"Good for Something"

In the book "Stand a Little Taller" written by Gordon B. Hinckley, there's and entry for today's date that really struck me. A littl background here, I have a new calling in our ward....I'm the music specialist in the Relief Society, meaning I get to plan out what songs are sung and give a 5-min. "musical moment" to inspire the ladies in our ward. I try to have a thought or a little background on the hymn that we're singing to help invite the Spirit to be there during the lesson that follows it. I've taken to using this book, since there is a thought for each day of the year. So, the entry for January 25th is entitled "Good for Something".

The scripture is from the Book of Mormon - Moroni 7:5 "For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also."

The quote from President Hinckley is this - "You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others."

That quote really struck me. It's SOOO true that you have to be good for something. But then I wondered....have *I* been good for something? I've been thinking about that since I gave the musical moment, and haven't really come up with anything that would have left an imprint on the world around me. There are days that I even wonder if I do ANY good with my parenting (since there are many days that I feel that I've failed miserably in that department!). But, after getting home and having many people talk to me today, I actually think maybe I HAVE helped at least one person out (she said she admired my courage for standing up to people and she said I was a good person.....I cried when she said that, lol...I was really touched by that remark).

Now, mind you, I'm writing this when I feel very out of sorts right now. I'm getting cabin fever from having to stay home with the "sickies" for most of the year so far (lol, since we're not even a month into it yet...lol). I also miss my friends that I used to hang out with before moving out here. We would always go and do something together and when I wasn't doing something with them, I was with my family doing something (usually at my mom's house). Yes, I'm pretty home-sick today. But, I'm also gaining a new-found faith in the goodness of our ward!

LOL, news travels pretty fast here and most people that I talked to were pretty appalled at how some had reacted to us having Terra there last week. I got many hugs and genuine concern of how we were all doing this week. They were all very relieved to hear that the "sickies" were gone from our house for now and giving me hugs again to tell me to 'just breath now that it's all over with'...and....'now you can relax'....was the most common statement from people. I just laughed at that one and thought, 'You don't know my children! Relaxing is completely non-existant in my dictionary.'

James had a hard time today going into primary today, though. He has the nicest teacher, but he's not transitioning very well. He kept asking to go into Tyler's class with him or to go with Terra. He finally asked to go sit with daddy in his class and color. He's never been one to adjust to change very well at all. Hopefully next week will be better! Terra and Tyler seem to be adjusting to things pretty well (since Tyler didn't really move into a new class and Terra was already used to Primary).

I do have some good news though. Things are going better (at least for now) at Chris's job, so no pay-cuts now! YIPPEE!!! I'm also looking forward to getting our taxes back (I get to have a new washing machine since mine is on it's last leg right now)!! So, I'm here to tell you ALL...no matter HOW bad it gets, keep your chin up. Things WILL improve (they don't stay bad forever), and plus, if you keep smiling, it helps to give others the courage to endure through their trials too...you never know who's watching you!