The Avalanche of Self-Motivation

Today in Sunday School, my teacher asked what motivated us to change and to commit to a standard of righteous living. Wow. That sent my brain whirling! All the virtuous actions I experienced in the last 24 hours swarmed into my mind and surprised me to realize that they were all self-motivated, or based on the desire to earn my Father in Heaven and my Brother Jesus' approval. Of course I was not always so good. I think of the differences between Megan, the bratty does-whatever-she-wants-when-she-wants-because-she-wants 12 year-old, and the Megan I am now and wonder what changed my course in the middle. I have an idea which (although this is unbelievably nerdy of me) came from a Lord of the Rings line. In The Two Towers, Gandalf compares Merry and Pippin's arrival in Fangorn Forest to "the falling of small stones that start some avalanche in the mountains." Well, my avalanche of self-movitation definitely would not have commenced without a few small stones falling first. My seminary teachers, Young Women's leaders, and EFY counselors are some. I could never adequately express in this restrictive language the impact they had-- and have-- on my ability to independantly learn and grow from the Spirit. As much as I adore words, language is a barrier to the soul's emotions (at least as far as my knowledge of language extends), and I can find no better way to communicate mine than with that quirky avalanche analogy.

...Their small influences...

...Have made all the difference...