All My Heart, Might, Mind And Strength

It has been a while since either Edmond or I have posted.  Life has been good- and bad and all the things that life generally is.  We have fantastic days and horrific days and busy days and lazy days.  I haven't felt much inspiration for writing.   Nothing until last week.

I was at a YW training meeting and the speaker was discussing the theme from this year and how it ties into next year's theme.  In case you're not familiar with the themes here they are.

This year's focus was to come unto Christ and be perfected in him.

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
--Moroni 10:32

In 2015 we will focus on serving:

Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.
--D&C 4:2 

We must come unto Christ and allow his atoning sacrifice to become real in our life before we will be able to serve and love as He did.  This has been my focus recently.  Recognizing when Christ's power and love has enabled me to do more and be more than I am or could ever hope to be on my own.  I have seen those little moments, feeling calm when I would naturally want to yell;  finding that my loooong to do list is done, and I still have time to relax before kids get home from school; the moment of peace as I stand in the sun and let its rays warm my skin and feel joy, peace, and love.  All gifts of the Atonement in my life.

Another beautiful truth I found in these scriptures was the injunction to first "love God" then "serve him [God]" with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.

I tend to be a doer.  My tongue in cheek motto is: If a task is worth doing it is worth over doing.  Thus I tend to do (fill in the blank with primary, YW service, recipe creation, cleaning, exercise, or whatever my fancy is at the moment) with ALL my heart might mind and strength--sometimes to the detriment of other things in my life.

But the command is clear.  We are to love and serve GOD only with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength (H.M.M.S.).  There is no benefit to God when I serve the YW with all my H.M.M.S. to the detriment of my family.  Interesting point for me to ponder on.

As the wife of an addict, this phrase gave me so much comfort too.  Just as the Lord asks us to Trust Him-- and doesn't command me to trust anyone else, he asks me to give my H.M.M.S. to the most trustworthy and loving source of strength known to man or woman-- Himself.

The words of a primary song echo the feelings of my heart today.

I know He lives!

I will follow faithfully.

My heart I give to Him.

I know that my Savior loves me.