Ok so I know this may be random, but I LOVED church on Sunday. It was a rather unique day with each class focused on completely different things.
Sacrament was about missionary work. How we all need to work on being more conscious of our commitment to fellowshipping.
Second hour (although lacking without our wonderful Desi there to guide us :P) was about preparedness, Food storage, times of war and rumors of war. The lesson was actually very interesting, focusing on the story of the stripling warriors, and their firmness in following the right way because of their mothers. (This story always touches me deeply. Reminds me of the strength I have in my own life do to my mother.)
And of course, last hour, which was a combined lesson on addiction and repentance. Which focused on more than just "THOSE" sins and more on habitual sins. Like being addicted to spending, working, eating, and all the things that pull us to the world and away from Heavenly Father.
After church I was giggling to myself thinking, "today was rather random. Missionary work, Food Storage/Preparedness, and Addiction. Three very different topics to be thrown together in one day." As I continued my Sunday with personal prayers and study, I found myself thinking of those three topics all together. I couldn't seem to get them out of my mind. I would try to read or play with Kale but, those topics kept coming back to me.
So, a little confused, I turned to prayer, trying to makes sense of my wandering mind. I am terrible at praying. I often talk to much and listen too little. I love to here my own opinions on how my life should be or how my mind should work. VANITY!
So, to try to actually LEARN from God instead of TEACH to Him :P I just kept repeating the words over and over, missionary work, preparedness, addictions. I found myself having an overwhelming sense of peace and one word occurred to me OBEDIENCE.
Why do we do missionary work? Because we are told to.
Why do we pay tithing, collect food storage, and pick a side during times of war? Because we are told to.
Why do we need to face all of our addictions and repent? Because we are told to.
Obedience is a strange thing. It effects every aspect of our lives. It is there as a guiding hand to keep us safe in times of feeling alone, hungry, or unworthy. It is there to help us grow and be happy.
How I love the gospel! I am so grateful for it!
I saw the story of the stripling warriors in a different light. These were not "hulking young men" who "fought off evil with their strength". I learned in class that stripling does not mean "buffed" but "young". Like the word for a young tree-saplings". These young boys, perhaps not even yet young adults, went out to face their enemies with one strength. The might of obedience.
I hope I can be more like those young stripling warriors.
I hope I can face the world in faith, taught by those around me, strong in the gospel, firm in my obedience, and have my family protected by the covenants I keep.
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3 comments:
Great thoughts! I am always amazed what I learn when I take time to listen after I ma done asking and thanking in my prayers. I am grateful for the agency we have so that we get hte choice to obey, soemthing that we have been fighting for since the war in heaven.
It sounds like it was a diverse set of topics but that it was very well done! I'm bummed I missed it! Thank you so much for sharing such beautiful insight with us. I really need to work more on listening in my prayers too. I am very good at asking for what I want and then waiting for it to happen, but most often forget to listen to what I am supposed to learn or even what my path should be. Thank you for the reminding and the encouragement to work on that!
Wow, my sucka...I wish I was there with you that weekend to hear those topics on Sunday, but really...your discussion of them, or the impact they have had on you, your testimony of the principle of obedience is really moving to me, girl. I am not nearly obedient enough...I have struggled with this principle near my entire life...since I started to talk, I'm sure, and probably even before then--thinking in my infant mind how I could push some boundary or another.
Today, though fully aware of the consequences of disobedience, sometimes I don't make the best choice on all the little things that really make up the fabric of my life. If I have a choice between apple and chocolate--or anything super healthy for me and chocolate, mostly, its the latter, though when I just take a moment to speak these options out loud, in open conversation with Heavenly Father... though it would seem silly to most to consult on something so insignificant, I am strengthened...and with joy I choose the best lot. If only I was mindful consistently, eh? Those choices do get easier to make the more often I choose the right. I DO know this is true.
Shopping...not this is a whole other story, but just today at the walmart, though I loathe walmart and am ashamed to even begin a sentence with...today, in the walmart, but I picked up 4x the number of items as I actually purchased, asking...do I really need this? I left feeling pretty good about that. I love ya, girl. Here's to one day at a time...
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