i've had an incredible sunday today, quite spiritual, so i thought i would share.....
and also because i feel like i never write about spiritual things going on, or about the gospel-
which is a huge part of my life. So I've made it a goal to start trying.
{more for my benefit that anyone else's}
first of all, i love my ward. im in the relief society presidency, so i have an opportunity to be involved alot, and i love the people that i serve with, and also the people that we get to serve.
but because im in the presidency, i am usually running around trying to do this or that and i dont really get a chance to be involved or participate in the lesson. and where i find myself lacking the most, is reading the lesson ahead of time. (which should be lesson in itself). jord was asked to sub this week so i got a chance to talk over the lesson with him last night. It was based on Elder Richard G. Scotts talk in the last april conference called
Its such a powerful talk, if you get a chance, and haven't already, i highly recommend reading it.
The thing that struck me the most in his talk is when he tells the story of his sweet little kids that have passed away.
"We had the blessing of having children. A daughter, the first child, continues to be an enormous blessing in our lives. A couple of years later a son we named Richard was born. A few years later a daughter was born. She died after living only a few minutes.
Our son, Richard, was born with a heart defect. We were told that unless that could be cured, there was little probability that he would live more than two or three years. This was so long ago that techniques now used to repair such defects were unknown. We had the blessing of having a place where doctors agreed to attempt to perform the needed surgery. The surgery had to be done while his little heart was beating.
The surgery was performed just six weeks after the birth and death of our baby daughter. When the operation finished, the principal surgeon came in and said it was a success. And we thought, “How wonderful! Our son will have a strong body, be able to run and walk and grow!” We expressed deep gratitude to the Lord. Then about 10 minutes later, the same doctor came in with an ashen face and told us, “Your son has died.” Apparently the shock of the operation was more than his little body could endure.
Later, during the night, I embraced my wife and said to her, “We do not need to worry, because our children were born in the covenant. We have the assurance that we will have them with us in the future. Now we have a reason to live extremely well. We have a son and a daughter who have qualified to go to the celestial kingdom because they died before the age of eight.” That knowledge has given us great comfort. We rejoice in the knowledge that all seven of our children are sealed to us for time and all eternity.
That trial has not been a problem for either of us because, when we live righteously and have received the ordinances of the temple, everything else is in the hands of the Lord. We can do the best we can, but the final outcome is up to Him. We should never complain, when we are living worthily, about what happens in our lives."
and fourteen years ago, Elder Scotts sweet wife passed away.
What an incredible man this is, that has been required to endure so much in his life. I am guilty of thinking that i have too much going on, that so much is required of me, (etc). and i can remember so many times in my life where i thought that my life was so hard. I thought that last sentence was something that I could start living by. And I could go on and on about it, but that is my spiritual thought for the day....
"we should never complain,
when we are living worthily,
about what happens in our lives."
happy sabbath day to everyone.
