Hope

The month of May I went to church every week.  Usually Jason and I alternate, he will go one week and I will go the next.  But the 2nd week of May was Mother’s Day – and the kids were singing in church.  Then I thought I taught the 3rd Sunday, no I teach the 4th Sunday.  So it just ended up that way.  So for the month of June, with Father’s Day, Jason will attend church.  I will be there on the 4th Sunday to teach my lesson.  So what do I do up here at the hospital for spiritual renewal?  Thank goodness the church produces the Ensign!

I have gotten so much out of this month's issue, but wanted to share some thoughts.  This is from the article Hope: The Misunderstood Sister.   Bella’s middle name is Hope.  I didn’t realize how much meaning there would be for me in her name.  I have never used the word “hope” as much as I have these last 7 months.  Back to the article.  It talks about Faith, Hope and Charity, but focusing on Hope.  The author personifies each virtue as a person.  Read the last paragraph.  Doesn’t it remind you of our sweet little Arabella Hope?

  “I see Hope more clearly now.  She is serene.  Her eyes have the deep, knowing look of someone well acquainted with sorrow, the luminosity of recently being wet with tears.  Hope has the confidence of one who clearly sees a bright future even when the next hours seem fog shrouded.  Hope is steady and strong, a friend I am glad to have beside me during my trails.”

One more thing – this time from Elder Christofferson’s “Moral Agency:”

“Exercising agency in a setting that sometimes includes opposition and hardship is what makes life more than a simple multiple-choice test. God is interested in what we are becoming as a result of our choices. He is not satisfied if our exercise of moral agency is simply a robotic effort at keeping some rules. Our Savior wants us to become something, not just do some things.”

And Elder Oaks (he is quoted in the footnotes):

“The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become” (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32; emphasis in original).”

Isn’t that wonderful?  As a black and white perfectionist, I saw Judgment more of sitting down and watching The Life of Shelly.  (That’s why when I’m all alone and I do something stupid, like trip, I smile.  One day I’ll see this all again and laugh.)  But no, while our individual choices matter immensely, it is who I am becoming that is the most important.  For some reason that makes me feel better.  I don’t have to be perfect in every tiny little thing, it’s the overall picture that is more important.  Hmmm….