"Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, fear not." Lamentations 3:57

Some days are really great days, filled with love, happiness, and things that I want to keep as good memories. The world in which we live in is so beautiful. I am able to relax and focus on my relationship with my husband and just enjoy life. It feels so good to not have to worry about fixing dinner or getting my wonderful children to various places. As I was pondering these blessings that have been given to me I thought about my whole day and how had I drawn closer to the Lord throughout the day. Had I drawn closer to Him? Had I done anything that would help lift another? or random acts of kindness? or where have my thoughts been focused? Not that my thoughts have been focused on anything bad, but just on stuff, and fluff. This made me ponder one of my favorite hymns, Nearer, My God, To Thee #100. It starts out "Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me." I didn't have a cross today. Today was great. So, that led me back to my original question, how had I drawn closer to the Lord today?

This is when I also realized that to draw closer to the Lord I must not wait for a heavy burden, a hard time, or some sort of "cross" to make me turn to Him. I must always be turning to Him. He says: "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock. and it shall be opened unto you" (D&C 88:63). If I wait until it is difficult or hard, I will have missed precious time to learn valuable listening skills. Skills of hearing the voice of the Lord and knowing what it is truly like to "fear not" in the midst of a storm (see Lamentations 3:57). Also, the Lord says to "Learn of me, listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of the Father, and I do His will" (D&C 19:23-24). It is in the times of peace that I am able to learn to follow Him and learn to do His will. That is the challenge...to really do His will and not follow all the things that I want to do, but to serve others, "lift up the hands which hang down" (Hebrews 12:12), and become more like Him so that when the storms do come, I can "fear not" and "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7).

I am so blessed. It feels so good to be surrounded by the beauty of the earth, loved ones, eat good food, enjoy life. It feels even better as I become nearer to my God. This is the best way to live, not just in the hard times or in the times of crisis, but every day. This I testify.