Creative Wanderings

It took me a little longer to find my verse tonight. Today was … Interesting. I got plenty of rest and went off to church, which was really good. I felt the spirit quite strongly during Sunday school and the first part of relief society. Then the Bishop began talking about marriage. I suppose my thoughts had been in the past today…. I always drive past that road on my way to church. The thoughts on blessings in my life for the previous lesson centered on people and blessings that came in the wake of that breakup. It was all fine and well, until Bishop asked who wanted to be married. I (quietly) lost it. Sometimes you can’t help but cry. He mentioned something about divorce…keep in mind that after his first intro I was more focused on being silent through the tears than I was on his words. He Read more…

I came across this scripture the other day, and it seems very fitting for tonight. These past few days, I’ve been sorely tempted to just do my reading and prayer and not blog. I’ve been busy, tired…. And it’s not like people need me to do this blog project. Diligence, however, is important. Sticking to the commitment of posting each day. Sure, I know the content and quality vary greatly, but each day there is something to show for it. Stickity tooty. That’s some line from a movie or book… It means sticking to the task. Prayer is something that requires diligence. I think it’s helpful to acknowledge that we won’t be praying like Enos every single night. Life can get mundane, and I know that sense if sameness creeps into my prayers all too often. Keeping ourselves conscious and present in our prayers can help us continue in meaningful Read more…

I love the imagery of this verse, where prayers rise to heaven like incense. Many eastern religions use incense in their worship and rituals. Incense isn’t in a rush to go anywhere… It slowly weaves its way heavenward, spreading and touching many on its way. It sweetens as it goes. I feel like prayers do exactly that. They touch others in subtle ways, while sweetening our own lives. This short tonight because I went country dancing with friends! A night like that is arguably an answer to prayer… So fun and dance just does something special for my soul. I wrote my thoughts before going, just didn’t post them. But these really are for day 17, no skipping 🙂

I love that the Old Testament has an entire book of prayer… The Psalms. I chose this psalm today because 1) I feel it has some overtones common to single life, and 2) it wraps up beautifully by acknowledging how bountifully The Lord has blessed us. As a single person in a church devoted to family and its central importance, it can be all too easy to feel forgotten when blessings don’t come on our timetable. Friends provide a special glue that binds us and surpasses issues of marital status, child status, worldly status. One of my current struggles as to do with making new friends. Last time I moved out of the grandparents home to SLC, I didn’t really make any friends. I’m sure there were many contributing factors, but ultimately I was in a house and ward where I felt very unconnected. As I look now to move Read more…