Come buy and eat..... without money

I read a favorite scripture in my studying this morning and the Spirit gave me a sweet reminder to re prioritize and "not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy."

The scripture is found in 2 Nephi 9:50-51.

50 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

I bought a new home almost 2 years ago. Since, then I've been heavily consumed in putting a yard in, finishing a basement, and other miscellaneous things that demand time in owning a home. I've been obsessed with getting everything finished and done, and I have to admit that my focus on more important things in life have been put lower on my priority list. I believe in having a balanced life. Although I believe that having a balanced life is not difficult to achieve, it is really easy to lose focus and become unbalanced. God has great things he wants to reveal to us, and if we don't make it a priority, we lose on this great opportunity to gain wisdom and knowledge. In Ether 4:13-15 in reads:

13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.

14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.

15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.

In this scriptures, we are the Gentiles, and the house of Israel. What does it take to "rend that veil of unbelief?"

Not doing so well with my goals, I think I'll add one more.

At the first of the year I made some goals for myself that centered around the scripture Luke 2:52.

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man”

I had made goals that helped with my intellect, my physical stature, my spirituality, and my social life. I just reviewed them today, and I haven't been doing so hot. If fact, I'm failing miserably. Well, I thought I'd add another one after hearing a quote from a co-worker's talk he gave yesterday in church. The author to this is unknown and it is called "Pause that Refreshes."

"I am the father of a large family. I go home tired from the routing of busy days. Before I cross the threshold, I pause. I reflect for just a moment to remember what may be inside. Someone probably broke a dish. The carpet sweeper may be out of order. There may be a broken arm. The neighbor may be phoning us about a paper our boy did not deliver. There may be children to jump on me for attention and love (maybe with jam on their hands) to tell me the important happenings of the day. So, I pause and repeat a prayer something like this: Oh, Father, may my presence in this home bring faith and a cheerful good evening to those I love. May my homecoming strengthen this home and bring us together, not tear us apart. Keep my voice even, that I may build confidence and respect in me as their father and their friend."

I thought this would be a great goal to add. To pause and say a prayer to my Father before I enter my home from where ever I may have been. To pray to my Father a similar prayer, and ask for strength to be as He would be and act as He would act.

As far as the rest of my goals..... I better repent.

Are you who you think you are?

I was sitting in the office with my boss this past week.

He was talking about an exciting position that involved a very technical person, one who is an excellent coder, one who could work with the outside community, a leader, etc...

He said, "You know who I'm talking about, right?" In my mind, I was of course thinking, he is talking about me. Later in the conversation it was clear that it was not me, but one of my lead principle software engineers.

I realized that I was still living in history for a moment. I now lead and manage a large number of software engineers. My role is to allow smart people to be smart. Allowing people to do what they do best, and not stepping up trying to be that person, or solving that problem has been a transition from me.

I'm not saying that I don't have to be smart anymore, or step up to the plate. I'm just saying that I play a certain leadership role, and part of that role is to realize the talent that works with me and allowing them to expand their wings and fly.

How many times in life do we have a different perception of ourselves than others? I believe it is wise to solicit feedback from others around us, and accept the feedback graciously.

I believe our Maker, our God, knows us better than anyone. How often do we solicit feedback from him? What have you prayed about lately?

wisdom from a worn out page

I was cleaning out my garage this past weekend. I came across a trunk of past memorabilia. Inside was a set of scriptures I used on a LDS mission that I served in Portugal. I decided to move this set of scriptures to our family room bookcase.

I decided to read from this set of scriptures and came across a ripped out page, ripped out due to wear and tear. It was Moroni chapter 10. In verse 3 it reads:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts."

Life has got so busy and I've failed to set aside time to ponder. I believe this is such a powerful tool to strengthen and stay in touch with who we really are spiritually. I also believe it will bring us closer to our maker.

I read a great book called "The power of full engagement." It talks about creating routines in our life to help us be fully engaged. I believe setting some time aside and creating a routine to ponder would be very valuable to anyone.