I love FHE night. Usually I take a thought or impression from Sunday's worship and follow up on it on our Monday lesson. So last night for family home evening, based on a prompting from a high council talk, we had our lesson on the 10 Commandments. We discussed each commandment, what it meant and how to live it. We discussed that as we break any one of these we will feel the spirit leave distinctly. (Hopefully we carry the Spirit with us enough that the odd occurrence is it's presence leaving us, not feeling it come occasionally.) I digress... as we went through discussing each commandment... we came to this quote on COVET and I really liked it.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said... "To covet is to have an eager, extreme and ungodly desire for something."
When we covet something we usually want it selfishly, vainly, or pridefully.
Lately I have been really disgusted with my body, four kids later and my thighs don't fit into my jeans and my belly seems to lop over the waste band of my jeans. I have been really anxious, might I say eager, to get into a workout routine but I seriously rarely have a husband around and my kids are at an age which makes it really difficult to leave them unattended to go down and workout. AND I certainly will not pawn them off to the care of someone else to go work out. I have been extremely critical of myself and may I say my husband about this. I haven't said it in words to him but it's been there -- underlying -- "why can't he make time so I can work out".
And then we had this lesson last night and this morning it was reiterated to me as I looked out at the crisp cold sky and noticed a neighbor pulling in her garbage can in her workout clothes and as clearly as the Lord was standing before me I heard in response to my coveting thought "Ashley, it is okay, your time will come, right now your focus is, and should be, your little ones, they will be grown so fast, take care of them now. Next year will be a little easier, you'll have a little more time to yourself as they grow. Your body can wait -- your children cannot."
How grateful I am for the tender mercies of the Lord. For the guidance and direction of the Spirit who can guide and speak to us in all things.
I was so grateful for this lesson, later in family prayer I could see the effect it had as Erik prayed for specific things for our family which related to the 10 commandments and the request to help us remember these thoughts and impressions this week. They are so basic, and seem so simple but this lesson has us really looking and evaluating how well we are fulfilling them.
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery
8. Thou shalt not steal
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness
10. Thou shalt not covet
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your experience. I can relate in so many ways.
Just so you know, I really admire you in so many ways. So try not to be too hard on yourself. Your day and/or time will come when you least expect it to.
I have also felt discouraged because of physical appearance. I've had acne for like four years now. I read a book by John Bytheway and there's a quote about this that really helped me. He said that we don't love our grandmas because they look like models- we love them because of their hearts and the love that they have to offer us. I've been reminded of that every time I go back to the dermatologist and still need medication.
-Jessica
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