I spent a few minutes yesterday reading my journal from 2001. What a heartbreaking year that was. I’m pretty sure it was one of the most difficult in our lives. It was the year that I said goodbye to teaching seminary (I mourned over that) and I had my 3rd major surgery in 3 years. I was in pain for months and there were other troubles that I won’t list here. I’d get over one trial and another big one would emerge. The terrorist attacks affected the mood. Some of my entries were so sad. Other entries helped me see how I got through that time. I maintained hope that things would get better; I maintained hope in the power of prayer and faith. I clung to the written word from Church magazines and the scriptures. I believed that my problems were known and carefully measured for my good. I took time to realign my priorities.
I have been thinking about hope this month. I found a nice article about it in the September 2013 Ensign and I highly recommend it. Here is my favorite quote from the article and a quote by President Uchtdorf for you today.
Profound and sustaining hope is more than an attitude; it is an orientation of the spirit toward God.
-Vaughn E. Worthen, “The Healing Balm of Hope,” Ensign, September 2013.
There may be some among you who feel darkness enroaching upon you. You may feel burdened by worry, fear, or doubt. To you and to all of us, I repeat a wonderful and certain truth: God’s light is real. It is available to all! It gives life to all things. It has the power to soften the sting of the deepest wound. It can be a healing balm for the loneliness and sickness of our souls. In the furrows of despair, it can plant the seeds of a brighter hope. …It can illuminate the path before us and lead us through the darkest night into the promise of a new dawn.
-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Hope of God’s Light,” Ensign, May 2012, 75.
Mark is a boy who loves comfort. He changes into his pajamas when he comes home from school. He loves to build nests of blankets and pillows. On Friday he had a day off from school, so that meant he could wear his pajamas all day long! While the big boys went skiing, he set up all of his stuffed animals in his bed and read books. I took the picture of Sparky at the foot of the bed, but a few minutes later, he was nestled among the stuffed animals with whom he had claimed some form of kinship.
