Examples

Today I am overcome with so much joy I feel that I could just burst. I've been thinking about where I was 2 years ago around this time. Oh my, how things have changed. I have made huge progress. When I reflect on the last 3 years I'm in awe when I think all that has happened. 3 years ago my health was declining and I was starting the process to be evaluated for my transplant. I know without a doubt that everything that transpired was strategically planned and prepared by our loving Heavenly Father.

I am beyond thankful to have parents who taught me hard work and dedication. My parents were great examples to me. During the day my dad would work as a CPA. After work he would work on others taxes and bookkeeping, then he would enjoy watching westerns and slapstick comedies. On weekends my dad would work in the yard. Many times he would help me with my math homework and then we would head to Arctic Circle for lunch. I loved riding in his truck with him to pick up lumber to work on many of his building projects in the yard and our mountain property. While riding in the car we would listen to music and sing along. My dad never stopped working. Even in his final years on earth when he couldn't walk or talk he would sit at his computer and work on his family history by using two fingers to type. I loved walking past my dad's office and see him reading his scriptures.

My mom returned to school when I started 1st grade. She went to school full time to study nursing. I watched her leave our house in the morning to attend school, study when she could find a minute alone, and still help us kids with homework. She received her RN and then started working at least three 12 hour shifts a week. There were times when my mom was working and I was sick, my mom would take me to work with her. There were nights my mom would come home from work exhausted and I would have a book report due the next day so she would stay up late helping me with my book report. On my mom's days off she would take me and my siblings to run errands we needed done. As I got older and was in college she would stay up late and play card games with me.

My parents worked as a team to meet all of our kids' needs. The examples that my parents set for me helped teach and prepare me for my challenges and trials. I always saw my parents working on things wether it was the house, yard, family, or jobs. They worked hard and always did their best. In fact, my mom alway told me to never "do a half ass job."

The last few years I've watched as Levi has taken on most and at times even all of our little family's responsibilities and needs. He has done it with flying colors. Because of my parents examples I have wanted to work hard to help and share some of our household responsibilities and help lighten Levi's load. Levi has been amazing. He's gone above and beyond, but now I want to do my part.

This has made me think of the kind of example I am setting for Zoe. I know as a mother I would never want Zoe to experience any of the trials that I have experienced. As I watched General Conference, Elder Holland said,

"...there will be times in our lives when even our best spiritual effort and earnest, pleading prayers do not yield the victories for which we have yearned, whether that be regarding the large global matters or the small personal ones. So while we work and wait together for the answers to some of our prayers, I offer you my apostolic promise that they are heard and they are answered, though perhaps not at the time or in the way we wanted. But they are always answered at the time and in the way an omniscient and eternally compassionate parent should answer them. My beloved brothers and sisters, please understand that He who never sleeps nor slumbers cares for the happiness and ultimate exaltation of His children above all else that a divine being has to do. He is pure love, gloriously personified, and Merciful Father is His name."

"...God can provide miracles instantaneously, but sooner or later we learn that the times and seasons of our mortal journey are His and His alone to direct.” He administers that calendar to every one of us individually."

"The point is that faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf. That can be difficult in our modern world when many have come to believe that the highest good in life is to avoid all suffering, that no one should ever anguish over anything. But that belief will never lead us to “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

Elder Holland's talk spoke to me. Use the following link to read his whole talk.

As Elder Maxell said,

“one’s life … cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free.” It simply will not work “to glide naively through life,” saying as we sip another glass of lemonade, “Lord, give me all thy choicest virtues, but be certain not to give me grief, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor opposition. Please do not let anyone dislike me or betray me, and above all, do not ever let me feel forsaken by Thee or those I love. In fact, Lord, be careful to keep me from all the experiences that made Thee divine. And then, when the rough sledding by everyone else is over, please let me come and dwell with Thee, where I can boast about how similar our strengths and our characters are as I float along on my cloud of comfortable Christianity.”

Elder Holland's talk made me realize that I cannot take away Zoe's trials, learning and growth opportunities, but I can walk beside her and hold her hand. It will be hard for me to do, but it is what's best.