Moran Family Fun

In Ephesians 6, Paul uses a familiar military metaphor to teach about the need to protect ourselves spiritually - putting on the whole armor of God. Satan is tricky and getting more aggressive in his efforts. He will use lots of methods to attack us as we make our way through life. I think about our girls a lot and compare the temptations I faced when I was younger to what they are confronted with each day. It's a whole new world out there and satan is everywhere and actively seeking them out. I was talking with a friend about this the other day and how during the last days, there will be false Christs and false prophets with their signs and wonders deceiving the very elect (Matthew 24:24). I believe today's youth and young adults are the very elect and it is heartbreaking to see so many of them being deceived and falling away. As I look at our children, I worry that I haven't taught them enough or helped them learn how to put on the armor of God AND why is it vital for the...

I've been trying to be more healthy in the things I eat and I've added lots of fruit to my daily life. Way more than I usually eat to the point that I'm almost getting sick of eating fruit. Well, this week I have been studying in the book of Galatians. There are a couple of passages in chapter five that I've probably heard a million times before but they still stand out as worth pondering and remembering.  First, Galatians 5:16-17 that talks about what we need to do to overcome temptation. Paul told the Galatians: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." I recognize these competing sides in my nature, even though I would like to be the kind of person who is only the good side of things. I want to walk in the Spirit, I want to be worthy to have the Sp...

This week I was reading in the New Testament in 2 Thessalonians and wanted to share a passage that stood out to me. On a side note, around this time last year, we were in Thessaloniki for vacation and I didn't even make the connection to the books in the Bible.  Thessaloniki with the White Tower in the background In 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 it says "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and god, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work." I love traditions and we're coming into the time of year when traditions really take center stage so I think that's one reason why these verses stood out. However, I don't think Paul was talking about traditions like family pajamas on Christmas Eve or cooking Grandma's pumpkin pi...

I'm currently taking a New Testament institute course to help me get ready for next year's Come, Follow Me curriculum and really get a head start on studying when we'll be teaching at home and in Seminary. We're one week in and already, I'm being asked to share what I'm learning. I should have known because that's a big part of the learning model at BYU-I! One option for these weekly assignments is to post on a blog so that will be what I do for the next little while on here - share the thoughts and feelings and discoveries that come to my heart and mind from studying the beautiful teachings in the New Testament.  Back in September, I decided that I wanted to study my patriarchal blessing. I'm pretty good about pulling it out and reading it from time to time, but really studying it is something I'd never done before. My plan was to look for blessings, spiritual gifts, promises, words of affirmation, and warnings. One thing that stood out to me was a ...

I uttered that title phrase one time on a cold windy day in Yellowstone, and that was enough to make it go down in Moran family history as my catchphrase. This week we’re at young women camp in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Today as I sat and studied the scriptures I felt as if one section from this week’s Come, Follow Me manual was perfectly made for me.  The question I decided to focus my study on was “How does pondering the Lord’s creations lead me to praise Him?” and the corresponding chapters were Psalms 8, 19, and 33. I wanted to write down what came to mind as I pondered the Lord’s creations. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.  Psalms 19:1 Alma 30 teaches that “all things denote there is a God” and I believe that. I especially believe that the earth and its creations testify of God. Sitting here surrounded by the beautiful mountains and trees is a good reminder of that. I may not be outdoorsy in that I don’t love strenuous o...

On Sundays, our family studies a talk from the most recent General Conference for our family scripture study. This week we read and discussed Sister Wright's talk Christ Heals That Which is Broken .  She talked about how  Jesus Christ can help us heal our relationships with God, with each other, and with ourselves. It was perfectly timed because I had just shared with Larisa in a text that "I don't feel quite so broken, but I'm not all the way whole either". So often, life knocks me down and leaves me feeling like that. Not exactly broken, but not as unbroken as I'd like to be. Learning how to get back up and put the pieces together again and being okay with things looking differently than I thought they would has been an important lesson that I wish I didn't have to learn.  At the beginning of her talk, she said that our lives cannot "be understood by one magnificent moment or one regrettable public disappointment." I think this is where I get c...

After a year and a half of our family living scattered across different continents, taking over parts of dear family members' homes, living in hotels for an extended period, and generally having a bit of an unsettled life, we're in a house that we expect to call home for the next few years. We're mostly here together - it's still strange to have our family become smaller and more spread out as our children grow while at the same time become larger because of our two amazing sons-in-law. The four of us who are here are here together and that's been pretty great PLUS we have all of our things. It's both strange and wonderful.  When we moved into our home in Brandon, I posted a little house tour here and it's been fun to look back on that, so I thought we could do the same thing here for our Bickendorf house.  I loved our house in England because it was all on one level and it had an enormous kitchen. We have stairs here and a smaller kitchen, but we still love...