Ecclesiastes

I was reading in Ecclesiastes a few days ago and there was something that touched my heart but I was running late for work so I did not write it down. Then I could not remember what it was. Tonight it jumped out at me again and so I am posting two times tonight, sorry but I don't want to forget again!
Chapter 3: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
How many times have you read this or hear this or watched Foot Loose and heard him quote it? I have hundreds of times, it was one of my favorite things growing up, seeing how many things I could remember it talking about. I never had the passage hit me so hard as it did the other day and then again tonight. There is a time, here on earth, for everything and we must embrace the stage we are at in our lives and make the most of it. We are suppose to do something right now, right in this part of our lives. Find out what that is and just do it. President Monson said "This is your time. What will you do with it? Are you where you want to be with your life? If not, what are you going to do about it?" (Three Gates to Open 14 Jan 2001)
I need to be grateful for the season I am in and the place I am at. I need to be thankful for the time I have with the kids who are still around. I need to make the most of everyday and not get drug down with the worries but find the joy in things to keep me built up. I need to surround myself with happy people and when around negative people, take the opportunity to bring a bit of joy to their lives and not let their outlook bring me down.
I am where I ought to be so I need to say the things I ought to say, when I ought to say them. This has always been hard for me, I have spoken my mind throughout my life and sometimes I should have kept quiet and waited for the proper moment to say what I had to say. I probably would have done it more tactfully. Sometimes I have hurt peoples feeling with my opinions and I am truly sorry for that, please forgive me. I have passed up the opportunity to say things when I should have been more outspoken and for that I am truly sorry. I look back on my life and regret not telling more people about the gospel. I regret not telling people more often that I love them (I love you all!!) and I regret not talking to my Father in Heaven as often as I could have. But this is my time now and I need to take the time to do what I ought to do. My problem is that right now, I don't know what that is. So back to the scriptures I go . . .

Liken the Ensign

I love reading the Ensign, I try to read the articles and see how I can apply them to my life. I try to put myself in the story and liken it unto me. I love the article about the Lord enabling imperfect people to work beyond their natural abilities. I think I spend too much time focusing on all my faults and worrying that I can not do things. I have to tell myself that God can use me even with all my imperfections. Moroni 10:32 helps me to remember that I have to forget about myself and focus on doing the work I was sent here to do and I can only do that with the help of my Heavenly Father.

I loved the article reminding us to inquire of the Lord. We spend too much time asking others what we should do or telling our friends how we feel and we sometimes forget to talk to our Father. We need to remember to go to Him in our joys and in our sorrows. We need to tell Him our secrets and our fears. We need to pray without ceasing. We need to thank Him more often and let Him know how much we love him.

Prayer and Scripture reading is what is going to help us protect our families. We need to take the things we learn and use them in our lives. We need that to help us hold on to our beliefs. This is a trying time and we must remember who we are and where we came from but even more than that, we must do what we need to do so we, as a family, can return with honor to our Father in Heaven.