I love Sunday. It is a day set aside by a loving Father in Heaven where we can rest, rejuvenate and worship. It is the one day of the week where I can focus on the things I am grateful for and do a personal evaluation of ways I can improve myself. They are days where I can attend my Sabbath day meetings and be taught by the spirit those things I need in order to get through the next week. They are days where I can ponder the gospel principles and work on my personal goals. Now, not all Sundays turn out to be that perfect - but I do try and succeed a great deal of the time. What I really miss is the Sundays spent with our daughters as they were growing up. Those were the best Sundays ever. After our Sabbath meetings we would come home, change into our comfies, make every yummy food that sounded good to us and then set around eating and playing games, laughing and enjoying each others company. Those were perfect days. Our daughters are adults now with homes and traditions of their own. But my heart will always be warmed by those Sunday memories of family time spent in loving each other and building strong bonds. Being empty nesters the Sabbath day has taken on a different perspective, a more personal and individual time of reflection and growth.
There is one thing that I know for sure and that is this: My Father in Heaven loves me perfectly and accepts my efforts, whatever they may be, as long as I am trying to do my very best.
I am reminded of the following quote from Scott Anderson, BYU Education Week 2016:
"Though we are incomplete, God loves
us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may
feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with
an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to
God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every
one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.
God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant,
and the wicked. What this means is that, regardless
of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter
our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly
Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us. Our Father stands with his hands as
though pressed against the veil each night – listening to us pray. The hardest
thing for him is to not step between the veil each night and embrace us and
assure us how much he loves us and that his greatest desire is to get us back
home with him. Our Father in Heaven is so anxious to bless us."
Spending the Sabbath day with the Savior is one of the greatest blessings we've been given. He is always there to guide, direct, inspire and love us. He knows what we need and gives of himself unconditionally. If we can live our lives in such a way as to be even half the person Christ was we will be accomplishing so much in making this world a better place.
We never face our challenges alone. He never wants us to feel alone or helpless or forgotten. He is anxious to pour down blessings…. He went into Gethsemane and bled from every pore – and some of those drops of blood were for me. His greatest desire is for us to receive what he has to give. He is anxious to bless each of us with hope and love. I love the Savior with all of my heart. I am grateful for him and his gift of the atonement. I can hardly wait for the day I can return to be in the presence of my Father in Heaven and elder brother Jesus Christ.
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