Covenants

Stephanie at diapersanddivinity.com (sorry, don't know how to make that a link yet) has a General Conference Book Club where she chooses a talk from Conference and then over the week, she and her readers share their thoughts, feelings, insights, etc. This is my comment in reponse to this week's talk.

(This is in reponse to a post by Becoming LDS.) I too thought about what covenants I had made. I like Elder Ballard's idea of the periodic review. Thanks for the link to the chart.
I get really overwhelmed when I think about covenants and how all-encompassing they are. Although I can understand intellectually how obeying commandments and keeping covenants actually frees us, I freak out over how much there is to do. (That's pretty common in my life.) I decided to apply something I've been doing in the rest of my life to my covenant keeping: mini-goals. Actually micro-mini goals. On my fridge is a list of about 12 things that HAVE TO happen every day. I consider it a good day if I get 4 of those done. By setting the bar low, I'm not so overwhelmed and I get more done that if I try to do all 12. Yesterday I hit 8 and felt great about it. (By the way, I don't think I've ever actually done all 12 in one day. And you know what? The world didn't come to an end.)

So I chose three things this week from my baptisimal covenants to think about more and try to do more. Am I doing everything I have covenanted to do? No, but I'm doing more than I was yesterday and I'm headed the right direction. As these 3 things get easier, I can add others. "Line upon line."

Serendipity

I love how when something is on your mind it pops up everywhere. I've been thinking a lot about how I'm not quite what most people would expect me to be. I can almost guarantee that first impressions will not show you the real me. It takes awhile for me to get comfortable enough with new people or situations to let the real me show. But back to the topic...

Today I add 5 "people" that I encountered in the last couple of weeks to the "Not Quite What You'd Expect Hall of Fame".
1. Susan Boyle. There are rumors that Simon set up the whole thing, but even if he did, that doesn't matter. What matters is that the judges and the audience took one look and decided that she didn't matter. But she started singing and showed them that she did. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, search for Susan Boyle at youtube.com.)
2. Kung Fu Panda. This is not a movie critique--there were things I didn't like--but I love the lesson he learned. "There is no secret ingredient." He had the power and the ability in him all along, he just had to believe. The other character also realized their errors in judging him and grew to respect him.
3. Penelope. Again, I won't dig too deep into the movie. Once people got past the nose, they saw what a wonderful person she was. I also love that she had the power all along to remove the curse herself by loving herself as she was.
4. Georyn from Sylvia Engdahl's book Enchantress of the Stars. It's a little complicated to explain the whole plot, but basically, because of his love for and trust in Elana, he was able to do the seemingly impossible and save his planet. The invaders believed his race to be less than human and he showed them that he was capable of far more than they had expected.
5. My student whose name I won't reveal at this time. I love watching the growth in my students. It's especially exciting when someone does something beyond what you thought they were capable of. Just to make things clear, I think I am pretty good at seeing hidden potential, so when someone surprises me and shows me more than I thought was there, it is humbling and reminds me to never, ever set limits on these kids. In addition to being the first of my students to make the NQWYD Hall of Fame, this person has made it into 2 very exclusive clubs. I tell my kids that if they are singing so expressively that it makes me change the way I am playing that they have made it into club number 2. Club 1 is when they give me goose bumps or make me cry.

Side note, not about the Hall of Fame--I'm not sure how I'd rate the writing of Enchantress of the Stars, but it passed one of my tests for good books. It made me think. It challenged me. Elana must make, keep, and eventually break a solemn oath. It was interesting and enlightening to read in light of my recent studies regarding covenants. I loved this thought she shares as she takes her Oath, "What matters is that you are given something to draw on, a solid core to come back to over and over again, for as long as you live."

I really need to get to the gym now or I won't go at all tonight.