I am taking time today to write as my heart has been heavy. On Sunday, we were presented a lesson entitled, "Of Things That Matter Most." The lesson came at just the right moment in my life. Over the last 4 weeks I have had a dear childhood friend pass way, one of my college girlfriends who lost her 20 month old son, and just recently had my best friend contacedt me with news that she had been diagnosed with cancer. While one lost her life, I look at the two other women. The dear frind who lost her son, I felt as if there were no words to comfort her. She has to be one of the strongest women I know. Her faith and testimony of Eternal Families is awe-inspiring. What an amazing woman and valiant spirit the Lord must know she is.
My other dear friend with the trial of cancer is an amazing mother of 2. She is strong and I have no doubt she will come out victorious in this battle. I am truly blessed to have these women in my life.
All three trials got me thinking, along with the lesson....isn't easy to think about all the things we would like to be different, or what may not be going our way. BUT what about the things that really matter the most? The passing of my dear friend made me realized that each day truly is a gift. There is no timeline on life...so it is best we live it as best we can. Take the moments in life that really matter.
I have had to consciously stop myself and say, "slow down." As I have done so I have found that I am missing out on so many things. I took time to cook cupcakes with my favorite little chef! I was blessed to overhear a conversation between my two little ones where they were telling each other how much they loved one another, watched my little princess "privately" telling herself she was beautiful after she had adorned herself with anything she could find in my make-up bag, and then hear her brother tell her he would fix her lipstick.
These are the things that matter most. I urge you all to take the time to enjoy your children, take the extra lunch with your girlfriends and take advantage of any opportunity for a date night. I know I am grateful for my wonderful husband and the strength he has been to me thru our marriage and the trials we faced. Three months after our marriage, my cancer was back, and I am grateful for what that experience did for our marriage. As Billy Graham states, “Out of defeat can come the best in human nature. As Christians face storms of adversity, they may rise with more beauty. They are like trees that grow on mountain ridges -- battered by winds, yet trees in which we find the strongest wood.”
I am grateful for the Lesson on Sunday, and the very essence of "how to live." Our teacher shared the words of Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on... Jesus Christ. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.
Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace."
Wishing you all the very best in your lives,
Dana
