Building Blocks

I have felt overwhelmed especially lately of the hardships of those around me that I love that vary from consequences of others choices to Gods law. My friend shared with me the story in the Magnolia Journal by Brianne Mikolajczyk and all the hardships she has endured. Sometimes I look around and think…”Hasn’t that person had enough?” I even sometimes feel I have had enough myself and that I fear my ability to be strong enough to go on. My dear friend shared a written testimony that helped me so much that I’d like to share.

Thinking about why I believe in the God this week has been a hard question to answer.

Then, I decided to look back at my life and specifically this last year and look for the hand of the Lord. What I realized is, no matter what we go through, He is there and mindful of our needs. He knows that sometimes we need to break before we can stand tall and testify of Him. He knows that sometimes, it is only through hardship and trials that we can truly feel His presence. He places people in our lives, not by coincidence but because we will need them for reasons that may not be clear to us at first.

I know that I have a Savior who is very patient with me. He is always with me. He knows me personally. He knows my struggles and he knows my strengths. He knows I fall down a lot and he loves me through it.

I also know that he knew a young 14 year old boy personally who had a question about which church to join. He took that imperfect young man and helped him restore the true church back to the earth. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and for the way I feel when I read it. I can feel the difference in my life when I am studying and when I’m not.

I am thankful for the plan of salvation, for the knowledge it gives me that this world is not the end. There is a divine purpose and we have loving Heavenly parents who wants us to return to Them. This life is a time to prepare to meet God. We won’t be perfect. We will need help to get there. I know that our Heavenly Father gave His only begotten son. He lived and died so that we can repent and make it back home. The Gospel is one of love. Love for our Heavenly Father, our Savior and each other. The way we can show love for our Savior by loving those around us.”

I know every time I have been through hard things like losing my mom to cancer, multiple miscarriages, sick children, personal injuries, betrayal and even divorce that I feel knocked down to my knees. But it’s like building blocks that help shape me into a new person with more experience. Each time I’m not starting from scratch but with more experience. And with it I am more compassionate with those that have similar struggles. I always have a stack of thank you cards at my house to try and let those in my life know how thankful I am. I encourage you to send a text, make a phone call or write a card to someone you are thankful for in your life. You may never know just how much they needed it and maybe you even needed for yourself too. We are all making our own tower of building blocks that can be knocked down at times but each time we rebuild we make an even stronger foundation.