I was hoping no one would notice that I forgot to blog last night...….
But Gramps called me out on it :)
Sorry!!!!
I blame the stress I felt over giving the dang talk in Sacrament meeting!!!!!
So it's over, I did it and I survived.
I didn't think I would....my hands started to cramp up, I could barely pick up the sacrament cup!!!!
Brent told me not to look right at the people and I told him that the darkness moving on from the sides was helping to block the people out :)
Ha ha…
He was great though, helping me focus on breathing.
Not sure why I get myself all worked up!!!!
Anyway, I will share it at the end.
I also recorded Brent, he did so well.
He is great at the public speaking thing.
Anyway, then we went to Sunday school and had a good lesson about the second coming.
For the last hour we were combined with the Youth and we talked about the new Come Follow Me program for individuals and families.
I cannot express how excited I am for this.
In my talk I used an analogy about how I feel about it.
This really is a protection for the future storms that come our way.
A protection for our testimonies, our Faith.
I am just so excited.
Back at home, we made dinner to take to the bishops family.
Their poor little 4 month old was just hospitalized with RSV :(
He is back home now, but still so sad to see him not feeling well!
Then we had our own dinner.
After dinner, we wanted to go over the Come Follow Me for this first week of the program.
It was great, we talked about planting our seed in nice good soil so the roots can grow and we can produce good fruit.
Then we talked about how we can create good soil in our home for our testimonies to grow.
We talked about things to improve on and it was a really great evening.
I really look forward to this in the new year!
My kids ask such good questions and have such great insight!
When we were done, I got a text from Vern letting us know that an ambulance was picking up GG.
She's not doing well, not eating, still coughing a lot and sleeping most the day.
Poor Vern has been exhausted caring for her.
I don't know many details, but prayers for them both.
Consecrating our time to the Lord
I have a favorite quote
that has been on my mind on and off for years.
But even more recently
with all the things that we have been asked to do or that have
changed in the most recent conferences and broadcasts.
This quote comes from
President Russell M Nelson given at a worldwide devotional held at
BYU Hawaii in 2016.
I
promise you that as you consistently give the Lord a generous portion
of your time, He will multiply the remainder.
When I think of TIME, I
get a little knot in my stomach. Actually a big knot.
I don't know if it is
because my Madi will be leaving to college next year.
Or maybe it is because I
feel like there is so much to do but just not enough time.
Or the fact that each year
seems to speed by faster and faster.
But TIME has been
stressing me out.
So I am looking for ways
that I can give the Lord a generous amount of my time, so he can
multiply the remainder.
As I said before, there
have been many changes that have come to us by revelation over the
last little while.
All of those things will
require us to consecrate more of our time to the Lord.
Lets start with the
changes made with how we minister.
Sister Jean B Bingham
shared in her April 2018 talk 'Ministering as the Savior does' That
we are being prepared for our Saviors second coming. And what better
way to prepare to meet him than to strive to become like him through
lovingly ministering to one another.
Now the new holier way of
ministering requires more than a quick visit and a check marked done.
It will take our time.
Time for the Elders quorum
and RS leaders to prayerfully counsel about who to assign to who.
Time taken out of our day
to go for a walk with someone who just needs to get out, or planning
a family game night.
Time to find out what is
truly needed by those we minister to.
It takes time to become a
part of someone's life and truly care about him or her and to know
what their needs might be.
In March 2015, we were in
the middle of our home remodel and living in our very small basement.
We had to get railing on
our entry stairs in order to gain occupancy to the house.
While we were out of town
for Spring Break, our family was in a rollover accident in which
Brent broke his back.
Yep, he is a walking
miracle!
We had many ministering
angels during that time, many of them here today.
But one really sticks out
to me, and that was our then home teacher.
He knew us, he had taken
time out of his life to really know us as a family.
And since he knew us
before the accident, he knew how he could help lighten our load
without even asking.
He was able to arrange to
get the railing finished on our stairs so that we could get occupancy
and move out of the tiny cooped up basement.
Consecrating our time to
the Lord by ministering to his children, that is what Ministering is
all about.
Let's talk about other
ways we can consecrate our time to the Lord.
When our prophet spoke to
the sisters in the Woman's session in this last general conference,
he said that he prays that we can understand our spiritual gifts –
to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than we ever have. He
adds that we will change the world as we do so.
I am pretty sure changing
the world will take a significant amount of our time as we dedicate
it to the work of the Lord.
President Nelson further
invited the Woman of the church to do 4 things to help gather
scattered Israel, along with the Youth, which he called the greatest
challenge, the greatest cause and the greatest work on earth today.
His first invitation was
to participate in a 10 day social media fast and then to pay close
attention after the fast to what we want to change when it comes to
how we spend our time and energy.
I think we are all guilty
at some point of wasting time on social media, TV, or other things
that waist precious time.
I was grateful for the
opportunity I had to accept the Prophet's challenge.
And I am for sure not
perfect, but I am making a better effort to do more meaningful things
with my time.
Second, he invited us to
read the Book Of Mormon between then, which was in October, and the
end of the year.....that's tomorrow!
When he said that, I
remember thinking, how in the world can I fit that in?????
But the prophet promised
if we accept this invitation with a full purpose of heart, the Lord
will help us find a way to achieve it.
Now, I am not a
reader......so I listen. I started listening to the B of M while
making my kids lunches in the mornings.
After a little bit of time
I realized I wasn't doing it right, as we were also asked to mark
verses that speak or refers to Christ.
So I had to reevaluate how
I did it.
I started setting my alarm
for 30 minutes earlier than I had been.
This allowed me to sit
down and open my scriptures and, while still listening, I could mark
the verses which spoke of Christ.
Which....is a lot.
I don't have one page that
doesn't have some kind of highlighter marking on it!
Taking that time in the
morning, usually before the kiddos were awake, allowed me to have a
deeper connection to what I was reading.
A better understanding of
my Savior and his love for me.
The third invitation also
requires us to set a significant amount of time aside for the Lord.
We were asked to establish
a pattern of regular temple attendance.
We all know that going to
the temple takes time.
And we also know that
Satan tries really hard to use that as a deterrent.
Whether it be the youth
who take the time in the early morning to accomplish this before they
go to school, gathering with your ministering brothers or sisters to
plan a time together in the temple, or using a temple date night in
place of a movie date night, we are promised that more regular time
in the temple will allow the Lord to teach us how to draw upon His
priesthood power with which we have been endowed with in his temple.
The last invitation he
gave the woman of the church was to fully participate in Relief
Society and read the RS purpose statement and declaration.
He says it may guide us in
developing our own purpose statement for our own lives....this is
where we can incorporate our spiritual gifts that he spoke of
earlier.
To cultivate, use, and
expand them, even more than we ever have.
The very last chapter of
the B of M speaks of these spiritual gifts, and I don't find it a
coincidence that our Prophet asked us, woman of the church, to finish
the B of M by the end of the year and that the very last chapter
speaks about the spiritual gifts that we can use to change the
world!!!!!
Making our own purpose
statement and using our spiritual gifts as a guide sounds like a
great way to start a New Year to me!
Another small, but very
significant way we have been asked to consecrate our time to the Lord
is using the correct name of the church.
Man it is way faster to
just say LDS or Mormon......but as our Prophet pointed out that it is
our Savior who named the church and when we omit his name from His
church, we are removing Him as the central focus of our lives.
Pres Nelson adds that if
we are patient and do our part, the Lord will lead us through this
important task.
We know the Lord helps
those that seek to do his will.....so even though it will take more
time on our part to say the full name, The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day saints.....When we do so ' He whose church this is will
pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of those who follow
him, the likes of which we have never seen.
We will have the knowledge
and power of God to help us take the blessings of the restored gospel
of Jesus Christ to every nation kindred tongue and people and to
prepare the world for the second coming of the Lord.
Wow! That is quite a
promise for just dedicating a little bit more of our time to say the
correct name of our church!!!
The last point, the last
change that I will talk about are the changes in the church
times......
I don't take it lightly
that our Prophet said that the adversary is increasing his attacks on
Faith and upon us and our families at an exponential rate!
And...To survive
spiritually we need counter strategies and proactive plans!
There is no doubt in my
mind that this is just the start of that proactive plan.
I know that when it was
first announced that church would go from 3 hours to 2 hours, there
was rejoicing!
We felt like we were
getting time back :)
But really, the more we
have learned about the new Come Follow Me for individuals and
families, this is going to require much more of our time.
Much more time in prayer
to ask what is best for yourself or your family, more time in
personal scripture study, personal time learning and growing, and
figuring out schedules to get family together.
The pre-planning that will
go into this Home-centered gospel study program will not be an easy
task, nor one we should take lightly.
I, for one, want to use
this pro-active plan to keep the adversary at bay.
I am grateful for this
chance to dedicate, to consecrate, more of my time to the Lord in
order to give my family that extra barrier from Satan who, I know for
a fact, wants to destroy my family.
Since it is a big part of
our lives....I will give you another house remodel story :)
We have this beautiful
wrap around porch.
We started painting it by
hand a couple years ago, and it took forever.
Actually, we never
finished it by hand.
Then Winter would come and
warp the stuff we had not yet painted.
So this Fall we decided to
fix that.
We knew it would take a
big chunk of time, but we needed to get the warped pieces replaced
and get it painted before this winter hit and damaged more.
We decided the only way it
would get all done before winter would be to spray it.
Since the house is already
painted, we needed to tape plastic all around to protect it from
over-spray.
That took a lot of time
and hassle to get the large sheets of plastic hung up.....and then
even after we had a couple sides hung, a wind came overnight and blew
it all down. But we didn't give up, we hung it again and started
spraying it.
The thing about spraying
is it puts on a really good coat.
Better than putting it on
with a brush.
So you go through more
paint, but in the end, it is a better protection for the wood.
How does this apply to my
talk, you ask?
Church as it was, has been
great.
It has done many great
things for our family, but it wasn't enough.
Like the hand painting of
the railing, it's not getting the job done to protect it from the
winter storms.
Now with this new
home-centered, church supported revealed plan, we are laying on an
extra thick coat of paint to help withstand that harsh winter
weather.
Like I said earlier, it
will take more time to plan and prepare.
And just like hanging the
plastic, it might not go as planned and the wind might blow it down.
But we just put it back
up, we keep on going and we keep working, and we keep trying. We
want that extra thick coat of paint as a protection!!!!!
We want that porch, we
want our families, we want our testimonies to last.
To be protected.
I am grateful for these
new improved opportunities to consecrate my time to the Lord. As I
look to the New Year, these things I have talked about will play a
significant role in what I choose to spend my time doing.
I want to go back to that
quote from President Nelson :
He
said: I promise you that as you consistently give the Lord
a generous portion of your time, He will multiply the remainder.
Let
me say that again.......in case you want to write it down.....
I promise you that as
you consistently give the Lord a generous portion of your time, He
will multiply the remainder.
We have been asked to do a
lot of things with our time, but we have been promised so much more.
I know we will have enough
time to get done what we want if we just consecrate that time to the
Lord.
I know with the Lord's
help, we can accomplish the tasks he has asked of us, and much more.
And in return, we will be
blessed.
I am so grateful to be a
member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I am grateful to be living
in this time when we are given such great tools to strengthen each
other.
I am grateful that I have
taken the challenge to immerse myself in the B of M the last couple
of months and I know that book talks of true things that happened and
testifies of Christ.
I know we have a living
prophet today, President Russel M Nelson, who I know receives
direct revelation from God.
We are being guided, we
are being given the to-do book on how we can return to him.
It is up to us to give of
our time to the Lord so we can receive those blessings.
I say these things in the
name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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