Fill Your Bucket

I'm not adjusting well to this time change thing. I AM WIDE AWAKE when the clock says I should be sleeping. Oh well, it gives me time to surf the blogosphere.:)

Our ward had Enrichment Meeting tonight. I was somehow nominated (ahem - thanks A LOT girls!) to give the devotional/talk/lesson. (Whatever they're calling it these days! It was a fun topic to teach. It kind of fit right in with my little accountability goals I've got going. I'm probably the only person who does this, but I like to save any talks or lessons I give, so that I can look back on them, and remember what I've learned from them. Forget the part about teaching others...because I was probably babbling or blubbering at some point so much that you couldn't understand me. :) Just in case that was the case, or you just need a little pick me up - here's my little devo/talk/lesson for you to enjoy...You're welcome.

Imagine that each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us.
Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people's buckets -- by saying or doing things the Lord has asked us to do -- we also fill our own bucket.
Like the cup that runneth over in Psalms, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic.
When our bucket is full, we feel great. But when it's empty, we feel awful. If we use our dipper to dip from others' buckets -- by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions -- we diminish ourselves. An empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.

As Sisters in Zion, which includes every ‘sister’ on this Earth, we know that our sisterhood is strengthened by our individual relationships with each other. The hymn ‘As Sisters in Zion’ tells us exactly what we need to do:

1. As sisters in Zion, we’ll all WORK TOGETHER;
The blessings of God on our labors we’ll seek.
We’ll BUILD UP HIS KINGDOM with earnest endeavor;
We’ll COMFORT the weary and STRENGTHEN the weak.
2. The errand of angels is given to women;
And this is a GIFT that, as sisters, we claim:
To do whatsoever is GENTLE and HUMAN,
To CHEER and to BLESS in humanity’s name.
3. How vast is our purpose, how broad is our mission,
If we but fulfill it in spirit and deed.
Oh, naught but the Spirit’s divinest tuition
Can give us the wisdom to truly SUCCEED.

So we should work together to:
Build up His kingdom. First, through missionary work, and second, by nurturing our own children so that they can learn and grow in the gospel.

Comfort Each other. We, as women, are naturally inclined to reach out when someone is in need. This is a divine ability given to us by a loving father in heaven.

Strengthen the weak. Aren’t we all weak at some point? Some may be more than others at any given time. It’s our duty to reach down and pull each other out of the depths of despair.

Share our gifts. Each and every one of us has been given talents. We need to share them with each other.

Be gentle. In a world where women are encouraged to be equal to the male gender, we know that our divine role is to bring beauty and softness to a sometimes hard, cold world. Embrace it!

Be human. President Hinckley said it best when he said "I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass."

Cheer each other. Let each other know that you noticed a job well done. All too often we focus on the weaknesses, and don’t appreciate the accomplishments.

Bless each other. Be a friend. Don’t be the one dipping into another’s bucket by gossiping or leaving one another out of social circles. Recognize that even if you are not the same age, or at the same stage in life, each and every one of us has something to share with each other.

And finally, recognize that all of these things have been given to us by a loving Father in Heaven. We have been divinely appointed to be a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend. He wants us to do well. He wants us to live with him again. He wants us to succeed. So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another's buckets, or we can dip from them. It's an important choice -- one that profoundly influences our temporal and eternal progression. I pray that we will all choose to fill each other’s buckets – and be able to return to live with Him again.