Stand Up

I like sad stories because they remind me of the opposition we must all face. It’s probably not kosher to say I enjoy the sad events in your life, but it shows me we are human. I enjoy feeling sad for the person and the situation that they are going through. I love seeing how the person grows, and the strides they make. As I reflect on my filing cabinet of sad stories I think of the ones that are inevitable and those that we bring upon ourselves. There are so many things in our lives that we can prevent or seek relief and yet we don’t. I am teaching a lesson this Sunday at church about the agency God gave us when we came to earth. News Flash: If you’re reading this then you made that choice to come to earth. We knew it would be hard but we said, challenge accepted. As we came to earth we recognized that we have weaknesses and certain propensities to depression, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. I’ll be honest sometimes it blows. We have those days where we think we can’t go on, or less dramatically we have those days where things just don’t go right. The one thing that we can control is our attitude. I am no expert, trust me, but it is something that I want to become second nature in my personality. When crappy things happen we can choose one of two paths. We can choose to become bitter, depressed, upset, dramatic, or lose our faith. The other path is not easy either, it is leaning on the Lord learning to overcome your weaknesses by relying on things that build you up rather than destroy you. Like I said, I like sad stories. I have seen many in the past year alone of parents losing their new born babies, I have seen missionaries who are unable to serve, and I have seen people lose their faith not only in their religion but in humanity. In midst of these tragedies I have seen testimonies grow about the Plan of Salvation and families strengthened, people learning to fully understand the atonement and the repentance process, and I am learning that we can not always help everyone… But God can. If you find yourself in a sad/tragic/unfortunate situation (feel free to email it to me to mourn with you ) stand up for your self. Choose the path that leads you towards Christ, when you feel like no one else can help you, he is the one and only who can.