"are you taking care of yourself???"

In conversation with a good friend last night, this divinely inspired question arose: "are you taking care of yourself???"

Have you ever been asked that?

I haven't.

I didn't even know how to respond.
I knew that it was something I needed to ponder because, initially, it made me mad.

It spurred another intensive moral inventory.

Am I taking care of myself?
What things have I been doing that are good?
What things have I been doing that are less-effective?
Am I balanced, physically, emotionally & spiritually?
Am I as Christ-centered as I want/need to be?
How is my personal communication with my Heavenly Father?

While pondering this topic, I came across the talk entitled "How is it With Us?" By Elder Ballard, referencing Lorenzo Snow's original inquiry to the early saints.

He states, "The Lord expects that we will do something. But what? What is it that needs our personal attention?" Elder Ballard goes on to say, "It appears to me that the most important thing everyone of us can do is to examine our own commitment & devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must carefully guard against spiritual apathy & work to maintain the full measure of our loving loyalty to the Lord."

Even when we are so busy with meetings and service and lessons, is it possible that we suffer from spiritual apathy?

This made me think of a talk by Elder Wirthlin where he expressed "fear that some members of the Lord’s Church 'live far beneath our privileges' with regard to the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some are distracted by the things of the world that block out the influence of the Holy Ghost, preventing them from recognizing spiritual promptings. This is a noisy and busy world that we live in. Remember that being busy is not necessarily being spiritual. If we are not careful, the things of this world can crowd out the things of the Spirit."

Another thought by Arianne Cope: "I’d been so busy, my spiritual health was battered."

In responding to my friends question I said, "Physically, yes. spiritually, yes. Emotionally, kind of..."

But was that true? And how if our soul consists of both body and spirit can the 3 be compartmentalized? This is something that I thought about long into the night. How can I decrease the business and increase the spirituality in my life? How can I better qualify for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost? How can I cease to live beneath my privileges?

The first thought that came to mind was how many hours do I spend communicating with God? Do I consistently surrender my will to his? How can I better trust Him?

I think if God, my loving Father in Heaven spoke to me yesterday, he would have said something very similar to the words of my friend: "please keep the stress levels down... please! take care of yourself."

This morning I woke up to a letter from a great friend serving God in Hungary, and one in Boise who is about to serve God in Ohio...both spoke truth and reiterated the loving concern God has for me.

How grateful I am that even though I am so far from perfect that God allows me the opportunity to continue to learn and grow and places so many Christ-like individuals in my life. I am grateful that I can start right now by communicating with God and receiving personal guidance from Him.