I am full with happiness today! I got to hear little kids at my church tell me what they know and how they know it. Some kids told experiences they've had with prayer and others how they love their families. I don't know anywhere else I would have rather been today than at church hearing these little kids and their own personal testimonies they are building now. How awesome is it to see children grow like this and learn new things and share it with others. I would be lying if I said it didn't touch my heart.
At first my thought was how much I missed the kids I taught in Iowa and I recalled all the things we learned together and then I was stopped. These kids standing before me, even though I don't know any of them personally, know the very same things I know and they are being taught the same things I taught on the other side of the nation. That just adds to my testimony that these little kids are being raised with truth and are being taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not the things of the world.
My favorite thing about children is hearing them sing. It doesn't matter how many times I hear the phrase "I am a child of God" or "families can be together forever," I always feel the spirit and have to choke back tears when I hear those words come out of the mouths of babes. After all, it is my goal to become submissive like a child to my Heavenly Father and I am reminded of that every time.
Something I learned today in Relief Society (where all the women above 18 go to learn together) is about things that matter, things that are important and things that come after we have those. Things of most importance take up the most space and time in our lives. These things were discussed to be family, work, food, shelter etc. The things that took up slightly less space in our lives but still pretty big are (or should be) the things that matter, those being scripture study, exercise, family time, extra-curricular activities etc. then came the things that are nice and just fill the rest of our lives such as relaxation (which could be a 'matter' to you), universal remotes, candy for your sweet tooth etc.
What I got out of this particular lesson is that you need to take everything in their appointed order. You need to have the important things before the things that matter or you could be kind of happy but not have the important things in life. If I spent all my time chasing the non-important things before the important things I would be napping a lot and have no money to pay rent! Everything comes in order. In order to be happy, you need the important things and then you need to find your passions and take time for yourself and THEN you can have the extras here and there. It's all a part of moving forward.
Without an apartment and clothes and food I would be quite the disaster and wouldn't get anywhere. The same can be applied anywhere in life. If I never graduated high school, I wouldn't have been accepted into college. If I didn't get accepted into college I wouldn't have met dear friends that changed my life. If I didn't meet good friends I wouldn't have transferred, I wouldn't have met even MORE dear friends, I wouldn't have met my husband, I wouldn't have had the LUXURY of making tough decisions and I most certainly would not have been able to move forward. Am I saying because I graduated high school I met my husband? No. Am I saying the luxury of hard choices come with a high school diploma? No, but I am saying if we have our priorities right when we face a path before us, we will have the power to walk down the paths we choose. But it's important to choose a path. we cannot just stand still forever!
Moving forward is not always easy and change is hard. I have a hard time everyday with the new "improvements" that are going on in the world around us. Things are changing so rapidly and I can either stage a sit in and not progress or I can go with it. It's important to me to hold fast to my standards so I will not be changed for the worse while I am surrounded by many different influences. I know it's not easy though. It's always hard letting go of something or someone even though you know it will make you happier in the end. It's so sad when you can't have your cake and eat it too!
Did you know who you were going to be today when you were 12? I didn't. I couldn't even comprehend having a boyfriend and kissing was still gross. I couldn't imagine heart break once let alone more than once. I couldn't imagine the trials I would be faced with or the temptations that come simply by growing up. I still thought I was going to be above average girl who never fell for love's trickery. When I was 12 I hated BYU and was going to go to college somewhere in southern California! Well I'm lucky that part of me was changed or else my father-in-law probably wouldn't like me as much ;)
My point is that we all move forward whether we like it or not. Your heart break seems like it lasts forever but it goes away. We all wonder what life would've been like if we did something differently but you can't go back, you can only go forward. As told so lovely in the last General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later day Saints, Elder Russell M Nelson said, "Each day is a day of decision and our decisions determine our destiny." Even though I cannot see past this moment, I am living my life for something much bigger than tomorrow. I am living my life for the life I will still have an eternity from now. It will never end and as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
-Stephani
