Sunday, June 9, 2013

No Happiness Without Service

Recently heard a quote from Joseph F. Smith, 
There can be no genuine happiness separate and apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify and preserve its influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its establishment. Men and women often seek to substitute some other life for that of the home; they would make themselves believe that the home means restraint; that the highest liberty is the fullest opportunity to move about at will. There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than that which converts the home into a divine institution, and which promotes and preserves family life.
Those who shirk home responsibilities are wanting in an important element of social well-being. They may indulge themselves in social pleasures, but their pleasures are superficial and result in disappointment later in life. The occupations of men sometimes call them from their homes; but the thought of home-coming is always an inspiration to well doing and devotion.

Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. (1939), 300.

I like those paragraphs, I need to hear them. The world teaches the exact opposite.  One more time,
" ..they would make themselves believe that the home means restraint; that the highest liberty is the fullest opportunity to move about at will. There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than that which converts the home into a divine institution..."

As you may recall a few months ago I mentioned feeling like I had postpartum depression. Its been a long spring, in so many ways. In one or two of the ways, my husband had a lot of responsibilities out of the house, it was rough.  I wondered how much the world, the church, my family would ask for me.  Life was being too demanding.  I felt pity for a while, but then I volunteered to be a nursery worker (18 mo-3 years) at church.  I have another calling, and my husband has a demanding calling, but I realized if I was feeling pained about my service I wasn't serving enough.  I'm only in nursery for an hour, because of other responsibilities. Most Sundays I walk in to nursery I wonder what was I thinking? But its what I need to be doing.

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