1- I don’t make enough time for “peace and quiet.”
2- Planning time during the day to read scriptures or listen to uplifting talks, is not very hard to do and I always leave feeling happier. So why not do this more?
3- It’s enjoyable to discuss spirituality with others.
4- Keeping a strong sense of spirituality keeps me balanced mentally, emotionally and physically.
5- Striving to strengthen my spirituality has uplifted me and enlightened me.
6- Strengthening my spirituality has made me feel more gratitude.
There are many more items I could list about what I have learned from focusing on my spirituality this month, however, these points above are the main highlights.
I want to keep this spiritual focus in my life, not just for certain time periods, but ALWAYS.
Whether you are a member of my same religion or viewpoints, I would encourage all of you to do what you can to increase and strengthen your relationship with God.
It’s amazing the peace and power that can be within you when we increase and strengthen our spirituality.
What do you do to strengthen yourself spiritually?
If you have been following me you know that this month my goal and focus is on “Strengthening My Spirituality.”
If you click here, you can find the free printable I made which is “20 Days of Spirituality.”
My reasoning for wanting to strengthen my spirituality is because I believe spirituality is the core of who we are.
2020 was a bit of a whirlwind …and I became aware of just how powerful and significant spirituality is in my life, and in the lives of others.
Naturally–I knew I wanted to straighten my spirituality and it will not end after a month. My hope is that this month with really kickstart me into truly prioritizing spirituality into my life.
Disclosure: this blog contains affiliate links. This means that I get commission from any link you click on…but of course it’s at no cost to you!
Have you ever carried a backpack or luggage that was just to much to lift for very long?
The baggage you carried weighed you down and you literally couldn’t move forward?
I think metaphorically, we can all relate.
We ALL carry baggage.
Often times, we fight through the baggage, thinking we are strong enough, we are tough enough, we can push through it.
Guess what?
We can’t.
Even more, we shouldn’t carry that baggage.
If you are Christian, or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints like me, we know that our Savior Jesus Christ made it possible for us to leave our “weaknesses” or our “baggage” at his feet, then we can move forward.
The Savior did not suffer so intensely, and then expect us to suffer and carry ALL our baggage through life.
The Savior suffered, so that we can be forgiven, and leave our weaknesses and our “baggage” at His feet.
What’s even more beautiful?
If YOU let Him, the Savior will literally help us take off that big heavy load we carry, bit by bit, so that we leave it all at His feet.
It is a humbling act, to realize we have weaknesses, we have baggage, and we can’t continue to carry this “heaviness” through life.
And yet, through our own humility, we can find peace and relief. We can more forward and progress as a person as we continue to leave our “baggage” at the feet of our Savior.
The Savior loves you indefinitely. I know this and I have felt this.
The Savior does not want any of us to “buried down” with such an amount of heaviness to carry through life.
If we can reach to our Savior, and let him help us, the happiness we can feel is more than any other worldly happiness we have ever experienced.
2 Nephi 2:25 “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:25)
The Savior wants us to have “joy” in our life, He just asks that we reach out to let Him help us.
I remember I was twenty-seven years old praying for the same things over and over and over again.
One day, it dawned on me, and truthfully hit me hard when the thought came to mind “it’s not always the way you want it Christy.”
Yes, it took twenty-seven years for me to understand that I needed to stop telling Heavenly Father every thing I wanted in life, and I needed to start praying that I handled my current situation well, no matter what the end result may be.
You see, it took me a bit to find my husband. For years I prayed for a husband and a family.
One day, with a tear-stained face, I said a prayer and I had the overwhelming thought to “pray to be ok with being single for now.”
No, I didn’t want to be single. But you see, I was struggling with this “single identity.”
In my mind, I was not ENOUGH because I was still single. My self-esteem was rock bottom and I knew it was time to change my prayers and TRULY talk to God.
I knew it was time to tell my Heavenly Father my struggles and trials with being single, and then be in tune enough to listen and try to understand how to deal with my situation better.
Fast forward 8 years … and now I have that wonderful husband and 3 beautiful children .
My cute husband and 3 kids.
My family brings me so much joy, but I also have worries.
From health issues, to safety, to my kids social life… I worry about my little kids a lot. And always, pretty much always, in the back of my mind is my baby girl and her heart problem.
Baby girl was born with WPW, an extra circuit in her heart that can cause an arrhythmia to start and can be very dangerous.
So far baby girl has done well with this condition, but it truly can haunt me if I let it.
So what do I say in my prayers with all the worries and woes that come with having a beautiful family?
I thank my Heavenly Father for the many blessings we have, I ask for many blessing to come, and I plead with him to help me through the current situation that we are in.
We all know that God knows the big picture that we can’t see.
So why do we forget that he knows best how to navigate the present time and can keep us on a happy, healthy track?
Every stage of life we are in, comes with amazing blessings.
And yet, every stage of life comes with some really tough burdens.
Don’t leave those burdens for you alone to lift.
I know God can help us lift those burdens.
He can help us through prayer if we remember to ask “how can I navigate my current hardship?” Instead of “take away this terrible burden that is too much for me to carry.”
Here is a wonderful scripture related to this topic. The scripture is found in The Book of Mormon:
Mosiah 24:14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
So I ask you, what burden can you pray to our Heavenly Father about?
And this time, instead of asking God to take away that burden, ask Him to help you know how to carry it.
I know God is there to help.
God may not answer our prayers according to our desire.
God may not take away some heavy burdens…
But I know Heavenly Father will ALWAYS help us through our struggles.
This I have no doubt.
I hope it doesn’t take you twenty-seven years to learn this, like it did me.
