Stand Fast Through The Storms in Life

I get to teach Relief Society once a month at church. I LOVE the third meeting because women get to talk, discuss, help and uplift each other. It is intimate and a time I am always uplifted. This week was about finding joy through tribulation. Life is hard at times. We have all faced health, financial, familial and other stresses that make the journey difficult. This lesson was a reminder to try to be positive, learn and grow from your trials, put your faith in the Lord, be thankful for what you do have and not what you don't. I talked about my only sister, Heather. She is a great example to me. As many of you know and some don't she has been trying to start a family for a while. She had two miscarriages and tried for months to get pregnant but it just wasn't happening. She wrote a wonderful entry in her blog that you should check out about her journey. www.maddoxlove.blogspot.com. She talks about that through her heartache she chose to put her trust in the Lord. They filed with an Ethiopian adoption process. A month after her paperwork was submitted, they got pregnant. Along the journey, she realized that not only do they want biological children but would love to adopt someday. She realized sometimes the 'why' is never answered. And most importantly she said during this difficult time she woke up each morning being grateful for her many blessings, instead of dwelling on what she didn't have, which I can truly testify of. She always reminded me how grateful she was for her family, her marriage, her happiness. During this time she was a great example of putting her trust in the Lord and having faith that he had a plan for her family. She was at peace that he would bring her a child either through adoption or biologically. President Monson in the recent Conference for our Church says, "Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings. Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”6In the Doctrine and Covenants, 88:33, we are told: “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.” The ancient Roman philosopher Horace admonished, “Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily.” I just want my sister to know how grateful I am for her example and her faith during this difficult time. She truly was able to rely on the Lord and find joy amidst hard times. She is having a BOY and I am so excited for Scott and Tyler to have a little cousin to play with and for the great example that Jason and Heather are and will be to us as parents.