Recently, my friend Evelyn and I decided that we wanted to travel up and down the East Coast and go visit the Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We had the opportunity to schedule a trip before my husband’s work schedule got busy and this last Friday we got in the car and drove to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

When I scheduled this trip, I wasn’t really concerned with the busy appointments on the calendar leading up to that road trip. Then I got asked to teach the Relief Society lesson and all of the things filling the calendar felt a little bigger to me. Relief Society is the organization for the women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then another friend Jasmine decided to get baptized and it was going to be that same weekend I was gone. She rescheduled it so that I could be there and asked me to speak at her baptism.

Now, everything on the calendar felt really big and I was trying to figure out how I can do all of these things and prepare a 45-minute lesson and a 5-minute talk that would be what the Lord wanted me to teach.

I had seen or heard an interview on Instagram or a Podcast and the woman was talking about how all of her friends and family were telling her that she should not “run faster than she is able” which is from the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 4:27 “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.”

The woman in the interview was thinking about how maybe everyone was right and she should figure out what needed to be dropped so she wouldn’t burn out. And then she heard these words come to her mind, “ask Me and I will give you the strength to run faster than you are able to do these things”.

When I heard this, I was so intrigued. I have had several times in my life where I was most definitely running faster than I was able to the burnout was sure to follow. In fact, there were times when I was given a Priesthood Blessing that told me not to run faster than I had strength. Really quick, priesthood is the power and authority that God gives to man to act in all things necessary for the salvation of God’s children. My husband is a Priesthood holder and because of this, he can give Priesthood blessings to me and our children when we are feeling sick, or need to feel loving comfort and words of guidance from Heavenly Father. This is such a powerful and sacred thing to us.

There was a time when the words of the blessing told me not to run faster than I had strength. This advice had come from my Heavenly Father. So, when I heard this woman say these words came into her mind, I was blown away. He had told me not to run faster than I had strength and at that time, I understand it was because I needed to have help with my family that I was not able to give of myself. But this… this was something I wanted to learn more about.

So, when I looked at the calendar at the beginning of last week and saw all of the things I had to accomplish, I decided to try it out. I prayed, Heavenly Father, this week I need to run faster than I have strength. I know that you will carry me through it and I give it all to you. I will do my part and I will depend on you to magnify my efforts and see me through.

It was the most amazing week. The first day was exhausting and I took a powernap on the couch while the kids finished school. And then I was up and at it getting things accomplished. I had an hour in a waiting room at an appointment for a kiddo where I was able to finish composing my lesson and getting it organized enough that I felt comfortable driving to Pennsylvania. The kids worked hard at school and together we made everything happen how we needed it to. My husband was the most amazing support through it all.

The trip to Pennsylvania was amazing and I will talk more about that in another post. There was about an hour where I was driving back home through the mountain and my friend was sleeping in the passenger seat. Pittsburgh was just beginning to have trees putting their leaves out and the pollen was very strong. My eyes were starting to feel too irritated and it was becoming difficult to drive. I knew that my friend needed to rest longer before she took a turn driving. I prayed to Heavenly Father, please help me to make it one more hour so that she can be rested enough to drive. He gave me the alertness and fortitude that I needed to do this. I made it just over an hour more of driving and we then changed places.

Friends, I know that God is there. He is in the details of our lives. Reach to Him. In closing, I want to share this post I found on Instagram from @elisa.trask:

What if the tiniest step toward Jesus… was all it took to be completely seen?

Zacchaeus wasn’t anyone’s favorite. A tax collector. A cheat. A name whispered in bitterness. Too short to be seen. Too sinful to be loved. And yet… he climbed a tree. Just for a glimpse.

Jesus didn’t just notice him. He stopped. Called him by name. And invited Himself into Zaccheaus’ home. A house no one else would enter.

That tiny climb? It changed everything. Not because Zacchaeus cleaned up first—but because Jesus saw him as he was. And wanted to stay.

Zacchaeus didn’t repent to earn love. He changed because he was loved. The relationship came first. The transformation followed.

Even the smallest step toward Jesus – a glance, a prayer, a climb – is enough to start the biggest invitation.

He’s not waiting for you to fix yourself. He’s already looking up at your tree. Calling you by name. And saying, “I must abide with you today.”

My lesson in Relief Society was on Abiding with Jesus Christ. I will have a post about that soon. Until then, go look up what Abide means and ponder on how you can Abide with Him.