Hard things

Last week I was reading in my Daughters in My Kingdom book. I was reading the part about when the members of the church were traveling by handcart from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. In the book they have included excerpts from some of the women's journals that they kept, dating throughout the year of 1856. I read about their experiences with their family members becoming ill and so many of them lost babies. They lost their husbands to the military. They had to move and raise their families in handcarts. Really, just some very tough things to live through.

I felt silly that earlier that day I had once again lamented about my linoleum that needs to be replaced. How I'd felt sorry for myself that it's been awhile since I've lain on a sandy beach. What a spoiled brat I am.

I thought about how truly blessed I am to live in this day. I'm so grateful for the modern day medicines we have, for modern day transportation and for all of the many "things" I do have that make my life easier.

A few days passed where I was ridden with this simplified sort of guilt that I've been talking advantage of living in this day and not during those days of the pioneers where trials were a part of life.

Today, after a few days of struggling with a lot of crankiness in my home I came about a whole new way of thinking. Comparing these days and those of the past I'm not too sure I am better off.

Trials still are a part of life. A big part. I'm terrified for my children to have to grow up in a world where addictions, plummeting morality, and decaying family values run rampant. Would I rather lose a child to illness or to the world? I'm not so sure...

Two other things in the book stuck out to me. Sister Eliza Partridge Lyman wrote (after her baby had passed away) " I still have friends who are dear to me. If I had not I should wish to bid this world farewell,"
I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing friends who are here for me on a daily basis and whom I would not have made or through my toughest trials without.
The book also says "in such trying circumstances, the sisters relied on the power of their covenants. "

I've been through tough things. I relied on my testimony, the power of my covenants, and my dear friends to make it through.

So while I'm not pushing a handcart or delivering a baby along side a river, I sure am moving my family through a place that is rocky and unsure. We push and pull and have untimely trials that only help us progress further. I only hope and pray my family makes it to the desired destination unscathed, without too many losses along the way.