Adoption, Covenants, and Gratitude

(I’m not sure if anyone even reads this.  I write mainly for myself anyway, but I usually spend a lot of time writing and re-writing until I feel like I have expressed my ideas clearly and articulately.  I am choosing to not spend the time to do this today but instead to publish this in a fairly rough stage…)

Today, being a fifth Sunday, our third hour of church was combined with men and women, and even the older youth were invited.  The stake president taught the lesson, and since I had been to these presentations before about the options available for unwed women that become pregnant, I didn’t particularly expect this presentation to be much different.  Today’s meeting was wonderful, and I hope to share some of what most impressed me.

Inspire

I love these definitions of inspire:

• to animate
• to stimulate to action
• to fill with enlivening or exalting emotion
• to spur on or to encourage

I was inspired by this video of Jon Schmidt:

 

It is inspiring to me to see someone such as Jon that loves what he does.  I am inspired by people that dedicate time and effort to perfect their skill and then share it so generously with others.

I am impressed that Jon dedicated this song to his daughter.  In a sense, she inspired him to do this arrangement.  I think we are all capable of inspiring others, and perhaps that is one of our greatest callings in life- to encourage, to strengthen, and to inspire others to do and to be their best.

Thanks, Jon, for the inspiration!

Motives

This is probably the fifth or sixth post that I have started now on the topic of motives.  I think our motivation for the things we do is often as important if not more important than what we actually do.  Motivation, I think, can become complex, and maybe this is why I have so many unfinished drafts on the topic.

I will try to keep this brief and to the point by focusing on a recent personal experience.  Someone that I know fairly well and that I admire is going through a serious medical challenge.  This has been challenging for his whole family as I think it would be for anyone.

I am truly saddened by the difficulty that they face, especially this family’s children.  Out of a desire to do something to help, I offered to bring a pizza for their dinner tonight, which they graciously accepted.  I use this personal example not to show how wonderful I am, but on the contrary, to highlight how I believe that even sincere service is often given at least in part from a selfish perspective.

It is true that I had a sincere desire to help.  However, I suggested the pizza at least in part because it was an easy solution to my desire to do something.  And although the pizza may be helpful for the family, I am quite sure their needs go far beyond a quick meal.

If I really cared, wouldn’t I make a greater personal investment in really meeting their needs rather than selecting the most convenient solution for me?  Was I more concerned about helping someone or about satisfying my own need?

Like I mentioned, motives are complicated, and I think various motives are often at play for any given action.  Rather than congratulate myself for doing a good deed, in the future, I hope that I can more generously and selflessly give of myself to help those in need.

Counsel from Conference

This past weekend our stake was reorganized under the direction of Elder Ballard and Elder Wheeler.  We had wonderful meetings- the Spirit was present, and I was taught/reminded of many important truths.  Here are a few of the main ideas that caught my attention:

• prophets are seers; they see the enemy from afar and warn us of what we need to do to be safe; our safety lies in following the prophet
• we need to make a greater effort to recognize promptings of the Holy Ghost; we must find a time and place to ponder and to listen
• a “mental” conversion to the gospel is not sufficient; to withstand temptations and trials that we may face, we need testimonies that are deeply rooted in our hearts

As I have thought about some of the comments, I have also been reminded that comparing ourselves to others can be dangerous.  On one hand, if we view ourselves favorably compared to others, certainly we have problems with pride.  And if we compare ourselves with others and find ourselves lacking, we suffer from yet another aspect of pride.

In a favorite book of mine, Ester Rasband puts it this way:  ”Self-hatred…is the most intense form of self-love, because it is total self-absorption, total preoccupation with seeking our own comfort.”  While I find myself often thinking that so-and-so has such a perfect life or that I wish I were like such-and-such, I realize that such comparisons are never productive and that I am better off not judging at all.  I think there is a fine line between appreciating some else’s virtues and coveting them.

Finally, one of the speakers reminded us that we do not need to be called to the stake presidency (or any other calling for that matter) to obtain the greatest blessings that Heavenly Father can offer.  We only need to have faith, to repent, and to endure to the end in keeping our covenants, and although it may not always be easy, these are things that we all can do. 

It was a wonderful conference, and now the challenge is to actually change- not necessarily what I say or do but more in how I think and feel.

Blessings of Adversity

Painting by Cloy Kent

Often when I have an idea to write about, I’ll begin but soon get mired in complexity as one idea leads to another.  I end up thinking of different scriptures or talks that relate to the topic, and what began as a simple idea becomes a little cumbersome.  Thus I now have many drafts at various stages of completion.  I’m finding it is much easier to comment on other blogs than to write my own post here.

While reading a favorite blog today I was reminded of the story of Francis Webster, a pioneer from the Martin handcart company.  Many are familiar with him as the account has been published in various manuals over the years.  Familiar or not, it is worth reading, and rather than recounting it myself, you can read about Francis’ experience here.

These handcart pioneers experienced adversity in the form of malnutrition and hunger, disease and illness, and exposure to freezing temperatures.  Few of us can imagine the difficulty of walking, often barefoot, between 14 and 20 miles per day, with very little to eat.  We cannot fathom trudging through snowstorms, up hills and mountains, day after day.  It is a miracle that so many survived this 1300-mile journey.

As Brother Webster points out, the pioneers themselves were not critical of the leaders whose decision to leave late in the season lead to suffering and death beyond what other handcart companies experienced.  Rather, Brother Webster and most likely others of the Martin and Willey companies recognized that the extreme adversity they experienced lead them to rely on God and to know Him personally; they saw this as a great blessing.

So, this leads to my questions:  are adversity and suffering required for us to to personally know God?  In our lives of relative comfort and ease, can we develop this same personal relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?  What are the keys to developing this relationship?

I feel as though my somewhat troublefree life has resulted too often in complacency.  By no means is my life perfect- I have many of the same concerns and issues that we all struggle with- but I believe that my challenge is to learn to rely on God and to come to know him more personally without being compelled to do so by adversity.  While I’m not too worried about “being carefully lead down to hell,” I do worry about being “lulled into security” such that I don’t sufficiently exercise faith, adequately repent, or humbly become as valiant of a servant as I am capable of becoming.

I definitely do not have all of the answers and hope that others will share ideas, but here are my thoughts about coming to know God in the absence of adversity:

• Recognize His love and be grateful for His many blessings
• Seek to know and to do His will
• Practice reaching out and selflessly serving others
• Put Him first in my life; direct my thoughts and efforts toward Him and His work

It is easy to understand and to discuss these principles; the challenge comes in actually living them….

Multitasking

I’m not a good multitasker.  For me, there’s nothing more enjoyable than having one simple task and sticking with it until it is 100% complete, and then perhaps starting on something else (if I’m up to it).  It seems my mind can only handle one thing at a time.

If you call me while I’m at work and I actually happen to be doing something, be prepared for a pretty neanderthalian conversation:  I might get out something like “uh huh” or “nope” while I fight to maintain focus on my work (OK- maybe not quite that bad).  I did recently discover that I can eat and read at the same time with some proficiency!

My wife, on the other hand, is an amazing mutlitasker.  In fact, I don’t think she ever monotasks.  She can text message on her phone, talk on another phone, and cook dinner at the same time.  She does more in 10 minutes of multitasking than I do all day long (and that’s on my good days).  I don’t think she’s capable of not multitasking- it just comes naturally to her, and I think she must get bored if she’s only doing one thing at a time.

The multitasking wife and the monotasking husband need to be aware of their tendencies (limitations?) if communication is to occur.  For example, I may wait in vain all day for my wife to slow down to mach1 to try to get her attention to discuss something.  She might be trying to tell me things all day long, but I may be so focused on something else that I miss her full message.  It’s just a difference in pace, but an important one that needs to be addressed for multitaskers and monotaskers to communicate.

Now this is done, so time to move on to my next task….

Fall Colors

I’ve really been enjoying the changing colors of fall and finally started taking some pictures a few days ago.  Now, everywhere I go, I’m searching for trees that are accessible for photo taking.

I wish I had more time, a better camera, and some training to better capture the beauty I have seen….

Some pretty leaves at Disneyland earlier this year

Flowers outside our house from earlier this summer.

Taken last fall near Timpanogos Cave

Neighborhood Tree

Neighborhood Tree

One on One

I have been enjoying beautiful colors for the past few weeks- the trees and bushes are beautiful shades of reds, yellows, and oranges.  This is one of my favorite times of the year. I hope to take some pictures and post them here soon. I always find it nearly impossible to capture the full beauty of what I see.  For now, here are a few of my thoughts on making a difference to others- especially to our children.

Control and Serendipity- Part 2

The origins of the word Serendipity are quite interesting.  Hundreds of years ago a Persian fable called The Three Princes of Serendip was written.  Serendip is the Persian name for the island known today as Sri Lanka.

Control and Serendipity- Part 1

Although I had heard and possibly even used the word before then, I was introduced to the origin and full meaning of the word “serendipity” while reading some online articles by Richard Eyre.  Serendipity and its implications for living more fully is fascinating to me.