This article is Part 1 of Sister Michelle Watson's series "Dealing With Divine Delays."

Many Christians experience what I've heard described as a "divine delay." This is when we're expecting God to answer a prayer or do something for us, and it doesn't happen. Divine delay is hope deferred — Proverbs 13:12 says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Ain't it the truth.

My divine delay came in the form of infertility. After two years married, I expected to be expecting. There were many times I suspected I was expecting — but no. It wasn't happening, and it took six long years for my husband, Brother Michael, and me to emerge on the other side of that trial.

One evening, I was driving home from dinner when my mom played me this song she heard on K-LOVE radio. The song was called “Tell Me” by Carrollton, and the basic message of the lyrics is that even if we feel like we’re nothing, to God we’re everything. Our identity lies in His love, and even on our worst days when we feel like giving up or we’re never going to be good enough, God tells us we’re special, and important, and wonderful, and loved.

In my life, I’ve constantly struggled with the idea of being perfect. The problem with perfection is, aside from Jesus Christ, no one can even come close to being perfect. I have grown up being physically imperfect with a deformity that makes me incomplete, and it hasn’t been an easy thing for me to deal with.

In the terms of the digital world we live in, the Lord God has an infinite storage capacity for data and a surveillance system that records 24/7 our thoughts, words, choices, actions ... For every soul that has ever breathed the breath of life, there is a Book in Heaven that records every action committed — good and evil.

Our actions determine our eternal destiny.

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." (Rev. 20:12)

This article is dedicated to Brother R. and all those who have reflected Christ to those around them.

Have you ever seen a wacky mirror at an amusement park? You know the kind I mean — the ones that make you tall or short, thin or fat. These mirrors are taking beams of light and bending them to show that distorted image. It's fun because we look very different from the way we actually are.

Yet, those are not the types of mirrors we want to use as a guide to perform a specialized task. If I tried to shave using one of those mirrors, I would likely have cuts and terrible razor burn all over my face and neck. So, naturally, it's easy to see which type of mirror has any practical use in my life.

When God says “No,” He's actually saying “Yes!”

What a backwards thought! Have you ever petitioned the Lord for something that was pressing on your heart, and the answer wasn’t what you expected? Perhaps it was “Not yet” or “Not at all.”

I know, in my experience, when I've been so clearly denied something by God, I either listen and move on, pout for a bit and then find the courage to move on, or worse, willfully disobey. It is in those terrible moments that I have failed to internalize the words in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

I falsely believe that I know what is best for me, and I act against the Lord’s will. Now, trust me, and I say this wholeheartedly, willful disobedience only leads to immense pain and heartbreak.

Today's article is another installment in Brother P.'s column, "Lessons From the Nursing Home."

I am an elder in the church, and I am the greatest, most righteous person you will ever know.

Have you ever heard an elder say that?? (I hope not.) Have you ever suspected an elder thought that by the way he speaks or his mannerisms?

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

In a day and age of instant gratification, we dislike waiting. Waiting in line at the drive thru to get our morning coffee. Waiting to get results from a test (academic or medical). Waiting to see results from a new diet and exercise program we are starting. Waiting for God to answer a prayer.

When my dad was a little boy, he and his younger brother, Fred, were playing outside when all of a sudden Fred started screaming and running for home. High-tailing it as fast as he could, Dad raced to catch up with Fred in order to beat him home, all the while yelling, “I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it!”

In his mind, he wanted to make sure that it was clearly known that he had nothing to do with whatever the problem was. As it turned out, Fred had gotten himself into a very industrious nest of red ants, which proceeded to leave very large, painful welts on his legs that stung like the dickens for many days. Poor little guy!

Right now, my life is in this constant stage of waiting. I’m waiting for May 6 because I’ll finally be done with college (for now!). I’m waiting for the first week of July because I’ll be back at GMBA camp with all my out-of-state friends and family. I’m waiting to move out, to buy a new car, and to find the person I get to spend the rest of my life with. I’m waiting.

The difficult thing about waiting is that I live in a society where everything is instant. If I hear a song on the radio and like it, I buy it on my smartphone and play it in a matter of minutes. If I don’t know the answer to a question, I ask Siri or Google it and get the answer immediately. If I find something I like, I can buy it with one click on Amazon, and two days later it comes in the mail. Patience is hard to practice when I live in a world of instant gratification.

We are accustomed to the blessing of three meals a day and a variety of food that satisfies our palette. Our grocery stores are filled with abundance, and God continues His blessings upon this Promised Land.

"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." (Alma 32:27)

Webster defines the word experiment as "an operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown effect or law or to establish a hypothesis, or to illustrate a known law."

Just a reminder, today's article is part of Brother P.'s column, "Lessons From the Nursing Home." Because he's sharing stories from his workplace, a nursing home, it's better to keep personal details vague. We hope you enjoy reading the spiritual takeaways inspired by his job as a physical therapist.

I've mentioned in previous blogs that my day job is walking people in a nursing home. Usually the people I'm working with are older. Usually they've just had a hospital stay. Sometimes they've just received a new knee or hip replacement. Often they live alone and just need a little exercise to be able to safely manage their household environment.

It’s a new year. That means a lot of New Year’s resolutions are being made. And by now, over two weeks into January, that means a lot of New Year’s resolutions are already broken.

As a personal trainer, January is my busiest time of year. After eating all the sugary treats over the holidays and not moving very much, everyone vows to be healthier. Sometimes people take it seriously and really make changes, while others attempt it half-heartedly, and their effort lasts maybe a week.

Jesus. There is great power in His name. It’s something my husband and I have taught our children at a very young age. When they would wake up from a bad dream, they would come into our room crying. We taught them very young that whenever that happened, all they ever needed to do was to say Jesus’ name.

We talked about how the evil one shrinks away at the sound of His name. We wanted them to always feel the power of the Lord by knowing that they had the power given to them and could scare away the evil one. All it took was one word — Jesus. They always found such great comfort in this.

With the New Year here, I started thinking about resolutions. We've all made them before, right? Once the holidays are over, I'm going to… (insert change here).

It's normal to reevaluate life at this time of year and decide to make some changes where necessary. It seems like the most popular one is to lose weight, eat better, or work out more.

Hence the reason why gym companies love the New Year.

If you are a gym member, then you know how busy the first two weeks of January are. By February, however, attendance starts to fall off rapidly. By March, you're pretty much back to where it was in December minus the few who decided to stick with the lifestyle change.