New Life

It's official. Spring is by far my favorite season! There is something so powerful in witnessing that which is dead come to life, that which is cold be filled with warmth, and that which is dark be replaced with light. This whole season is a witness to the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His ability to make the same process happen in our lives. At times we find ourselves spiritually dead, unsure of how we reached such a bleak, desolate place. But, like plants, as we reach toward the Light and break through the thick surface we've created, the darkness is dispelled and healing and growth take place once again.

Sometimes Winter seems like it will last forever and Spring will never come. The cold seems to linger on and we forget what it feels like to be warm. At times in my life I have felt that the healing touch of the Savior was beyond my reach and that release from my pain and suffering would never happen, but just as Spring often catches us by surprise, at the moment I felt I could endure no more, redemption did come and the healing and warmth of the Savior's love never felt so pure and strong.

We appreciate the beauty and glory of Spring so much because it follows the bleakness of Winter. Similarly, the joys in life are that much sweeter in contrast to the pain and challenges that precede it. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin spoke of the darkness of the Friday when Christ was crucified and the subsequent light on the Sunday of His Resurrection and compared this to experiences in our lives. He said:

     "Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems
      shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will
      experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again.
      We will all have our Fridays.

      But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will
      come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

      No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next, Sunday
      will come."

      (https://www.lds.org/new-era/2008/03/sunday-will-come?lang=eng)

Thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we always have the promise of spring, of new life, of hope. When times are hard, hold on to that enduring promise!

Renewal

Renewal

____________________________

Dawning light,

Quiet morn,

Timid steps,

Spirit worn.

Folded cloth,

Empty tomb,

Silent prayer,

Sense of doom.

Stranger heard,

Question raised,

Single word,

Joyous praise.

Hope restored,

Victory won,

Welcome news,

Risen Son.

I wrote this around Easter this year as my heart was touched by the hope we have through Jesus Christ. How grateful I am that my life can be renewed each day because of His unending grace.

The Windows of Heaven

One of the most beautiful promises in scripture is located in Malachi 3:10. "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." I am constantly amazed at the Lord's fulfillment of this and all His promises. This year I have experienced some of the hardest moments of my life, but along with these moments have come quiet, powerful tender mercies where the love and the awareness of my Father in Heaven have been abundantly made manifest. I have gained a keener testimony that the difficult things we go through in this life refine, strengthen, and mold us into the instrument God needs us to be to perform His work. He loves us beyond comprehension and His greatest joy is to see us draw closer to Him. In return, one of the greatest joys we can experience is seeing others turn their hearts and faces back towards God as He works through us to answer their prayers and needs. Although I have struggled at times, I am overwhelmingly grateful for the multitude of blessings and mercies the Lord has poured out in my life, that at times I have felt that I had not enough room to receive them.