Sorry this is a long quote, but it is wonderful!
"Isn’t
it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our
busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an
accomplishment or sign of a superior life.
Is it?
I shared this message with a cute sister that I visit teach and told her that if she ever needs anything she can let me know. If I am too busy to help her, than I am doing something wrong. Serving her and fulfilling my role should be at the top of my priority list and if it isn't, it needs to change asap.
I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ,
and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have
tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a
list of urgent things accomplished.
I can’t see it.
Instead
I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each
day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and
loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them,
ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the
precious gift of His time.
In
our day it is easy to merely pretend to spend time with others. With
the click of a mouse, we can “connect” with thousands of “friends”
without ever having to face a single one of them. Technology can be a
wonderful thing, and it is very useful when we cannot be near our loved
ones. My wife and I live far away from precious family members; we know
how that is. However, I believe that we are not headed in the right
direction, individually and as a society, when we connect with family or
friends mostly by reposting humorous pictures, forwarding trivial
things, or linking our loved ones to sites on the Internet. I suppose
there is a place for this kind of activity, but how much time are we
willing to spend on it? If we fail to give our best personal self and
undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will
regret it."
Our relief society teacher shared an experience when she was out with her grandkids at a museum and noticed that six of the seven adults in the kids play area were on their phones. Only one was actually engaged with their children. I am so guilty of this! So I made some goals to work on this. For example, today at Lego Club I didn't get my phone out at all. I recently pinned a quote that says "Wherever you are be all there" by Jim Elliott.
"We certainly cannot do this (laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven) with a dragging-our-feet, staring-at-our-watch, complaining-as-we-go approach to discipleship.
When
it comes to living the gospel, we should not be like the boy who dipped
his toe in the water and then claimed he went swimming. As sons and
daughters of our Heavenly Father, we are capable of so much more. For
that, good intentions are not enough. We must do. Even more important, we must become what Heavenly Father wants us to be.
Declaring
our testimony of the gospel is good, but being a living example of the
restored gospel is better. Wishing to be more faithful to our covenants
is good; actually being faithful to sacred covenants—including living a
virtuous life, paying our tithes and offerings, keeping the Word of Wisdom,
and serving those in need—is much better. Announcing that we will
dedicate more time for family prayer, scripture study, and wholesome
family activities is good; but actually doing all these things steadily
will bring heavenly blessings to our lives.
Discipleship is the pursuit of holiness and happiness. It is the path to our best and happiest self."
I have felt this nagging tug that I am not living up to my potential. Thinking about being an invested mother is good, actually spending time with my kids is better. Dreaming of a clean kitchen is good, actually cleaning it is better. While I am a long way off from this, there is a peace that comes from knowing that good choices are helping me become the woman God knows I can be, even when I am still trying to figure out what she is really like. Memories of that peace help me resist temptation, which I hope if I do often enough will become habits.
"As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew
about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to
see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents."
What beautiful possibilities! If I want this I need to be willing to work and not 'staring-at-[my]-watch' and complaining.
"We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to
discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not
meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the
Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.”6"
I shouldn't wait until our house is sold (which it finally is!!!) to be happy, or until the hubby is done with grad school, or until anything else. Happiness is a choice and I need to choose it. Of course there are days when happiness isn't even in the picture, just making it to bedtime without losing my temper is my only priority. But I don't want to waste too many days to that. Sometimes I pray for an extra amount of God's love for my children when I seem to be out. I pray to remember that it is a phase and while it is difficult I am not alone and I am in it for the long haul. Quitting is not an option so I may as well look on the bright side.
This talk is really life changing for me; I hope you will take the time to read the whole thing.
The other talk I have been thinking about, especially in regards to how I want to manage our family is "Mother's Who Know" by Sister Beck. I'm not going to discuss it, but I encourage you to read or reread it if it has been a while. It is powerful and gives me the courage to make the hard choices; the ones that will keep my family strong.
I pray that this holiday season is a meaningful one for each of us and that we will focus on having Christ in Christmas.
