A Crooked Stick

Yeah, I kind of let this blog fall through the cracks! Thanks Sarah for motivating me to write a new post!

Okay, I'll admit it--I read in the bathroom :) Some days it's the only room in the house to find some peace (and quiet!) So I lock myself in the bathroom and read a few pages before the kids realize I'm missing and come pounding on the door! Well a few weeks ago I was hoovering in my "hiding place" and I happened upon a great article that really spoke to ME. It's from the Oct Ensign entitled "Why did the Lord call me?" In it the author quotes the line :

"The Lord can draw a straight line with even the most crooked of sticks."

I love this quote---when I read it two thoughts entered my mind. One, thank goodness this is true because I'm definately a crooked stick. And two, why don't I allow Him to use me to accomplish His work more often? I really have a testimony of magnification. I've been in situations when I felt a power beyond my own leading my thoughts, enpowering my words and strengthening my actions. The Lord can make a whole lot more out of us than we can--if we'll let Him. I pray that I can let Him more often. Here are a few quotes from the article:

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32).

I know that I can never be perfected through my efforts alone, and there are still times when I feel as if I am sinking like Peter. However, I am strengthened when I remember that Christ’s commandment is not for me to become perfect and then come to Him. Instead, He invites me—and each one of us—to come unto Him and to be perfected in Him. This power has helped me be a better parent and a better teacher than I could ever be on my own. When I focus on Christ, do my best, and recognize my dependence on Him, I am strengthened. Crooked though my stick may be, the Lord is somehow able to draw a straight line, and I become an instrument in His hand

“The enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity.” Elder David A. Bednar