The Secret to Everything

Happy New Year!

I woke up this morning, slightly groggy, but feeling good about staying up until midnight with my son who was eager to do this grown-up thing!  (No this picture is not from this morning!!) We played the Bean game and watched parts of The Karate Kid II.  Woohoo!  At midnight, he wanted to yell and celebrate.  I've been sick for a week now, so I was a little more low-energy, but today I do want to yell and celebrate, because I know I spent my time doing the right thing last night, which for me was not sleeping, but spending rare alone moments with my little boy, who's getting not-so-little very fast!

It's a new year.  And hopefully, it feels like all roads are open to you, and that 2015 is an open book for you to write.

As time passes, we close some chapters, never to be opened again.  But even, as we watch some stories come to a close, some new ones are beginning.  Isn't life exciting like that?

I was reading the Visiting Teaching message for January this morning which taught that the first attribute that Jesus Christ expressed about himself is that he is God's obedient Son.

I like this quote from Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "As we we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us.  Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life...Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create."

I know that obedience to God is a true principle that brings great rewards.  I was faced with a decision yesterday that really came down to whether I was going to be obedient to what I know to be true or ignore it.  Probably to most people it would seem like a small thing, but to me, who has a testimony of this principle, it was not a little thing, but an opportunity to be obedient to the Lord.  And when I made the decision, although it meant not doing something fun, I felt freer, than I did before.

For those who are looking at the year ahead and wondering, "How can I improve my circumstances?  How can I have greater control over myself?  How can I get more done in my work, in my home?  How can I increase my creative abilities?

The answer has been provided again and again.  The answer is that, "Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create."

Apply this principle in every way that you can in the coming year and you will probably be amazed by doors that will open to you and by the great things you can accomplish as you are obedient to the Lord!

Happy New Year!!