Organize Yourselves

Do you ever have a thought that won't leave you alone? And you're not sure why, exactly, but the thought is persistent and you know you just can't ignore it? I'm not talking about disturbing mental-disorder-type thoughts. I know enough about them to know that it's not those. I'm talking about persistent still-small-voice-thoughts that aren't just a little guidance in what to do in the moment. Instead, it's talking about something that you should pursue for at least the next while, either until you're done with it (and it'll let you know when you're done) or for pretty much the rest of your life...the rest of eternity.

I can't remember if I've written about this, because it's been on my mind for--I can't even tell you how long, months at least. So please forgive me if I have and I've forgotten, and I'm boring you. I keep feeling this inherent need to "organize myself." No joke. That scripture "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing" has just been kind of burning in my mind. I'm not even really sure what I'm supposed to "organize myself" in, so I've slowly but surely been trying to attack every aspect of my life that needs organizing. And, it's not like I'm the most disorganized person ever. My room is generally in some sort of order (though Val and other past roommates might be able to nail exactly where I'm lacking). But now that I'm working on "organizing myself," I'm pretty sure that my new roommates think I have some sort of OCD disorder with all the cleaning I'm trying to do. But I digress.

I've attacked my books, organizing and even--trying--to catalog them. I bought new drawers for my crafty things. I've thrown a ton of stuff away, and given another ton of stuff to DI. I separated out my household things and my holiday decorations and my outdoorsy things. I've been working on figuring out my finances and getting them in some semblance of order. I cleaned out my file boxes, separated one for my social work things, and created about twenty binders or so on every topic that I need in order to be an effective social worker. I ordered the Ensign (the true mark of an adult, I decided, is to have your own Ensign) and yesterday found a holder to put the past copies in, so they're easily accessible. I've even been working on some beginnings of food storage.

There are still a lot of things that I need to "organize"; but even though I've been working on this for several months, I still feel that small, persistent need to follow the counsel of the Lord.

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

"That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High."

~D&C 88:119-120


So, I tend to think of it this way: We don't really know what the Lord has in store for us, but He does. And now that, week by week, I'm slowly getting closer to finishing graduate school, I keep asking in my prayers what step I should take next. And that's usually the answer that I get: "Organize yourself; prepare every needful thing." So, I still don't know what's around the corner of my bend in the road. But I'll be darned if I'm not organized and ready to take it on. =]