I often find myself going along in life, doing my daily thing, but feeling some frustration with how things are going, or not going, how busy I am, how my kids are acting, how tired I am etc. I find myself craving a vacation, or a break. And often a vacation, or a break is just what I need!

But I also need to sit down and “realign my compass“. Look at what I am doing and how that fits into the grand scheme of things. Ask if I am living according to my core values and beliefs. Evaluate the state of my relationships and consider what changes I need to make.

I am so grateful, that every 6 months, I have the opportunity to listen to our church’s semi annual conference. It is a weekend filled with inspirational talks and those talks help me to get that realignment I so desperately need.

I love that Rob and I cosy up on the couch to watch the conference, connecting on such a deep level, sharing our thoughts about our lives, each other, our family. Making decisions to change something, or getting the affirmation that somethings we are doing are right.

I love how the kids watch portions of the conference with us, and this year started taking notes! I love to catch a glimpse about what touches them. I love that they are learning that they can find answers to their questions in these talks. They may choose to take a different path in life, but they may always remember conference as being a source of wisdom, regardless of the path they choose. Wisdom is wisdom:)

I love that we will watch so many of these talks over again in family night and open up huge discussions – intellectual and spiritual. Discussions that I would never have with my kids without hearing these words at conference.

I love that we will discuss these talks in church and hear people’s perspectives and how they were inspired.

I love that Pinterest will be swamped with new pins of quotes from these talks. These quotes will be used frequently; many people not even realizing where the quotes came from!

I love our tradition of food around these meetings:) The girls out for dinner prior to the “all girls session”; the boys out for dinner prior to the “all boys session”; the “picnic feast” we munch on during the main Sunday session.

I love it all.

(Even the dozing off that sometimes happens during a session, surrounded by blankets and cuddly family… And then the ability to re listen to the talks I missed at a later time:))

This past weekend was conference weekend, and it was a great one. Very timely, as my compass really needed aligning.

There were many talks that spoke to me. There were many talks that confirmed things for me. And there were many talks that are swirling in my head, pushing me to make changes or take action.

This quote comes from a very powerful talk by Jeffrey R. Holland, that I think touched the very soul of many. He spoke of our need to be helping the poor and needy and showing kindness, generosity and charity.

“Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, ‘Are we not all beggars?’ Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case?”

Hmmm… Maybe cast the judgements aside, and begin to focus on the good we can give and we need to be giving. Maybe focus on the fact that “because I have been given much, I too must give.”

Certainly made me want to express my gratitude for the temporal and spiritual blessing I have, and take a deeper look about what I give back both temporally and spiritually, and to whom I give it back to. For I know that I too am a beggar, and appreciate the mercy that is shown to me.