Day 169: Weaknesses

Aha:
Our lesson in Relief Society was on making temples of our modern day prisons, in other words, turning the trials of our life that feel like prisons into opportunities for us to learn and grow closer to the Lord.  The teacher played this clip by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, called Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them.  The whole clip was wonderful, but this is my absolute favorite part:
"To the individual who is weak in the heart, fearful in the heart--be patient with yourself.  Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life.  Don't demand things that are unreasonable but demand of yourself improvement.  As you let the Lord help you through that, He will make the difference."
I needed this reminder today and I need it now as I type.  There are times in my life when I am so hard on myself and I doubt I'll ever become who I know I should be.  I don't feel worthy of God's blessings because I'm nowhere near perfect.  However, this quote has reminded me that I don't need to be perfect.  I don't need to be so hard on myself when I doubt or struggle or don't understand why I'm going through my trials.  I need to be patient with these weaknesses and focus on improving as best I can, and sometimes that might not seem like much, or enough...but the fact that I'm trying at all is what matters.  I don't always know how to let the Lord help me through trials, but I am so grateful that if I'm trying, he'll make up the difference.

Ha ha:
There were some treats set out by the teacher after her lesson on the front table.  She had made bags of white chocolate popcorn.  I grabbed one bag and began munching while I visited with a friend.  Without really looking, I grabbed another bag for Clinton before leaving the room.  When I found him in the gym I told him I had a treat for him and reached into my purse for the bag of popcorn, but what I pulled out was a snickerdoodle instead!  I must have had the most confused look on my face, because every bag that was on the table had popcorn in it.  (A recipe for the popcorn was even sent out from a recap of the lesson.)  I have no idea where that cookie came from...but I'm not really complaining.  They are my favorite after all!
On a side note:  Clinton did not get to keep the treat.  Snickerdoodles are my weakness.  My tasty, tasty weakness.