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Increase of Spirit

 These last two weeks have been crazy busy for me.  I feel like I've been running non stop and have had no time to even just sit and recover.  I don't like when I get in this state!  When I'm in this state I feel like I'm a crazy person.  My anxiety rises and I don't process things as well as I would when I'm in my calm state.

As I reflected on this during the week and why I was getting worked up over issues that wouldn't normally bother me, I made a connection.  When I'm in my crazy busy state, I don't set aside the time for the Lord that I would normally set aside.  Without that time, I don't receive the promised blessing of the increase of the spirit, and therefore my life is a bit more crazy then normal.


A little history about my life.  I am a mother of 5 children, wife of the bishop of our ward, and owner of a business with 37 employees and 700 customers.  Now if that isn't exhausting just reading it, I also deal with multiple chronic illnesses.  One of which is chronic fatigue.  If you don't know side effects of this, each person is different and each state of the illness is different.  I always assumed it just meant you were tired all the time.  But unfortunately it is way more then that.  It truly is fatigue!  I can never get enough rest to feel recovered. I haven't been able to exercise in my life for 4 years now because some days I can't produce enough energy to recover from even just a basic walk around the block.  Exercise for me has always been my stress reducer and my way to deal with life.  Well, four years ago I had to learn new ways to cope with stresses.  Let's  just say it's been a roller coaster of a ride since that day.

One thing I have learned helps my stress is my time with the Lord each and every day.  I'm learning my balance comes when I set aside a good 30 mins to an hour each morning devoted to a focused scripture, conference talks, or institute studies.  Yes, it seems like a lot, but when I look at my full day of activities, it's only a few minutes in my whole day.  

As I do this my mind stays more spiritually minded!  And through being more spiritually minded I am blessed with an increase of the spirit.  Then, I receive all the blessings of the spirit, which for me the one that I'm always seeking is peace!  My day and week are peaceful.  The end of each night I can recount my day with joy and learning instead of more stress of how in the world will I survive the next time.

As I devote this time to the Lord each day I also receive the physical strength that I'm needing for that day.  There are times I have no clue how I was able to survive or handle a situation that comes my way, and then I'm able to see the hand of the Lord.  I know that the strength came from Him.  I know that it is a blessing from my devoted time to him. I learned from Elder Rasband's General Conference talk that by redoubling my effort, the Lord will give me the increase of strength to fulfill what is asked of me.

The Gift of the Spirit really is the most amazing gift that we have received in life.  I don't know what I would do without the spirit each and everyday.  But the extra increase of the Spirit when I'm more dedicated to the Lord is an even greater blessing!  


I hope that you will redouble your efforts to the Lord and recognize the increase of spirit in your life as you do so.  As you do you will find joy beyond measure!

Now for each person this time with the Lord looks different.  Don't take what I do as what you have to do.  Let the spirit guide you on what is the right balance for you in your life.



  

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