I've been thinking lately of ways to make this Christmas season more meaningful. I think I've come up with something that has and will help me remember Christ even more this Christmas.
This quote by Spencer Kimball has been surfacing lately in my reading. I've read it many times before, but I've been applying it and using it to help me remember actual examples of when I've felt this.
“God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through
another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we
serve each other.”
Being reminded of God's hand in our lives either through giving or receiving service really is the essence of the Christian message. Feeling the love of Christ, and having our hearts changed by him because we ask and try our best are the goals, but those goals are only really met through service and our interactions with other people. Sometimes we are the one giving the service and feeling that love for other people. When we are the instrument God uses to meet those needs of another, it inspires us. We feel gratitude. We feel a part of something much greater. When we are on the receiving end of the service, we feel remembered by God, and again, we feel gratitude that another was willing to be that instrument. Sometimes we don't take the opportunity to be a part of any of it, and forfeit the chance we had to learn something, help someone, or be reminded of God's love. I've done this a few times lately, and each time had the experience of regret, wishing I had listened and taken that particular opportunity that I'll never get back. Even in this instance, I learned something.
What I've realized lately in my exercise of writing down some of my "pivotal" life experiences is that most of the experiences I recall as being the most meaningful, touching, and profound seem at face value to be completely ordinary and unremarkable. Some decisions, even really important ones like marrying my husband, came so clearly and easily and without a certain one profound "experience." Other decisions, sometimes even what seemed like really simple decisions, came after great effort and specific reminders and help from God. I've also noticed that I'm beginning to forget things that happened even in high school. Even things since then are beginning to become a little fuzzy. So, in an effort to preserve some of these memories for myself and for the benefits of my children, I want to write a few of them in this blog during the month of December. Perhaps they might inspire someone to think of ways God has had a hand in their own lives, or maybe they might just be interesting reading.
Also, I had an experience with one of my young women from church a few weeks ago. She asked for some advice about something not directly religious, and knowing that she has struggled with her beliefs in God, I didn't include a lot of faith-based suggestions, rather more practical things in an effort to keep her comfortable. Later I thought about what I had said, and about what I would do in her situation, and my suggestions for myself could not be separated from spiritual solutions. The practical ones were totally necessary as well, but faith had to be included. I usually don't write a ton about religion on my blog, mostly because of how personal it can be for me and those who read it. At the same time, I write mostly for my own children's record of our family, so they can read someday about their lives as children and I really would want them to know what their mother believed and tried to teach them. For this reason I'll plan on blitzing my blog this Christmas season with stories of how I knew God was in the details of my life. I know that no concern is too small for God, and that every prayer is answered, even if it seems it takes years for that answer to come, or for us to understand.
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