Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Thoughts of Life

Today in the grocery store a man came up and started talking to Elysse, asking her questions and just being nice. I made the comment that she was enduring our shopping trip well.

His response surprised me a bit it didn't have anything to do with shopping. Instead he responded that her life is going to be tough and hard. He then went on to say that he is worried about what life will be like in the next ten years and expressed his concern for his grandchildren's lives.

I smiled through his comments and thought to myself that I am so grateful for the gospel. Yes, things are going to get hard, life is going to be tough but we look forward to the coming of Christ. If we keep strong to all that we believe and have been taught we will make it through these challenges. I use to be afraid of the second coming. I worried about loosing people that I love and the destruction that is prophesied to occur before His coming. As I have continued to learn and grow my fear has faded and I look forward to His coming to a time when all governments of the Earth will be done away with and we will live with Christ at our head. It is so sweet and wonderful to imagine. Though we will not get there without first enduring our trip well.

I began to think about my children: Nathan - the baby I couldn't wait to have; Audrey - the baby I fought so hard to keep; and Elysse - the baby I thought I would never hold. What great blessings they are to me. I want to be a good mom. I think of the relationship I want to have with them when they are grown. I want them to make good choices, to teach, to lead, to inspire others.

When Audrey was first diagnosed with cancer I cried and feared she would not get to experience all of the good this life has to offer. Yes - I said it, the GOOD THIS LIFE HAS TO OFFER. Though there are so many that dwell on the bad in the world and doom on the things that are changing whether it be in the government, crime, or issues with weather. This life is good. We experience things here, in mortality, that we cannot possibly experience elsewhere. Opportunities, experiences, building relationships, family - we get to have that here and if we prove ourselves worthy, with and through the Atonement of Christ, we will be able to take all of the wonderful things of this life with us.

1 comment:

tempppo said...

Thanks for those lovely thoughts. I agree that it will get harder, but it will also be more simple, I think. The difference between good and evil will be (already is) easy to see, making our choices so much easier to make. I already see it in, for example, choosing t.v. shows. And with the complications in our world economy, making the choice to (for example) bake your own bread becomes more evident as something of value. Yes, there will be more hardship, devastation in different parts of the world, and perhaps even disease and death to afflict us individually. But there will also be greater focus on the things that bring us joy: family, service, enduring to the end in faith. I agree with you -- with the bad comes the good. What we get out of life is what we choose.