Education Week - Priorities & Motherhood

So, I have been meaning to do this for awhile now.  I try to attend Ed.Week at BYU each year for at least a day or two because it so fills me up and rejuvenates me.  I absolutely LOVE it!  I always try to mix my favorite speakers with new ones & topics that come naturally to me and topics I wouldn't think I would go to, but give them a try.  A little education in each facet of life.  I have my traditions that I love to do or eat, buildings I want to attend a class in because of memories of past years, etc.  Just thinking about it makes me nostalgic.

Anyway, I thought I would come home and immediately blog about the classes I attended so I could remember and implement the lessons I learned into my life.  I haven't gotten around to it yet, so today is the day.  And, I am simply starting at the top.

I went to a class by Connie Sokol - who is amazing - first.  It was a Monday class, which are block type classes, this one was called Tidy Up Your Life - Part 1: Create a Life Plan and Part 2: Effectively Managing Your Time.  I think I went to both of them, then just combined my notes.  Anyway, I figure I shouldn't just write her whole talk, in case anyone gets to hear it for themselves and it really wouldn't be fair to her.  So, I will mention things she said and most importantly the things I learned from them.

First of all, I learned that I need a life plan.  I need to think of what I want my life to be like now, in a year, in 5 years, in 25 years, etc.  The more we plan what our life will be like, the more we will be able to realize our plans.  So, I decided what my life plan would be for the fall - it was basically getting my house in order.  However, being pregnant makes things a bit trickier and it is taking a lot longer than planned.

When thinking of a life plan there are steps we need to take in organizing it.  First, we need to prioritize.  Sister Beck said, "when our priorities are out of order, we lose power."  I know that is true, when I have my priorities down, then my life seems to flow better.  Sister Beck also said,  "A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do."  Isn't that great?  I know it applies to me, I think of doing things for people all the time and then just never get around to doing them.  I just need to do better at getting the things accomplished that are the MOST important.   Then, we need to think, "What does the Lord want ME to do?"  And, it won't be the same thing He may want my neighbor to do?


Then, we categorize the things we are supposed to do.  There are 3 categories: essential, necessary, and nice to do.  (I can't remember if she got these from Sis. Beck or not).  
     Essential:  it is pretty obvious of what these are - fasting and praying in sincerity, making and keeping covenants, going to sacrament meeting, repenting, and renewing our covenants while there, going to the temple, sharing the gospel, and service to others.
     Necessary:  homemaking skills (this part was funny, she told how even if you don't like doing something, like cleaning, you should probably get a better attitude about it because you will be doing it your whole life :), enjoy meals with your family, smile MORE, have FHE and family fun time, my husband - I need to support him more and be happy with him and who he is (this one is pretty easy), become more self-reliant - don't ask for things I know we can't afford, just be happy with what we have, love one another more fully.
     Nice to do:  crafts, hobbies, recreational reading, movies, travel, lunch with friends - doing these things won't save us.  However, the Lord blesses us with these things to help us (help me to cope and be able to deal with some of the things I don't want to do) 
especially if our priorities are in order.


Now, obviously these are the things that resonated with me, some are obvious but some I think will change depending on our season of life and what we need. We each need to make our own list and probably type it up and keep it next to our beds to remind us of the importance of each one.  I have already forgotten about this, so I am glad I am reviewing it today.


Sister Sokol discussed some ways we could vary the essentials in our life's.  I know there are times in my life where I need to work on some more than others.  So, with prayer, we need to take some real time to talk with our Father, let him know what our worries are, what we are stressed about, but also, what we are so grateful for.  We could have a morning devotional where we pray, then be still and write ideas, feelings, inspiration we receive.  We can change the way we study the scriptures, lots of ways to do this.  We could have a personal prompting journal where we write what comes to us and then act on those promptings.  There are so many things we can do, we just need to DO IT!!!


If you feel like reading a great talk, two talks she referenced are: "Daughters of God" by Elder M. Russell Ballard from 2008 & "And Upon the Handmaids in those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit" by Sister Julie B. Beck from May 2010.  


So, this is what I am going to work on this week.  I didn't really go into organizing time but this is long enough.  And, since I like pictures in posts - I am going to put one up of one of my highest priorities - my family.  This is when we went a few weeks ago up to a Marionette Show at BYU.  We decided to eat in the food court - yum, yum.  I do love BYU campus though.  Not the greatest picture, it is from Jared's phone.  :)

Yep, usually there is at least one sad face.