Faith, Hope and Charity

I hadn't blogged all summer and then I had 3 all in a row.  My last two were average and don't seem to be sparking much commenting.  I am worried that hidden behind those is my previous post which many people may have missed.  So I am posting it again:

Today marks the beginning of a new era.  Even though I moved into my house 4 months ago I still had one foot in my old apartment.  I felt like I never really left because I had so many friends there.  Apartment 30 was still like my home, I even had a toothbrush I kept there. 

There had been a group of us who had been there for 3 years or so and now everybody finally went their separate ways.  Many of my new friends are also going other places this fall.  Luckily, I still have many that I can call my friends there and will continue to visit and keep in contact with.  But today Sparks II Apartments died a little. 

Today two of my best friends moved in with me.  It will be really nice to have people around here.  I LOVED having my own space, but being alone wasn't always amazing.  I learned a lot this summer and felt that one benefit of having a summer by myself was getting to see who I was.  I wasn't going through my day doing what was convenient or just following other people around. I had to actively choose what I was going to do, who I was going to be.  Would I just sit at home by myself or go and be somewhat social. 

I remember the first Sunday here I decided to go to the family ward, so I could meet my neighbors.  It was really weird as I was getting ready.  Nobody else would know if I went, nobody was expecting me to be there, I don't think I had ever gone to church by myself before that.  I tried to start good habits this summer, unclutter myself from the world a little bit and become a little better.  I was far from perfect, but I felt like I had a very productive summer and am a better person than I was 4 months ago.

Now that I have had more time to think and work on myself individually, I get to see if I can take those small improvements and continue to work on them while surrounded, again, by others.  Luckily I surround myself with people that make that easy.  Sometimes you look back and realize how far you have come.  Sadly, there are times when you realize you haven't done as much as you would have liked or have let yourself go in the wrong direction.  I hope that this is a stepping stone and that I can return to where I want to be. 

Another thing I also got more into this summer was politics.  Once I had DVR one of the programs I had it save was Glenn Beck.  For those of you who haven't actually watched him, and have only heard about him, good or bad, you are missing out.  I especially love his Friday episodes where he has been talking about our founders and other people who have been taken out of our history.  I love being able to sit and learn about our American history.  The reason I bring this up is that this also helped me in improving myself.  He issued a 40 day and 40 night pledge to to practice faith, hope and charity.  From his website:

For the next 40 days and 40 nights, I pledge...I COVENANT to practice faith, hope and charity by doing these things.

First...faith. I will pray on my knees every night for the next 40 nights...starting TONIGHT. Pray for guidance, inspiration, peace...pray for the leaders of our country. Pray for their safety, and that they will receive wisdom. I will re-establish my relationship with God.

Hope...hope comes from truth. You can't have hope based on lies. If you go to the doctor and you're in the early stages of cancer, but the doctor tells you that you just have the sniffles...that's false hope, and it won't help you, in fact, it would kill you. So, we have to have honesty, to have real hope. So, I will stop all lies for the next 40 days. That includes lying to myself. I will establish a pattern of honesty and make it become habitual. I will question with boldness...everything...even the things Glenn Beck tells you every night...I will do my own research...and then pray for my own confirmation on the things I have learned. I will find out what is true in my life.

And third...I will have charity. Charity begins at home. I will do something kind for every member of your family at least once a week. I will write it down, and then do it. Also, I pledge to take notice of how blessed I really am. I live in the greatest country the world has ever known...and even the least prosperous among us, are among the wealthiest people in the world...I will be grateful.

It continues if you want to read the rest and make this pledge you can go here:  http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/39452/

I don't understand why so many people hate Glenn Beck.  I have watched every episode from his show the last few months and all he talks about are finding truth for yourself and trying to be a better person.  Because the "Change" everybody is hoping for can't be one made by the government, it has to be individual.  What makes America great are the people, not those looking at Americans as foolish and unable to take care of their own problems and managing our lives for us.  I have taken this pledge and feel I am better for it.

I know this has gotten really long, but the point of it all is...  I am grateful for all of the amazing friends I have.  I am glad that I was able to see how strong I really am and that I truly have a desire to improve and that I can and will succeed in doing so.  I have come closer to God and whenever that happens you always have a desire to share that and bring that joy to others.  So I invite you to do so.  We need to return to God, His is the only way that will lead us to peace and joy, there is no other way. 

One chapter of my life may now have ended, but I have a feeling this next chapter in my life is going to be a great one!  Don't worry sparks, I'll still come and visit you, at least whenever I come down to watch BYU football and when you invite me to awesome things you are doing.