New Year resolutions

Well, we have began a new year, looking back things have been great!

I have a healthy little boy

My little girl loves her little brother

I have moved into a new home.

My two boys are enjoying their new schools.

While sad to have left Young Women's, I am enjoying Primary!

I am extremely blessed with a wonderful family and great friends.

The list could go on forever but I don't want to sound like a braggart.

Things I have to work on this year would include:

Finding a way to spend more time with my little ones effectively for myself and them.

Fixing better, healthier meals for my family.

Buying less junk food for myself.

Making a bit more time for spiritual nurturing of self.

making a bit more time for the gym...all year.

This list could also go on forever as well. I think I will take one goal at a time, prioritise and give it my best. My husband shared something they had discussed in Priesthood last week. I will share it with you. I found it quite profound.

In Jacob where he is teaching the allegory of the olive tree, in Jacob 6:2 it reads as follows: "...the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune His vineyard..."

One of the brothers in the ward said on his mission he used this scripture to help him decide which investigators needed to be weeded out. Today he tries to apply the same in making his New Years resolutions.

He talked about how we only have 24 hours in a day. We can make lists of all of the improvements we need to make. Usually that may include more gym time, more scripture study, heart felt prayers, (my list up above has some examples) this is all of the nourishing. It also usually calls for more of our precious time. Like many of you, I look at my schedule and sometimes feel overwhelmed with everything I am not accomplishing.

This brother continued by making the point that as well as nourishing, the Lord also prunes. Instead of heaping more things upon ourselves, he suggested that we look at things we could omit from our already busy schedules and do so. Easy enough.

Upon hearing this I was reminded of a CES fireside I had watched in which Elder Eyring was giving counsel to a group of BYU-I students on the 6th of May 2001. In his address he said something to this effect:

-Don't waste time entertaining yourself, educate yourself. Read, develop skills and culture. Don't grab a magazine, take a book with you instead.

I didn't use quotation marks because I can not find the exact quote, this is only what I wrote as I took notes. The only reason I brought it up was through this fireside, and what the brother in my ward shared, I am going to work on pruning back on how much I relying on media to entertain me and my children. I want to turn to books and activities that can make me a better person, and strengthen me spiritually. As well as teach my children and entertain them.