Book One- WHAT NOW?

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WHAT NOW?

What Now?

 

Donna Lou McMurry

No Name Book Company

Dallas, Texas

To my loving family, that has

blessed my life with experiences that

leave me asking, “What Now?”

Contents

Chapter 1: What Now?

Chapter 2: Who Is In Control?

Chapter 3: Unclutter Your Life

Chapter 4: We Can’t Do It Alone

Chapter 5: Come Up For Air

Chapter 6:  Find Your Greatness

Chapter 7: A Journey of Joy

Introduction

Chapter One

What Now?

“Behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation. …

This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; … .”  (Alma 34:31-32.) 

 

It had been a long yet wonderful day with the family.  My husband and I had taken our six children to spend the day at an amusement park.  We had gone up and down, over and across, this way, then that way trying to cover every square inch of excitement that one, or eight, could possibly have at the park.  Midway through our day we had journeyed to our car for a brief rest and a picnic lunch. It was great to have a moment to relax from the hustle and bustle, but how much can you really slow down with six excited small children?  After returning to the park for another round of rides and shows, the day was finally coming to a close.  As the evening began to arrive, my husband and I concluded that it had been a great day of laughter and joy as well as one full of enthusiasm and thrills.  Conceivably we had a few tears and exchanges of a small number of frustrated looks, but all in all the day had gone very well and we were all smiling as we began to leave the recreational area behind. 

As we placed away the stroller and secured the youngest children in their car seats, a sigh of exhaustion from dad’s way was released as we buckled ourselves in and prepared for the ride home.  It was still daylight, but for this set of parents, we were tired and ready to go home and rest.  Before pulling out of the parking lot I turned around to make sure all was well when I heard, through the excited chatter of the children, two words that froze me in place.    Rushing from the lips of one of our energized children escaped the words, “WHAT NOW?”

What now?  Could there be more I asked?  Of course there could be and there would always be more.  What a great question and one that repeats in my mind often as I evaluate each point of my journey in this beautiful, wonderland of experiences.  The child’s excited tone expressed at that moment the enthusiasm of the day with the hope of what was still yet to come.  What energy was found in the memory of our time together with eagerness that there was still more to come.  The little snags of the day were not the focus of the child’s thoughts, but rather the remembrance of the fun we had had together as a family and the great anticipation of additional joys that could be. 

Today I try to put aside the little bumps in my life and ask with a smile on my face, “What Now?” What now at this very moment is the most important thing I should give attention to?  What now is the path I should take that will bring me long lasting joy and happiness. Should I go this way or that way?   Is it more important to walk up this path right now or down another first?  Should I cross the street in the middle of the road to make sure I don’t miss an opportunity or do I go over the bridge and see what lies there?  Is it important to cover every possible corner I can to achieve the greatest joy or is it okay to take time to rest and have lunch? 

Marvin J. Ashton taught us: “To live more fully each hour and to glean the most from each day is wisdom. How unwise we are to waste our todays when they determine the significance of our tomorrows. We should wisely live a day at a time because that is all we have.  If we have good health, we should enjoy it. If we do not have good health, we should begin now to anxiously try to improve it. What a thrill it is to see people all around achieving, conquering, and overcoming through proper daily action, self-discipline, and total commitment. Progression and achievement belong to those who have learned to use the opportunity of now. Our strides of today will determine our locations tomorrow.” (Marvin J. Ashton, “The Time Is Now,” Ensign, May 1975, 85).

Our todays are connected to our tomorrows and what we do with today determines our tomorrow.  While it is important to think about the future we must be careful not to assume that the best of life is yet to come. Isn’t it astounding how many people think that the best of life is just around the corner?  Aren’t we around yesterday’s corner right now? Today is the time to really start living. Today is the time to get a head start on tomorrow.  It is unfortunate that some seem to just tolerate today in anticipation of a better tomorrow.  We need to find abundant life as we go along.  If we constantly hold out for a brighter future it may cause us to loose a beautiful today.  We need to find the abundant life as we go along.  We need to constantly remind ourselves eternity is in process now.

Years ago a newspaper article told a story about an elevator boy who was whistling a merry tune on his way up on the elevator one morning.

“Why so happy?” a grim-faced, scowling rider asked him.

The boy replied, “I’ve never lived this day before.”

The writer of the article comments: “This boy was wiser than his years. The only life we can live is today. Yesterday is behind us. However golden the hours, they cannot be lived again, but only remembered. Tomorrow is before us, and however sweet its expectations, the clock must take its patient course before we can test our hope against reality. We can live no more than one day at a time.” (Roy Pearson, Words to Live By.)

Elder Richard L. Evans in “The Spoken Word” shared this meaningful thought:  “It sometimes seems that we live as if we wonder when life is going to begin. It isn’t always clear just what we are waiting for, but some of us sometimes persist in waiting so long that life slips by—finding us still waiting for something that has been going on all the time. … This is the life in which the work of this life is to be done. Today is as much a part of eternity as any day a thousand years ago or as will be any day a thousand years hence. This is it, whether we are thrilled or disappointed, busy or bored! This is life, and it is passing.” (Improvement Era, Jan. 1967, p. 65.)

Centuries ago Amulek taught us “Behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation. … This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; … the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.”  (Alma 34:31-32.)  Today is a day of eternity. We should strive each day to be thankful for life, for knowing that we are sons and daughters of God and that the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is upon the earth.

So many choices face us daily. Perhaps somewhere along our journey we will ask ourselves, “What now, at this time in my life, does my Heavenly Father want me to be doing?”  What now at whatever season I may be in is the will of the Father?  What now, when I am no longer a child, a teenager, a college student, a newlywed, a new parent, a parent of teenagers, a grandparent or whatever station of life that we have left, should I be doing?   The future belongs to those who know how to live now.

I have had wonderful moments in the journey of my life but the park always closes at the end of the day.  That doesn’t mean it won’t open again, it will, but the season does come to an end. I am trying to begin each new day and new season exclaiming, “What Now?”  I know there are no unimportant days in the lives of the anxiously engaged. I hope you will have a desire and a determination to make each day a good day.  In some small way may your thoughts invoke in you a desire to find the answers to your own question of “What Now?”

Chapter 2

Who Is In Control

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is

broken down, and without walls” Proverbs 25:28

 

As I look into my bathroom mirror each morning, I see two things.  First, my physical reflection and secondly a note that I have taped on the mirror to remind me of my New Years Resolution.  It reads simply, I am in control of my life every day.

I’m in control?  What kind of resolution is that?  Last years decree was “Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?” a question to remind me to evaluate at the end of each day the good deeds that I had done to help me avoid selfish behavior.  The year before the pledge was to “Choose the Better Part” as I had awakened to the fact that it was no longer enough to choose the good part, but I needed to raise the bar and choose the “better” part.

So why did I choose the somewhat snobbish sounding resolution statement, “I’m in control”?  Had I ever been in control?  Was this a statement of conviction or a timid attempt to convince myself not to be easily influenced by others?  

In a desperate plea to answer my own questions, I began to reflect on an experience from a previous morning. On this particular occasion while preparing for the day, I became all too aware of the changes that were taking over in my physical body.  The “fall” had manifested itself in me partly through science which my body was now obeying the law of gravity only not to be out done by another law referred to as “thermal expansion.” The term “thermal expansion” refers to the increase in size of an object as that object is heated. With relatively few exceptions, all objects expand when they are heated and contract when they are cooled. I concluded at that point that I was expanding, but in my second breath I realized that that simply stated meant I may not be as cool as I once was but that I was “HOT” in the terms of my teenage children. 

As I stood laughing at my own humor and looking at this fallen and expanding silhouette of a woman I realized that the fall was going to happen like it or not, but the “expansion” could be controlled. I thought, just because I’m 5 ft tall, have 6 children and find myself in  that so called “middle age” stage of life was certainly not a good enough reason for me to start gaining weight.  How could a few numbers on the scale of life no longer reflect the years of diet and exercise? What had gone terribly wrong?  Moments after my  “it isn’t fair” speech, I reached over beside my bed , pulled out a giant size chocolate bar, stuffed half of it in my mouth and proclaimed that I shouldn’t have to exercise to enjoy such a succulent dessert as chocolate. 

Who was or wasn’t in control as to what happened to that candy bar?

When I was finished making every excuse I could think of to justify my taste for the finest of foods being none other than chocolate, I realized that it was more than an “age” issue, it was a ‘me” issue.   It was me that said I would start eating healthier tomorrow; it was me that said I would exercise more tomorrow.  Beyond that, I was the one that said I would read my scriptures after a TV show goes off only to find that I was then be too tired to read more than a couple of verses.  I was the one that waited till I was drop dead sleepy as I knelt beside my bed and mumbled out a prayer.  Yep, it was true, I had made those choices.

The Lord taught that one thing is needful: choose that good part (Luke 10:42).  Would I waste away time I had been given or seek opportunities to enjoy, grow and learn? We all are trying to choose the good part to balance the spiritual and the temporal areas in our lives. Wouldn’t it be easy if we were choosing between visiting teaching or stealing from our neighbor? Instead, our choices are often more subtle. We must choose between many worthy options. But how do we know what is the ‘good part’?

 It seemed it had not been but a few years earlier that my time had been carefully laid out before me and meticulously accounted for.  I was running here and there with my children, I was serving in church callings and building relationships with my family, friends and my Heavenly Father.  I was involved in activities that provided a very careful watch of each passing minute. Though life was hard and very busy; the demands on my time were almost hand carved for me.  I was feasting from a table where each course was laid before me for my partaking.   The longer I sat at the table the more I would be fed. I was eating and drinking from the well of good and plenty and felt my belly to be satisfied.  Though I knew this wouldn’t last forever, I wasn’t quite prepared for what was to come – an “empty nester.” 

While I still partake from the same table, the choices have now become a buffet with insurmountable amount to choose from. How could I possibly decide what would be best for me?

To help illustrate my point let me share an interesting tradition that the Russian army once used.  After a Russian soldier had gone through his training, a big party was held for him at the barracks.  It was his coming-out party, and the tradition is that he had to demonstrate his manhood. 

The Russian barracks were five to six stories high.  They had great big windows, big enough for a man to stand in.  The way a soldier could prove his manhood is by drinking all night.  He gets absolutely stoned out of his mind.  Becoming totally inebriated was part of the test because the soldier was to stand on the windowsill with his back to the five-story drop, and drink one more bottle of beer all the way down without falling out of the window.  If he could, he had proved his manhood.

I share that example to preface this next statement.  He who leans out of a window to see how far he can lean without falling is stupid. Would you agree with that? When making choices in our lives sometimes we are going to find ourselves leaning out of a window and when we do, we better have our mental and spiritual abilities sharpen so that we “DON’T” fall out of the window.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19 teaches us that “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.”

Part of that intelligence is coming to know where we want to go. Do we know where we want to go? Sure we do, but it’s up to us to choose.  To be in control of our life, we must practice control in thought and actions regardless of our situations.  To do this we need to come to know our Father. Come to love Him, and always remember that He loves us and will give us guidance and support if we will but give Him the chance. We need to include Him in our decision making. Include Him when we take inventory of our personal worth. “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” Proverbs 25:28.

How many times have you heard the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As a teenager you tend to hear this question a lot, but you have probably heard it since you were five years old. It is often connected to a question like, "What are you good at?"

You may also be asking yourself the same questions throughout your journey in this life. You may find that you are sitting around one day minding your own business when the question, "What am I going to do with my life?" flits through your brain. And that is a good thing. You are in a position of incredible power when you ask yourself questions like, "Who am I?" and "Who do I want to become?" You are the only person who can answer these questions. You, and only you, get to choose exactly who you will become in the future.

Think about that for a minute. The power of these questions lies in the fact that you can choose to become anything you want! Imagine becoming anything. Think about the freedom that gives you. You can pick almost any answer to the question, "Who do I want to become? What do I want to become?”  You can, to a large extent, design your life completely. Choices like what will be my attitude toward life? What will be my values? You get to make thousands of choices that will determine exactly who you will become at any stage of your life.

Happiness, enthusiasm, and joy in daily living are mandatory if we would move forward and choose the good part.  We each should assess our own situation, our own energy, and our own talents and then choose the better part. Our Father in Heaven knows our needs, strengths, and desires. Around this knowledge our personal course must be charted and our choices made.

As a youth I memorized the poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken and the words have continued to resonated through me. Frost captured the spirit of autumn wonderfully. But his poem goes much deeper than just the scenery - it describes a part of him a part of all of us.  The use of the image of a path through the woods is wonderfully evocative of the way we wander through life, and the choice of one path over another is a simple, elegant way to visualize the decisions we all have to make on our trip from birth to death.  I’ve always seen it as a wonderfully elegant analogy for memory and time, and for the passage of our lives.  I always try to take the final stanza to heart, and when “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by.”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

and having perhaps the better claim

because it was grassy and wanted wear;

though as for that, the passing there

had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

in leaves no feet had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less travelled by,

and that has made all the difference

Dr. Stephen R. Covey says, “Everyone chooses one of two roads in life – the old and the young, the rich and the poor, men and women alike. One is the broad, well-traveled road to mediocrity, the other the road to greatness and meaning. The range of possibilities that exists within each of these two destinations is as wide as the diversity of gifts and personalities in the human family. But the contrast between the two destinations is as the night is to the day.” (Dr. Stephen R. Covey, from The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness)

Which road did you choose, which road are you on now? Which road will you choose next?  Do you wish you had chosen the other path? What influenced or does now influence your choices? Are you in control enough to make the decision that will be best for you? Can you go back and choose the other path?  Do you need to go back?

When I served as the Young Women’s Stake Camp Director, I took a day a few months prior to camp to go explore the paths that the YW would be traveling on to meet a hiking requirement.  On the first practice hike, my companion and I just took off walking and were not prepared to make decisions.  This particular area had trails that divided all along the way.  We found ourselves walking and walking and just trying to decide as we came to a split in the trail which might be better based on growth and shade.  It was a good walk, but I had not prepared well enough to map it out for the future travelers. 

Knowing that I had not accomplished what I had set out to do, I returned again with my husband.  We first obtained a trail map that was supplied by the camp. As we set off on the hike, we still had to make some choices and then made notes to pass along for those that would be leading the hikers during girl’s camp.  To our surprise, we found that if we took a trail we didn’t mean to take we didn’t have to turn around but merely keep walking for a moment and it would take us back to the main trail.  There was always a way back to the trail that would lead us to where we wanted to end up. We also learned quickly that some routes were less desirable so we made sure to make notes of that on our map for the future girl’s camp travelers.

During the camp, though I had carefully mapped out the best way to achieve the needed requirement, those leading sometimes were confused and ended up just making the best choice they saw from their point of view.  Fortunately, I informed the leaders that if they got off the intended trail, there would be a way back to the main path if they continued to move forward.  It was not necessary to return to the fork in the road and take the other path. For some, the hike went as planned, as for other, they ended up walking much further than they needed too, but ultimately they all arrived at the same appointed destination. 

Today we know that others have walked where we are walking and will help us if we know where we are striving to end up. Sometimes we may get off the path we want to be on. Our Father in Heaven knowing we would need help sent his Son that through the atonement we can repent and return to that straight and narrow pathway.  We have a living Prophet and leaders that are here to help give assistance and direction.  If we take control of our actions no matter what trail we are on, we can always make it back to where we want to be by beginning with 3 simple steps.

 First, make the decision on where you want your life to go. Don’t worry about how to get there right now. The important thing at the moment is for you to know where you want to go.  Imagine you are in a car that is moving but there is no steering wheel. It’s going places but you have no control over where it is going. This is what your life is like if you don’t know where you want to go. Your life is moving but you have no control. Once you know where you want to go it’s like putting a steering wheel into your life.  Do you know where you want to go?

Second, get directions. Just because you know where you want to end up doesn’t mean that you know how to get there. The best way to get directions is to ask someone who has been to where you want to go. The best types of people to ask are the people that are successful in the areas of life that you want to be successful in. They will give you advice and wisdom to know how to take control and get to where you want to be.  How wonderful it is that our Heavenly Father has set up his Church with maps and guides to help us along the way.

Third, no longer be passive. You must be a very proactive person to keep or to take back control of your life. You can no longer be submissive about the direction of your life. By being passive you are giving the control of your life over to anything and anyone. That is a very scary thing. Get bold. Get strong. Get aggressive. No longer be passive about life, take control of it today by the choices you make!

                                                                                    

Chapter Three

Unclutter Your Life

 “All things must be done in order.” (Mosiah 4:27)

 

There have been on occasions in my life when someone says to me, “I want my life back!”  After listening to their very busy lifestyle there is no surprise as to why they would feel that way.  They have put so much into their days that even the basic task of life is overwhelming.   Like them, I have from time to time found myself living a life in which the things I had surrounded myself with was using up my time and taking over my life.

There’s a story told of a boy who arrived home from school and found his father standing at the open door looking into a very cluttered house. “Is Mother home?” asked the boy. His father answered, “I can’t see her, but I know she’s in there somewhere. I can hear sobbing.”

Perhaps some of us can relate to this mother. Sometimes we allow too much “stuff” to clutter up our lives.  If you have a chaotic life chances are your life is running you.  A few years ago a paper towel commercial had a slogan that said, “Life is messy, clean it up!”  I love that!  Applied to our life, we can follow that same thought, if life is messy, clean it up. 

It is not hard to become caught up in the things of the world and allow ourselves to be encumbered. We can surround ourselves with the material things to the extent that we have no time for the spiritual.  Look around and see if there are things in your life that cause you to squander and waste your time. Some things are more obvious than others. But some are so subtle that they seem to slowly take control of us.

Cleverly indirect is how the word subtle is defined.  Our Heavenly Father is very direct with us, so the opposite plan would be that of Satan.  Doesn’t that sound like something he would love to do to us, negatively influence our lives in subtle ways?  

Can you think of anything that suits the devil better than to become a silent partner with us? He knows that we have agency and are at right to make choices for ourselves. He also knows that while in mortality we are subject to time. If by his subtle means he can become our silent partner, he can then influence us to make wrong choices that use up our time unwisely and prevent us from doing that which we should.

Let’s take the illustration of watching TV.  Have you ever noticed that successful adults watch far less TV than unsuccessful adults? I am not saying that all TV is bad or that if you watch TV you are not successful but rather to just look at the influence TV has in your life.  Many of the successful adults I know say, "Life is short! Who has time to waste it on TV?"  I remember reading an article that said that most of the programs on TV are incredibly mindless and have no value?  There are some great programs that can truly edify us but there are also some that are harmless but a total waste of time, or they are harmful. It is harmful when it repeatedly injects negative thoughts into your brain. It is said that a typical child is exposed to 8,000 murders on television by the time he or she finishes elementary school. A typical teenager sees 200,000 acts of violence on TV by age 18. The  reality is that a vast majority of people in normal life are exposed to 0 murders and very few violent acts. TV makes violence seem normal and acceptable. What value does that have?

It has been said that the average American spends about 2 hours a day watching TV. That is the equivalent of over 18 weeks of 8-hour days. This is time, and life, that is may be completely wasted. What if we read instead, took a walk, did family history, learn to play an instrument, create a work of art, talk to other people, take up a sport or do anything constructive. Eighteen weeks of 8-hour days is a gigantic amount of time, and you would be amazed at what you could accomplish if you used that time constructively.  I find that when there is a show I think I want to watch, that I need to have some other kind of work I can do at the same time such as laundry, or scrapbooking and family history. Cutting back our hours of watching TV today and using the newly free time in a productive way can begin being far more successful way of  life.

How do we use our time?  In an article titled, Unclutter your life; return to the basics, Elder William R. Bradford of the Seventy said, “We give our lives to that which we give our time.” He says that in the process of uncluttering our lives we should have a list of basics, a list of those things that are indispensable to our mortal welfare and happiness and our eternal salvation.  This list must pursue the gospel pattern and contain the elements needed for our sanctification and perfection. A product of inspiration and prayerful judgment between the things we really need and the things we just want can be determined through this process and should separate need from greed. Our list should be our best understanding of those things that are important as opposed to those things that are just interesting.

He continues to teach that at the top of our list should be our devotion to God followed by the welfare of our family. Their temporal and spiritual well-being is of vital importance, and so with that comes work to provide for them. This means hard work. Although there has to be a balance and time for the fun things, they cannot outweigh the need for a cooperative effort by all the members of the family to provide for their spiritual and temporal needs. To work is a commandment from God. It is the pattern for the happiness of individuals and the family and is the strength of both the Church and society.

Mothers should never allow themselves to become so involved with extras that she finds herself

neglecting her divine role. A father must not let any activity, no matter how interesting or

important it may seem, keep him from giving of himself in the one-on-one service and close,

 constant care of each member of the family. Unclutter your life; return to the basics Youth must

learn that none of the exciting and entertaining and fun things are worth it if they take you off

from the path that will lead you back home to your Heavenly Father. (Unclutter your lives, by

Elder William R. Bradford of the Seventy Published: Saturday, April 11, 1992)  

Titles such as Mother, Father, son, brother and sister will persist after this life. All that we may acquire and any titles we may earn which are worldly will pass away. These titles of the world could be helping to clutter up our lives and affecting our eternal outcome. We need to make sure we have made time for those things that will add to our lives, not take away from.

We need to make time for prayer.  Our prayers need to be more than just occasional, quick, and repetitious. Prayers should not be something we quickly do on our way to do something else. I remember sitting in a Relief Society class and listening to comments about prayer.  I was a little surprised as sisters shared how they had their morning prayer in the shower or on the road to somewhere.  If our prayers are going to be honest and sincere as we plead for guidance and seek forgiveness from the depths of our hearts, then can we not stop long enough to kneel in humility showing our Heavenly Father by that sweet action that we really do love him?  We can always have additional prayers as we go about our day,  but taking time to kneel privately to visit with our Heavenly Father will be a great blessing to us.

Time needs to be made for scripture reading. We each need the word of God in our lives.  It will guide and direct us and bring peace to our souls. Lehi saw the iron rod. We learn that iron rod represented the word of God and those who hold to the rod, were led to safety, even to the tree of  life and then were able to partake of its sweet fruit. ( 1 Nephi)

When we learn to live an uncluttered life we will be happier.  We will find many of our anxieties will flee from us. We will see and feel the simplicity of His great Plan of Happiness and have blessing added upon us. We will become more receptive to the spirit.

One night as a young teenager, I lay trying to sleep in my bed as an irritating cricket would not hush his annoying chirping.  I lay in bed tossing and turning trying to put the sound of this obnoxious insect out of my head. It was winter time and we had tile floors so I didn’t want to get out of my warm bed, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t think the noise away.  In fact, it seemed to just get louder and louder.  I finally pulled the covers away and went to the sound of the cricket.  It was by my window, but I couldn’t find it.  I pounded on the window and the noise stopped.  Content for the moment, I crawled back in bed and the noise started back immediately.  After a few more failed attempts to find the cricket I finally concluded that it must be on the outside of my window.  I had no choice.  If I was going to get any sleep I would have to extract that cricket from the window to cease his exasperating chirping.  So with a stick and flashlight I took off outside. I headed to the side of the house where my bedroom window was located.  I approached the window and directed the light to the approximate location of the intruder and began my poking.  I would find and remove that cricket before returning indoors.

While I was busy trying to eradicate this little noise machine other things were happening inside my home.  Little did I know that my noise had awoken my father.  While I was proceeding to stand in my pajamas in the cold dark of the night, with flashlight and stick in hand poking at a cricket, I hear a noise from behind me. I turn around instantly to see my father standing behind me ready to attack!  He didn’t know I was the one outside my window.  He thought it was an intruder and he had come to remove the flashlight, stick poking individual from outside of his teenage daughter’s window. 

To this day I laugh about that experience, but the point I wanted to make is that today many of us have crickets in our lives that distract us from what we need to be doing. We need to remove the crickets in our lives that are chirping so loud that we are distracted from what is important.  We must not let the influences of Satan interfere with any part of our life.  Our lives should be under our own control. We each have our own agency in this probationary period called mortal life. What a divine and marvelous gift of time we have been given to learn to be like our Father in Heaven by following the teachings of His son, Jesus Christ.  He will lead us and guide us back to our father on a path that is clean and uncluttered.

Take your life back. Learn to say no to those things that will rob you of your precious time and infringe upon your agency to choose to live in exactness to God’s plan of happiness and exaltation. We need to strive always to “clear he clutter” that may cause us to lose our way.

Chapter Four

We Can’t Do It Alone

“Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with

warm hearts and friendly hands.”  (D&C 121:9)

 

            A few years ago, as I woke from a good night’s sleep, my mind was focused on a dream that I had just had.  As I recalled the events that had just played out in the theater of my mind, I realized that there was a message in the story that I had just experienced.  Being that most of my dreams make little since, I couldn’t help but ponder upon what I was feeling and understanding.  

            The dream began with me seeing that a car had driven off a nearby cliff and plunged into a lake that was located just below the towering landscape.  In the depths of the water was a young lady that had escaped the car and in need of my help.  I stood on the banks of the river wanting to go in and rescue her but due to the danger of the circumstance that would put my own life in jeopardy and not give her the help she needed,   I knew that if I attempted to go after her that the goal of saving her life might not be reached.  Desperate to offer any help that I could, I stood on the dark bank and yelled as loudly as I could for her to swim in my direction.   It wasn’t long till I realized that she couldn’t hear my voice.  I could see her and hear her, but she was unable to hear me.  So anxious to find a way to lead her from the grasp of the freezing waters I began waving my arms and jumping up and down so she could see me.  It seemed to work.  She responded by moving in my direction.  I continued to make as much movement as I could to keep her attention until she was close enough to hear my voice.  Finally it happened, she was able to slowly swim in my direction arriving to a point where she could hear me and know that I was shouting words of encouragement to keep her from giving up.  She finally arrived at the bank and I was able to take her in my arms.  Though she had been injured during the fall from the cliff and was tired and cold, she was okay and was excited that she had survived this tragic fall.  At one point she was too far away to hear my words of encouragement, but through my actions she was able to slowly move in the right direction.

      We can’t do it alone. There are times when we are growing up when we feel alone or left out. Times of change are growing-up times: things like moving, changing schools, going on a mission, a new calling, a job change, having a baby, having your baby go on a mission, a serious illness, and losing someone you love.  We have always tried to teach our children that someone always cares about them.  It may not always be the people they want to have caring about them, but there is always someone who is there and who cares and that will never change.  We all need people who care.

As a teenager I would often attend the High School Friday night football games with a group of friends from school.  They were not members of the Church and did not have the same standards, but they were good kids as far as I knew.  I sat with them and laughed with them.  A few were smoking cigarettes and one sitting by me had been smoking a cigar.  When I returned home that night I was met with all kinds of questions from my parents.  I hadn’t done anything wrong so I wasn’t sure what was on their minds.  After our discussion of the evening’s events my parents told me that a member of the ward was concerned about the crowd I was with and called them to let them know what they had seen.  I can tell you that I didn’t want that person caring so much about me, but I understand now that it was their love and concern that prompted the phone call to my parents.

 In our life the degrees of our testimonies will vary.  We are all at different stages of growth. We have been given the gift of the Spirit of Christ at birth. We have a testimony which we have developed throughout our lives which we have obtained through the help of the Holy Ghost. We may know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. We may know that he gave his life for our redemption, that he is resurrected that we might live, and that he is alive today. We may know that Joseph Smith has restored The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the last dispensation of the fullness of time. We may know that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God who has all the keys of the priesthood vested in him to lead this church by revelation in these latter days. Yet, with all of this knowledge, why is it that some of us fail to learn the very critical point that we did not come to this life to live it alone

We were with our Heavenly Father before we came to this life. The scriptures tell us so. We also know that we chose to take a physical body, to come to earth for this mortal experience, to live His commandments, and to have opposition in all things. The opposition which we must have is to help make us strong physically and spiritually.

One summer day my husband and I began a Saturday chore of pruning the Bradford Pair trees in the front of our home. It was a hot, muggy Texas summer day and it didn’t take us long to feel the opposition of our physical bodies.  We began working determined that the two of us could get this job done relatively easy.  One branch, two branches, three branches, and the number kept increasing.  My husband was more prepared than I for the amount of work this was turning out to be.

With sweat drenched clothing and a need for many breaks, I began to see that this project was huge and would most likely take a couple of Saturdays to complete. As I sat there contemplating the overwhelming task at hand, one of our neighbors, who happened to be a member of our ward, came youthfully jogging by.  I smiled and he nodded his head to say hello and continued on his run.  “Youth, that golden ticket of energy” I thought, what a treasure I would love to have returned at that very moment.

Needing to go back to the assistance of my husband, I picked myself up determined that with rest we could complete our goal.  While rising to stand I noticed someone walking towards us.  The young man that had been jogging moments earlier was now coming towards us with tools in hand.  As I looked up and greeted him, he asked, “Could you use an extra hand?”  Clearing the sweat (or tears) from our eyes, we sighed with an over excited exclamation of “YES”. 

He began to help us and said his younger brother would be over in a moment as well.  We worked long and hard for many more hours. We ended up having to take four loads of tree brush to the dump and they were with us through it all. I often wondered if the job was bigger than they had anticipated, but they stayed till it was completed with light in their eyes. 

These dear, kind hearted young men were our Good Samaritans.  They could have been out doing what young men do on a Saturday, but they were helping us.  During the course of the job I asked them if their parents had made them come over and they replied, “No, they aren’t even home.” 

What joy filled my heart to have these young men come to help in our time of need.  I don’t believe we could have completed what we started that day without them. Time constraints and strength limitations were in against us.  With the help of these young men we were able to overcome the opposition we faced.  We were very grateful we didn’t have to do it alone. 

This represents a physical example of needing the help of others, but our spiritual need is even greater.  Robert D. Hales taught: “It is also God’s plan that we cannot return to his presence alone, without the help of someone else.  We each have a mission in this life of which cannot be embarked upon successfully without the help of others. Birth requires earthly parents. Our blessing as a child, our baptism, our receiving the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, our receiving membership in his church, ordination to the priesthood, going on a mission, being married, having children of our own, blessings during illness and times of need—all require the help of others. And all these are acts of love and service which require the help of others and the giving of help to others.” (Robert D. Hales, “We Can’t Do It Alone,” Ensign, Nov. 1975, 90)

A loving and just God has placed us here where we experience suffering and imperfection all around us. It is necessary because in this life we experience something we cannot do any other place. The life we had before and the life we will have hereafter will leave our bodies, spirits, and minds in a more perfect state. But we did not and will not have the opportunities to give of ourselves in the same way as we can in this life. What a simple truth of a gospel principle! As we suffer and serve in this life, we are fulfilling a very essential part of the gospel plan.  When we attempt to live life’s experiences alone, we are not being fair to ourselves or to others.  Trials are a part of the mortal experience.  Our Heavenly Father has made it so that we need never deal with the challenges of mortality alone. In Doctrine & Covenants 121:9 we read, “Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.” 

When I was 16 and living in Dallas, Texas, I was fortunate to be able to drive one of my parent’s cars. It was a huge old Lincoln Continental with back doors that opened backwards.  That was really cool.  It also had electric windows which were beyond what I had ever driven before.  On a Saturday I was headed to watch a Stake young men’s basketball tournament. Our stake covered a large area so I would be traveling a good distance to get to the stake center.

I had been to this building many times, but with someone else driving. Not being behind the wheel was of course reason for not paying attention to our route so, with directions in hand I headed for the games.

As I got downtown I began to panic.  I had taken a wrong turn and was no longer headed to where I needed to be going.  I didn’t know where I was or how to get away from where I was without getting lost even more.  So I quickly exited and found a phone to call home. (This was in the ancient of days before cell phones.)  It was a very daunting area and appeared to not be as safe as I had thought it was before crawling out of my car.  Nevertheless, I was there.  I nervously put my coins into the phone and anxiously dialed home.  My nerves were in knots and then I heard the sound on the other end of the phone say hello.  “Dad”, I began to cry.  “I am lost.”  With a comforting tone my father asked me where I was.  I had absolutely no idea, after all, I was lost!  I remember he said, “Look around you and tell me what you see.”  I remember looking around and not liking what I saw but I was able to give him enough information that he was able to tell me exactly what I needed to do to get back on the right road to reach my destination.  Once there I phoned him again to let him know that I arrived safely.  Then again before leaving I called him so we could review the way home and he would know to be watching for me.  I knew that he would come to get me if I didn’t show up after an allotted time and I knew he would be waiting for me to arrive home safely. 

I am so grateful that my dad was there for me.  I am likewise grateful that my Father in Heaven is always there for me too.  Calling home to report where I am and get directions for where I am trying to go has always been a great blessing to me.  I have gotten lost from time to time, but all I have to do is call my Heavenly Father through prayer and he will direct my path once again. He has promised, “As often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit” (D&C 6:14).   We can’t do it alone.

Chapter Five

Come Up For Air

“Praying always that they faint not; and inasmuch as they do this,

I will be with them even unto the end.” (D&C 75:11)

 

When an animal holds its breath underwater it absolutely needs to come to the surface to get air to breathe. It may want to keep on fishing underwater or whatever, but after a certain amount of underwater activity it needs to get oxygen, and the only way to do it is to come to the surface, or it will die. For us, to “come up for air” means that rather than keep on doing something, it may be better to have a break, go for a walk, or whatever, and then come back to it later.  'Come up for air' also does not literally mean "come to the surface" or "become visible". A dead fish may come to the surface, but its not coming up for air, its just dead!     

With all our efforts to take control of our lives and not go it alone, we still need to remember not to become weary in well doing.  The state of our health affects every facet of our life—our feeling of personal well-being, our approach to work, our social interactions—even our service to the Lord.  In D&C 75:11 we read “Praying always that they faint not; and inasmuch as they do this, I will be with them even unto the end.”     The Lord promises that if we keep these commandments we “shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint” (D&C 89:20; italics added).   I have personally known in my own life the realization of the promise “that the everlasting God, … the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.” I am a witness that “he giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (Isa 40:28-29). I know that in times of fear or fatigue, “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.” (Isa. 40:31).

Not to long ago, our family decided to accept a plate full of challenges all at one time. So much had happened over a few days that I had reached a point where I realized I needed to stop and “come up for air” but I didn’t know how that would be possible.  One of our daughters was pregnant with her first child.  She began having contractions at 32 weeks and went to the doctor who in turn immediately put her in the hospital.  After monitoring her contractions they gave her medicine to stop her from going into labor. They gave her procardia, then they tried a magnesium sulfate drip and still the contractions continued. Another medicine was tried and the contractions seemed to slow but during all this, her blood pressure had become dangerously high.  With the medicine however, they felt they had her stable enough to send her home with precautions as to what to monitor and watch for.  Well, it was a short lived retreat as after a day they put her back into the hospital and ran some test to find that she had pre-eclampsia, meaning high blood pressure while being pregnant.  After attempts to once again lower her blood pressure and keep the contractions down, they were going to have to deliver the baby.  During her visit they had given her steroid shots to help the baby’s lungs develop faster so they had prepared for this moment the best they could.  As the contractions increased, stress was put upon the baby so they had to do an emergency c-section.  All went well until my daughter’s blood pressure dropped dangerously low.  Her husband had just witnessed the stress on their baby and now he was seeing his wife’s blood pressure drop way too low.  Well jumping ahead on this story, the baby was born at 3.4oz and mom was being watched very closely as her high blood pressure rose now seriously high.  Fortunately, with time came improvement and they are both doing remarkably well. We recognized the marvelous blessing that has been pronounced upon our family.

Now one would think that was enough of a challenge for one time, but there is more.  During this time, my husband became very ill.  We thought he was having a stroke, but turns out that he was having a reaction to some medicine he was on.  We went back and forth to the emergency room before we found the cause of his sickness.  This was not all. Throughout this, most of us became sick with a stomach virus.   Our son and his wife and their son were living with us temporarily before they began their journey off to medical school, my son still at home, my other daughter and her two daughters all became sick.  I think I had it the worse of all.  I was sick as could be barely able to help my husband and I couldn’t be with my daughter when the time came for them to have their baby.  It was a very difficult time.                                                                                                                                                                                         While kneeling by my bed one evening, I broke into tears proclaiming to my Father in Heaven that I couldn’t do it any more.  As soon as I expressed those words I heard, “Yes you can!”  He didn’t give me any great ideas or solutions or excuses but simply reminded me that I could do it. What a great vote of confidence.  As the day went on I was reminded of the promises that had been given to my husband and our family as he received a priesthood blessing.  I was able to turn my pain and suffering over to the Lord.  I had allowed myself to become weary in well doing. As I began to put the Atonement to work in my life, the burden was lifted and I was instantly comforted.

In September  of 1832, the Prophet was preparing to move to the John Johnson home southeast of Kirtland, Ohio; other brethren were preparing to leave for Missouri. In the midst of these preparations, Joseph Smith received the revelation that we now know as section 64 of the Doctrine and Covenants. After instructing the men going to Missouri, the Lord reminded them: “But all things must come to pass in their time. Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:32-33).

These verses are a guide for us as we prepare ourselves and our families to live in “perilous times” (see 2 Tim. 3:1). We must not become weary of doing good, and we must not become impatient; the changes we seek will come about “in their time.” Most important, the great work we wish to do will proceed from “small things.”

Neal A Maxwell said: “Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!”( Neal A. Maxwell, “Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds,” Ensign, May 1991, 88)

In a special promise that was given in a revelation as contained in the 89th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, we receive these words: “And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.”

Though we may feel weary, and sometimes may not be able to see the way, we must remember that our Father in Heaven will never forsake His righteous followers. He will not leave us comfortless.

Mortality was not meant to be easy.  There will be some amount of pain and suffering but Lehi taught us that the purpose of this life is to be happy: “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25)  I wish that it was just automatic to be happy, but we sometimes have to work at it.  I have to admit that there have been times that I wanted to give up, but I didn’t.  Sometimes we allow life to push us along, leaving dreams, aspirations, and meaningful moments in its wake. We all desire to have a satisfying, simplified and fruitful existence with wisdom and humor, and we can if we remember to “come up for air”!

Chapter Six

Find Your Greatness

“Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” (D&C 64:33)

 

Have you ever felt like there was more to your life than where you are at this moment? I have. One of the main questions that I have asked is, “How do I find what I’m supposed to be doing in this time of my life?”  There are moments when we may feel unhappy with our lives because we wanted to achieve a measure of greatness but feel we have failed in some fundamental way.  For those that have worked hard and who have lived righteously don’t think—because you haven’t achieve in the world or in the church what others have achieved that—that you have failed.

            We live in a world that seems to worship its own kind of greatness.  The world’s heroes don’t last very long in the public mind, but, nevertheless, there is never a lack of champions and great achievers. We hear almost daily of athletes breaking records; scientist inventing marvelous new devices and doctors saving lives in new ways.  We are constantly being exposed to exceptionally gifted musicians and entertainers, also to the work of unusually talented artists, architects, and builders.  Magazines, billboards, and television commercials bombard us with pictures of individuals with perfect teeth and flawless features, wearing stylish clothes and doing whatever it is that successful people do.

Because we are being relentlessly exposed to the world’s definition of success and greatness, it is understandable that we might frequently find ourselves making comparisons between what we are and what others are, or seem to be, and also between what we have and what others have. While making comparisons can be beneficial and may motivate us to accomplish much good and improve our lives, we often allow unfair and improper comparisons to destroy our happiness when they cause us to feel unfulfilled or inadequate or unsuccessful. Sometimes, because of these feelings, we are led into error, and we dwell on our failures while ignoring aspects of our lives that may contain true greatness.

Feeding on this poison causes us to have a lack of confidence.  It robs us of a tremendous number of opportunities in our lives. It not only is a waste of our time, it also causes emotions that hurt and tear us down.  If we compare our mind to the land we can see what is taking place when we plant negative ideas and thought in our minds.

If you have a plot of land it will grow what you put there for it to grow.  If you plant corn and cultivate it you will yield corn.  If you plant, Foxglove, a poisonous plant, and cultivate it, you will grow that poison.  The land doesn’t care what you plant.

Our minds are like the land.  We can plant and cultivate good healthy thoughts or we can plant poison.  Have you ever said, “I hate my face, or my hair, my clothes, my weight or all of the above? How about your inward thoughts?  Do you belittle yourself and have thoughts that you would never think about anyone else? These are poisons to your spirit. 

 When one of my sons was on his mission I received the following advice in a letter. He counseled me to get up every day; look in the mirror and in a confident, strong voice to say something positive about myself.  We become what we think about.  He was telling me to plant good things in my mind and feed them everyday. 

I have to admit that the confident and strong sounded more timid at first, but I did try his experiment.  I would first ask and answer the question, “What would my favorite title for myself be? To make it more specific I thought, if I was to choose what I wanted put on my headstone, how would I like the following to be completed?  “She was the best_____________.”  It was amazing as I tried to take on different titles each day how I found myself smiling and grinning each moment the phrase would pass through my mind.  Usually I would think of something simple like I was a loving and kind person. But occasionally I would adventure on a more exciting exclamation. 

One day I proclaimed that I was the best “Anne of Green Gables.”  Can you imagine spending a day with her imagination and her enthusiasm?  It was pretty exhausting but challenging in a fun way.  Even simple things such as doing the dishes or tackling the pile of laundry had me smiling as I would pretend to tackle the Mt. of Everlasting Underwear! 

It is unfortunate that we all struggle from time to time with who we are. We each tend to label ourselves negatively. This is a tool of Satan. He would have us believe that if we don’t have some kind of glorious title that we are nobody?  We are all somebody but he would have us believe to the contrary. We are children of our Heavenly Father.  We are the offspring of Deity. To know who we are and what that means should give us a sense of destiny, a feeling of belonging, a tie to an eternal family forever. 

We each have strengths and we have weaknesses. We have talents and we have faults. We have advantages and we have disadvantages. In that we are equal to everyone around us. We are just as valuable and just as worthwhile and just as important as everyone else. That is a fact of life.

The world would have us believe that we are of worth only if we have money, a certain physical appearance, stylish clothes, or social position. When asked to describe our self do we search for a job title?  Do we define ourselves by our friends and social status?  Do we think of our successful accomplishments or those things we think we have failed at?  Does a list of our callings run through our mind or a list of the hats we wear such as mother or father, child, etc.

All of these are parts of who we are, but we are more than what we do or have done. We are more than what we own..  The gospel assures us that our value is not dependent on our looks or material possessions.  What matters are the beliefs we have in our heart and acting upon those values. 

There is greatness on the inside of each of us but sometimes we just don’t know how to recognize it. We all have seeds of greatness on the inside. We are divine.  We are children of God. Sometimes however we forget that and loose our passions and forget our potential. We all have a purpose, a greatness and great potential.  We need to all come to understand the measure of our creation. With this knowledge we can achieve our life’s goals. We can break barriers and hindrances that cause us to not see our greatness and begin to feel the satisfaction of accomplishment.

Perhaps we should consider the things that make a person great. In a short editorial written by President Joseph F. Smith in 1905, he made this most profound statement about what true greatness really is: “Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life. “After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman.” (Juvenile Instructor, 15 Dec. 1905, p. 752.)

So what are the things God has designed for us to do?  He would that we serve one another and make sacrifices with our time and talents for our brothers and sister and for Him.  He wants us to work to gain knowledge of Him and his gospel, to work to bring others into the fold and fellowship one another. These are things that won’t earn us a trophy or a blue ribbon but they are the things that will make the difference in our lives.

To do our best as we face everyday struggles of life, and possibly in the face of failures, and to continue to endure and press forward through difficulties in our lives and allowing these struggles and tasks contribute to the progress and happiness of others as well as one’s self is true greatness.  Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed 10,000 times.  I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” That’s positive progress.

We need not look far to see the unnoticed heroes in our daily life. There are not ribbons and trophies for these kinds of heroes as they silently go about serving. I know that I am surrounded by those who quietly and consistently are doing the things we should be doing. They are the ones who are always there and always willing to serve. It’s the mother who hour after hour, day and night will stay with and care for a sick child never complaining.  It’s those who always volunteer to help in the nursery or silently set up and clean up for ward activities. It also includes those who may not be mothers or fathers but take time to use their gifts to help with children that are in their lives.  I know of a few of these sweet individuals who are always there to love and lift. I see heroes all around me in those that are kind and hardworking everyday as they served the Lord diligently.

We have all been given opportunities to accomplish great things in the world that can and do add much to who we are. But as we try to focus more clearly on the things in life that will be of greatest worth that is when we will come to know of our greatness. The Savior said, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matt. 23:11)

President Joseph F. Smith helps us put into perspective what the accomplishments of worldly deeds should fall in our lives.  He said: “It is true that such secondary greatness may be added to that which we style common-place; but when such secondary greatness is not added to that which is fundamental, it is merely an empty honor, and fades away from the common and universal good in life, even though it may find a place in the … pages of history.” (Juvenile Instructor, p. 752.)

Are we achieving greatness in our lives? The Lord has said, “Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” (D&C 64:33) I have seen or heard of individuals who appear to become wealthy or successful almost overnight. I have friends that have been born into families that provide financial stability and opportunities that open doors to success instantaneously. While this kind of success may seem to come to some without much effort on their part, it does not make them great. Greatness is achieved over a long period of time. I have learned much though my life experiences.  I can see that I am growing as I look back on my life.  I use to believe that I would grow and then slip backwards but I have come to understand that I am not going backwards because the person I have become is not the person I was a year ago.  The setbacks that I experience may seem to be the same that I have had before, but I am not the same person I was when I faced similar obstacles. The end result may not always be clearly visible, but it appears to me that it always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time.

As we strive for a true greatness we must remember that it is not the result of a chance occurrence or a one-time effort or achievement. As we make correct choices and reach for opportunities that help the development of our character we are becoming great. The choices of good over evil will show who we are.  Elder Boyd K. Packer spoke about when he said, “Over the years these little choices will be bundled together and show clearly what we value.” (Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 21.)

As we evaluate our lives, we must remember to be gentle.  The conditions in which we labor are unique to us. Where I began in life and where you began are different. The talents and gifts that I have been given are not the same that my husband and children have been given.  My sister down the road not only began her life in a different way but she also has her own challenges and trials to contend with. I look at her and it seems that she has more than 24 hours in her day because she seems to accomplish so much more than I am able.  But her situation and position in life affords her to some opportunities that I do not have, yet I have a mixture of talents and skills and personal challenges that helps me succeed in other ways. Because of my understanding of this situation, I have learned that our judgment of ourselves and our achievements should not be measured by others but should also not  merely include the size or magnitude and number of our accomplishments; it should also include the conditions that have existed and the effect that our efforts have had on others.

As we self evaluative ourselves in respects to how our actions and choices have affected our lives and the lives of others, we begin to have a better understanding of why and how ordinary task of the day should be valued so highly. President Hunter has said, “Frequently it is the commonplace tasks that have the greatest positive effect on the lives of others” (“What Is True Greatness?” Brigham Young University 1986–87 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, p. 115) as compared with the things that the world so often relates to greatness.

We all have opportunities to serve one another and act in ways that will bless our lives.  It is those small and simple thing that help lead us to greatness. I recall one example of many that my father taught me by example.  The ward had a men’s baseball team.  My dad didn’t play sports as far as I knew but the needed him.  Interestingly though, it wasn’t as you may think.  Because of the schedules of the brethren, they could never predict if they would have the numbers needed to qualify to play.  So whenever and wherever the team played, my dad suited up and sat on the bench.  I don’t recall him ever playing, but I saw this happy and great man support his brethren by being there ready and prepared to play if needed. He never complained, he showed up time after time with a smile on his face.  This was an act of greatness, perhaps one kind of greatness that our Father in Heaven would have us pursue.  We have an unlimited number of opportunities to do the many simple and minor things that will ultimately make us great.  We must push forward doing acts of service and sacrifice for others and for the Lord.

From time to time it may seem to those of us who are doing the commonplace work of the world that there may be little value in our accomplishments.  But to those who are hard workers, who silently do their callings, who are sharing the gospel by word and example, who are doing the best to teach the families correct principles and living the best they can do,  these are the strength of our nation. If we endure to the end, and if we are valiant in the testimony of Jesus, we will achieve true greatness and will one day live in the presence of our Father in Heaven.

As President Joseph F. Smith has said, “Let us not be trying to substitute an artificial life for the true one.” (Juvenile Instructor, p. 753.) Let us remember that “out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” (D&C 64:33.) Let us remember that doing the things that have been ordained by God to be important and needful and necessary, even though the world may view them as unimportant and insignificant, will eventually lead us to true greatness. 

Remember the story of Naaman, a captain for the king of Syria—“a great man with his master … because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: … a mighty man in valour, but … a leper” (2 Kgs. 5:1).  At the direction of his king, Naaman went to Elisha the prophet to be healed of his dreaded affliction.

“So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

“And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

“But Naaman was wroth … and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. …

“And his servants came near … and said, … if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

“Then went [Naaman] down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (2 Kgs. 5:9–11, 13–14).

Elder Rex D. Pinegar asked, “Are we not sometimes like Naaman, looking for big or important things to do and bypassing simple things which could change our lives and heal us of our afflictions?” (Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 106; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 80). We must not fail to do the simple and easy things that the gospel require, as to do so would deny us and our families the great blessings that the Lord has promised. We must takes steps for a better life and not allow ourselves to become discouraged with those precious daily task which the Lord has set up for us to do.  

The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that the successful people keep trying till they succeed and that includes looking for opportunities to serve others. We look at them and say, "Oh that was easy for you!" But it that is not necessarily true.  People do occasionally win the lottery.  That is luck. Some are born into posterity but the rest of us work to achieve our goals and dreams. And we work hard.  Confidence in our own abilities and self-worth is what helps gives us the strength to keep plugging through the hard times until we see a light that says we are on to something. Then we plug away day after day to reach our goal.

I know that everyone has a seed of greatness on the inside of them.  While we may know why we are here on this earth we should strive to understand our personal mission. We can each find that as we discover our passions it will help us develop our potential and help us to better understand and discover our greatness.

Chapter Seven

A Journey of Joy

“Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord” (Isa. 2:5).

 

            Life is a journey.  Is it a journey of joy?  Are you working to make it so? For some it may appear that other’s joy is greater than yours.  Why is that?  We all laugh. We all hurt. We all make mistakes. We all dream. But we don’t all feel joy in our journey.  So how can we turn our lives journey into a journey of joy?

Russell M. Nelson said that in order to have true joy there are at least three factors that are needed.  He teaches us that we need to feel good about ourselves, we need to feel good about our friends and companions, and possibly the most important is that we must feel good about our relation with God. (see Elder Nelson's talk, "Joy Cometh in the Morning", Ensign, Nov. 1986, 67)

Are you spending your life the way you are meant to?  Do you wake up each day excited because you are using the gifts you were given at birth? Or are you still waiting for the  some big personal revelation to show you how to be happy?  You can learn to  wake up with a fire in your belly knowing you can make a difference in your day, and rising every morning full of happiness and eager to get to work because of the Plan of Happiness.  “Joy cometh in the morning” (Psalms 30:5)

 “The gospel of Jesus Christ offers hope; it declares joy to be part of our divine destiny. And to experience joy in the morning becomes our special challenge. The true test is to be able to look in the mirror, first thing in the morning, and feel real joy.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Joy Cometh in the Morning,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 67)

            What inspires you?  Where do you find inspiration and joy?  For me, that is the easiest, and most enjoyable, part of what I get from writing.  I am inspired by things the rest of the world may not even notice.  After taking a walk one morning I came home and wrote down my experience.

It is so incredibly beautiful outside.  The wind was blowing a cool, fragrant breeze and the aroma of summer filled my senses with a magnificent tonic smell.  My hair was tossed so freely around and my skin was softened by the touch of moisture in the air left from the rain of the night.  My heart thumped as I thought of the beauty that was around me.  Though hurried cars rushed by in some busy areas I knew they were there but never really saw them.  While my eyes beheld the green ornaments of nature around me,

Oh the beauty of the suns rays glistening off the dew on the trees and the creek was like a mirror reflecting the light of the rising sun as it peered through the trees.  Everything sparkled in magnificent excellence.  Though I was listening to music that touched my soul I could hear the chirping of the birds and rustling of little creatures on the banks of the creek. 

What a wonderful morning walk it had been.

Will there always be this same beauty on the paths we walk? Sometimes we find ourselves walking on paths that we didn’t choose. But we must follow Him anyway, for the path where God's leading may be through the barrenness of the desert, or through the stormy waves of the sea, but it is the safest place on earth if we walk with Him. It doesn't matter if the sky is dark, darker than it's ever been before, or if the lightning is crashing so close that we fear to go on. It doesn't matter if the way is so hard and rocky that with bleeding feet we are not sure we can take another step. We must hold on.

Michael McLean, a popular songwriter has written a song titled, “Hold On, The Light Will Come.”  As I was thinking about the Lunar Eclipse we had recently witnesses I thought about that song.  It seemed we stood forever watching for that moment when the moon would be totally blocked from the sun’s light.  Clouds kept blocking our view but how magnificent it was to see this glorious sight created to happen by our Heavenly Father.  We watched the light slowly disappear from our moon only to wait and see the light reappear.  To my own astonishment it seemed that the light was even brighter than it had been before it had the light taken from it.

Thinking about my own life and the times when the light seems to be gone, I can always rejoice in its return and often find that it is brighter than before that moment when it seemed to leave.  Our Savior had the light withdrawn from him for a moment as he suffered in Gethsemane for us.  His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creation’s dawn through all the ages of a never-ending eternity.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, in her poem entitled “Gethsemane,” said:

All paths that have been, or should be
Pass somewhere through Gethsemane.
All those who journey, soon or late,
Must pass within the garden’s gate;
Must kneel alone in darkness there,
And battle with some fierce despair.
God pity those who cannot say:
“Not mine, but thine”; who only pray:
“Let this cup pass,” and cannot see
The purpose in Gethsemane.

Whatever path drives us to Gethsemane’s garden the Master’s outstretched arms are open to receive all.  We are all keepers of the light.

President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., said:

“Every human being is born with the light of faith kindled in his heart as on an altar, and that light burns and the Lord sees that it burns, during the period before we are accountable. When accountability comes then each of us determines how we shall feed and care for that light. If we shall live righteously that light will glow until it suffuses the whole body, giving to it health and strength and spiritual light as well as bodily health. If we shall live unrighteously that light will dwindle and finally almost flicker out. Yet it is my hope and my belief that the Lord never permits the light of faith wholly to be extinguished in any human heart, however faint the light may glow. The Lord has provided that there shall still be there a spark which, with teaching, with the spirit of righteousness, with love, with tenderness, with example, with living the Gospel, shall brighten and glow again, however darkened the mind may have been. And if we shall fail so to reach those among us of our own whose faith has dwindled low, we shall fail in one of the main things which the Lord expects at our hands.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 114.)

            Life is a school of experience, a time of probation. We learn as we bear our afflictions and live through our heartaches.  From the bed of pain, from the pillow wet with tears, we are lifted heavenward by that divine assurance and precious promise “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Joshua 1:5) Such comfort is priceless as we journey along the pathway of mortality, with its many forks and turnings. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalms 30:5)

            One of my joys came when my one year old granddaughter Hannah came to visit one Christmas Season; I had the chance to go for a short walk with her. She had recently mastered the art of walking...at least barefooted, but since this walk would be outdoors her mother adorned her little feet with cute tiny sandals and then we set out for our walk delivering Christmas gifts to our neighbors. (Yes, in Texas you can wear sandals even in December).
            With her petite arm stretched upward to grasp my finger with her small hand, we caught glances and shared a smile of delight from both sides. As we began on our little mission, she was walking with so much gusto only to be slowed by the occasional stumble caused by the sole of the shoe on her sandal, but nevertheless, she never let that slow her down.

Not being disturbed at all by her slight faltering, she continued to put one foot in front of the other with as much joy and excitement as she did before she had stumbled.  She seemed to realized that she never had to worry about falling because she knew that grandma had her hand firmly in hers ready to keep her from tumbling down  as long as she was holding on to my hand.
            As I thought about these sweet moments spent with Hannah, I realized that we all have times that we are not as comfortable walking in a pair of shoes as we are in others. Through our lives we have different pairs of shoes that we will wear on our feet.  New experiences may take some time to get use to before we can feel as comfortable walking in them as we did with our previous walking gear. While breaking in our new shoes, there is also a good chance that we too will stumble, but if we grip firmly to our Heavenly Father's hand (and those that represent His hands) we will not fall. We may stump our toes or falter some during our learning, but we won't fall unless we let go and try to walk alone.  I'm thankful for sweet experiences such as holding on to Hannah’s hand that day that will continue to come to me teach me lessons of life. 

            I know that as we walk in his steps each days, that our eyes can be opened and we can learn to enjoy the simple pleasures and wonders of our world and become even as little children having joy in our eternal journey. We take one step at a time. In doing so we reach toward the unknown, but faith lights the way. If we will cultivate that faith, we shall never walk in darkness.   “Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord” (Isa. 2:5).  As we walk in the light my prayer is that we can all find the joy and fulfillment that can be ours as we journey through this world.

Remember your goals.  Take control and unclutter your life. Remember that you are not alone. Surround yourself with people that will empower you to reach your goals. Our Father in Heaven knows and loves us perfectly. We have not shed a tear or prayed a prayer that he is not aware of. He wants things to be better for us. He will give us inspiration and comfort. He will send teachers and leaders and friends to help us. We need to accept their help and their love and stop being so hard on ourselves. We don’t have to be perfect by tomorrow, we can’t be perfect tomorrow. We have have a lifetime ahead of us, and we have to know it will get easier. We can make it. It’s not easy, I can perfectly attest to that, but I know we can do it. We must not ever give up which means we may need to stop and breathe for a moment and realize our greatness is a life long pursuit built by small and simple acts.  Our biggest job may be to take care of ourselves so that we can help take care of others if we are going to enjoy the journey. I hope that  with a tone of excitement in our voice and attitude  of  joy that we will too ask the question, “What Now?”