The Rest are Just Details

  This week I fell prey to one of the classic blunders, and no it wasn't "never get in a land war in Asia nor was it never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line" (cue awkward laughing here), I got caught up in the details. I became so focused on lists of things I needed doing, berating myself for things I had forgotten to do, creating lists of things I should do, feeling overwhelmed by all the evil expanding across the world and a car in the shop and not knowing if we would have the resources to take care of it and I let fear take control. Fear that I'll never be good enough, fear that there is too much to do and I'll never get it done, fear that the world is changing so fast and I don't know what to do about it. I let my fears and concerns over run my optimism and my ability to receive direction from the spirit. Every night I got home feeling drained from all the thoughts fighting for dominance in my head, this is something how my inner dialogue was going

 ..."I hope they can get the parts in to start on the car, I wonder how much it is going to cost, I wonder how we're going to balance vehicles while the car is in the shop, how am I going to get to school, where am I going to fit in work, how am I going to do grading, what about my final paper I have no idea what I want to say, what am I going to do for scouts, what about my final paper, how am I going to fit in reading for class tomorrow, what am I doing for dinner, ehhg dishes, I want to watch tv, no I don't because my shows now have ickiness in them, what am I going to do for food storage, what other items do I need to pick up, if for some reason I didn't have access to a grocery or department store for a while what items would I want, I'm so excited to see family, how am I going to fit that in with laundry, oh I have so much reading to do, what if there is an earthquake (my ninth grade science teacher always said we're set for one), what should I do about school, oh man I'm so tired, maybe a nap from 10:30 at night to 11 will help me stay awake long enough after to get more done...."


With so many of those thoughts rolling around in my head there never seemed enough time to slow down and take time to just be with my spouse, to enjoy the things I was learning in my classes. In short I let the adversary and his minions distract me from what matters most, from finding the joy in life and trusting Heavenly Father that it will all work out. The devil really is in the details, he can get our thoughts spinning so fast that we forget to let ourselves just be, to take a breath and see the gifts and blessings in our lives for what they are.  If we think it is hard to build and maintain solid relationships when life is relatively easy, with a warm house to come home to and mostly pre-cooked meals in the freezer imagine what it will be like if we lose those things, then the relationships we value the most will be taxed the most and they need a strong foundation to last and to be built up stronger.

If by chance your inner dialogue looks anything like mine, consider taking a few moments to simply sit and breath, to remember that no offense (intentional or unintentional), failing or frustration is worth dwelling on (the Atonement of Jesus Christ has already covered all of those things) and that the relationship of walking hand in hand with Jesus Christ in order to come closer to our Heavenly Father is most important. The rest are just details and Heavenly Father has already taken care of all of those.