The One Thought That Changes Everything

I woke up one morning without any desire to get out of bed. It was going to be a full day of things I needed to do without any time to do the things I wanted to do. I prayed to feel better. I remembered a friend had sent a link to a talk a few days earlier called, "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread"

I didn't seem to have anything to do with what I was struggling with, but I thought I'd listen to it anyway to see why this friend sent it.

I started making breakfast as I listened.

Something the speaker (D. Todd Christofferson) said stopped my busy mind, I relistened to what it was:

"Asking God for our daily bread, rather than our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread, is also a way to focus us on the smaller, more manageable bits of a problem. To deal with something very big, we may need to work at it in small, daily bites. Sometimes all we can handle is one day (or even just part of one day) at a time...."

Even just "part of one day"? The thought struck me.

He went on to talk about a team training for the SEALS and the advice given to them in order not to quit:

"First of all, I do not want you to give in to the pressure of the moment. Whenever you’re hurting bad, just hang in there. Finish the day. Then, if you’re still feeling bad, think about it long and hard before you decide to quit. Second, take it one day at a time. One [phase] at a time.

Don’t let your thoughts run away with you, don’t start planning to bail out because you’re worried about the future and how much you can take. Don’t look ahead to the pain. Just get through the day, and there’s a wonderful career ahead of you.”

"One phase at a time"... my mind held on to that thought.

"The Spirit can guide us when to look ahead and when we should just deal with this one day, with this one moment."

"With this one moment"... The idea came to my mind:

"What if I consecrate each thing I need to do today to God before I do it? "

I got started. I told Heavenly Father I would consecrate my morning jobs to Him. I felt lighter right away. I noticed my kids more and laughed more.

I then consecrated the car ride to school to Him. I was able to notice more of the beauty around me.

I consecrated English class to Him and shared my testimony of the power of music in their lives... it turned out to be a very good day.

I enjoyed each of the tasks I was dreading that morning. It carried over to the next day too and I felt so calm and joyful as I prepared dinner for the 20+ people who would be joining us.

I felt so grateful to have the opportunity to be where we were and to have them all in our home.

This one idea honestly changed my life.

I can't say I remember it all the time, but when I do, it changes everything. It's hard because I am so distractable and have so much in my head, but I want to practice it more and more.

Here is the link to the whole beautiful talk: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Updates:

Planetarium:

When Benjamin Allen (from CLAS Ropes) and my dad drove here from Mexico (so Benjamin's family could build us a ropes course) Benjamin decided to donate his truck and SUV and fly back to the US.

The truck has been extremely helpful with the building projects.

The Suburban allows us to have enough room to take the kids from the school on occasional field trips.

We took them to the planetarium in Cancun. Almost none of had been to a planetarium before.

They were astounded and mesmerized by what they learned and saw.

We are so thankful to Benjamin and his family for making this and future experiences for them possible!!

Click on this image to see the FB Post with more picture:

Volunteers:

Justin Barton contacted me one day and said they were going to be in Cancun for a week and wondered if they could stop by for a couple of days to help us with whatever we needed, if we could use some help.

We sure could use some help! I love how Heavenly Father keeps sending us amazing people at just the right times. Justin and his family played with the kids from the school, helped put up another wall on the shed and then spent hours filling a hole with rocks and gravel for the base of a biodigestor.

Keep in mind they could have been relaxing at a number of beautiful beaches around here, but chose to help us instead. They even took us out to eat.

There sure are amazing people on this earth.

Click on the image to see the FB reel about their time here:

Our First Intern:

Our first intern, Megan, left last week. It was fun having her with us for 3 weeks!

She helped with household chores, with building projects, and took over teaching a few English classes with the kids.

Since our home isn't built yet, she just bunked in our little apartment in the girls room. She never complained about the lack of space, warm water, privacy, or quiet.

We were blessed to have her in our home and we hope she was blessed by being here.

She said she learned a lot, had a good time, and was grateful she chose to stay and help.

We did manage to take her to do one fun thing before she went home: Cenote Choc Ha:

Behind-the-Scenes

My sister-in-law, Michelle has been working hard (in between college classes, family vacations, mom life and more) to get the website ready for volunteering from home, booking service trips, internships, and ropes course experiences.

My sweet friend, Summer, has been offering feedback and working on putting together a video for potential donors to see what they would be donating to (she is doing this in between classes, mom life, family visiting, enrolling her son in college and more). We are excited to see what she creates

Ezrie, Anna and Joanne (amidst finals at BYU-I and other activities), have been creating a portable booth that volunteers can set up at conferences, dances, events, and farmers markets (please let us know if you'd be willing to help with a booth during the summer or know of an event we could take one to!)

And of course, there is Jessalyn. She has been organizing and managing the service and internships applications, answering questions, organizing agendas for groups, training facilitators, being an amazing sister, helping me organize my thoughts, teaching choir, researching software, helping build, and so much more. We would be a complete mess without her!

We are so, super, super grateful for these amazing people and others who are doing so much behind the scenes to make this whole thing a reality!

Needs:

Youth Home: We need to build a home where abandoned youth can stay and attend school. Please help us build one by donating to the infrastructure fund! We need $10,000 to build the foundation (write "youth home" on the comment section of your donation)

Books: The youth in our school are in great need of inspiring books. Please consider donating to the book fund. $15 can buy an inspiring book that could change a life! (write "books" in the comment section of your donation)

Manual Labor: Come on a service trip and help us build this project. We have SO much to do and would love your help. Your trip cost will pay for your food, stay and for the next part of the building project you will be helping with.

Booths: We need people willing to be at information booths over the summer. Please let me know if you know of a good place to put a booth and if you would be willing to represent us at a booth!

Crafts/Treats: We would love to sell crafts or treats at our booths to attract people and to raise money for the cause. You can get a group together to create a Mexican craft, salsa, or treat to sell at our booths this summer. We have recipes if you need them!

Thank You!

Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to get this dream off the ground! I am amazed at the miracles I have seen because of your willing hearts.