I've been thinking a little bit lately about the importance of being deliberate, disciplined, focused. I think there is value in being agreeable, flexible, go-with-the-flow, but we must also stand by our convictions, have convictions to begin with, be steady and steadfast. We make choices every day. Goals help us make choices that will help us reach our potential or at least push us to something greater than a go-with-the-flow mentality might.
Lately I've felt a bit distracted and scattered, with good things, but it's left me feeling like I'm running in circles and I don't know for sure what I'm accomplishing. I want to be ready and available and flexible to serve where the Lord needs me, but I don't think that means we shouldn't make our own plans or be deliberate about how we spend our time and energy. I think distractions are much less appealing and don’t really bug us when we're focused, set, disciplined, firm, and steadfast in our faith and direction and centered in our foundation. We won't be blown about by every little ‘good’ thing when we’re focused on Christ and doing the will of the Father (like He did). ;) We talk a lot about the firm foundation keeping us from falling, but I think it also keeps us from wasting our time, drifting, and not accomplishing all that we can and need to do.
One thing that got me thinking about this was my rose bushes. I'm not a gardener, but I've learned a lot watching nature and plants the last few months. My roses were beautiful for a couple of weeks and then became a little unwieldy and I remembered
Jacob 5 and thought maybe I should prune them and dig about them and nourish them a bit. ;) Well, ever since nearly slicing my ankle open while trimming our bushes when I was in high school I've kind of steered clear of clippers, so I was using scissors for the recent pruning of my "thorn bushes." This makes is slightly difficult to be very exact and now I feel like my bushes just got a bad hair cut. ;) A gardener would have had the right tools and known just where they needed to be trimmed so that they would grow in the direction they should and come back healthier. I could have and should have learned a little more before taking the scissors to them.
President Uchtdorf reminds us that: "Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.... Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace.”
I also thought it was incredible that less than 24 hours off the vine all of my roses were DEAD! There's another lesson (see
John 15). We must be connected to the vine. That's the foundation, the focus, the life. A
recent discussion in Sunday School got me thinking about what we learn. We shouldn't be distracted by the fluffy newsfeeds, but go deep, study, seek wisdom, be intentional and specific about what we desire to learn. The Lord will teach us, but what is it we want to learn, what do we want to become? The responsibility to learn and grow is on us. We must ask, seek, knock. We must be proactive and then rely on the Lord. I think there are blessings and knowledge and answers the Lord is waiting to give us individually (
like Elder Holland says), but we must ask. He won’t force us to do anything and He doesn’t just hand us the answers. We need to work and invest our time and heart into learning and becoming like Him on purpose. I don't think it will happen otherwise. ;)
Here were a few interesting articles that I liked that kind of highlight different ways we can be intentional, deliberate, live on purpose for good - set priorities, stay connected, be valiant, and, one of my favorites, be thoughtful, even surprise people with your thoughtfulness:
