Sunday's Inspiration

Sunday I was privileged to attend a meeting and hear a fabulous speaker, Doug Nielsen, deliver a fabulous message. One that I needed to hear. One that gave me a renewed sense of self, of God and strength to do and be what my Heavenly Father needs me to do/be.

Doug spoke of a time he was in Belize and he wanted to buy a souvenir to remember his time there by. He approached a beach vendor and asked for a recommendation of his wares. For $50 he got a piece of wood and a lesson on life. :)

As part of the sales pitch(?) the man asked Doug to put his hand on his chest, over his heart.

'Can you feel that?' he asked.

'Yes,' said Doug.

'What is that?' he asked.

Not sure if this was a trick question or not, Doug answered, 'My heart?'

'That's right, man. It is your heart. What is it doing?' he answered.

'Beating?' said Doug, unsure of where this was all going, after all he really just wanted a souvenir.

'That's right, man. Your heart is beating for a reason. Go and find out why.'

love. it. I forget that my heart is not beating so I can roam the halls of the elementary school and attend first grade part time. I forget that my heart is not beating so I can spend hours and hours doing laundry that never ends and homework that is never finished. I forget the real reason why my heart is beating. A lot. I even gave a lesson on this during church today. Obviously, it is something that I really need to hear over and over to keep me on track and to keep me going. My heart is beating because my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are trying to build a relationship with me. They are giving me many opportunities every single day to come to them, to get to know them and to truly utilize the gift of the Atonement. My heart is beating so that I can come to know my Savior. My heart is beating so that I can begin to understand the love my Father in Heaven has for me. My heart is beating so that I can learn to love like They love, serve as They serve, give as They give, and experience the mercy that They offer me.

A couple other things that this rastafarian man said to Doug that really have me thinking are:

'Hell will be meeting the person you could have become.'

This is one that I think about a lot. I don't want to merely have a good life (although I believe that is certain to happen), I want to BE a good life. I fear that I may disappoint my Maker by simply existing and not enhancing the world and lives around me.

and last, but certainly not least,

'I fear that you forget that you are one of God's beautiful creations.'

Funny, I gave a talk on this recently, too. I'm often asked to teach or talk on topics that I am experiencing at the very moment of said assignment. I don't feel very 'divine' or like a 'beautiful creation' much these days. It doesn't help that I don't get enough sleep, don't shower every day and that I'm gaining weight, but these aren't the things that I'm worried about or that make me feel like less of a 'beautiful creation'. (okay, well, a little. The weight thing bugs with summer approaching.) My biggest problem is that I am so caught up in my very own mundane, daily episode of Survivor, that I miss the beauty of what is going on around me. I forget to be grateful for the small and simple things in life. I forget that in this 'dark room' a really beautiful picture is being is being developed. I need to try to eagerly anticipate the development of that picture and enjoy (or at least be amazed by) the process of the negative that is being developed.

Anyhow, thank you Doug. Thank you rasta man from Belize. And thank you Heavenly Father for orchestrating all of that four years ago so that Doug could tell me about this yesterday when I really needed it.