A Life of Becoming

During my weekly review this past week, I began by answering my weekly journal question, “How I’ve Seen the Lord’s Hand in My Life This Week?”. I quickly was able to recall His influence in my life and could point out the little things that weren’t coincidences. He truly is in the detail of our life and His fingerprints can be found everywhere when we are alert and look for them.

As I prayed and gave thanks to God, I also asked how I could continue to improve as a husband, father, and disciple of Jesus Christ. What followed was a specific warning from the Holy Ghost that I needed to implement and address immediately. The warning was this:

“Fill Your Lamp”

Heavenly Father loving pointed out to me through the Spirit that I need to do a better job at prioritizing the “little things”. The little things for me are:

• Praying daily personally, as a couple, and as a family.
• Studying the scriptures daily personally, as a couple, and as a family.
• Evaluating every influence that we allow to enter our home (this is mostly the music and entertainment we consume).

Since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started, my habits, routines, and schedule have really had a major impact in a positive and negative way. With the temple closed and everyone isolating and quarantining… I have gotten comfortable, fallen out of my routines, and struggled implementing the schedule and lifestyle that I was used to living. Forgetting to pray, study my scriptures, and getting sucked into my screens and entertainment began consuming more of my time that I am not proud of to admit. I quickly realized that I need to prioritize the “little things” as “big rocks” and ensure that they get scheduled and prioritized first.

Strengthen Your Foundation

Through the Holy Ghost, Heavenly Father continued to outline and bring thoughts to my mind where I need to improve. This verse from The Book of Mormon came to my mind that made me love it that much more:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Helaman 5:12

It’s not IF the devil sends his storms against us… it’s WHEN! This past month, I personally have been weathering and enduring “his hail and his mighty storms” as he has continually been trying to bring me down. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of Jesus Christ’s restored church and the foundation I have in these last days.

As I continue to put spiritual and self-reliant oil in my lamp while strengthening our foundation… we will be prepared and ready for any storm that comes our way.