I'm pretty sure that I would dwell
on the discomfort of the pebble and say little about the treat. Sometimes we focus on hardships and forget about
the good things.
Today's widget scripture is: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." After reading that, I felt compelled to make a mental list of things that bring me joy and another list of how I'm going to be able to focus on these things when I feel the pebble in my shoe. What an uplifting and refreshing experience it was to focus on the joys!
Part Two:
Today in Sunday School someone said something about hardships we encounter and how we handle them. Sometimes we don't have any control over the hardship. How is this hardship going to be dealt with? What struck me most about what the speaker said was nothing new, it's how she said it, "If we take it to the Lord, we should say, 'what part of this would you like me to handle' "? - she emphasized the word PART. I've learned that we don't have to try and handle it all on our own. That's not The Plan. We do our part and leave the rest of it up to the Lord. Easier said than done, right? I KNOW this, I BELIEVE this. I just can't seem to remember to let go and put it into practice like I should, as often as I should! So much anguish and energy spent on our troubles, hardships, challenges. I need to turn it over to Him, do my part, know He'll do His, and then remind myself to focus on the joys in my life.
Conclusion/Putting the parts together.
"Recognize your joys just as much or more than your sorrows. Take your sorrows to the Lord so you can lighten your sorrows and recognize your joys. " Book of Cindy 1/20/13
What a great reminder. We had stake conference today and they talked about the trials and struggles people are going through right now. I thought back over the past few years and all the trials I have been through, and they have led to some really great things. It was hard to find the joy when Jeff lost his job 2 years ago, but we tried to take advantage of all the time he could spend with us. He walked the kids to school every day! Even though he was without work, we had more than enough money come in to provide for our needs and pay off a lot of debt. The children (and I) enjoyed so much time with him. Of course, I still stressed out over the fact that we didn't know where the money for next month's bills would come from, but it didn't ruin our lives. We also learned some very valuable lessons in that time.
ReplyDeleteI will try to focus even more on finding joy!
I like it! That's a super lesson for me to learn to! Thanks for the good reminder (Motivation to not yell at Ruby when she chews everything in sight--enjoy that she's Micah's best friend, right? :)
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