good things to come

Love this talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "An High Priest of Good Things to Come." A good friend just shared it with me in light of some of our recent conversations. Thought I would share, it is worth a read.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1999/10/an-high-priest-of-good-things-to-come?lang=eng

Three quotes I loved from it:

1. Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.

2. Only one who has taken the full brunt of such adversity could ever be justified in telling us in such times to “be of good cheer.” ⁹ Such counsel is not a jaunty pep talk about the power of positive thinking, though positive thinking is much needed in the world. No, Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them. But even as the Lord avoids sugary rhetoric, He rebukes faithlessness and He deplores pessimism. He expects us to believe!

3. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.

It's interesting knowing how sorry some people feel for us right now. People feel more sorry for us than we feel for ourselves. I honestly believe everything that happens presents wonderful opportunities that we probably wouldn't have otherwise had. I don't mind being here in CA with just a meager 10 hour a week job. I don't feel like I'm waiting for my blessings to come. My life is filled with blessings. 4 very obvious and wonderful blessings... Axie, Sylvie, Dylan, and my sweet, hard-working, never giving up husband. 

I know that Heavenly Father is making us into the people we need to be in this life. I know we were really starting to rely on our own merits, and that's not who he wants us to be. I know everyone has their own trials and plenty of people make tons of money without relying at all on God. But, for us, I feel peace in knowing Heavenly Father loves me enough to remind me to look to him in all things. He knows I can be better. 

I gave the RS lesson on Sunday and it was about how there is no failure when you rely on the Lord. We don't look at not passing the bar as a failure. It was just a fork in the road and we ended up having to take a different path than the one we thought we would take. 

I feel so blessed with my family and our nice air-conditioned home (rental, of course) with plenty of food on the table and an abundance of love and support. I love my life. 

Yes, I am ready for the blessing of a job. But, I'm also grateful for the blessing of trials forcing me to become more who I am meant to be.