toothpaste and bodywash--the sign of diligence

"Diligence-Constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken.  Persistent exertion of body or mind."
 I've been thinking about this word "diligence" a lot lately. Maybe that's because I feel myself slackening my grip from time to time.  Sometimes I wake up on a cloudy day and observe that I am suffering from senioritis of life. It seems like I've been at it for a while now and a  long summer break with lots of cheering and sunshine and lemonade sounds rather appealing. I'm not sure where this picture comes from, probably from that place in my mind where I store laziness and fault finding and "what's in it for me?"  I keep trying to sweep that dusty place clean, but there are some old boxes of weakness that I keep around because I might need them some day and I've had them my whole life and can I really part with them forever?  None of those boxes have brought me lasting happiness, just a fleeting moment of pleasure followed by feelings of self doubt and a resolve to put them away once and for all. But such is the battle of days.

In the past few months I've had some friends teach me about diligence.  These friends are not my peers in age, but they are effective teachers nonetheless. Did you know that diligence smells like toothpaste and bodywash? My friends wake up early, shower, brush their teeth and come to the church to learn about God through study of the scriptures and the sharing of testimonies born of young but powerful faith. After 50 minutes they leave like they came, shoulders laden with back packs and sports bags, words bouncing with concerns for tests, quizzes, papers and projects, but hearts clean from a short hour of dedication to things pure and holy. I'm left alone in the room with only the smell of diligence as evidence that the hour happened. Sometimes the hour is heavy with doctrine, sometimes light with games and laughing. Sometimes shared stories make us smile, sometimes they call out tears, and seeds of compassion are sown.  No one hour changed a life, but stacking of great hours on top of okay hours for weeks and months has yielded just what one would expect-knowledge, belief, friendship and the power to choose to do good.

I lean on these little heroes when I need  more diligence.  When it is my job to prepare for Thursday's lesson even though I already prepared on Wednesday and Tuesday and Monday, I remember that they will be there, hoping to learn and be inspired and not be bored by lack of preparation from the girl tempted with senioritis.

Because my days don't cry to be managed with the same intensity as they did when I had many children at home, I have to decide to be diligent.  Minutes and hours can just lie there, directionless, if I don't apply diligence to shape them into something useful or beautiful or loving.  I like to think about the hope and enthusiasm for the future that I see every morning in my teacher/friends and capture that  for my future which is considerably shorter, but that cannot be without purpose and giving.

So thank you, clean and beautiful children, for stacking hours with me and showing me that life is exciting with infinite possibilities as we move forward with all diligence and faith.