You know those touristy places that sell dream catchers, post-cards, snow-globes and bags of polished rocks? Well, when i was a kid, i was obsessed with those polished stones. I loved them! I contemplated getting a gem polisher, and even attempted to have a rock collection. I dreamt of having a huge Amethyst cathedral in my home, and having big crystals all over my house! I didn't know why i liked them, i just knew that i did!
As i grew older i stopped digging for fossils in my backyard, and i stopped trying to find diamonds or amethyst in the gravel around my church building. I realized that to find those stones that i was so thrilled about it took more mental, emotional and physical resources than i, as a 9 year old, had at my disposal.
As i was leaving my mission in the OTM (Oklahoma Tulsa Mission), my mission president told me something i'd never forget. "Get as much education and training in the areas where you have talents, interests, and passions. God has implanted those desires in you, and He will use them to build his kingdom." So i started my journey to returning to myself! (You can read Part 1, or Part 2.)
Well recently, and my recently i mean in the last 3 years, i re-read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and had an epiphany! I realized that as a child, i had come to earth with innate desires, interests, passions, and skills unique to me, that i brought with me from the Celestial Kingdom. I don't know if major tantrum throwing was one of them, but i did have a desire to help people, and i was drawn in unexplained ways to things quite outside of my family/cultural strata. (For example when i was 9 i insisted that my mom buy me the yoga mat i found at Ross, and then insisted that she buy me the dvd Yoga For Inflexible People, which i used religiously for several months, and then resurrected every time i'd have a yoga kick.)
So, as of the last 3 years, i've been trying to "become as a little child" again. Freely exploring the world around me, enjoying the things i enjoyed as a child, but now equipped with the knowledge of good and evil. As a child, my naiveté led me into some interesting, dark, and downright evil experiences. But that's what life was all about! So now i've been on a mission to recapture the child, while maintaining the wisdom of my 24 years of mistakes and successes.
It's been an awesome road, and i've discovered that i can enjoy my life by starting to live the life i wanted as a kid, right now! I decided that I was going to listen to broadway musicals and take voice lessons instead of forcing myself to enjoy playing the cello and contemplating Saint-Saens, or Elgar! And i've loved it! It's seemed that the entire world has been conspiring for my good.
So here's what i'm really getting to! Today, I just found out that a new friend of mine happens to be a wholesale rock distributor. She sells giant hunks of geological magic to those touristy spots i talked about! And she's selling them to me for wholesale prices! CHA-CHING!
So what I learned is the lesson that Nephi learned, if you make God your best friend, he'll make all your dreams come true! Because in the process of becoming best friends with God, we become purified, and we change, and all that's left is righteous desire! Then, we are blessed as Nephi of old to have all things granted to us according to our desires! (See Helaman 10, and 2 Nephi 4)
Long story short, i'm glad i've decided to make God my best friend. And i think he's glad i decided to do that too! I know he'll be glad if you decide to, and if you have, i know he'll be delighted if you help others do the same! Do you have any stories of this happening? Email them to me at likenephiofold@gmail.com or leaven them in the comments!
As i grew older i stopped digging for fossils in my backyard, and i stopped trying to find diamonds or amethyst in the gravel around my church building. I realized that to find those stones that i was so thrilled about it took more mental, emotional and physical resources than i, as a 9 year old, had at my disposal.
As i was leaving my mission in the OTM (Oklahoma Tulsa Mission), my mission president told me something i'd never forget. "Get as much education and training in the areas where you have talents, interests, and passions. God has implanted those desires in you, and He will use them to build his kingdom." So i started my journey to returning to myself! (You can read Part 1, or Part 2.)
Well recently, and my recently i mean in the last 3 years, i re-read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and had an epiphany! I realized that as a child, i had come to earth with innate desires, interests, passions, and skills unique to me, that i brought with me from the Celestial Kingdom. I don't know if major tantrum throwing was one of them, but i did have a desire to help people, and i was drawn in unexplained ways to things quite outside of my family/cultural strata. (For example when i was 9 i insisted that my mom buy me the yoga mat i found at Ross, and then insisted that she buy me the dvd Yoga For Inflexible People, which i used religiously for several months, and then resurrected every time i'd have a yoga kick.)
So, as of the last 3 years, i've been trying to "become as a little child" again. Freely exploring the world around me, enjoying the things i enjoyed as a child, but now equipped with the knowledge of good and evil. As a child, my naiveté led me into some interesting, dark, and downright evil experiences. But that's what life was all about! So now i've been on a mission to recapture the child, while maintaining the wisdom of my 24 years of mistakes and successes.
It's been an awesome road, and i've discovered that i can enjoy my life by starting to live the life i wanted as a kid, right now! I decided that I was going to listen to broadway musicals and take voice lessons instead of forcing myself to enjoy playing the cello and contemplating Saint-Saens, or Elgar! And i've loved it! It's seemed that the entire world has been conspiring for my good.
So here's what i'm really getting to! Today, I just found out that a new friend of mine happens to be a wholesale rock distributor. She sells giant hunks of geological magic to those touristy spots i talked about! And she's selling them to me for wholesale prices! CHA-CHING!
So what I learned is the lesson that Nephi learned, if you make God your best friend, he'll make all your dreams come true! Because in the process of becoming best friends with God, we become purified, and we change, and all that's left is righteous desire! Then, we are blessed as Nephi of old to have all things granted to us according to our desires! (See Helaman 10, and 2 Nephi 4)
Long story short, i'm glad i've decided to make God my best friend. And i think he's glad i decided to do that too! I know he'll be glad if you decide to, and if you have, i know he'll be delighted if you help others do the same! Do you have any stories of this happening? Email them to me at likenephiofold@gmail.com or leaven them in the comments!
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