I hadn’t really thought about my new word for 2009 until the last day of 2008. I laid in bed that night thinking about what I wanted to focus on for the next 12 months. I come up with several words (many words that some of you have already picked), but nothing really seemed to fit just right. I guess that’s when I unconsciously decided not to worry about it and hoped it would at some point find me.

And it did.

Last Sunday while I sat in RS it was this quote that captured my attention.

The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness is that charity, “the pure love of Christ”, is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes. -Dallin H. Oaks

When I heard this quote I knew I wanted charity to be a focus of this year. I don’t think I am a completely selfish person that never does things for others, but I do feel that condition or conversion Elder Oaks is talking about isn’t something I possess either. I also realize Charity is a big word and not something you attain in a year, it is what Elder Oaks said, something you become.

So while making dinner one night last week the girls and I broke out in song singing, “Give, said the little stream” (I have no idea why). After about the tenth time through I realized that was it…give. I have been given so much in my life and want to focus this year on giving back. I love the part in the song that says, “I’m small, I know, but wherever I go the grass grows greener still.” I feel small in this big world, but I also feel like I have a lot to give. I want to give of myself, give of my heart, give of my talents, and give of my time. In doing so, I’m hoping to capture, if even a little glimmer, of what Elders Oaks is talking about and begin to really understand what it means to be charitable.