It Is Up to Us
I know that I should be doing a scripture thought today, maybe I will make two entries instead of one. It all depends on how the day pans out. As I woke this morning, my mind was full of other thoughts, so I thought I would share.
I hope we all had a wonderful time yesterday. It was good to get together with family. I really enjoy spending time with family. It may not always be full of entertainment, excitement, or thrills, but I love it. I just love being in together. I find joy in those brief moments when someone does something silly and spontaneous that makes us all laugh, when someone is brave enough to give me a hug, tackle me, or see what will happen if they try to still my attention, or just being able to find out what is going on in the lives of my loved ones. I truly enjoyed the day. I hope that you all walked aways with some of those special memories.
When we got home last night, I took some time to do my blog stalking. I happened upon a friends blog that had been updated. She was in good spirits. She listed 10 things that made her day wonderful. One of them was that her youngest daughter was acting normal again.
Without going into great detail, her daughter has been dealing with some health problems. She finds her body completely drained of energy, sick to her stomach, dizzy, and headache pain. This has been going on for some time. A little over a year ago, the doctors determined that she was lactose intolerant. She can have no dairy product. The entire family started changing their diets and it seemed to be working. Then a couple months ago, the process started over again.
They started going back through the routine tests again. As of yet, there has not been any really conclusion. It has been a struggle for them. We had dinner with them a few weeks back and learned that the doctors were at a dead end. They had decided to leave it her hands as to what the next step would be. When she decided, they would move forward and support her in all possible ways.
This has been on my mind. I guess it is because I have been studying the primary lesson on Joseph. As I pondered her condition this morning, I was taken back to my mission days. Many of you know that I faced some challenges physically in the MTC and through out my mission.
I was concerned about being able to learn a foreign language. I missed the day to day interaction with my family, even though when I was home, I did not seem to spend much time hanging out there. Maybe it was just that I missed the security I felt of knowing that I could always go home. There was a large door in front of me. When I opened it, it was dark and full of unknowns. That was a little scary. All of these emotions, concerns, and fears made me physically ill. I could not eat. I could not hold food down. I could not focus on the tasks at that were before me.
I sought medical assistance. I consulted with counselors. What it boiled down to was that I had to make a choice. These concerns were not going to go away. Many of them were natural. I just had to decide how I was going to deal with it. Was I going to let it overwhelm and consume my life or was I going to move forward. I chose to move forward. It was not easy. I had to take it day by day sometimes. I found myself pleading with the Lord. When I had done all that I could do and truly made the commitment to move forward, he carried me through those times that I could not make it.
When I left the MTC and made it to the mission field, I found that I was again given another challenge. I picked up some friendly parasites. My body was not used to them. Again I was physically overwhelmed. I sought medical attention. The things they tried did not seem to help much. My leaders were concerned that I was going to let this challenge deter me from doing the work I had been sent to do. I had to make a choice. Deal with it or let it control.
There were days that I did not want to be far from my bed or a bathroom. There were times that I just did not know where I was going to get the energy to move forward. These little companions were draining me. But I made a choice. I committed to move forward. Some days it took a great deal of will power. I would have been easier to sleep in than to get up and study. It would have been easier to call it a day and return to our apartment before 9:30. I didn't. I made the choice, did what I could do, prayed for the extra help, and sought joy in what seemed to be impossible.
My challenges did not stop when I was released from my mission. I still find myself running into road blocks. I continue to find myself being required to make choices. So will you. I pray that you will choose to move forward. The Lord will help you when and where you think you cannot continue. Trust him. Have faith in him. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.
I hope we all had a wonderful time yesterday. It was good to get together with family. I really enjoy spending time with family. It may not always be full of entertainment, excitement, or thrills, but I love it. I just love being in together. I find joy in those brief moments when someone does something silly and spontaneous that makes us all laugh, when someone is brave enough to give me a hug, tackle me, or see what will happen if they try to still my attention, or just being able to find out what is going on in the lives of my loved ones. I truly enjoyed the day. I hope that you all walked aways with some of those special memories.
When we got home last night, I took some time to do my blog stalking. I happened upon a friends blog that had been updated. She was in good spirits. She listed 10 things that made her day wonderful. One of them was that her youngest daughter was acting normal again.
Without going into great detail, her daughter has been dealing with some health problems. She finds her body completely drained of energy, sick to her stomach, dizzy, and headache pain. This has been going on for some time. A little over a year ago, the doctors determined that she was lactose intolerant. She can have no dairy product. The entire family started changing their diets and it seemed to be working. Then a couple months ago, the process started over again.
They started going back through the routine tests again. As of yet, there has not been any really conclusion. It has been a struggle for them. We had dinner with them a few weeks back and learned that the doctors were at a dead end. They had decided to leave it her hands as to what the next step would be. When she decided, they would move forward and support her in all possible ways.
This has been on my mind. I guess it is because I have been studying the primary lesson on Joseph. As I pondered her condition this morning, I was taken back to my mission days. Many of you know that I faced some challenges physically in the MTC and through out my mission.
I was concerned about being able to learn a foreign language. I missed the day to day interaction with my family, even though when I was home, I did not seem to spend much time hanging out there. Maybe it was just that I missed the security I felt of knowing that I could always go home. There was a large door in front of me. When I opened it, it was dark and full of unknowns. That was a little scary. All of these emotions, concerns, and fears made me physically ill. I could not eat. I could not hold food down. I could not focus on the tasks at that were before me.
I sought medical assistance. I consulted with counselors. What it boiled down to was that I had to make a choice. These concerns were not going to go away. Many of them were natural. I just had to decide how I was going to deal with it. Was I going to let it overwhelm and consume my life or was I going to move forward. I chose to move forward. It was not easy. I had to take it day by day sometimes. I found myself pleading with the Lord. When I had done all that I could do and truly made the commitment to move forward, he carried me through those times that I could not make it.
When I left the MTC and made it to the mission field, I found that I was again given another challenge. I picked up some friendly parasites. My body was not used to them. Again I was physically overwhelmed. I sought medical attention. The things they tried did not seem to help much. My leaders were concerned that I was going to let this challenge deter me from doing the work I had been sent to do. I had to make a choice. Deal with it or let it control.
There were days that I did not want to be far from my bed or a bathroom. There were times that I just did not know where I was going to get the energy to move forward. These little companions were draining me. But I made a choice. I committed to move forward. Some days it took a great deal of will power. I would have been easier to sleep in than to get up and study. It would have been easier to call it a day and return to our apartment before 9:30. I didn't. I made the choice, did what I could do, prayed for the extra help, and sought joy in what seemed to be impossible.
My challenges did not stop when I was released from my mission. I still find myself running into road blocks. I continue to find myself being required to make choices. So will you. I pray that you will choose to move forward. The Lord will help you when and where you think you cannot continue. Trust him. Have faith in him. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.
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