Well, I know that this blog was supposed to be dedicated to my times in China but I was just out having too much fun to blog about it all the time. However, this post is not dedicated to China. Shocking, I know, because it is all I ever talk about. My post today is to hopefully give some comfort to those who may be going through a rough time. I can promise you, that you're not alone.
So far, 2013 has proven to be a year of patience. There have been countless things in my life that I thought I was ready for only to get a quiet answer from my Heavenly Father saying, "Not yet." Patience is a hard thing for me to practice as I like to have all the answers right in front of me so I can plan my next move, but right now in my life I don't have a move to make. I am not sure what I am doing. I am not sure of my plans. All that I am sure of is that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and if my life is centered around Him and my Savior it is all going to work out. That has become so clear to me this past year. When I got home from China I was faced with decisions to make. A lot of decisions, and I just made them without even thinking. Those decisions were not bad by any means but I don't know if they were the decisions that I wanted to make for myself. So, I moved home to kind of recharge my batteries and figure out what I want with my life and figure out where I want to go. In doing so I realized that I couldn't make these decisions on my own. I needed my Heavenly Father's help. I sought after it and I prayed so earnestly that I would just know what I was supposed to do with my life. My answer was not the one I thought I wanted by any means but it was the one that brought me closer to my Heavenly Father and brought about a mighty change of heart for myself. I have come to realize that my life is so good and that I am blessed beyond measure. I am a daughter of King. I am a daughter of God. That was my answer. To be patient and to know that my Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally and that He has a plan. I needed to be actively patient with my life. I couldn't just sit around and wait for something to hit me in the face that told me what I should do for the rest of my life. I needed to go out and seek after what brings me the most joy. And that takes a great deal of patience. To try and figure it out is the hardest thing but with the Lord I can do all things. Everyone always told me that we go through hard things because it teaches us so much and helps us to grow. Well, in the moment I felt like I didn't need to be taught anything. I felt that I just wanted to stop feeling so crummy and just move on. However, I did learn and I am still learning. In my time of hardship I realized that life is a gift and the trick is to love it even when it's hard. We have to appreciate everyday we are given. My dad always taught me that there is no such thing as a bad day. There are only character building days and I feel like I truly understand that now. Even though I am still trying to figure out what direction I want to run in and even though I hit a speed bump every now and again, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and that everything is going to work out exactly the way it is supposed to. I just need to set my pace and get moving. I am learning to love life even when it's hard. That is my challenge to all who are reading this. Next time you are having a "character building" day, lean on our Heavenly Father and the Savior and try to find the good in the bad. Look at every experience as an adventure. Do not bear your burdens too heavily. Lighten the load and enjoy all the good that we have. Life is great and unexpected. If it were predictable there would be no excitement and we would have no stories to tell. So, if you get anything from this post let it be this; Love life and live it well.
