Since I started school this year, I have had several questions. In particular, how do I find time to develop all my talents? I know I should seek God's guidance in major decisions, but what if I already know what I want to do? What is wrong with postponing my scripture study if I have homework to finish? How do I know when I should thank God for a good event and when it was just chance? Jardine's essay answered these questions.
Ever since my junior year of high school I have had to make difficult decisions concerning how to allot my time between various talents. Since I came to BYU, the problem has taken on the additional dimension of deciding on a major. I can list more than five subjects I would be happy to major in. Obviously, I can't major in all of them, but it is hard to let go of any. And besides the choice of a major, I have to make less important decisions daily about what area of my life to improve. I can practice music, or I can make a new kind of dinner, or I can volunteer at the MTC, or I can go to a dance, or I can study beyond the textbook for my favorite classes. Despite my best efforts, I can't fit everything in my schedule. Jardine offered some advice on this dilemma that surprised me: “You will have to decide which of your talents should be nurtured” (61). It is true – I do not have time to do every good thing. I need to make choices about what is important and recognize that the rest isn't going to happen.
Some of my first real experience with praying about important decisions came when I was preparing to come to BYU. I needed to decide whether or not to do honors. I liked the idea because of the Great Works experiences and enriched core classes, but I was not happy about the English requirement. I don't like writing. When I prayed about it, I could not get away from the fact that the honors program seemed like a really good idea. Fortunately I was able to humble myself, and so here I am. But I still struggle with the idea of asking God's advice in matters of education. I tend to like my own ideas too well. Jardine says that consecration means being dedicated to what you need to do, even if you don't like it. He says we must consecrate ourselves “to God's purposes and not our preferences” (68). He promises that making sacrifices for God will increase our love for Him. These comments answered my question about following the Spirit in making major decisions by reminding me that I need to be humble and have faith.
Jardine also offers a caution about consecrating our efforts to the wrong purposes. Just as serving God will increase our love for him, sacrificing too much for learning can cause us to love learning for its own sake, instead of for the ends it produces. Jardine suggests that our priorities reveal who or what we are really serving. For me, this answers the question about postponing scripture study. I need to plan my time carefully enough that can read my scriptures in the morning, because not doing so shows that my priorities are with school. One experience showed me the consequences of the latter. I stayed up late one night studying, but I didn't finish chemistry. So the next morning I studied chemistry instead of the Book of Mormon. It was a poor substitute. The whole day I felt unhappy, and nothing was good. I realized that I was starting to put schoolwork before gospel living, and so I made a commitment to always get my chemistry reading done before bed. I have kept that commitment thus far.
Sometime last year, I had a phase when I worked hard to be more grateful, especially to Heavenly Father. I wondered, though, just what I ought to thank Heavenly Father for, since He probably is not responsible for every good thing that happens to me. For instance, I am quite grateful whenever I find an easy parking spot in a parking garage, but that is most likely coincidence. I have also wondered, if I study really hard for a test and then I do well on it, should I thank God? Jardine replies that we should “[acknowledge] God's 'hand in all things,' including our intellectual and academic successes” (68). This idea makes sense to me now because God gave me my brain and my reasoning power, even if he didn't give me the specific answer to every problem on the test. When small things go right and make me happy, I can still thank God for them, if only because he created me to enjoy them.
I liked Jardine's essay the first time I read it, but I really enjoyed it when I studied it again later and found the answers to so many of my questions. I learned that I truly don't have time to do everything, that I need to focus more on God's plan than my personal ideas, that I need to watch my priorities so I don't put schoolwork ahead of the gospel, and that I should give thanks to God for everything. Jardine's words challenge me to be a little better.
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I too have had the problem of balancing my schedule lately. I tend to do only the homework that is do the next day. I know that I am going to live to regret that, especially at the end of the semester when I have like six papers due all at the same time. Yikes!! I have tried the whole technique of budgeting my time by the hour but then I tend to run over time on one thing and then my whole schedule is thrown off. I have started to just try to get things done until I am too tired to function properly and then I go to bed.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot to be learned from this excerpt. I feel that I need to better acknowledge God’s hand in my endeavors. I promised myself that I would make it to the temple at least once a week this semester. So far I have kept that covenant. It has been difficult. I spend a lot of time studying and doing homework and it feels like I am just getting farther behind. Personally, I cannot wait for the semester to end. I need to make it part of my day to study the scriptures every morning. I have done it sporadically but it is not good enough. It makes sense that I need to show God that I love him and the gospel more than I do learning and school. That by far is the greatest insight I have gained from this article. I bet that if I do so, I will succeed more.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with this entire article. The point that stuck out most to me is that we need to decide which talents to be nutured. I have pretty much decided, with the help of Heavenly Father, on which talent to nuture into a career. Halfway through senior year of high school, I asked our Heavenly Father what I needed to do since my football career was pretty much over. As the days passed and i stumbled upon the answer, I had never felt so excited and knowing of the truth since i accepted the Gospel into my life. I know that if we ask our Heavenly Father that he will let us know which skills to work upon. The same as with any problem we have in our life. Ask and we shall receive.
ReplyDeleteIn my Book of Mormon class this year we had to read an article called, "Our Strengths Can Become Our Weaknesses" and it talked about how we can get too caught up in someting such as church or school work, and that can hurt us, even if it is a good thing. Also, I have trouble praying about things that I'm having problems with such as a class or boy drama and the like because I feel like God doesn't want to hear about all my little problems in my tiny life when he has the whole world to worry about and that has been really hard for me to get over, but has really blessed my life when I include the Lord in my decisions and ask Him for His help with the small things.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteI think everybody has challenges finding the right balance and priorities in life during college. We've all got challenging classes here at BYU, along with part-time jobs, callings in the Church, responsibilities and chores at our dorm, and the constant distraction of living with several friends.
ReplyDeleteSeveral weeks ago, I was struggling to decide whether or not to attend a Tuesday devotional. After all, I had a test to take later that day, and that morning was my only opportunity left to prepare.
However, my friends challenged me to attend the devotional anyway, which I did. I was surprised to find out after I got back, that two of my afternoon classes were canceled. This conveniently gave me the time I needed to study for my test.
Were my classes cancelled because I chose to attend devotional? I highly doubt it. I probably would have been given these two extra hours to study anyway. More likely, it was a reminder that things always tend to work themselves out.
People, students especially, spend a lot of time being stressed and anxious about situations that are likely to work out fine in the end anyway. Maybe we should make the journey a little more enjoyable along the way by keeping our priorities straight, rather than living an out-of-balance life that distracts us from many of the things that really matter.
I really enjoyed this article. One of the things that stuck out to me was the point that what may be our most important work may not be the type of thing we can list ofn a resume. Also I really liked the phrase "there may be pearls of great price in oyster beds not our own." I can definitely see that, especially in the writings of C.S. Lewis. I think sometimes we caught up in thinking that the only source of truth is what we hear in church. In reality, truth can be found in many different places, even a science class. I think it's important that we recognize that, and that we don't close ourselves off to learning because of our own perspective. There is much we can learn from people of other faiths, and there is a lot of good that they do in the world.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has issues and questions and doubts and fears and all these kinds of emotions. God gave us these emotions that we might feel, that we might recognize that we need Him in our lives to get back to true happiness. Recognizing God’s hand in things we experience is of great importance to me. Being thankful for all experiences has brought me closer to my Father in Heaven and has helped me realize that He puts things in my life just for me. For instance, when I study really hard for an exam, I have confidence that I will do well especially after I pray that I will be able to remember all the things I’ve studied, and if I can’t remember everything then I ask that I will be blessed to be able to weigh the different options with consideration to everything that I can remember. This has helped me in many ways regarding my testimony. Now, in regards to your statement about reading your scriptures in the morning, I do not agree. I like to study the scriptures at night when I’m not rushed to get to class on time and when I can have the experience of ending my day on a spiritual note. It’s different for everyone I guess.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this article!! It is exactly what I needed to hear at this time. I have been struggling with the choice between majoring in Dance for some time. I LOVE to dance. It is my most favorite thing to do out of anything and everything in the world. It is my passion and I can't get enough of it. It would make me so happy if I majored in Dance here at BYU, but as I have turned to God for answers and read through my patriarchal blessing, I've realized that it's not what I need to be focusing all my attention on. Of course this saddens me, but as the article says, we need to put God's will first in our educational plans rather than our own preferences.
ReplyDeleteThis article reaffirmed my testimony that we must rely on God for everything because he has a great plan for each of us here on Earth, and thus we must develop specific talents in order to accomplish all the things God has for us to do here on Earth. That is why it is so essential that we listen to his promptings while here at BYU so that we develop certain skills and improve the talents that he wants us to use later on to help the rest of his children. God is in everything, especially our education.
I really liked this article. I have been struggling to find a balance all year. I usually put what is due first before anything else. I need to put the gospel before anything else. I know that if I follow the Lord's will He will make sure I have enough time to do the other things.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear something about balancing time, I think of the primary demonstration of the jar with the rocks and the sand. If you try to put the sand in before the rocks, there is no room for the rocks. But, if you put the rocks in first, the sand fills in the gaps and everything fits perfectly. I like this 'object lesson' because it helps me to put things into perspective.
I think we'll always be dealing with this issue, trying to find the balance in life. Balance between being a mother and having a life. Balance between church and secular. Balance between family and friends. I think this is part of life though. This is part of what we came to earth to learn, to learn how to prioritize.
ReplyDelete