I hope my non-LDS friends will indulge me a little with this scripture about prayer. It’s so powerful! I was reminded of it at church last night, shortly after my friend Kathy and I had finished a discussion about our futures. As we near retirement age, we’ve both found ourselves thinking more and more about what’s next. Open and ready for whatever’s out there, we talked about the importance of asking for divine guidance and then earnestly looking for it.
What started this particular conversation was my comment about the CPT 101 course I’m taking. Since the college allows employees to take one free course per year, I decided that I needed to know more about the amazing properties of computers. I might also add that I thought it was be a cakewalk. After all, I’ve been teaching internet courses for years and am a whiz at power point presentations. Wrong! I’m pretty sure the instructor thinks I’m an idiot and is concerned about the awkwardness involved in failing a colleague. But I digress. Kathy said, “That’s what I ought to do…take a computer course.” She then told me about a photography course she had taken and then added some recent experiences discovering internet sites that buy photographs.
We want to continue being productive when we retire, and we want to use our talents and interests in a way that best serves the Master’s plan for us. But what is it that we need to do??? Knowing of her strong Christian faith, I suggested that we both pray about it. That’s why this verse from Alma 37:37 especially touched me last night.
“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.”
mom's musings 
Amen.The thankfulness is not difficult; it’s “doing what I’m told” that sometimes gets me in trouble.There are so many things to choose from, and I have suggested the photography opportunites to one of my sisters.
That’s an excellent perk to be able to take one course per year…proably all you have time for! I have to doubt that you will do anything except very well!! You look mighty young to be close to retirement…;-)
“Doing what I’m told” isn’t usually a problem for me; it’s figuring out exactly what it is. I know you’ve heard me (“heard” in a sense) talk about Dr. Scott Peck. One of the things that really hit me was his advice to his patients about what they should do.
The most frequently asked question (he was a therapist) was “What should I do?” He said the answer was always the same: You don’t always know for sure. He did, however, encourage people to pray (at least I think he did!) and also to listen to their unconscious. I remember reading that and thinking how true it was because you NEVER KNOW FOR SURE.
You’re right. It is an excellent perk. We just had a major unit test this morning, and I feel like a dunce. It’s a bit embarrassing when you’re one of the last ones sitting in class trying to remember how to add a header and footer or how to add superscripts or change margins or WHATEVER. I guess I’ll find out Wednesday.
Thanks for the compliment. I feel young, but the mirror says otherwise.