Back From the Dead After Six Months

Since I returned from my mission in December 2012 many things have changed. I was released as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I celebrated Christmas with my family, I found a job, I worked nights at an enormous hospital, I studied chemistry for weeks on end, I went on dates,  and I tried to reconnect with the life I had before my mission with varying degrees of success.

This blog took a respite, but I have returned to it to continue writing about what I care about. I hope that you, the readers, will still find it inspirational, but also down to earth about what life can be. You may find it more personal and less professional now that I am not an official representative of the LDS church. Your opinions and questions and requests about anything are still very welcome.

Thank you for reading.

Champion good! Pick up things you left off!

"I'd Rather Talk About His Humanity"

One of my favorite movies is Chocolat. I like it because it directly addresses something I used to struggle with. For a long time I thought that Heavenly Father demanded perfection, strict adherence to every commandment, and rigid  boundaries against anything that was evil. I was hard on myself and others for imperfection. I was not completely heartless! But I was far more focused on obedience than love. In the film Chocolat, the young priest addresses a small town congregation on Easter morning. He says,   

I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle... of our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how he lived his life here on Earth. His kindness. His tolerance. Listen, here's what I think. I think we can't go around... measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves... what we resist and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness... by what we embrace... what we create... and who we include.

I have pondered on that concept. My perspective on Christ and following Christ has changed. While obedience played its role, Christ did a lot of things (more things?) that reflect this kind, tolerant way of treating people: all people. I imagine His kindness was experienced more than His wine to water type of miracles. He looked like a normal person, not an angel. He did normal person things like eat and sleep. I'm sure He didn't always smell good! For me, this is encouraging. I believe that He lived a sinless perfect life, I do not try to lessen His glory. However, I like it when I can tell  He lived in a hot, dusty, bug-y, smelly world. He was tempted and experienced fatigue and hunger and he did it over a lifetime, not in one day!

A few scripture excerpts for you, although I'm sure there are better ones...

Roughly quoted...

" He... Sat at meat" (Matt 9:10)
"He... took her by the hand" (Matt 9:25)
"He... plucked ears of corn and ate" (Matt 21:1)

etc.

Champion good! What do you see of Christ's humanity in the scriptures?

Shadowing

My dad worked on projects in the garage. So, I would just kind of sneak in through the door and watch him. Then I would inch closer and watch him. Then I would grab a screw driver and watch him. Then eventually my dad would let me help. By the time the job was finished, I felt equal ownership in the final result. My Dad and I were a team!

My mom worked on projects in her office or in the kitchen. Same technique. Watch, listen, inch inch inch, watch, get to help! Once I was helping, she would put her hands on mine to guide how much paint I put on the brush or how much pepper I put in the soup. She would show me the recipe or explain how she wanted the paint job to look. I got better and better at figuring out what she had in mind.

My brother worked on projects in the backyard. He thought BIG. Usually I had small ideas."Let's gather sticks and pretend we are building a fire!" My brother would load up his backpack and some bologna sandwiches and we would go camping! The two of us would try and fail to make a fire by rubbing sticks together. (Imagine my brother furiously rubbing the sticks together, his nine-year old frame struggling with the endurance factor, "I read about it in a book! It works, I swear!") We would hunt crawdads, put our makeshift fishing lines in the creek, build a shelter out of pine branches, and wish we were real outdoors men. Usually this would last until it was time for dinner, but it felt real! Why pretend when you can do the real thing?

I like to think of living the gospel of Jesus Christ as 'shadowing' Heavenly Father (God) and His Son, Jesus. The process is gradual. We start out just being curious and peeking in to watch them work. Then we inch closer and pick up a tool. Once we have volunteered, they are willing to take our hands in theirs and guide our work. It doesn't always look as good as their work, but they're happy we are helping! They show us the recipe or their vision of what the finished product will look like. Usually, their ideas are much bigger than ours. We have to leave the comfort of our backyard and go adventuring! But, it makes life real. It gives you stories to tell and skills to share. You grow to become, think, and do what they do.

Champion Good! Shadow God for a day!

Accepting Help

Yesterday my companion and I were driving through neighborhoods trying to find an address we had written on a little notecard. The road we were on was on the outskirts of town. Because it was all squeezed into a small grove there were lots of little, secret side streets that looked like they had been  after thoughts. With all of the side streets and oddly ordered house numbers, we were lost.

We could not find the street.

We could not find the number.

After driving slowly down the street, inspecting every mailbox number and house number, we decided to turn around. Normally, I would have my companion Sister C. get out of the car and help back me up. However, since it was just a small turn around, I rationalized that I could do it without help. I thought that there was just some grass behind me.

I slowly backed the car. I couldn't see anything. I just trusted myself that everything was okay.

Then I shifted into drive, turned the steering wheel and pulled forward. I was actually able to see what had really been behind me.

What had REALLY been behind me? What had I REALLY risked by not asking for help?

A huge stack of bricks and a telephone pole. No joke. I could have completely destroyed the car. Why did not I ask for help?

Life is far to complicated and risky to navigate without help. I think it is worth the work to be worthy for God's guidance!

Champion Good! Pray and listen for God's guidance!

Be a Doer of the Word

A few weeks ago I was sitting in church.

I was trying to focus. I wanted to keep the sabbath day (Sunday) holy by feeling close to God in church.

I was busy listening to the music and trying to think about Jesus Christ.

 The first speaker got up and started to address the congregation. While trying to internalize the speaker's message, I heard little footsteps running behind me. Then I turned and saw the chapel door open and close.

All dressed up for church, a little boy from the row behind me had escaped from his mother's grip and dashed out of the chapel!

His mother was helpless as she tried to handle her newborn baby and not disturb the church meeting. She wasn't able to get up and run after her disorderly son.

The thought crossed my mind to get up and go fetch her son so that she wouldn't have to worry about it. However, I changed my mind. "No. I should stay in church and listen to the speakers! Isn't that what church is for?"

I struggled with myself, trying to make a decision. Should I help or should I stay? What would God expect of me? I decided to get up and go help her, but I was too late. I heard the strong confident steps of another young mother go out to retrieve the boy.

As I was sheepishly reconciling my thoughts after this, I realized that Jesus Christ would have left his pew in  a heartbeat to go help the young mother.  Back in his day, there was a similar situation. He saw a man who needed to be healed. Even though it was the sabbath, he healed the man. Others thought that Jesus was acting inappropriately for the Sabbath. He answered them saying,

"Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?" (Mark 3:4)

Christ was right. I submit that we all work more on 'doing good' and less on feeling holy. Other-centered is always better than self-centered. If it worked for Christ it will work for us!

That is what church is for.

"...Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only... Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world"

(James1:22, 27).

Champion good! Do good!



Not of The World

Dreaming, time stops, deja vu kind of moments happen to us all. Here is an example of one of my own.

It was a bright afternoon on a busy street in downtown Winchester, Virginia. I had just finished choir practice and was walking down the street towards my car. Normally there was traffic at this time of day, but there was a momentary lull. The street was silent and abandoned. As I walked, I heard beautiful, distant singing. It was a superb, high, woman's voice. As I tried to understand the words and find where the voice was coming from, I saw a white convertible turn the corner at the end of the street. I heard the voice more clearly and I realized that it was coming from the car. The man driving was listening to Italian opera! It was so beautiful! The car's appearance seemed to fit the angelic sound of the woman's voice. It was sparkling in the sun. The combination made the concrete parking garages and threadbare townhouses of downtown Winchester become ethereal. I reveled in the beauty of the moment. As the pristine white car approached and quickly passed me, I hungrily drank in the music, the car, the thrill! In an instant, the car passed by and the music faded. Traffic resumed and the dream was over.

I have never forgotten this.

Christ described himself as being "...not of this world." He said, "...Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world" (John 8:23).

Maybe being in His presence is like drinking the gorgeous music coming from the white convertible? Perhaps we only have small moments of exposure to His actual nature to motivate us to seek for more? Perhaps when we are following Christ we have a similar effect on other people? We seem out of place and unrealistic but in a priceless way.

I think so.

Champion Good!

Moment of Truth

 

Hi, my name is Sister Biggs and I have gained weight on my mission.

No really! I have! I have gained about ten pounds. There are two reasons for this change. #1 I am not as active. #2 I eat as though I was still active.

Nobody likes feeling bad about their body. Usually, I do not. However, gaining some weight was making me feel down. I was particularly panicked when my clothes started getting tighter. So, I knuckled down and decided to lose some weight. I have tried a couple of times before and failed. This time I promised myself that I would keep picture records of my progress so that I could share it with you! So, here I am keeping my promise.

Day 1 picture

Here is the book that I used to set up my exercise routine.

My main problem was not getting myself to exercise, it was consistantly exercising. I decided that I can do any exercise routine for three days in a row. So, I do three days of exercise. Then I skip a day. Then I do three more days of exercise. So far, this has been working. I run for fifteen minutes every morning.

The first week I could barely make it through the whole run. The second week I did a lot better. The third week I was surprised at how quickly it passed! Now I am trying to run faster over the whole period. I can tell that I am getting faster. It is really fun to see my progress. I feel really good about myself. Not to mention, I have lost five pounds! 

Now, I have also tried to control my eating. Mostly, I do not snack too much, I drink lots of water, and I take single portions at meals. I am not always the best at this, but it has been helping.

My favorite part so far is not losing the weight, but having such good self esteem. I like my studies more. I like the people around me more. I feel God's love more. I am more self disciplined.

I think it is cool that our bodies and our spirits are connected. When I am doing well spiritually, I feel good physically. This past month I have learned that as I do well physically I do well emotionally and spiritually.

Champion good! Exercise!