A New Beginning. . .

I have decided to start a second blog. I doubt anyone but me will read this. But that is okay. It is a personal journey that I can look back on at times and I hope it will give me great joy and strength. I confess that I "stole" this idea from a person I knew in Laramie. I came across her blog and she had a second "spiritual" blog. I thought that was a great idea, so here we go!

Lately I have been feeling that I have become too casual in some areas of my life. Specifically in my scripture study and personal prayers. At times I have been really strong in these areas, and at other times I have faltered a bit. I'm hoping that this blog will help me to become stronger in those areas that need improving.

And, as my title suggests, I am hoping to take President Eyring's advice "to find ways to recognize and remember God's kindness."

Today in Sunday School we had a lesson on section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants and the three degrees of glory. The lesson began with a story of a woman who was driving to a particular destination. Due to construction and many detours, she found herself quite lost and unable to figure out where to go next. She went and bought a GPS and was able to find her way to her destination. Our teacher then started talking about the purpose of a GPS. We discussed that in order for a GPS to lead us to our destination, we have to "plug in" the address of the place we want to arrive. He then likened this to our lives. We can have in our lives our own GPS--a God Piloting System. I think of my personal GPS as the Holy Ghost to guide me and lead me. But the key is, I need to know where I'm headed--I need to "punch in" my destination. Do I want to end up in the Celestial Kingdom? Or is my destination somewhere else?

This lesson really struck me and made me do some thinking. Am I on the right course? Sure, I go to church and try to keep the commandments and do good things. I try to be a good mother and wife. But am I doing everything I can do? Am I doing everything I need to do to lead me to my destination? Have I put "Celestial Kingdom" as my destination? Have I become too casual in certain areas of my spirituality?

Today I am starting that journey. I am putting "Celestial Kingdom" as my destination and I hope that this spiritual journey will help me use my GPS to get me there!