so i'm doing pretty amazing at only getting on facebook. just wanted to announce that. i almost updated my status this afternoon. but i felt like it was more of a blog concept than status.
When was the last time you felt like you were about to burst at the seams with happiness and love?
cuz that's how i felt today. but more than that, i feel like that everyday! thinking about it, i feel like that must be Heavenly Father showing me He's pleased with where i am and what i'm doing with my life. i am not at ALL saying that if you're depressed or down, He is looking down at you... disappointed. because that isn't what i think at all. But looking at my life before i moved here. i was meh happy, but i wasn't joyously happy like i am now. But i also wasn't doing everything i should've been doing. i was talking to a boy that was no good for me. i was working a dead end, painful job. i was too afraid to go outside of my comfort zone, so i did what was easy and available.
But we cannot grow if we are not challenged. and you know how everyone says if you are not progressing, you are digressing? so for most of the last year... i was digressing. maybe this is what it feels like to be progressing again. unbelievably and inexplicably happy.
this morning as i ate my breakfast, instead of watching sportscenter, i started looking at what my visiting teaching message should be this month. i read Elder Arderns talk. i hadn't looked at it since i'd heard it live. and as i read it, all of the lines hit me again. all of the reasons i got off facebook were clear to me. here are some of the quotes that i absolutely love:
"when help is prayerfully and sincerely sought, our Heavenly Father will help us to give emphasis to that which deserves our time above something else."
"the poor use of time is a close cousin of idleness... we must be sure that being busy also equates to being productive."
"let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text"
"...cyber acquaintances are no lasting substitute for real friends who can give an encouraging hug, who can pray for us and seek after our best interest."
"i urge each of us to take those things which rob us of precious time and determine to be their master, rater than allowing them through their addictive nature to be the master of us."
"to have the peace the Savior speaks of, we must devote our time to the things that matter most, and the things of God matter most."
"I invite us to identify the time-wasting distractions in our lives that may need to be figuratively ground into dust... to ensure that the scales of time are correctly balanced to include the Lord, family, work, and wholesome recreational activities"
and THAT my friend is why i deleted my Facebook. after i heard that first bolded quote i KNEW that that's what i needed to do. it's addictive nature was the master of me. so i did the only thing i knew how to do at that point, stop it cold turkey until i had the strength and willpower to master it. and i do and i have.
I also did the math on Sister Dews challenge to read the whole Book of Mormon by new years. 6 chapters a day. definitely doable. and i'm gonna do it. I love when she said 'you don't think you have time? you do have time' and she's so right! if i have time to watch all these different tv shows, i have time to read the Book of Mormon. i am more than willing to disregard the TV shows for a few weeks, if i will be able to know the Savior on a deeper level.
we had the ward thanksgiving feast tonight. it was super fun. i sat with a good table of people. i helped take down everything. it really took me back to growing up. dads singles ward, the fun we had setting up for that. i asked dad if it brought back any memories and his first reaction was what i think of every time: hand prints on butcher paper with markers all over. we would set up long rows of tables. and roll out a long strip of butcher paper in the middle (easier than table clothes) us kids would go around and put hand prints on the paper in paint and then we'd lay markers all over the tables. People could draw the hands in to turkeys, and they could also write things they were thankful. that was such a great experience. Most people at BYU-H had no family around. only the ward family.
one of the days this week i am going to post a list of so many of the things i'm thankful for. i'm excited to see all the things i think of.
my 90's love Pandora station is seriously amazing. i mean.. look at this!!:::
Every Other Time - LFO
Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer
Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden
Crazy - Britney Spears
Because of You - 98 Degrees
You'll be in my Heart - Phil Collins
If You're not the One - Daniel Bedingfield
I Can Love You Like That - All-4-One
You Are Not Alone - Michael Jackson
All My Life - K-Ci & JoJo
The Remedy - Jason Mraz
Nobody Knows - the Tony Rich Project
do those songs take YOU back the way they take me back!? cuz they reeeeaaaaallllyyyyyy take me back to some awesome times. i love it!
alrighty tighty. gotta start this Book of Mormon challenge off right!
Sweet dreams world!
p.s. only a few days till i'm with my sister and her girls!!
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