Remember, My Son

My experiences with working a new job, an old job, and teaching students has recently helped me to gain some new perspectives on things.  As I've been working so much, my stress levels have risen dramatically.  I had some challenges during this last little while that have been quite difficult to bear:  one week I was coughing almost all of the time, and I even ended up coughing up blood and a sludgy, black mucus (no worries for anyone very concerned:  the blood actually came from my nostrils since I'd also been blowing my nose a lot, and the black mucus was simply from dust and dirt from work).  I then had an incident where I had a fever and ended up passed out on the floor in our bathroom.  I woke up to Brooke checking on me when she heard me fall down late at night.  Another day, I awoke in the middle of the night and ended up throwing up and having diarrhea spells for a little well.

Kind of been a crazy little while!  Not only that, but other issues have come up to:  my grandpa in the hospital, and right after him, my step mom.  Then, my wife getting sick, and concerns about our baby all have made for a difficult time.

During this time, I've been trying to figure out what to do to help my body get enough rest and my mind to have some respite.  Most especially, I have striven to drop my stress levels to something more manageable, as stress is an important factor in handling anxiety.  It's been a hard battle, and yet the Lord has blessed both my wife and me with such amazing blessings.  It's been a hard road, but really neat.  After some of the difficult physical and mental health challenges, I have had a chance to ponder on my experiences, and I have realized a few things.

One thing I have noticed is that the natural man does have a tendency to turn inward when faced with struggles.  I sought many times to alleviate my pain and suffering by doing things that turned me inward:  playing video games, watching movies, etc.  All of those things really didn't help me in the long run, though they may have helped a little at the time.  While there is the necessity of taking time to rest and to take care of ourselves, we can't forget that those who turn inward and seek to "[find their] life shall lose it: and [they] that [lose their] life for my sake shall find it."  (Matt 10:39)  I found again that to reach out to others really does help me feel the comfort and peace of the Savior, and helps me more than if I simply seek to help myself only.

Another thing I have seen is the necessity to remove those things in my life that aren't necessary, to simplify, and remember and live up to those core values that are most important.  And what is most important?  Loving Heavenly Father, my family, and my neighbors and seeking to serve them.  What's not important?  Money, prestige, praise and honor of men.  It makes me think of a talk by Elder Uchtdorf.  In it he said that "during seasons when growing conditions are not ideal, trees slow down their growth and devote their energy to the basic elements necessary for survival."  He showed how this can be a pattern for our own lives:

When stress levels rise, when distress appears, when tragedy strikes, too often we attempt to keep up the same frantic pace or even accelerate, thinking somehow that the more rushed our pace, the better off we will be. ...

The wise understand and apply the lessons of tree rings and air turbulence. They resist the temptation to get caught up in the frantic rush of everyday life. They follow the advice “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” In short, they focus on the things that matter most.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, in a recent general conference, taught, “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”

The search for the best things inevitably leads to the foundational principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the simple and beautiful truths revealed to us by a caring, eternal, and all-knowing Father in Heaven. These core doctrines and principles, though simple enough for a child to understand, provide the answers to the most complex questions of life.  (Of Things That Matter Most, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2010 General Conference)

I think the most important thing for me during this time to think about and remember is that my trials are something that will be for my good.  They are the very purpose for my being here on earth, and if God sees fit to give me hard things to bear and trials that feel to much to handle then it is because He knows I can get through them and learn great things from them.

If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;

If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? (D&C 122:5-8)

In all our struggles and trials, whether in pain or sorrow, fear or anguish of soul, let us remember most especially the example of our Savior, who took the bitter cup and drunk it.  I pray we can all have that strength to drink whatever bitter cup the Lord, in His wisdom and understanding, has given us.  Love you all, and may God bless you in your trials!

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1:7)