New Look, New Focus

So I've had a pretty lame blog layout lately. I've also had a lot of other lame things. Mostly lame me, because I've not been fulfilling my potential for the last, eh, year or so. That being said, I've been doing some reading lately, and after such an amazing trip to Nauvoo yesterday, and such a phenomenal block of meetings today, I've managed to come to the conclusion that there's no better time to focus my life than now, now when most of my life is kind of about me anyways, self-centered and egotistical though that may sound.

What I've been reading is the book Believing Christ by Stephen E. Robinson. The book, I believe, originated from a speech that Brother (Elder?) Robinson gave at a BYU devotional just a few months before I was born. (You can find it here if you don't have ready access to the book). It's all about the Atonement and it is truly amazing. I've only read the first chapter so far, and already I feel so much better about life and the whole plan and everything, so much more positive. Things have become so much clearer.  And for the past little while, I've been (ahem) stupid. Doing everything right is hard, and I'm kind of lazy, and frankly, I have lacked the motivation to really focus my life. Don't get me wrong, I haven't been out doing shady things or anything. But the amount of time and the number of opportunities that I've lost to get to know my Savior better have been much more numerous than I'd care to admit. I don't really have a good excuse. Every now and then I'd think, "I really should re-prioritize things ..." but I never really would. Or I would for a couple of days, and then it'd be back to the same old lazy schedule. But no more! Really. I've been inspired, led, guided ... it's about time I get on my pony with these things! Want to hear how the layout of this blog comes into this? Of course you do ;)

The front cover of the book has an illustration of Christ, the title, name of the author, and a little blurb that says: "The parable of the bicycle and other good news." So what's the parable of the bicycle? Let me copy and paste it out for you :)

After I had come home from school one day, I was sitting in a chair reading the newspaper. My daughter Sarah, who was seven years old, came in and said, "Dad, can I have a bike? I'm the only kid on the block who doesn't have a bike." 

Well, I didn't have enough money to buy her a bike, so I stalled her and said, "Sure, Sarah." 

She said, "How? When?" 

I said, "You save all your pennies, and pretty soon you'll have enough for a bike." And she went away. 

A couple of weeks later as I was sitting in the same chair, I was aware of Sarah doing something for her mother and getting paid. She went into the other room and I heard "clink, clink." I asked, "Sarah, what are you doing?" 

She came out and she had a little jar all cleaned up with a slit cut in the lid and a bunch of pennies in the bottom. She looked at me and said, "You promised me that if I saved all my pennies, pretty soon I'd have enough for a bike. And, Daddy, I've saved every single one of them." 

She's my daughter, and I love her. My heart melted. She was doing everything in her power to follow my instructions. I hadn't actually lied to her. If she saved all of her pennies she would eventually have enough for a bike, but by then she would want a car. But her needs weren't being met. Because I love her, I said, "Let's go downtown and look at bikes." 

We went to every store in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Finally we found it--the perfect bicycle, the one she knew in the premortal existence. She got up on that bike; she was thrilled. She then saw the price tag, reached down, and turned it over. When she saw how much it cost, her face fell and she started to cry. She said, "Oh Dad, I'll never have enough for a bicycle." 

So I said, "Sarah, how much do you have?" 

She answered, "Sixty-one cents." 

"I'll tell you what. You give me everything you've got and a hug and a kiss, and the bike is yours." Well, she's never been stupid. She gave me a hug and a kiss. She gave me the sixty-one cents. Then I had to drive home very slowly because she wouldn't get off the bike. She rode home on the sidewalk, and as I drove along slowly beside her it occurred to me that this was a parable for the Atonement of Christ. 

We all want something desperately--it isn't a bicycle. We want the celestial kingdom. We want to be with our Father in Heaven. And no matter how hard we try, we come up short. At some point we realize, "I can't do this!" That was the point my wife had reached. It is at that point that the sweetness of the gospel covenant comes to our taste as the Savior proposes, "I'll tell you what. All right, you're not perfect. How much do you have? What can you do? Where are you now? Give me all you've got, and I'll pay the rest. Give me a hug and a kiss; enter into a personal relationship with me, and I will do what remains undone."

 Oh me oh my. Great story, huh? Now, this isn't a picture of an awesome new bicycle. But it is an awesome picture of a bicycle that was once new. And it's new to this blog, so I submit that it is sufficient, and not only that, but appropriate.

I've heard this story before, and I absolutely love it. It's fantastic, precious, simple, true, and very touching. I hope you think of this story every time you open up my blog!

So now the blog has a make-over, my life is in the process of getting a mini-make-over, I just got a hair make-over (though that's not really applicable at this point). What does that mean for the blog content? Well, it won't be getting a total make-over, but for the past few months I've been thinking about my writing, about the things I'm good at writing, and the things it's good for me to write. I really think my best, most worthwhile work, that which brings me the most happiness, and that which benefits me the most has always been work for religion classes. So while I'm sure you'll get tons of other updates, I think it's worthwhile to chronicle more things of a religious nature.