"Does this count for...?"

We have this phrase that I have come to dread in our house:

"Mom, does this count for...?" (Fill in the blank with: my exercise, my dinner help, cleaning the room.)  It just seems to reflect a lack of ownership, and I hate playing the "minimum requirement" game.

We talked about this in our devotional yesterday morning, how there are principles behind what we do in our home, and when we try to fulfill our responsibilities, we are satisfying principles that can give us satisfaction. (Yeah, I know.  I am always shooting for the ideal :).)  Like, when we have a schedule for family exercise, it is not so mom and dad want a power-trip by having the kids do what we want them to do, but it is so they can feel the joy of being healthy at at least one point in their lives and be able to better choose whether it is worth it or not later in life.  And, of course, the deeper principle is that we need to take care of our bodies that God gave us so that we can be happier and also be able to do all we were sent here to do :).

Anyway, after talking to the kids about it, I reflected about how there are many times in my life, in my actions and what I do, when I think along those lines: "Does this count?  If I read my scriptures for a few verses, does that count for my scripture reading?" :)  Guilty!

I read a children's book the other day to my kids (imagine that!) called "The Parable of the Bicycle" based upon the parable told by Stephen Robinson.  In it, it refers to the situation we are all in, wanting (or needing) help to get eternal life, help to get back to live with God,...and we cannot pay that price ourselves.   In the book, he says something about "giving our best" and then Christ will pay the rest of the price.

My problem has always been, how do I know when I have given my best?  How do I know if my offering "counts" for "all I can give"?  Some days I can give so much and do so much.  Other days, it is all I can do to force myself out of bed in the morning and try not to snarl at my kids :S...let alone poor Q-dawg :).  When is it enough?

And is that the right attitude :)?  I wonder...

I love Elder Uchtdorf's talk about "Forget Me Not", and I think he address a lot of ways to help with this dilemma we find ourselves in.  It can just be hard, I think, to see what perfection is, and be content doing what we can, knowing Christ can make the difference, without assuming an attitude of "does this count?", missing out on principles and blessings, and just trying to jump through hoops to get to the end.

Maybe it is when we more fully understand the principles behind the Gospel's list of "to-dos," whether it be visiting teaching, going to church, or reading our scriptures, that we will do those things to fulfill the principle, and be able to recognize more fully when we are satisfying that principle.

For instance, I have felt lately that one of the purposes of scripture and prayer is to help me "be alone with God".  When I think about that as I am doing those things, when I have felt that I have made that connection and have been "alone with Him," I am content, and don't have to worry about "is it enough."  One of the purposes of going to church is to renew our baptismal covenant by partaking of the sacrament...to become clean, remember the Savior, and reconnect with those promises I made when I was baptized.  If I do that, I know that church has been a success, whatever chaos or other things may happen at church.

One thing I like about this approach is that people can honor the principle in different ways, and not worry about comparing or competing.   That is what I tried to bring up with the kids.  It takes the selfish, whiney-ness out of doing what we do every day.  Elder Uchtdorf, in that talk I referenced above, said that "Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another."  He is talking about sacrifices, but I believe it applies to more than that...it applies to "good, better, and best": what is good, better, or best for one person will look different for someone else.

Anyway...lots of ramblings.  I am tired, and don't know how coherent this came across, but I need to hit the bed, and Q-dawg is waiting to finish his amazing talk for this upcoming Sunday, so I will leave it.  This has just been on my mind a lot, and I find that when that is the case, there is something I need to learn from writing it out...and I have! :)