To New Beginnings

Lately I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my life and the kind of life I want to lead.  There are so many good I want to be able to do, things I want to be able to accomplish.  Particularly things I want to teach my children.  But when I look at how I am living my life now, it is going to take a long time to be able to accomplish the least of items on that list, let alone all of them.  So I know I need to make changes, I know I want to be more organized, have a better schedule and be teaching my children differently then I have been doing.  I want to not only recognize the value of work, but know it by living it.  I want to be actively shaping my character, not simply letting life happen to me.  The difficulty is that I have wanted this in the past.  But I can never seem to keep the motivation and commitment that I start with.  As I was pondering that today, two verses in particular came to mind:

But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. -Jacob 2:18 

Though it may seem not to relate, I believe that this scripture can be expanded to anything.  Before we seek for anything else, whether it is riches of knowledge, or richness in relationships, or material riches, we need to first seek the riches that come from seeking God and strengthening our relationship with him.   Which led me to pondering how do I go about that?  Well, the riches I am seeking are those that come from organization and schedule.  And I want not only the realization that it is good, but the experience, learning and wisdom that come from it.  I am coming to realize that just recognizing that something is good is not enough.  I need to know it is good by experimenting upon it myself.  I need to learn it.  Then I can gain wisdom from it.  Only then can it change my character.  Only then am I truly converted to that principle.  So the conclusion I came to is that the first thing I need to start scheduling into my day is prayer and scripture study. And the best time for them to bring the most good into my life is first thing in the morning.  Other wise I will either fail at it again, or I run the risk of it becoming a crutch and addiction rather then a liberating tool.  I even thought of a scripture to go along with it, note the order in which the items are listed:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; -Doctrine and Covenants 88:119

So, here I am, at a new beginning again.  Fall seems to be a good time of year for that.  I look forward to seeing what comes from this new resolution.