In which we compare 300 to our day

About 3 weeks ago, Dan and I were watching the movie 300. If you haven't seen it, do it. Really. I loved it. I've seen it before but I found myself drawing so many parallels to this life and this time. For those who haven't seen it, brief recap:

Sparta, King Leonidas. The Persian army is conquering and Xerxes wants Sparta to surrender. Leonidas won't have it, because Spartans don't surrender. They win or die in battle. That's it. So they go to war with the Persians and put up quite the fight. Eventually they are defeated, but every single one of the Spartans dies fighting.

Disclaimer: I'm in no way trying to idealize this movie or anything like that, but I really felt a profound epiphany after watching the movie.

King Leonidas is a fantastic and wise leader. He reminds me a lot of the leaders we have today, especially in the Church. They're so wise and so desperately want what is best for us and to help preserve us and our life.

The Persian army and Xerxes are like all the temptations and less than pleasant things in this world. It's an all out assault on our very lives to compromise the things we believe in and hold most precious to us. It's the attack on the family, and the attack on our moral values and principles. It's the fact that this world, while wonderful and so so beautiful, can be so dark and so evil. It's all of that.

I also noticed how valiant and dedicated to the cause the Spartan army was. It was victory or death, no surrender. That was it. Sometimes, I feel like in my own life I too often compromise and allow myself to surrender or fall short instead of following through with my goals. There are definitely things I don't compromise on, but for the most part I feel like I sell myself short and don't push myself to my full potential. I haven't "burned my ships" yet.

So these were my thoughts going into Church the following Sunday. It was out of the manual, lesson #5 Faith and Repentance. I came across this quote in the lesson and sent it to Dan. It seemed just too perfect to pass up because it so perfectly described how I was making the comparisons between 300 and the gospel.

"It is our duty to look after each other, to protect each other...to stand together with a united front against the sins of the world."

To bring this around so that it kind of wraps it up, I want to be more like the Spartans, with such conviction for my cause that it's victory or death, no surrender. It sounds extreme, but you have to stand for something in this life, and even if no one else agrees with you, that's okay. Stand for SOMETHING. Anything. Have some fire and be unstoppable.

The perfect week

Last week after church, Dan came home super excited about something that the teacher had challenged his class to do. The challenge was to have a "perfect" week: saying prayers together in the morning and the evening, and reading scriptures together every day.

I initially felt pretty daunted at the task. We're pretty good at reading scriptures together, but saying prayers together, especially in the morning, has never been a strong point for us. We try though, and at the end of the day that's all that can really be asked of us right?

Anyway, we decided to try it out and figured if we failed, then at least we tried and could try again. The first few days went great! We were super gun-hoe about it, really making a conscious effort to say prayers in the morning and read scriptures together at night. It was going really well. Towards the end of the week, it actually was a little more difficult, as with all things that are righteous. But I'm happy to report that we did it!!!

So here's what I learned from this one "perfect" week.

I noticed so much more peace in my home last week. Life was not perfect, and things still came up, but we took it--I took it--much more in stride and didn't get so worked up about silly things. I felt more peace in my life and felt much more at peace with my life. Sometimes I get so caught up in the small things, especially with school, and I noticed that I was able to get more done and not feel stressed. Awesome!!!

I noticed that Dan and I were much more "in tune" with each other. We responded much better to each other, and I was more patient and kind too. I can't speak for Dan, because let's be honest, he's the patient one in this relationship, but I think he would agree that communication in our house went much smoother last week than it has in a while. We just seemed to get each other. We laughed so much and it just was pure bliss and happiness.

I noticed that my prayers were more meaningful. I actually thought about what I should pray about, and I paused during my prayers to listen and be touched by the Spirit. It's a beautiful thing to have the Spirit dwelling in your home, within these four small walls, and feel so much love from the Lord.

We're going for week number 2. I'll let you know how that goes. I definitely encourage you to try it though, and see what changes you see in your own life. Let it change you. Let the Spirit into your life to change you. Be moldable. Be pliable, and let the Spirit touch your life.

I can see Clearly now

Guess who joined the many thousands of contact wearers? This girl! That's right, I can finally see clearly all the time. Let me tell you, that is a fantastic thing. In all honesty, I probably should've been wearing contacts or my glasses all the time a while ago.

It's been an adjustment that's for sure. I can totally feel something in my eye but it's only bothering my lower eyelid. And let's not talk about putting my contacts in. Holy cow that's hard! I have absolutely no problem touching my eyes, but coming straight at my eye is kind of freaky. I think it took 2 or 3 times just to get my contacts in before church today.

In other news, we went to the temple this weekend and did some sealings, and guess who we saw? My old roommate Cassie Gardner (Hancock now) and her husband! Super random because I haven't seen her in over 3 years! It was a fun surprise!

Back to homework now. New week and more homework than I have time for. Should be fun :]