Day 64: BitterSweet

Aha:
It seems that every lesson in church today had to do with faith and trusting in the plan Heavenly Father has for me.
Yah, it's one of those periods of time in my life when I need to be reminded that I'm not exactly in control and that life can be much easier if I just submit to the will of God.
I wish it were as easy as that.  Sure, Father, just lay it all at my feet and I'll do whatever you ask.  I'll bear my afflictions and trials with complete and total submission of my will to Thee.
But it's not that easy.
I have been trying to tell the Lord "I get it", I don't need this trial anymore.  I've come so far already, can't I be done with it?  But in our Relief Society lesson today I heard some pretty great parts of a talk titled, "More than Conquerors through Him that loved us", by Paul V. Johnson of the Quorum of the Seventy.  Although I'm not totally ready to submit, I now have a stronger desire to try to let things be as the Lord would have them, after all, He knows what is best and I must trust that His plan is way better than mine.
Here's some snippets from that talk:

After recovering from serious health challenges, Elder Robert D. Hales shared the following in general conference: “On a few occasions, I told the Lord that I had surely learned the lessons to be taught and that it wouldn’t be necessary for me to endure any more suffering. Such entreaties seemed to be of no avail, for it was made clear to me that this purifying process of testing was to be endured in the Lord’s time and in the Lord’s own way. … I … learned that I would not be left alone to meet these trials and tribulations but that guardian angels would attend me. There were some that were near angels in the form of doctors, nurses, and most of all my sweet companion, Mary. And on occasion, when the Lord so desired, I was to be comforted with visitations of heavenly hosts that brought comfort and eternal reassurances in my time of need.”¹⁷

Our Heavenly Father loves us, and we “know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.”¹⁸ Someday when we get to the other side of the veil, we want more than for someone just to tell us, “Well, you’re done.” Instead, we want the Lord to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”¹⁹

I love the words of Paul:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”²⁰

I know that God lives and that His Son, Jesus Christ, lives. I also know that through Their help, we can be “more than conquerors” of the tribulations we face in this life. We can become like Them.

Ha ha:

My mom called to tell me this cute story yesterday and I forgot to blog about it then, so here goes.

My mom was babysitting two of my nieces (ages 7 and 4) and was having a little chat with them upstairs on the bed in the guest room.  She was telling them about her grandkids and how David and Sara were going to have 6 kids, their Mommy and Daddy had 5 kids, Daya and Kirk have 4, Anton and Jen are going to have 3, Derek and Carrie have 2 and that Aunt Dani and Uncle Clinton were hoping to adopt 1; giving our family a 6-5-4-3-2-1 grandkid status.  She asked if the girls would keep us in their prayers so we could get a baby soon.  Kyleen, the 7-year-old, turned her little face up to my mom and said, "sure!" as she promptly slid off the bed, knelt beside it and said a prayer right then and there.  Um...Is that not the sweetest thing you've ever heard?  Chuckling, my mom thanked her and asked them both if they would continue to pray for us each night when they said their prayers and they said they would.

I LOVED hearing that story!  Thanks Kyleen for your sweet prayers for us!  Love you!