Creating ...

President Uchtdorf, one of the apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, stated, "Creating and being compassionate are two objectives that contribute to our Heavenly Father’s perfect happiness. Creating and being compassionate are two activities that we as His spirit children can and should emulate."


He goes on further to state, "You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. ⁵ The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter."


I fully agree that creating things brings happiness and brings us closer to God.  However, I find that sometimes I compare my "creations" to others and value certain talents above others. For example, I had achievement days with my 8-11 year old girls tonight. I had planned a little service project, and wanted to give the girls a reward at the end. I didn't have a lot of time, so I ran into Albertsons and bought some cookies. I had a super-seal kind of tupperware in my car and thought, "I should put the cookies in there so that they stay air tight." In reality I was saying, " I really want to impress young girls and make them think that I made the cookies.  Probably because, young kids are very judgmental about where they get there treats." I wanted them to think that I had "created" the cookies-when really I was using my time to "create" memories of service. 


This isn't the only way that I want to look/act like I create other kinds of wonders. Last year, I decided that I was gong to grow a little vegetable garden in pots on my back deck. I was very excited as I planted my seeds and carried all the pots inside every night because of the fear of frost (think of this garden as a first child). I would check on the plants daily, and worry over them if I went out of town for the weekend. I even took pictures of them to watch their progress and show them to my friends/family. Unfortunately, they grew too big for any of the pots that I had and I got very little yield, as I watched my "first born" slowly suffocated or starved to death. That was a little traumatic, but the growing season is short, so I figure it was comparable to dying at age 75 in Wood River growth years. 


This year, I am on my "second child" of gardens. I planted my seeds and have only brought the plants in once.  I was out of town for over a week, with the hope that my plants were fighters-which they kind of are. I don't know if they will have enough room, to live a full life, but they are growing and are green.  Like a second child, this garden has no pictures (yet) and I don't worry over the small things. I'm not growing enough to even feed my Achievement Day girls, but it is good practice for the future. 


In the end, there are many ways to create. Sometimes, the creation brings good results, other times, ridiculous memories. Stay tuned for more crazy memories thoughts that should be published in the near future. Future topics may include: the mice return, online dating, continued work of being the stake project and demon deacons. If you have any requests for which topics should be first, please comment below.