This morning I was reading my scriptures for my personal scripture study. I was reading in 2 Nephi chapter 9. It talks about the judgement of the last day and how the Atonement of Christ will save us from the grave. I was reading along and I got to verse 33.
"Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart, for a knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them at the last day."I continued to read for about 2 more versus when I suddenly stopped and asked Spencer, "What does 'uncircumcised of heart' mean?" As a "habit", I tend to just read past the word "circumcision". Today, something stopped me and I found myself pondering on what it meant to be "uncircumcised of heart'. Spencer didn't really have an answer so, he grabbed his phone and started doing some research as I started with some cross referencing. We talked about it a bit and we came to the understanding that it meant that you are not completely converted, not only on the surface, but in your heart. To be circumcised in your heart is making that change and devoting your heart to the teachings of Christ and purely living His gospel. A PURE conversion. I decided to end my studies for the day there so that I could ponder on this through out the day. I likened it to this journey.
I have come to the understanding that the reason why all my other "diets" failed was not only because it wasn't the right way to eat, but because I wasn't completely converted to the diet. Weighing and measuring food, HATED IT! Having a set number of "points" I had to eat in a day, HATED IT! Cutting out the fruits and grains, HECK NO! I never felt in my heart that it was the right path for me. I did have some success, but when I stopped, or reached my goal I wound up back where I started, sometimes further in the hole. With this journey I feel and know in my heart that it is the right thing to do. I guess you can say that I am "circumcised of heart". I kind of think of it as "You can't teach an old dog new tricks".
Bare with me.
Thanksgiving is coming up in about a week. This is the smorgasbord that everyone looks forward to, and dreads, all year long. People start preparing food for Thanksgiving a day, sometimes two days, maybe even a week in advance. Why is this? Growing up, we would have a HUGE extended family Thanksgiving reunion dinner every other year. This meal often consisted of approximately 4 turkeys, 20 pies, 5 pans of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggie trays with my grandma's pickles (you haven't had pickles till you've had my grandma's pickles), dip for the veggies, rolls, cranberry sauce, green salad, jello salad, deviled eggs, jam for the rolls, candied yams, green beans, green bean casserole, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. My grandma, aunts, and mom would work for DAYS preparing for this feast and all day Thanksgiving day. It was SO BIG that we had to hold it at a ward building in the gym. While the women were in the kitchen, the men would be at my aunt and uncles house across the street watching the "big game", or in the gym playing Dynamite/ basketball and the kids would be running a muck. We would then gather and eat for about 15 minutes that would then be followed by these same amazing and exhausted women who had been cooking for a week cleaning up for about an hour or so while the rest of us fell asleep or played more basketball until it was time for pie. As I have gotten older and have established a family of my own, I have realized even more how amazing these women in my life truly are. I seriously don't know how they did it and I admire their strength.
We were driving somewhere when Avary, my middle child, asked if we were going to have rolls this year for Thanksgiving dinner. This propelled me into thinking about the menu for this next week and what we are going to eat and how we are going to handle it since we don't eat that much anymore. For starters, I was late ordering our turkey and got stuck with a larger turkey than what I wanted. Oye. Leftovers are eminent. Next, I started to think of the side dishes that we would have with it. We would have, what is starting to become a tradition in my family, wild rice stuffing. Seriously yummy. Then the apple cranberry butternut squash casserole that has become a favorite. Now something cold and crisp, a pomegranate spinach salad perhaps? Sounds good to me. My mom then asks, "Are we going to have potatoes and gravy?" This is where the "old dog, new tricks" thing comes into play. As I was talking it over with Spencer, we both agreed that we don't need that much food and that the both of us would rather NOT cook all week and would rather spend the time together as a family. I told my mom that we don't need potatoes and gravy. We are going to have the squash and that there really isn't a point to having potatoes too when we don't eat that much food anyway. She replied, "But that was how I was raised, and that was how you were raised." Just because you are raised to eat a certain way, doesn't mean that it is right. The common, "You aren't leaving this table until you have finished all your food" has catapulted our society into this unhealthy over eating binge. This doesn't change with the holidays. In fact, it is worse! How many people have to unbutton their pants because they ate too much, or wear sweat pants so that they CAN eat too much?
To make the healthy changes in your life you need to be COMPLETELY converted to those changes or it won't work, the "knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them". You will be smitten down if you don't stay strong in what you know is right. Don't be that "old dog" that has become such a cliche. Change is good! It is how we grow. Convert yourself to those healthy changes by FOLLOWING the "rules". As you continue to follow the rules you will be completely converted to the ways. Only then will you be "circumcised of heart" in your own personal journey. And, no, I don't think we will have rolls this year. Think about it, stuffing is made of bread, WHY have more bread? So, it is rolls or stuffing. I vote stuffing.
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