21 Days: Day 6

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

21 Days to an All Around Better Me

MY BABY BOY IS 4 MONTHS TODAY, DOES TIME REALLY HAVE TO GO SO FAST?

Sunday's are always good days, and today was no exception. I would expound, but it's late and Insanity in the morning comes super early.

Scripture Study: Today I focused on the scripture reading that went along with the Closer to Christ book. John 9:1-38. Can you imagine spending your life in darkness like that. Especially when you're alone? It makes any time that I've felt lonely or in the midst of the darkness of trial, seem incredibly minute in comparison. Sometimes we have trials and we wonder why we are experiencing what we are going through. The apostles even asked Christ, why the man was blind. And the Lord replied (in verse 3) "that the works of God should be made manifest in him." The Lord has a plan for us- there is purpose to the things we are asked to endure. They are to make us better and to let the Lord work in our lives. We have to have hope and faith to see through the blindness, so that one day we can believe that we can be brought into the light and healed. And throughout that time of darkness, we will never be alone. President Heber J. Grant promised us that, "The Lord will be always near you. He will comfort you; you will feel His presence in the hour of your greatest tribulation." Elder Jeffery R. Holland also said, "On those days when we have special need of heavens help, we would do well to remember one of the titles given to the Savior...'an high priest of good things to come'". We must continue to hope for, and know, that good things will come. We will make it through the darkness and again, one day see the light.

Personal Prayer- Check. And I must say, in just six days, the "signal" on my "connection" with Heavenly Father has dramatically improved. I can only imagine (and be so excited for) the level of connection I can have after this process is complete and I continue to use prayer as a tool in my life.

21 Days Closer to Christ book- Based on the scripture study, you know that this was accomplished. The challenge for this day was to analyze a troubling situation in our life through different eyes and to pray that the Savior will touch our eyes so that we may see how we can handle it differently. Also, to recognize times in our lives when good things have come to you through Christ. And then asks, how does recognizing these blessings bring us hope? For me, when I look at my life it doesn't take long for me to be overwhelmed with all of the blessings and good things that have come through Christ. It helps me to have hope, because I know that as long as I'm doing the things I have covenanted and have been commanded to do and am living a Christ like life, the Lord will bless me and heal me and bring me through and out of anything that I may encounter. I know that I can endure because the things that are brought about are for my good and benefit, even though at times I may not understand why. I have hope because I know that He has brought me through before and that good things always come through Him. And because He loves me and He wants to help me succeed and truly wants to see my happy.

Physical- Day of rest. :) Thank heavens for that.

Healthy Eating- I did pretty good today, aside from my mom's famous cookie dough/cookies. Blast that dough, chocolate chippity goodness. No, I did well and keep myself pretty locked down when it comes to eating healthy meals but I have plans for this week to really get strict on myself with the log.

30 Minutes with Montana- We all sat and watched Princess and the Frog after church, while Carson slept. We love to sing the Disney songs together. And then she fell asleep on my lap. Also, at dinner time, we tried to include her in our conversation. I think sometimes it's easy for Marc and I to get focused on the adult conversations we're having and we forget to make sure she is included in the family time.

Wake up at 6:30- Nope, and I don't even feel bad. haha...it's Sunday. The one day of the week really that we sleep in as a family (Saturday morning Marc golfs really early). So we didn't wake up until 7:30 ish today.

Daily Chore- Sundays aren't specified too much, although I like to keep a tidy house on Sunday. For me, a clean house is easier for me to feel relaxed and rested in. Sundays are also going to be my to do list, menu planning, grocery list days. This week is kind of weird though, and I'll mention why in a few days, but I won't be grocery shopping and cooking as normal. My to-do lists are crazy though--this week is going to be a doozy, on TOP of all my 21 day stuff. I can do it!! I know I can!

Showing Spousal Love- While the kids were napping after church, Marc and I had a talk about our life together. We shared our feelings and sort of just had a conversation about our accomplishments in the last six years together, how we think we are doing in our lives, in our marriage, in everything and what we see ourselves doing and working on to continue to progress. I'm so grateful for a husband who is very motivated and goal oriented. I'm so grateful for how hard he works and how much he loves and cares about his family and the Gospel. I'm so glad that my best friend sleeps next to me every night. (He's snoring as I type), and that I have someone to have those conversations with. We exchanged plenty of words that showed our spousal love. And it goes without saying, but there are other ways that spousal love is bound to be shown over a process of 21 days, that I won't be sharing. ;)

Wish me luck for a busy and hopefully productive but fun week!

For any of you who are interested and want to try this 21 Days Closer to Christ book I'm reading and learning from, click here. Go ahead and read some of the reviews too, and I think you'll find that you probably would never regret buying, reading and experiencing the invitation of this book to becoming "closer to Christ".