Day 5 of 365 days of solace

I spend a lot of time listening. I listen to what other people say, and I listen to the sounds around me- wherever I go. I also listen to my thoughts.  Really, I want to not just listen for sounds and words…but I want to hear the word of the Lord.  I don’t want to only hear Him, but I also want to follow His voice, and do what is asked of me.  Yes, I want to always be found in the duty of God!  But that is easier said than done, isn’t i?!

I have learned that listening isn’t an easy skill to develop.  It’s much easier to assert my own ideas, than to really listen to what others are trying to say.  Listening is an art form, and I have a lot to learn.  I continue to keep trying to learn how to listen. Here are a few things I do:

1.       Keep my cell phone off for hours on end!

2.       Keep my laptop shut- for hours on end!

3.       Allow myself silence in my day- be it no television or radio.

4.       Read scripture

5.       Say my prayers

6.       Give service

7.       Filter the noise in my life—avoiding always filling in the quiet with sound 

8.       Work

9.       Pay attention

I’m sure that someone else has said it better than me- but that’s just what I do.  And I make sure to do it every day!  Consistency is the key to being a better listener to the voice of God.

Elder Oaks gave a general conference talk in April 2001 called “Focus and Priorities” in which he emphasized the inspired use of information as the key to our growth in this life. He said:

Because of modern technology, the contents of huge libraries and other data resources are at the fingertips of many of us. . . .

Available information wisely used is far more valuable than multiplied information allowed to lie fallow. . . .

Overarching all of this is the importance of what the Spirit whispered to us last night or this morning about our own specific needs. Each of us should be careful that the current flood of information does not occupy our time so completely that we cannot focus on and hear and heed the still, small voice that is available to guide each of us with our own challenges today. ²

Faced with an excess of information in the marvelous resources we have been given, we must begin with focus or we are likely to become like those in the well-known prophecy about people in the last days—“ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). We also need quiet time and prayerful pondering as we seek to develop information into knowledge and mature knowledge into wisdom.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/04/focus-and-priorities?lang=eng

I’ve been staying up late the last few days.  Last night I was waiting for my son to get home for a school trip to the Opera in a large city an hour and a half from us.  He got home a little after midnight, and I had to visit him to see how it went.  …He slept through it! He’s got great taste in music, and has introduced me to some wonderful music…but I guess Opera isn’t his thing!  I guess he hasn’t heard Nessun Dorme yet! ;)

Today I made a concerted effort to work, instead of doing my Math!  I folded laundry, and picked up in my room and the front room.  It felt good to get some things done, which I’ve gotten behind on. :) It also felt good to be taking care of the needs of my family, and helping the household to run more smoothly! I know that Heavenly Father and His angels rejoice when we make effort to move forward in life

As I worked in my room and kitchen, I listened to some amazing BYU speeches. I don’t even know where to begin, but I will share one that really stood out to me.  This is a story about Elder Henry B. Eyring’s father, who had bone cancer. 

I remember reading this story when I was about 15, in his father’s memoir, b

ut it always bothered me then, at how awful it was that someone said what they did to him…but now that I’m older, I understand something more important! (And it’s likely that his son also gave insight that the father didn’t write in the book…or I was too young to understand!) https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/henry-b-eyring_waiting-upon-lord/

The story:

Let me encourage you by telling you a story. It was told to me by my father. He told it with the intent to chuckle at himself. It was a story about his trying to do his duty, just the way you try to do your duty.

Now you have to know a little bit about my father. His name was Henry Eyring, like mine. He had done some of the things students of this university are preparing to be able to do. His work in chemistry was substantial enough to bring the honors some of you will someday have, but he was still a member of a ward of the Church with his duty to do. To appreciate this story, you have to realize that it occurred when he was nearly eighty and had bone cancer. He had bone cancer so badly in his hips that he could hardly move. The pain was great.

Dad was the senior high councilor in his stake with the responsibility for the welfare farm. An assignment was given to weed a field of onions, so Dad assigned himself to go work on the farm.

Dad never told me how hard it was, but I have met several people who were with him that day. I talked to one of them on the phone the other night to check the story. The one I talked to said that he was weeding in the row next to Dad through much of the day. He told me the same thing that others who were there that day have told me. He said that the pain was so great that Dad was pulling himself along on his stomach with his elbows. He couldn’t kneel. The pain was too great for him to kneel. Everyone who has talked to me has remarked how Dad smiled, and laughed, and talked happily with them as they worked in that field of onions.

Now, this is the joke Dad told me on himself, afterward. He said he was there at the end of the day. After all the work was finished and the onions were all weeded, someone asked him, “Henry, good heavens! You didn’t pull those weeds, did you? Those weeds were sprayed two days ago, and they were going to die anyway.”

Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a great joke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been sprayed and would have died anyway.

When Dad told me this story, I knew how tough it was. So I said to him, “Dad, how could you make a joke out of that? How could you take it so pleasantly?”

He said something to me that I will never forget, and I hope you won’t. He said, “Hal, I wasn’t there for the weeds.”

Now, you’ll be in an onion patch much of your life. So will I. It will be hard to see the powers of heaven magnifying us or our efforts. It may even be hard to see our work being of any value at all. And sometimes our work won’t go well.

But you didn’t come for the weeds. You came for the Savior. And if you pray, and if you choose to be clean, and if you choose to follow God’s servants, you will be able to work and wait long enough to bring down the powers of heaven.

I pray that we will, tonight, tomorrow, and on and on. Then maybe we can hear this said of us:

And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end. [Alma 38:2]

Next time I decide to do something, I think I will ask in prayer, “Heavenly Father, is this what the Lord would have me do?” And I think I will wait upon the Lord until I know. Then I might say, “Please, while I am working at it, can I remember that I am doing it for the Lord?” I promise you that if you will be patient and diligent, you will have a blessing come to you that you will know that you are doing what the Lord would have you do. And you can be blessed to remember that while you are in that onion patch, you are not there for the weeds. That will be important sometimes when the weeds don’t come out easily. You can feel the approval of God.

But 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. [Isaiah 40:31]

Dad never got better. He just got worse. So you might say, “Well, he waited upon the Lord, but he couldn’t run and he couldn’t walk.” But that was true only in this life. There will be a day for you and me when, whatever difficulties and limitations we have here, we will have that promise fulfilled for us. We will be lifted up as on eagles’ wings, and it will be those who have waited upon the Lord.

There are two influences ever present in the world. One is constructive and elevating and comes from our Heavenly Father; the other is destructive and debasing and comes from Lucifer. We have our agency and make our own choice in life subject to these unseen powers. There is a division line well defined that separates the Lord’s territory from Lucifer’s. If we live on the Lord’s side of the line Lucifer cannot come there to influence us, but if we cross the line into his territory we are in his power. By keeping the commandments of the Lord we are safe on His side of the line, but if we disobey His teachings we voluntarily cross into the zone of temptation and invite the destruction that is ever present there. Knowing this, how anxious we should always be to live on the Lord’s side of the line.[George Albert Smith, Improvement Era, May 1935, p. 278] 

We went to a family wedding party tonight, and my kids had a blast playing with their cousins!  My husband visited with his family. I did a little visiting.  Mostly I visited with his widower father (his Mom Passed away in January), and his widowed sister (when she was 30 years old, and pregnant with her 4^th song.  The 3 other children under the age of 8!)

I had an interesting conversation about his Dad’s  LDS mission to Uraqua and Peru, and life as a child in the depression.  (I just realized that I didn’t take very many photos, because I was worried about trying to finish my math, and –to be honest, I wasn’t feeling very social!  My husband comes from a large family!  As some of the pictures show!  And that’s just his immediate siblings and their children.  They are a truly wonderful, loving, accepting family.  We were  all celebrating a nephew, who just days before decided to elope with his fiancé, instead of having a traditional temple wedding.  And you know what- there were no hard feelings—just a lot of love!

Today, my solace has continued to come in the context of songs and scriptures, and even the devotional talks.  I feel the angels comfort me throughout the day.  It’s not loud or pesterous. In fact, despite having sweet, encouragement help to buoy me up, sometimes I take ti too much for granted.  After all, doesn’t everyone have songs cthey hear through their days?!  (I’m kidding, I don’t think they do.  What I find is that God communicates in countless ways!  We just need to pray to understand how to best communicate with him, and how to best listen and follow that counsel!

I have my darn stomach ache again…but I’ve felt alright, despite that.  I am not in a heap, crying.  So that is good!

Upon waking I heard that sweet Psalms, and it is what I shall close with:

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught:

We acknowledge that your path will at times be difficult. But I give you this promise in the name of the Lord: rise up and follow in the footsteps of our Redeemer and Savior, and one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the Atonement and its power to lift you up and give you strength.

. . . No matter how many times you have slipped or fallen, rise up! Your destiny is a glorious one! Stand tall and walk in the light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine. ¹²

I know that in order to become a sweeter, more empathetic person, I must face trials, challenges, and
heart aches. I am thankful that Savior made it possible for me to be happy, even in the hard moments of life. I know through Him, all things are possible!
Christine

P.s. I need to get to bed! We just got home.  Look for pictures in the next day or two.

P.P..S. I’ve been falling asleep as I write. I’m not going to go over this to see if it’s alright…it’s going to be what it is…and hopefully you will have some ideas to help you on your journey. Hugs!