One of the Seven

Well, I just moved home to my parents house after living in Bozeman for the last five and a half years.  I'll be here for another couple weeks before I make the final move (it's been a long process with many steps!) out to Indiana for grad school. 

These last few weeks have been kind of a bittersweet process of saying "see you later" (I refuse to say goodbye!) and just tying up loose ends.  It has been hard, but there have been some amazing experiences that came out of it all.  One example is a friendship I had that went through a lot of ups and downs over the last year.  I've know the whole time that it was worth it to me, but this last week I had the opportunity to see that our friendship had meant something to this other individual as well, which was kind of really cool to see.

Also along the lines of tying up loose ends, I had a chance to see one of my best friends this weekend who I don't get to see all that often anymore since she moved out of state.  We were visiting, and she told me about an idea that she had. 

In Bozeman, our stake president had asked us to do 7 Simple Things: 1. Personal prayer morning and night 2. Family prayer morning and night 3. Personal scripture study daily 4. Family scripture study at least 5 times a week 5. FHE weekly 6. Attend church weekly 7. Attend the temple monthly

Anyhow, my friend was talking about how, where she lives now, it's sometimes hard to have family scripture study because she and her roommates were never around at the same time, so she decided to start a blog (called One of the Seven) and invite a couple other people to join and contribute.  We share our thoughts from our personal scripture study for the day, and kind of count that as our family scripture study.  I LOVE IT!!!!  Such an amazing idea, but then again, she's amazing, which is why I'm friends with her! :)  I'm so exited for this because I am moving to Indiana and will no longer have roommates to scripture study with, so I'm glad that my friend had this idea.  I'm not gonna lie, it pretty much made my day!  Huzzah! :)

The Touch of The Master's Hand

Twas battered and scared, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But he held it up with a smile.
 "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,

"Who'll start bidding for me?

A dollar, a dollar - now who’ll make it two _

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

"Three dollars once, three dollars twice,

Going for three". . . but no!
 From the room far back a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening up the strings,

He played a melody,pure and sweet,

As sweet as an angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said: "What am I bidden for the old violin?"

And he held it up with the bow;

"A thousand dollars - and who'll make it two?

Two thousand - and who'll make it three?

Three thousand once, three thousand twice

And going - and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

"We do not quite understand -

What changed its worth?" The man replied:

"The touch of the masters hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and torn with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd.

Much like the old violin.

A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,

A game and he travels on,

He's going once, and going twice -

He's going - and almost gone!

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd,

Never can quite understand,

The worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.

~Myra B. Welch