Maintenance

Something that I like to do each Sabbath day is read over the notes I make during Sacrament meetings. Sometimes I find a specific speaker or a talk that I've been thinking about, or a subject that I've been drawn to over the last week or two, other times I just flick through and see what drawing or word art jumps out at me.

I found a talk from around a year ago, where a former Bishop of my ward had shared some thoughts he'd been having about small changes, based upon some observations he had made about machinery and it put me in mind of what is happening at the moment in my own life.

Bishop had been sharing about how heavy machinery, the equipment he uses in his business needs maintenance in order to keep it working well. Inadequate maintenance can lead to dangerous situations and accidents and small things like oil changes and swapping out the filters and even a new coat of paint or two can lead to things becoming stronger, lasting longer.

It's these small changes that allow good things to build up. Bishop explained that by looking after his machinery he's doesn't have to constantly replace it, because it doesn't wear out and down as quickly as if they didn't maintain it. Bishop had realised that just like heavy machinery we need small changes, little bits of maintenance every day in order to function properly.

Eating healthily helps our bodies to function.
Exercising a small amount each day helps to keep us fit and our joints working.
Doing small things like sudoku each day helps our minds to keep active.
Showering and having hair cuts and filling and trimming our nails keeps us clean and tidy.

It's the same for our testimonies.

We have a little experience to start with, maybe like for me it is by saying in prayer to God, help me with these things, help me know what direction you want my life to go in, help me to be happy like those other people.

Maybe then it'll be another little experience, something that starts a fire in our bellies and builds upon the feeling we had when we prayed.

Maybe then you start reading scriptures each day and then maybe another experience happens and it leads to baptism or becoming a full member of a community.

Then maybe a calling is given and that builds more experiences.

Maybe scriptures are read and more prayers are said and every day everything adds up until one day, you look back and you realise you've done these small tiny things each day and these small tiny things have added up into a big thing.

You're still the same person, you're still you but you've changed too. Now you have this testimony, this strong, vibrant living thing that has totally consumed you and made you a better person, chiselled off the rough or sharp edges.

I'm glad for my little bit of maintenance every day.