Journal Entry

We had the most wonderful lesson (yes, good enough to blog about :)) in Relief Society on Sunday. The lesson was on Trials: why they come, how we can best get through them, and what to learn from them. Now I, just like everyone else have had at least 18 other lessons like this throughout my church days, but none of them have hit me like this one did. Maybe its the fact that you are more humble when in the midst of a trial (hmmm, aren't we taught this all the time?), but I was a bawling mess during the whole lesson! Luckily I heard a few other sniffles around me, so I didn't feel completely crazy...or maybe everyone had a cold...who knows. Anyway, I kept on thinking "I need to go home and write all these thoughts and feelings down in my journal"...oh wait...I dont' have a journal. So my blog is the next best thing. This will probably just be all mumbled, but I really wanted to write down some of my thoughts so that I can look back and remember them later and refer to them for comfort now.

We all have trials...that much is obvious. Some are small, some are not so much. We have trials to help us grow, I truly believe that. However, sometimes in the middle of it, its hard to have that outlook...its much easier to start to questioning things. So here are some of my thoughts on how to get through trials gracefully.
-My Heavenly Father loves me and is mindful of me. This is the thought/impression that I got over and over during our lesson and the cause of the majority of the tears. Its not like I have been doubting that, or have ever doubted His love for me, but I really needed to know and feel that love on Sunday and I am grateful for His tender mercy in allowing those reassurances to come to me. I need to always remember that no matter what I have to go through, He will always be there to love me and give me comfort.
-Our trials are very much individually, hand crafted just for us. Everyone's trials are different. I hope that I never have to know what it feels like to bury a child or deal with infidelity, but those that have had those trials would look at someone else and think the same thing.."I hope I never have to go through that." Which leads me to my next thought....
-We are strong enough to handle the trials that come to us. Heavenly Father has promised us that He won't give us anything that we can't handle. Sometimes we may question that, but I know that He has the faith in us to be able to endure, its up to us to have that same faith in ourselves. He believes in us and will give us helps along the way (for me...extremely spiritual experience during a RS lesson). Not only are we strong enough from the beginning to face our trials, but we will be stronger for getting through them.
-Trials=learning and growing opportunities. This one I struggle with at times. It is difficult to change your perspective from "Why?" to "What can I learn from this?" After Sunday, I knew that I really needed to focus on being humble enough to learn and grow from this instead of getting frustrated and even angry. We can't change our situations, only our perspective and attitude. I feel so strongly that even though trials are hard and can be extremely trying on our faith and patience, we can use this opportunity to develop Christlike qualities and strengthen our relationship with Him.
So now after re-reading through those things...logically, it seems like trials are a positive thing. Which they are, right?! If only I can permenantly impress this on my brain.

(My next post won't be so serious...I'm off to a St.George weekend getaway with some great girls!!)