Fuel your fire Baby!

Zach was out scouting for elk.  We had slept under the stars.  I enjoyed laying there watching the sun come up...then I started getting anxious about bears and coyotes and birds pooping on my head.  True story. 

 I decided my thoughts were embarrassing so I got up.  

I got bundled, gathered my study materials and started a fire.  I sat down by my little fire and started to read.  After a few minutes, maybe twenty, I laughed at myself.  I couldn't feel the fire I had built and I was sitting there shivering. "For goodness sake, build a fire and get warm!"

If you've been reading this blog long, you know I love a good analogy.  So, The Holy Ghost or my Angels, love teaching me this way and it is good fun.

Back to the fire.  It was cold out of my blanket, but I gathered kindling and all sizes of wood.  I had let my fire sit for so long with hardly anything to work with so I had to essentially start over.

I crumpled napkin, put small twigs around it and built it up from there.  

I love fire.

What I found though, was that while building it, I got warmer, even before my fire was roaring.

I like to be warm, especially when all around me is cold.  

Isn't that like life and the world we live in?

It can sure be cold and dark and sad.

When we are warm...or working to be, life feels manageable. 

How do we stay warm in a cold world?  Life throws a lot at us.  We have a very real adversary that wants to get us down and keep us there. How do you fuel your fire?  How do you maintain it?  When the wind is blowing, it can put out a little fire.  If the fire is strong enough, wind fuels it and even spreads it.  We don't need to worry about the wind.  We can focus on our fire.

President Eyring has said, "Great faith has a short shelf life".  We must do something with what we have or we will lose it.  Fires do burn themselves out.  They need fuel. Some ideas for fuel that come to my mind are:
*Time in the Temple (regularly scheduled is best)
*Time in the scriptures (quiet place, with a question in mind and a notebook and pen)
*Good music, entertainment, books (anything that invites the spirit of inspiration)
*Any type of family history work (indexing, tell your family a family story)
*Service (the inspired kind. Ask in prayer who needs you and how you can help)
*Prayer (definitely)

As I'm writing, the following quote came to my mind.  If this is you and you are not sure about God and your relationship to Him, listen to President Russell M. Nelson:

“If you are not sure you even believe in God, start there. Understand that in the absence of experiences with God, one can doubt the existence of God. So, put yourself in a position to begin having experiences with Him. Humble yourself. Pray to have eyes to see God’s hand in your life and in the world around you. Ask Him to tell you if He is really there—if He knows you. Ask Him how He feels about you. And then listen.”

"Faith is like a little seed, if planted, it WILL grow." (primary song)

Work to build your fire.  Over time, you will get warmer, your love for God will grow.

"First and forever, fan the flame of your faith because all things are possible to them that believe."     -Elder Jefferey R. Holland.

I fan my faith and fuel my fire when I share it.  I fan my faith and fuel my fire when I live it.

I see the need to fan and fuel my faith when I let it go out a bit.  I am amazed and grateful that even repenting can fuel my fire of faith.  I see His love for me in just this one thing. 

I want to have more experiences with God.  I love Him.  I need Him.  I'm grateful for Him and His influence in my life and the life of my family. Oh, He is everything.

Let's fuel this fire!