The Scripture Experiment. Life Foundations

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/a-sure-foundation?lang=eng

 “Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, [which] built his house upon a rock—

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, [which] built his house upon the sand—

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24–27

Building a life foundation at first seemed too big of a project to fit into a weeklong experiment, but as I considered my days and weeks, I found that I do have daily habits that serve as a foundation for how I live/cope and when those habits are ignored or forgotten my life can easily spin out of control. (In a moment I will give an example, because even when my daily habits are in place, life occasionally steps in and messes things up.)

Here is my typical morning routine:

6 a.m.    Prayer

Scripture study

7 a.m.    Household chores

8 a.m.    Exercise

9 a.m.    Shower/breakfast

I consider my day to begin at 9 a.m., because everything before that is pretty nonnegotiable. Looking back, I can’t remember when these patterns started. I do remember years when the scripture study happened during nap time and when I exercised in the evening when my husband came home, but for many years now, this is how I roll. Although, sometimes I exercise at 7 and the household chores are pushed to the end of the day.

This is my housekeeping schedule.

Monday               laundry

Tuesday               bathrooms

Wednesday        vacuum and dust

Thursday             groceries/errands

Friday                    yard work

Saturday              mop floors

Some things, like dinner and dishes, happen every day. And other things, like cleaning light fixtures and wiping out the inside of cupboards, happen rarely. But as long as I make an effort to see that these basics are not neglected, the dust bunnies stay tame. Of course, there were years where laundry was an everyday occurrence.

What does laundry and dust have to do with building a life foundation? Most of us are familiar with the quote:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Does that mean my destiny is laundry and dust? No, it means that because I’ve conquered the laundry and dust I’m free to spend the rest of my day doing the things that I want to do.

My experiment for this week was to use a quiet moment at church to reflect on how I spent my week and what I could have done better.

Here’s an example of a day gone awry. At five p.m. on a Wednesday, the hour I usually think about starting dinner I realized that I hadn’t yet vacuumed. (Remember, this is Wednesday’s chore.) So, I sprinkle carpet fresh all over my house. The smell is horrific and as I vacuum, it only gets worse. I inspect my vacuum and discover a hole in the bag. I worry because I know I won’t be able to sleep with carpet fresh all over my floors and I also know that it’s too late to go to the Oreck store to buy a new bag. So I went to Target and while I’m frowning at their selection of vacuum bags, knowing that not one of them would fit my eight year old Oreck vacuum, I get a call reminding me that I had committed to drive a friend to physical therapy. I bought the most likely looking bag, drove my friend to her appointment, came home, threw a frozen pizza in the oven and looked for tape so I could jerry rig thhe bag and vacuum my carpets. Because of the vacuum emergency, I was late for my writers’ group. And in a bad mood. And more than a little nauseous from the carpet fresh fumes.

Was any of this a sin? No, of course not, but that particular Wednesday needed help. Maybe the wise man built his house upon a rock because rocks can be cared for by a broom. Imagine trying to vacuum a sandy floor. The exercise of considering how I intended to spend my week and how it actually came together will help me going forward to carefully consider how I use my days. And my days are the foundation of my destiny.