thankful

This is a great talk. by Elder Holland from April General Conference this year.  It is 14 minutes long. If you do not have 14 minutes, at least watch the first 4 minutes. 

On one occasion Jesus came upon a group arguing vehemently with His disciples. When the Savior inquired as to the cause of this contention, the father of an afflicted child stepped forward, saying he had approached Jesus’s disciples for a blessing for his son, but they were not able to provide it. With the boy still gnashing his teeth, foaming from the mouth, and thrashing on the ground in front of them, the father appealed to Jesus with what must have been last-resort desperation in his voice:

“If thou canst do any thing,” he said, “have compassion on us, and help us.

With no other hope remaining, this father asserts what faith he has and pleads with the Savior of the world, “If thou canst do any thing,have compassion on us, and help us.”³ I can hardly read those words without weeping. The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally. This man is saying, in effect, “Our whole family is pleading. Our struggle never ceases. We are exhausted. Our son falls into the water. He falls into the fire. He is continually in danger, and we are continually afraid. We don’t know where else to turn. Can you help us? We will be grateful for anything—a partial blessing, a glimmer of hope, some small lifting of the burden carried by this boy’s mother every day of her life.”


As I read this talk today, I can relate to that father's prayer of supplication to the Lord.  And I realized that I receive this help all the time. I don't think there is ever a week that I don't have something fall in my way to give me a little extra help. I meet somebody at the park, I find a book, I have a "good day", something goes my way.  I have a glimmer of hope, some small lifting of the burden very often.  On days when I feel totally overwhelmed I forget how lucky I am. It is easy to wallow in self-pity and think that my life is too hard, but I should be more grateful for the many blessings I have and for the way that we are continually blessed and as Elder Holland says, allow my faith to guide me instead of "leading with unbelief".

Dave is back to a busy schedule. At best he will be with us on Sunday's every other week. I have been trying to put together a game plan on how to go to church with the kids by myself.  So far, I have come up with this plan. If Calvin is not "well enough" for church I will at least take the girls and drop them off (clare and lexey).  I have arranged for them to sit with a friend every week. That way at least they can always make it to church.  Today I did drop them off and we came home. Calvin was not happy with the clothes that were available for church or the snack I packed. After a short fit and a trip to the bathroom Calvin fell asleep.  Jo is napping too so instead of church at church I have 90 minutes of church at home. I am getting some FHE lessons ready and listening to a few talks.