Does it Inspire Hope?

If you have children, there are some Sundays where you come away from church telling yourself "I got absolutely nothing out of my worship today." I felt that way for a very long time. My husband suggested that I make it a goal to seek for one little nugget of wisdom or learning and have that be my take-home message.

I have tried this, and it has totally changed my perspective on church attendance. I may not be able to glean all of the beautiful and deep doctrines of the Gospel every Sunday, but I can pick out one little thing each week that the Lord wants me to hear and has prepared me for.

So, a couple of Sundays ago, my husband and I were sharing our "little nuggets" with each other. His was pure inspiration! Let me share it with you.

During Sunday school, a sister asked "How can you tell when it is Satan telling you to change something and when it is the Savior?" What a perplexing question!!! Cameron thought upon it and decided to raise his hand. As he was sharing his thoughts, he suddenly felt inspired to say "When you have a feeling of hope, you can know it is coming from the Savior."

How many times, do we go through our day and list all of the things we need to do better?

-Always have a clean house

-Do the laundry from start to finish, instead of having clean piles of clothes throughout your house.

-Don't yell at the kids.

-Serve your husband and others more.

-Eat right.

-Exercise.

-Develop your talents.

-Don't forget to take care of yourself.

-Clean the bathroom.

-Hang up pictures.

-Read your scriptures.

-Write in your journal.

-Brush your teeth.

The list goes on an on, and so much of the time I feel so discouraged and think that I just can't do it all! I often feel bogged down by the weight of the responsibilities of being an adult, wife and parent. I get confused because all of these things are good things and yet I feel it is impossible to tackle them all.

But, the other day, I said a little prayer to Heavenly Father. I can't remember exactly what I asked for, but I believe it was so that I could feel closer to Him and find the ability to manage it all. The conversation went a little like this:

Me: What would You have me do?

Him: Get the dishes done every day.

Me: I can do that!

For the first time in a long time, I felt like this little task, this little goal was something I could actually do on a daily basis. I didn't feel bogged down, I felt hopeful. I felt hopeful that I could make this small change and that it wouldn't be too much of a burden. I felt happy to comply.

This was a few weeks ago, and I am proud to say that I get the dishes done every day. I have a good rhythm and it has just slipped into my daily routine. Even on the days when I feel really busy, I am always able to manage to fit it in.

Not only do I have a slightly cleaner house, I have had little moments of inspiration while I am tidying up the kitchen. I have felt impressed to call someone or to write a thank you note. I have had my heart filled with gratitude towards my loved ones. I wake up feeling much more peace. Instead of waking up to a messy table and sink full of dishes, I can just get to work and my morning runs more smoothly.

Experiencing this first hand and then having my husband clarify and open my eyes to this principle, I learned of its truthfullness. Satan is a cunning one, and he will do whatever he can to distract us, discourage us and draw us away from our Heavenly Father. He cleverly finds a way to turn even the most righteous of desires into chores or tasks on a list that bring us down.

So here is one way you can resist him: if you look at or think about the many things you are supposed to do and all it does is fill you with dread, offer up a simple prayer. Ask the Lord what it is He wants you to do, what is the top priority? When you receive an answer, ask yourself "Does this fill me with hope?" If the answer is yes, you can know that the source of your inspiration is a loving Father in Heaven who is supporting you and helping you on your path back to Him.

He isn't asking you to be perfect at everything, He is simply asking you to try. He understands that you can't do everything; and so He will give you little pockets of light, little nuggets of inspiration, here and there, that you can manage and accomplish. Just hold on to His hope!