In our own experience

In reading an older issue of the Ensign recently I came across a passage that has stuck with me. I think of all the people I know who are going through some really hard stuff. I think of the families that are falling apart because of things that could have been prevented, things 100% within our ability to prevent, change and control - really rotten choices. I am worried for us as a family, a people, a church. BUT, I trust in the Lord.

I feel the importance to check my self - am I listening to the words of the Prophets? Am I asking the Lord to guide and direct my life or am I seeking selfish things? Life is hard. But, it does not have to be miserable. I am grateful for the many ways my life has taught me, and brought me closer to God - to learn through my own experience who He is. I am always hoping that I can be more humble and teachable WITHOUT having to go through so many trials, but alas, I am still stubborn. Darn it. Repentance and Forgiveness are truly a gift from a merciful God.

Now, if I can just remember all this when Alex is writing on the wall, the kids are fighting, Matt is getting in trouble, when I want to eat the whole box of donut that Matt brought home, or when I just don't feel like doing my job for a while, or heaven forbid, something worse happens...

So here is the passage and the link if you'd like the entire thing.

Special Experiences

Elder Ronald A. Rasband Of the Presidency of the Seventy, “Special Experiences,” Ensign, May 2008, 11–12

Our personal journey through life provides us with many special experiences that become building blocks of faith and testimony.

President Monson said: “[The Lord] commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and … they shall learn in their own experience Who He is” (in “The Way of the Master,” Liahona and Ensign, Jan. 2003, 7; quoting Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus [1948], 401; emphasis added).

In these days of worldly intrusions into our lives, when trials and difficulties may seem to engulf us, let us remember our own special spiritual experiences. These building blocks of faith will bring us conviction and reassurance of a caring, loving Father in Heaven, of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and of Their restored true and living Church. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.