor, called Thought of You. So haunting and beautiful.
Lately, I have been finding God's love abounds in my life. I knew it, but love to constantly feel it.

That's a pretty good summary. Thanks, Critty Joy, for this wonderful idea.