January 2

Scripture Cross-Links

Colossians 3:23 — “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
Reflection
You will not write the family history perfectly. You will not deliver the perfect lesson or speak the perfect word. But if you wait for greatness before you start, you will wait forever. Greatness is not a prerequisite — it is a destination, and the road there begins under your feet, right now, exactly as you are.
Start the chapter. Make the call. Say the prayer. Plant the garden. The Lord can work with motion. He struggles to steer a parked car.

Richard’s Personal Reflection

I have sat with patients who waited too long — not to seek care, though that too, but to live. They put off the trip to see their grandchildren. They never wrote the letter of forgiveness. They meant to call.
The ones who seemed most at peace were those who had learned, somewhere along the way, to begin imperfectly and trust that the doing itself would shape them. They had fewer regrets not because their lives were greater, but because they had started.

Grandfather’s Counsel

President Hinckley understood the power of beginning. Called to serve a mission during the Great Depression, he fell ill and wrote home discouraged. His father replied simply: forget yourself and go to work. Gordon could not change his circumstances. He changed his focus instead. He turned outward. He began. That letter became one of the pivotal moments of his life.