I know, I know, work before play...

You know the principle, do your homework before you can go outside and play or sadly nowadays do your homework before you can sit and watch T.V.? This principle is often mentioned as "work before play".  I have grumbled about this principle in the past when it applied to me at unwanted times.  After all who wants to do work rather than spending time having fun and hanging out I thought.  However this week this principle really (and finally I might add) hit home.

Work comes first!!!

As a missionary we are constantly teaching people.  It is a constant stream of work, not play.  Lately we have not been as successful or effective in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ online.  It is a dilemma that we have all been racking our brains trying to figure out.  We haven't changed (or so we hoped) so why has our success in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ suddenly changed?  Why have our results been so underwhelming?  A lot of theories and ideas have been tossed around but I have realized that the only thing about the situation that I have any control over is me :)  I cannot control most of the variables but I can make sure I am giving it my all.

Do you like Broccoli?

I love my Dad.  One thing I admire about him is his speaking ability.  Whenever he speaks, or gives a talk, he includes stories, jokes, analogies et cetera to illustrate his point.  I love that because I know that as a little kid, whenever I would listen to a talk at church if there wasn't a story or something to grab my attention I was not going to make it through the talk without nodding off.  I try to model my talks after his to keep things interesting and I figure that applies to blogging as well :)  

God has told us that we need to become like little children in humility, faith, enthusiasm, love et cetera.  Little children display so many Christlike attributes as well as some humorous sayings It makes me think of my nieces and nephews praying at the dinner table or at night before they go to bed.  Since I do not remember the exact words of their prayers I would like to share a joke that makes the same point.  

"A 4-year-old boy was asked to give the meal blessing before dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. 

       

Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip.
       

Then he paused, and everyone waited-- and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?"'

I like this joke because the little boy takes his prayer so seriously.  He doesn't want to lie to God.  We need to be just as open and sincere with God, our Father in Heaven, when we pray.  Do we take the time to really pour out our heart and commune with God or do we simply mumble a few rote words before our head hits the pillow?  This little boy named everyone and everything one by one in gratitude.  Think about that and make sure that you are taking your prayers seriously enough that you are expressing appreciation to Heavenly Father for those things you are grateful for.  I will let you decide if broccoli is included in that list.  :)

Joke: Saying Grace

Pictures:  Broccoli

Sarah's Penguin Book

In this life we are encouraged to compare ourselves to others.  We are under constant pressure to live up to other people's expectations and to be smarter, richer, better-looking, more athletic, more popular et cetera than everyone else.  Famous lyrics echo this prevalent attitude the world has adopted.  

"Anything you can do,

I can do better.

I can do anything

Better than you."

We need not be proud or look down upon others but rather we need to stop worrying about living up to the world's expectations. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others.  We need to be ourselves.  Have some self-confidence.  You are a wonderful child of God with unique talents and abilities.  If you need a lesson in self-confidence I recommend my niece Sarah.  She certainly is very confident in herself and that is a good thing! Here is a humorous example from my sisters blog :)  

Here is what she told my sister, her mom.