Another week

Robert has been on vacation this week, which has been lovely, because he has been leading us in some activities that have been neglected.  Like spending unstructured time together, with no official agenda.  It has been lovely!

Monday we rented another convertible mustang and spent about 10 hours with Elizabeth and Barrett touring Utah.  We went all around the valleys and in and out of canyons we have never been in.  We went to Brigham City the long way, and to Bear Lake and to Idaho (just long enough for a picture) and then back through Wyoming to home.  At times it felt like we were playing a real life game of Toe-Jam and Earl.  It was a long, long road trip, and those kids did pretty darn well together.  I really only had about two fits of exasperation, trying to get them to keep their hands to themselves.

I have finished my Peanuts quilt.  It is nice to have it done.  I have also started on my Finally Free quilt.  I am so excited to see this one finished.  It will be one of those "Oooh- Aaaah" kind of quilts.

I stayed up until 2 am last night talking to my friend Angela.  I have to say that I do swear sometimes when I talk to her, and there was swearing last night, but not a lot.  It was wonderful to talk to her, but I was tired today, and I took a nap in the middle of the morning, while Robert, Parker, Elizabeth and Barrett were fishing.  And the nap was lovely, too.

I BOUGHT A NEW CAMERA TODAY!!!  I have been planning on doing that for quite some time now.  The bank account was in the proper frame of balance to do so, SO I DID!  The funny part is that I never really took the time to go downtown to Pictureline, where I wanted to buy the camera.  We got a phone call today from the rental car place to let us know that we left our camera in the convertible, and they had it waiting for us.  I took that as a sign, because I would have to go all the way downtown, very, very close to Pictureline.  So I grabbed my debit card, and headed out the door.  Now I need to call Shilo and tell her it's time to take family pictures.

I ALSO PLANTED MY TOMATO PLANTS AND ROBERT'S JALAPENOS IN THE ACTUAL EARTH TODAY!!
Personal victory here, folks!  Now let's just see if we actually harvest any of them.

Angela and I talked about this very subject last night, and she sent this to me in an email tonight.  Thanks Angela.  Very good perspective.  And I really, honestly needed to hear this...

New post on UnBlogmysoul

Doing Less – Being More by John M. Pontius

For many years, I took a lot of license because I was so busy, both with my profession, with the church – and with family, that I excused myself from the heavy lifting of creating profound righteousness in my own life and soul. I just figured there is only so much a mortal can do, and focused upon those things I could lay my hands, touch and turn with a wrench. I don’t want you to misunderstand – I was very active in the church, working in every way for family and home, and doing a lot of cooking, cleaning and dishes to be a good husband. "Family came first" I had heard, and by the time I had exhausted each day, I had done a lot of things, but had become nothing greater than I had been that morning.

It took a tragedy in my life to realize that I was avoiding the most important thing of all. When the tragedy came, I was not prepared to call down constant revelation for the solution, to get immediate answers to my prayers, and to work miracles in my world. I was handicapped spiritually. I had been so busy doing righteous things, that I had failed to become righteous.

It was during this and subsequent crises that I began to spend hours on my knees (precious hours I usually needed for sleep) in deep, mighty, pleading prayer. It was at that time that I began to fast whenever prompted (usually during demanding times at work, when I knew it could only harm my job performance). It was then that I realized I had been “doing” the gospel, and “doing” my family, and “doing” my marriage without much inspiration or feeling. I was using the same determination to do a good job I had learned in the hayfields and corn rows of my youth, to do a good job at my adult life.

I found out that family does not come first - Christ does. Any other order produces stagnation and unhappiness, and eventually drives us to our knees where we find out that only Christ can make our mortal lives complete, our families forever, and our eternal lives a reality.

Eventually, I gave it up. I realized I could no longer “do” everything and be everything for everyone. I laid down that yoke of perfect “doing” with a broken heart, realizing I had failed, and over a period of years, I learned to take upon myself Christ’s yoke, through obeying His voice, and to serve Him, instead of my family, the church, myself or anything else.

And, guess what – He told me to get up each morning and go to work, just as before. But, this time I went in His name, with his guidance, and it was a joy instead of drudgery. Jesus Christ sent me on my Church assignments, but they were guided now by revelation and power, and I felt the full joy of Christ as I served Him – where I had been serving the church, or my fellow man, or something else before.

I was a better husband, a better daddy, and a better man – but more than that, I was a disciple of Christ. I had learned to quit “doing” my life, and just walk in Christ’s diving grace, and all of these other things, things which I had laid down, things wherein I had failed to fully “do” everything I thought I must – Christ did them with my hands, and miracles began to form.

My attempts at perfection have all failed, but my attempts at obedience succeeded as far as my ongoing imperfections allowed – but it has been enough to make my life a joy, and the things I used to “do”, His voice now leads the way to His glory, not mine.

I find I like it that way.

My hope is only this, that we can stop “doing” so much, and “become” in Christ, men and women of God whose word moves mountains and raises the dead, because I suspect the time is approaching when these things must be – long before we will see them coming and have time to prepare.

If you lack a place to start, here are a few ideas:

• Stop believing you can “do” it all – because sooner or later, you will find you can’t.
• Listen carefully for the Holy Spirit to lead you, and walk with courage in that light.
• Fast every time you are prompted, no matter how hard or inconvenient it may seem.
• Pray a minimum of 20 minutes a day, and longer when prompted. Learn to pray while the Holy Spirit is guiding you. This is the gateway to miracles, angelic visitations and promised blessings.
• Open the scriptures again, and study them, search them, read them by subject, mark them, write in your journal about them, and pray over every concept. Don’t read them sequentially, from beginning to end, let the Holy Spirit show you each day where to read.

Brother John

© July 2012, John M. Pontius, all rights reserved. Non-commercial reproduction permitted.

I need to copy this and put it where I read stuff regularly.  It is very timely advice for me.  I have discovered that I can do a very lot of many things, but when I do, the quality of those things really suffers.  This post was something I needed to know about today.  It is time.  Again.