Yesterday in Relief Society we studied “A Matter of a Few Degrees” a talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
In this article he tells two stories about how a matter of a few degrees off course can have physical and spiritual consequences. And those consequences, as those who died tragically on the plane and the kingdom of Saul experienced, can effect more than just you.
I apply this to my little one. I have a book right now that has a log of when he eats, when he goes down for a nap, if he cries and how long, if he wakes up in the middle of the nap etc. By doing this I have realized how important a “few degrees” really do mean.
My little Scooter can only stay up for 60 mins-including eating time. If I put him down even 5 minutes too late, it makes all the difference in the world between a good nap and a bad one-just 5 minutes. If I put him down late, he cries going to sleep and usually wakes up early from a nap.
The things we need in order to stay the course are:
- Self discipline
- Trust in the Lord
- A pattern to follow
Self discipline is something I have had to learn since having a child. I have approximately 3, 40min intervals during the day to do stuff. Since he only stays up for 60 minutes and takes 15ish to eat and then to change his diaper and get him into the carseat-its almost time to come home. It will get better when the little stinker stays up a little longer between feedings, but for now nursing, playing with some toys and a quick read of a book are about all we have time for.
Trust in the Lord-I have to trust in Him that things will get better-but also in a sense I am Lord over Scooter’s daytime activities and he puts full trust in me to feed him, change him, and know how to take care of him-including getting him into bed on time.
A pattern to follow is hard to follow if you don’t know what the pattern is. Without the log I wouldn’t have known that he has a hard time staying up. His cousin, 5 weeks older-is staying up 2 hours-and has been for some time now. I would have just assumed that at the same time his cousin could stay up, he should be able to stay up too.
One thing is for sure. Heavenly Father has to send patient children first to families (I’m a 2nd child) because their parents have to learn about these little things. If 5 mins makes a difference in my little guy’s life, I wouldn’t dream of pushing him an extra 30mins.
What in my life am I doing that seems so insignificant but yet could have real lasting effects on me-physically, mentally and spiritually. Maybe skiping reading my scriptures in the morning so that I can get an extra 15mins to do something else might seem small-but could have devestating effects on my spirit and mood for the day. Who knows what Satan has planned and something as little as a few verses might make all the difference not only for me, but how I handle my son and talk to my husband that day-and could have effects on the rest of the week or relationships forever.
It is so interesting how much we learn about life from a little one who is trusting us to teach him what we DO know.
What I like a lot about this post is the way you are likening the scriptures to your life. You’re really taking a hard look at the things that are happening and finding the patterns there – the analytical approach to finding the truth. If more people took the time to – not so much meditate, or even ponder, but just to consider and think, there would not be so much suffering, the way I see it. I think we bring so much suffering on ourselves by deciding there should be a door in the wall and then trying to walk through it – only to bounce off a solid wall. And then doing the same thing, unable to understand that just wanting or expecting something to work will not change the shape of the universe.
You have to find a real door before you can get to the other side. Unless you really enjoy banging yourself against a wall until you are deeply broken. Sometimes, it seems like people really much like doing that – like the drama or something.
But for me and my house, thinking is far more fun.
Thanks
I actually have a lot of examples of lessons applied to life, but for some reason this is the only one published.
I have a book I titled “lessons learned from scooter” that I’m writing in whenever I realize something new about myself of life. I guess the subtitle is seeing in a different way.
Not sure why I posted this one.