The expression, "Too many irons in the fire" has special meaning for me of late. The origin of the phrase comes from a blacksmith trying to heat too many irons at the same time. The blacksmith had to ensure that his fire was hot enough to handle all the irons that were placed in the pit. If the fire was not hot enough, it took longer to heat the irons to the desired operating temperature. In a nutshell, it means that there are many things going on with life and the attempt of trying to manage them all at the same time. We all have irons in the fire - be it work or church responsibilities or even social activities/hobbies that we want to pursue. 

As for me, with my family, work, church, and social activities have my fire stretched thin. My family (consisting of my wife), need to have my attention. My work requires that I continue to improve myself, be productive, and learn/teach others. My church activities require me to visit the homes of those families that I have been given stewardship over via Home Teaching as well as choir responsibilities. And finally, my personal responsibilities to make music, publish, learn new software programs to improve myself. All of these take precious time. And rest/sleep has to take place in there too. Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my responsibilities - all of them, but the trick is to manage them all.

With all the responsibility "irons" in the fire, sometimes my fire, though self-perceived as a very hot fire, is actually not very much so. The question remains then, can I actually handle all those irons at the same time, or do some need to be left to cool down, while getting the needed ones hot and be productive? Or, do I need to increase my fire? There are some irons that we, as mortals cannot get rid of in this life. Those irons must need to be continually nurtured.

The iron of testimony


Our testimonies need to be under constant care, just as a newborn baby/infant/toddler need constant/close supervision. It needs nourished in order to grow. These are among the most important irons to keep in the fire, as they have the most effect on our spiritual and eternal outcome. As a child, we live on "borrowed testimonies", while we start to grow our own. At some point in everyone's life, they need to decide to sever the borrowed testimony and start developing their own. Belief in a loving God who has given us everything we have on this earth for our benefit and joy is am important starting point. Testimony of our Savior and His atonement given to all mankind and how it applies to our own lives is important too. As we learn about these things, our testimonies grow "...line upon line, precept upon precept".

The iron of family


Family is very important. It is the basic unit of the gospel and everything revolves around family. Being a part of family as well as presiding in a family teach us valuable things we need to know and do for the eternities. Family should be the source of learning the gospel, learning trust and love. The iron of family must be kept hot in order to have a happy life.



The iron of work


The next one in my fire is work and its responsibilities. This iron needs to stay hot - if not, we have no work, no income, and we would be in more trouble yet. Work; whether it is a paid job, or home chores still needs to be done in order to maintain a happy environment. And physical work is good for us - it stimulates muscles, brains, and more importantly gives us a sense of belonging and being needed.

The irons of personal activities

I believe that everyone needs to have "down time" from time to time. Personal activities; hobbies, or other things that we enjoy doing is a way to unwind a bit. As I have stated, my list of personal interest activities is quite long. In addition to music, I like to bike, hike, fly fish, and ham radio just to name a few others. All of these take time. And I cannot possibly accomplish all of them at the same time. So many of these irons are out of the fire right now. They are still warm/lukewarm, and even some are cooling down, but they are all things I would "like" to get involved in. 

Stoke the fire

For many of us, trying to figure out out how to manage all the irons - we may have wondered if there is any way we can enlarge that fire in order handle all those irons. For me, it is difficult. I know my limitations, but there are several ways we can still enjoy some of those personal activities while continuing on in "patience". I have found that for many of these, I can and do include my family.

  • When I sit down at the keyboard to compose, arrange music, I use my wife as a sounding board. I include her in the process. She has valuable input and ideas.
  • My wife has her ham radio license, so we can share in that activity
  • I used to take my entire family fishing with me. Make it a family activity and it will be something that that will remember. I can still remember the look of half terror/joy when my son caught his first fish.
  • We used to as a family go on camping trips. Some of the memorable ones were when we were camping just outside of Palmyra, NY after watching the Pageant. We were all nestled in our sleeping bags - the kids having air mattresses. During the night an enourmous storm came and dumped rain. Our tent was leaking, and I can still remember the sight of those skids still sound asleep in the water-drenched tent, FLOATING in a puddle of water. Other memorable activities included camping at the Delaware shore and combating the black flies. Fun times, really! :)
As Jeffery R. Holland stated in General Conference, we need to "Be trued to the faith you do have" and "fan the flame of your faith". Having a good solid,firm foundation of our creator, His plan, and why we are here on this earth can and does half fan the flames. The scripture, "I can do all things through the Lord..." rings true for me. Having a testimony of the gospel helps one realize what is mortally versus eternally important in our lives. Whether it is working to get more money just to get the latest and greatest gizmo, get recognized, or working to get more money to pay off a debt quicker, or to enable you to take your family on that vacation. In the eternal perspective, recognition and gizmos come and go, but family is forever.

Another scripture that comes to mind is that as we obey the Lord, we are blessed that, "we can run and not be weary, walk and not faint." Another way to think about those irons of testimony, family and the gospel. Sometimes those irons that we deem very important in our lives are not really what we need. Only we know our true wants - the Lord knows our true needs. 



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