Church Chat | Been A While…
I’ve had all these T-riffic-Inspirational-Zippy thoughts.
I really have.
I swear I can’t find TIME to write them down. Sometimes I can’t find time to pee…
And it’s sorta kinda in that crazy daze,
when I have this whole look in the face of God moment and wonder… WHY?
What am I doing? Does anything make sense?
For example. Dishes. I so totally HATE dishes. AND yet. I love cooking/baking/tinkering with new recipes & new ingredients or oldies my mom taught me and everything in-between. But I cannot stand sitting down to make a meal plan for the week. Kills me every time.
I lurve a good book. Preferably one with just enough real history to feel like I’m getting a two’fer, learning and escaping at the same time. But oh my gravy, does it suck stinky pigs feet(!) waking up after reading ‘Little Bee‘ til 2AM in the morning, yes, the only hangover this Mormon girl will ever know.
I just found out after 37yrs (ahem. shutup.) of basically hating all forms of running/jogging/aerobics unless a ball was attached… I actually liked ‘training‘ for a 5K. Go figure? I had three weeks to get ready. And by the end, pat-me-on-the-back, I could go the whole 3 miles with no resting/walking in about 35 minutes. Of course I also found I officially hate running outside. Give me a treadmill with the book: ‘Cutting for Stone’ on my MP3 and AIR CONDITIONING and I’m all good.
Where am I going with this… ? Hold on I’m trying.
I recently had to teach Relief Society, a Sunday school class only for the women in a Mormon congregation…(I wrote about it here and here).
And though I had been thinking and working on a plan for that lesson for seriously 4+ weeks… I still couldn’t narrow down the topic I wanted to cover? I had about 17 ideas. (Shortening the story here..) I narrowed it down to two subjects:
The concept of a Re-Turn when your life needs it. From an Article by Elder Neil L. Anderson and the 5th chapter of Alma,( the WHOLE chapter).
OR
A discussion about Finding Joy in the Journey.
The first topic duked it out and won. But even the night before I was barely able to get my thoughts together, kind of scattered… (like this post) praying I’d have enough to fill a 35 minute class?! When surprise-surprise…. There was a lovely woman who spoke up at the end of the lesson in tears, and shared that this was apparently the ONE thing she needed to hear that day. She in fact was re-turning to Relief Society after months of coming only to Sacrament Meeting and leaving. Wow huh? God working thru me… that’s a new one.
Only. I still need to have the second discussion. So my internet friends.
TAG. You’re it.
How do you find Joy in the Journey?
Happiness in the mundane?
Enjoying the here and now?
Dishes, carpool, time for yourself, exercise?
The most interesting article I came across was by the current President of my Church: Thomas S. Monson.
He gives 3 suggestions to finding the greatest Treasure in this life (and the next).
- Learn from the past.
- Prepare for the future.
- Live in the present.
Skipping down to the 3rd item… he shares a story:
I recently read the account of a man who, just after the passing of his wife, opened her dresser drawer and found there an item of clothing she had purchased when they visited the eastern part of the United States nine years earlier. She had not worn it but was saving it for a special occasion. Now, of course, that occasion would never come.
Makes ya want to start using the good china everyday and wearing that fancy dress to the grocery store if you want to! I just wish I could find a way to stop getting so upset when my kids make a mess, or we’re late for an appointment, or there are still dishes in the sink at 11PM…
Which reminds me, there’s a new book calling out my name on my nightstand. Good night.
In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best. A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.” Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent.
The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be overscheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated. Parents should act to preserve time for family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, and the other precious togetherness and individual one-on-one time that binds a family together and fixes children’s values on things of eternal worth. Parents should teach gospel priorities through what they do with their children.
[Reply]
Well, I don’t know about finding joy in every day tasks. I’m certainly not there yet, but I did have a good post on how to get through them a little easier. http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/2010/07/clutterbugs-how-to-do-job-you-hate.html
Twitter: TwitAdrian
[Reply]
Thanks Adrian… It’s true huh.. filing is definitely up there high on my annoying list of mundane tasks!
[Reply]
I didn’t read Alma (don’t have it), but I read Mr. Anderson’s article. I liked: “The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to “re-turn” toward God. Also liked that he spoke about an individual’s repentance as affecting one’s whole family and bringing blessings beyond that individual.
I am working on – really, I am very consciously working on – trying to find more joy in the journey. I feel downtrodden by my every day life too often… am working on it…. but it is NOT easy! I’ll read Mr. Monson’s article after Claire goes to sleep tonight…
And God works through you every day, Carissa!
And
[Reply]