"Cheer up your hearts"

I have been studying 2 Nephi 9-16 this past week and I noticed something that amused me. I hope you don't mind me sharing this with you. In 2 Nephi 10-23 it reads:

 "Therefore cheer up your hearts,and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves-to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."

This verse comes just 10 verses before it launches into "The Isaiah Chapters". Usually people dread the Isaiah chapters because they are a challenge to understand. I will confess I am one of those. So, I found it amusing (and possibly purposeful) that Jacob says "Cheer up your hearts" just before he quotes Isaiah.

Okay, so after he tells us to be cheery, he reminds us that we are free. Living in "the home of the brave and the land of the free", the word "free" is tossed around a lot and maybe a little too "freely". ;) We are free, or are given the opportunity, to act for ourselves. We get to choose! That is awesome! When I make meals for the boys they get to choose sometimes what we have. But they always get to choose how they respond (or act) to what I make. It isn't always PB&J or waffles (which they request for almost every meal, whether I ask for suggestions or not). Sometimes it is a, heaven forbid, a veggie meal (Ewww gross!).

Now that I have dissected that verse a little for you I want to apply it to (duh duh duuuuhn) "The Isaiah Chapters". I decided that I would try and pick out a few things from these chapters that give me a cheery heart.
Chapter 12:
Right off the bat he talks about the Temple (1 cheery heart) and in these Temples we get to learn "...and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths..."(2 cheery heart) (2 Ne 12:3). Then he discusses how the proud and the wicked will fair during the second coming. I strive not to be those things so if I stay on the course at hand I will be at peace. (3 cheery heart)
Chapter 14:
We are given a tabernacle-a place of refuge and peace (4 cheery heart) (vs 6)
Chapter 16:
We can be purged and cleansed of our sins (5 cheery heart) (vs 6-7)

We can be cheery through times of difficulty and trial, you may have to search it out a little but it is there. I found at least 5 cheery hearts in these chapters of Isaiah. How many cheery hearts can we find through out our days of motherhood?

-Kelly :)