Practicing Abundance

I recently revisited the story of Ammon in the Book of Mormon. (For an abbreviated version of this story watch the video above or click here ) and something caught my attention in a new way.  In chapter 18, verse 10: 10  Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and his  chariots  he was more astonished, because of the faithfulness of Ammon, saying: Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth remember all my commandments to execute them.   Lamoni didn't even know about God at this point, and his use of the word "faithful" surprised me for a moment. I usually (almost exclusively) hear about faithfulness in a religious sense of "having faith in God", which I currently understand as basically trusing in Him and in His plan and words (which involves knowing Him as He is (not as I think He is or imagine Him to be or want Him to be) so as not to have misplaced faith... another...

I was recently listening to a BYU devotional in which the speaker reminded me of a concept she calls "target fixation".  "Have you ever heard of target fixation? It's the phenomenon that explains why we go where we fix our gaze. Target fixation is why skiers, mountain bikers, and motorcyclists sometimes plow directly into the trees, rocks, and other obstacles they try so hard to miss. In each of these instances, target fixation leads to disaster because their eyes are focused somewhere other than their intended destinations. Similarly, in our lives, focusing too much on anything besides the Savior can lead to peril." As I was mowing the lawn later that week, the concept swirled around in my mind and collided with a memory of my dad teaching me that when you mow the lawn, you keep your eyes on the end of the row (where you're going) in order to get a straight line. If you just watch the ground in front of you, you'll end up with a wobbly line.  A single ...