1- Driving. I really do enjoy driving. It gives me a chance to ponder on decisions, to make sense of the craziness that seems to be my life, and to listen to the voice of the Lord. These reasons are probably why I didn't mind having a forty minute commute for four years.
2- Having most of my Christmas shopping done. Before you think I'm just that organized, realize that my family will all be here for Thanksgiving for my sister's wedding. Instead of sending gifts via the postal service, I plan on using the Christensen family mail system and take advantage of everyone being here. I just have one more set of gifts to buy and I already know I can get those at Costco which we all know is a place of many good things.
3- Patience. One attribute of Christ that is difficult for me is patience. Though it has been suggested that I am patient to a fault, I find it a precious gift right now in my life. Elder Neal A. Maxwell talks about the patience in a BYU devotional back in 1979. The whole talk resonates with me but I wanted to share a few specific quotes.
Patience is not indifference. Actually, it means caring very much but being willing, nevertheless, to submit to the Lord and to what the scriptures call the "process of time."
Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father...We read in Mosiah about how the Lord simultaneously tries the patience of His people even as He tries their faith (Mosiah 23:21). One is not only to endure, but to endure well and gracefully those things which the Lord "seeth fit to inflict upon [us]" (Mosiah 3:19), just as did a group of ancient American saints who were bearing unusual burdens but who submitted "cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord" (Mosiah 24:15).
Patience is, therefore, clearly not fatalistic, shoulder-shrugging resignation. It is the acceptance of a divine rhythm to life; it is obedience prolonged. Patience stoutly resists pulling up the daisies to see how the roots are doing. Patience is never condescending or exclusive--it is never glad when others are left out. Patience never preens itself; it prefers keeping the window of the soul open.
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