I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to hear this guy speak. He is the author of some of my favorite book series. "Children of the Promise" and "Hearts of the Children". Such amazing stories and I highly recommend them. Ironically, I don't remember too many stories from his talk, but I gathered a good many quotes from him.
- "Be better than you are right now."
Members of the LDS faith are probably always concerned with our eternal progression. We are always striving for perfection. When we fail to achieve perfection, we also fail to recognize our triumphs. We are a work in progress. Let's face it, get EVERY THING just the way it's supposed to be is going to be rough. I think we need to strive for just a little better than we are. Each little improvement is another notch.
- "Everybody cuts somebody off sometime." "This is one of those times."
Have you ever been driving along, trying to be courteous to the other drivers (or at least avoiding them all together so as to not get in trouble), and some yahoo cuts you off, or takes the parking spot you clearly had rights to? Dean pointed out that this is bound to happen. He has to remind himself, "Dean, this is just one of those times." Confession: I had to do it a few times as we were driving out of Seattle. This sort of goes back to what John Bytheway spoke about with his mother choosing to become bitter or better. Life will sometimes through you a bunch of lemons. "This is just one of those times."
- "You're not in a contest....The Lord doesn't run out of love."
- "When we start comparing there is a sense of ungratefulness."
- "That twinge of envy can destroy us emotionally and spiritually."
I love these. It's a human dysfunction to be dissatisfied with what we already have. Always wanting what we don't have. There's always something bigger, better, more. We could always be more. Do you ever think to yourself: "I'll never be able to be as good as she/he is," or the other side of the coin, "Why did they give that person that calling? That doesn't make any sense. I should have it." Guess what? The Lord has a plan for all of us and no matter what we think of ourselves or anyone else, he has a never ending amount of love and support for us all.
- "You're not in that big of a hurry."
Ummmmm, WHAT?! ;) I know, I know. Like we haven't heard that before. It's always a good reminder though. I frequently get so caught up in what I'm doing at the time that I forget I'm not on a time limit. Even if I am though, the world will not come to an end if I'm not finished right when I planned to be.
- "It's only with the spirit that we can really be changed!"
While trying to become whatever it is that we are striving to achieve, it's important to remember that it cannot be done alone. If we truly are striving to be better than we are now, we NEED to have the spirit with us. It's our Heavenly Father's gift to us. It's like our telegraph with Him. When we know the code to decipher His messages we can use His help and become stronger and better than we were.
- "When we are meek we are like Christ, and there is nothing better in this world to achieve."
I agree 100% with that statement. If there is anything in this world that we are trying to become it is like Christ. It is Him who saved us and gave the ultimate of sacrifices for us. I don't know about you, but I would have a hard time right now saying I would do that for EVERY person who has ever lived. Something I clearly need to work on. Without judgement, He gave to all those who would let Him. I looked "meek" up in the dictionary (I know, typical LDS talk thing to do) and there are three definitions of the word. The only one that didn't fit was "deficient in spirit and courage". Our Savior was the embodiment of spirit and courage. In my opinion, one would need to have spirit and courage to fit the other definitions of meekness, especially during the times that our Savior lived and really the times we live in today. There is so much hatred around us and the best way to combat it is with the meekness of Christ.
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