This Blog is NOT about marriage actually....

Well, I did it.

I created a blog. I've jumped on the band-wagon. Call me conformist.

I'm not sure how much I'll use this, but my idea is to document my attempts, poor as they may be, to be involved in something useful. The phrase "anxiously engaged" could be about pre-wedding ceremony stress, but I took the phrase from a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants. This book (D&C for short) is a volume of modern scripture used by Latter-Day Saints along with the Bible and the Book of Mormon. The quote is as follows:

"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness." D&C 58:27

This verse and the verses around it, express Heavenly Father's delight in those who are proactive in serving Him and his children (translation: all of humankind.) We do not have to be told everything we can or ought to do. If we wait for personal invitations from God to do specific good, we may find ourselves waiting a long time and losing valuable opportunities. On the other hand, when we actively seek to serve, God will shower upon us the necessary ideas, opportunities and means to do them.

This all started because I was recently hired jointly by my local elementary school and Americorps. I'm learning quite a bit about service, although most of it has come in the form of a growing realization of how much there is to do out there and how much one person can actually get done. I'm hoping that this blog can help me to learn and figure out even more and that by documenting what I do and think about, I can continue to foster an awareness and attitude of serving. I know that with time and continued effort, my ability and capability to serve will increase.

Perhaps someday I can make a difference in the lives of thousands, like Mike and Joyce Murray, two of my most favorite people in the world. They are amazingly talented. Mike Murray co-founded a program called Unitus (www.unitus.org) that offers micro-credit loans to poverty-stricken women in several places in Africa. They served as my mission president and "mom" while I served in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission.

I know that there's not much I can do right now, and most of my efforts may be feeble, but I don't mind. I'm just happy to even start on this journey.

AE