Saturday, February 21, 2009

You Can Do Hard Things

You can do hard things. These are motivating and ennobling words. I've heard them said countless times by Pres. Jack R. Christianson (my old stake president and one of my top ten favorite people and authors). My hard things are not the same as your hard things, but we've all got them. I came across the quote below, while cleaning out my scriptures, and thought I would post it to offer some hope to everyone who reads this.

"Into each of our lives come golden moments of adversity. This painful friend breaks our hearts, drops us to our knees, and makes us realize we are nothing without our Lord and Savior. This friend makes us plead all the night long for reassurance and into the next day and sometimes for weeks and months. But, ultimately, just as surely as the day follows the night, as we remain true and faithful, this strange friend, adversity, leads us straight into the outstretched arms of the Savior. I have tried to understand why we must experience tribulation before we can experience the ultimate communication. It seems there is an intense concentration which must be obtained before our pleadings reach our Father in Heaven and, perhaps even more importantly, before He can get through to us. Sometimes we must be straining very hard to hear the still small voice. Before we can be taught things hidden from the world, we must be on a spiritual frequency which is out of this world. Adversity can help fine-tune this frequency." Glenn L. Pace, “Spiritual Revival,” Ensign, Nov 1992, 11

Recently, my hard things have involved understanding patience and obedience. Waiting for a mission call is just that--waiting. Now that all my awkward doctor visits are out of the way, the plan is to have my interview with the stake president this week. Wish me luck!

This is a photo I took after getting my first set of
Hep A & B shots last month. Have I mentioned that I hate shots?

1 comment:

Derek and Andrea said...

Hey, he's on my top ten list too! I recommend any of his books to anyone, even if it has nothing to do with their lives, because the things he says seem to relate to anything and everything, at all times. 'Nough said. :)