Well, I took a step in the dark today and sent two emails to people I know I need to make amends with.
I sent them emails requesting their phone numbers so I could talk with them on the phone. I’m sure, to both of them, it’s going to seem a bit awkward to get an email from me or for me to want to speak with them on the phone, but all I can do is reach out and make an effort.
I found this quote today that I really liked:
“I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass.” President Gordon B. Hinckley
I like this quote for a variety of reasons:
- It hits home with my progress in the 12 Step Program. As long as I’m doing what I can do in the best way I know how, I will witness miracles. The key is to follow my feelings and rely on God and His will for me all the time.
- This is also a great quote for my experience with work. I know that as long as I map things out, create a plan, and then stick to that plan and work hard to FOCUS, things will fall in to place and be even more miraculous than I can imagine right now. I feel I got a taste of that the other day when I had things just “fall in to place” with Lauralyn, Mat and his team, etc. I need to make sure I always recognize the hand of the Lord in these blessings too. It’s only through Him that great things happen (after all I can do).
One thing I’d like to study more about today is the part of the quote that says “reach beyond your capacity…”
I searched for it at LDS.org and found a few talks.
Here are some highlights from one talk by President Hinckley titled “What Will the Church do for You, a Man?”:
“Simon. … Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:31–32.)
To me, THIS is the scripture describing what sponsorship is in the 12 step program.
Sponsorship is about accountability. It’s about “strengthening thy brethren”. It’s about praying for one another and striving for true conversion.
Jesus was really a sponsor to all he came in contact with. He was there to bless people, to teach them, and to help them out of their sinful past. He didn’t judge. He didn’t leave people out that didn’t fit in. He loved everyone and extended the hand of fellowship.
This is one of the great purposes of quorum organization in the priesthood of the Church—to bring an awareness of the needs of others and an opportunity and a vehicle to strengthen one another.
“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak,” and then he added, “and not to please ourselves.” (Rom. 15:1.) This is the spirit of this great brotherhood of men—to bear the infirmities of one another, not necessarily to please themselves, but in fulfillment of a divine obligation.
…active membership in the Church will motivate a man to clean up his life, if that is necessary.
There are in the aggregate experiences of this church thousands upon thousands of cases of men who, under the uplifting impulses of the gospel of Jesus Christ and under the inspiration of association with good men, have received the strength to lay aside habits that held them in bondage for many years.
It is an axiom as true as life itself that we grow as we serve.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, among other things, a great school for the development of leadership.
Robert Browning said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” Growth comes as we constantly seek to achieve that which is just beyond our immediate capacity. One of the noteworthy aspects of the Church program is that it constantly motivates men to stretch themselves, to reach a little higher.
Blessed is the man who prays with the assurance that prayers are heard and answered. Blessed is the man whose companion is the Holy Spirit. Blessed is the man who possesses the authority to speak in the name of God.
It was great to read that talk as a reminder about the blessing it is to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I’m grateful I took time this morning to study.
I’m grateful I’ve reached out to a couple friends that I feel I can make amends to.
I’m grateful for the blessings I’ve been given of a wonderful wife and children who I really love with all my heart, who I can’t imagine life without, and who I never want to disappoint or let down.
Hasta manana!
Nate
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