Getting on with our lives!

I loved this story that I read in an article by Steven E. Snow. It reminded me of how important it is to get on with our lives. Sometimes, I am embarrassed by my lack of ability to just move forward. I often get stuck in old habits or thought patterns. I know that I need to keep going, but many times I fret too much about what is going on, and forget to have faith and keep looking to the future. Change is hard, I know that from personal experience, and from watching my friends and loved ones struggle with it too. Most people will stay in a bad situation that they KNOW, verses making a healthier change to the UNKNOWN. I guess that we all have felt that way one time or the other, but still I am amazed at how crippling FEAR of the unknown can be.  Many lives can be altered by it forever, if we are not careful.

When are kids were little, there were things that they just did not want to do. They didn't necessarily want to go to a new school after we had moved. They didn't want to have to make new friends or have certain teachers at school. Whatever it was, we realized at parents that was our job to help them GET ON WITH THEIR LIVES. We knew they would make new friends, or do ok with certain teachers or whatever. The point was, that we were going to stay right beside them and track their progress or lack of. We tried to be the constant in their lives.

I have heard my kids once or twice talk about their childhood and how hard certain things were or how unfair life was at times. Some of the things they just didn't really comprehend the importance of, at their age and others were just called LIFE!  I have said many times... I wish that I could have changed some of the things that happened to us in the past not all of them but some. I wish that I wouldn't have had so many illnesses and physical restrictions. I wished that I could have been at more of their games, plays, and school programs. Yes, I sometimes feel guilty that they had to learn to work so hard at a young age, they had to take care of me or of each other some times. Then I look at them now, they are all very capable of doing just about anything! They know  how to serve, help, clean, cook, work and love. They are very compassionate kids and for that I am grateful. I realize now that no one can predict what will happen in their life, but we can choose how we want to deal with it. We can learn and grow from it, or go the rest of our lives complaining about how terrible our lives were. It is all about choices isn't it?  Life is all about changes too, and experiences that will teach us in ways that we could never imagine. Enjoy this sweet story and try to remember, some changes we can see coming in our lives and others we can not. We need to have faith, keep our perspective to be able to make those BIG decisions in our lives. We also need to think of who all will be effected by our decisions and try to be happy for the opportunity to grow! We need to remember we have a loving Heavenly Father to watch over us every step of the way! No we are not ALONE! That in and of itself, can bring great comfort.

During the very early years of her life, our niece Lachelle spent the mornings with her grandmother. The two shared a special bond from these hours together. Lachelle soon turned five years old and was preparing to begin school. On their last morning together, Grandma Squire read her granddaughter a story and rocked her in the big rocking chair. “We have had so much fun together, Lachelle,” she told her, “and now it is time for you to go to school. I love you so much; what will I ever do without you?”

With wisdom beyond her five years, Lachelle looked up at her grandmother with big brown eyes. “Grandma,” she said, “I love you too, but it is time I got on with my life.”

" Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other"                          ~ Thomas S. Monson