Heather Farrell's Blog, page 5

A Culture of Light or a Culture of Darkness?

This is part 3 of my series "Cultivating a Heart Open to Life." 
In one of my favorite books “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn, the author asks his reader to imagine what would happen if a man haphazardly built an aircraft, based on his own preferences and completely ignored the principles of gravity and aerodynamics. He might spend years constructing it, labor studiously over it, and invest billions of dollars into building a beautiful aircraft. Yet if, in all his planning, he neglects to follo...

The Women who Delivered Moses

This is part 2 of my series "Cultivating a Heart Open to Life” 
The story of Moses is one of my favorites, mostly because his story is filled with incredible women. We are introduced to many of these women at the start of Moses's life and are shown several wonderful examples of women and men who, even though they lived in difficult times, had hearts open to life. In fact, it is through several sets of very personal individual choices that God was able to raise up a deliverer, Moses, and p...

When it Comes to Having Children-- It is all about your Heart

This is  part 1 of my series "Cultivating a Heart Open to Life."
The Ancient Egyptians believed that after you died you would be taken before the God Anubis (pictured above with the jackal head) and your heart would be weighed against the feather of truth. If your heart was found to be lighter than the feather of truth it meant that your heart was good and you could pass on to your eternal inheritance. However, if your heart was found to be heavier than the feather of truth it meant your...

Every Baby Comes with a Loaf of Bread Under its Arm

So I have happy news to share today! 
Farrell baby #5, who has been given the womb name of "Baby Otto", will be joining our family around the end of December! 

I'll freely admit that there are days when I think I must be crazy for having another baby, but I can't deny that this baby has been following me around for awhile. 
When I was pregnant with Tabitha Jon and I had the constant feeling that we were missing someone. When people asked how many children we had we would always sa...

Building Solomon's Temple

I once had a friend post the question, "What is your greatest pet peeve?" on her Facebook page. Most of the responses were the type you'd expect-- people who don't park straight, people who leave their shopping carts in the parking lot, putting the toilet paper roll on upside down, people who put the eggs back in the carton after cracking them, or in my case sleeping with wrinkles in my sheets... oh I hate that!

One person though left a comment that has given me a lot of thought since. She sai...

The Reason You Love Jane Austen-- and I Bet You didn't Even Know it

My junior year of college I signed up for a women's literature class as part of my Women's Studies minor at BYU. Shortly before the class began they notified us that there would be an instructor change, but since I didn't know either instructor I didn't think much of it. When I went to go buy my books for the class I noticed that there were two very different sets of books on the shelf. The first set was composed mostly of Jane Austen novels and several other books from the same time period,...

My Favorite Story about My Dad

Last Sunday was Father's Day here in the United States and since it always seems like I am three steps behind in life, I am once again going to post a belated Father's Day post. I have lots of good stories about my Dad but my very favorite story happened when I was about 15-years-old and was attending my fourth year of girl's camp. Our Ward always attended a Stake Camp at a church owned camp called Darby, nestled at the base of the Teton Mountains in Idaho. It is a beautiful camp and I have m...

Eve: In the Beginning {Book Review}

Way back in February I was asked if I'd be willing to review H.B. Moore's new book, "Eve: In the Beginning." It has taken me such a long time to get around to it that I sort of feel bad, but I figure that it is better late than never. I think it took me such a long time to read it because they sent me an ebook version of the story and I really don't like reading ebooks... at all. In fact, I've decided that I probably shouldn't agree to do book reviews unless they send me a hard copy, or it wi...

Divorce is as Hard as Death

Eleven years ago my aunt died. She was an incredible person-- beautiful, vivacious, kind. Her death was completely unexpected and it was a tragic shock for her three daughters and for our entire extended family. When my Dad called to tell me she had died I was at work, and since I was living near my aunt and uncle's I headed straight to their home after I got off. When I got there the room was dim and full of people mourning and comforting my uncle and his daughters. For a long time I sat wit...

My Climb Up Jacob's Ladder

Several weeks ago I was asked to write about my personal journey with the temple, about how I felt the first time I went, how I have learned and progressed in my understanding and appreciation of the temple, and how I have handled questions or concerns about temple worship. This was really a beautiful thing for me to reflect on and I am excited to share my experience. I hope that you will realize that this is my personal experience and that everyone's temple experience and journey is going to...