One day while reading, I came across this quote by Thomas Carlyle,
“Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with ..”
What a profound quote. The last eight months have been a struggle; I
have pulled from strength reserves I did not know that I had. Or do I
know?
The Savior calls his followers to emulate the
characteristics of children, to become “as a child, submissive, meek,
humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things, which
the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to
his father.” (Mosiah 3:19). Faith is the foundation upon which godlike,
child-like characteristic is built. In my studies, I have found that
this is the prerequisite for all of the other Christlike attributes.
Even as the faith of a child. This has been a difficult attribute for
me to work on. Trust is not easy for me and trusting an unseen power
can be even more difficult. My prayer life has helped to increase this
trust factor and scripture study even more as it has let me understand
that others have had the same trials and overcome adversity.
Another
attribute which I have learned much about this year is temperance. A
part of divine nature. This means that I am restrained in my emotions
and verbal expressions. I do things in moderation and I am not given to
overindulgence. In two words; self-control. I am the master of my
emotions and not the other way around. I tend to overwork; I tend to
over-clean especially when upset or challenged. I have learned to have a
bit more faith that the day will work out and not do me in.
An
important attribute is patience; patience is composure under stress. A
patient woman is understanding of one’s faults including her own. This
is very difficult at times. It takes great faith to move forward when I
feel that all is lost. Faith that there is a reserve of strength to
move mountains in the moment of an earthquake. What I have learned
about myself is that is the power of prayer mixed with faith in the
moment brings comfort and peace even though the outcome might not be
what I may have wanted.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they
shall be called the children of God”. I have learned that I must have a
real relationship with my Savior before I can be of help to others.
Those who witness for Christ, share their faith with their friends and
serve others in the name of Christ are ambassadors for peace. I have
become a better peacemaker by taking baby steps in my trust, using
prayer for comfort and healing and serving my fellow classmates with
love and concern. This has not been an easy task for me and at times
bitterness regards to situations in my life set in. Instead of
brooding, I have been able to shake off the feelings and replace with
gratitude. I understand where the feelings of inadequacy are coming
from now more than ever. The more I work on godlike characteristics,
the more opposition I feel. Patience is composure under stress. While
composed, I find myself thinking rationally; temperance. Isn’t it
amazing how it all comes together?
I am sure if I had not
started back to college, I would not have been able to carry through
all that I have been dealing with. One never expects a critical illness
to totally devastate a family, but it can. We have learned to live in
peace even though each day brings a new challenge. I am grateful that I
followed the prompting that had stuck with me for so many months before
beginning this new path; a new journey. Maybe the most important aspect that I have learned
is that a patient woman waits on the Lord. In obedience, we seek
blessings from the Lord and then we grow impatient when it does not come
to us when we expect it to. Part of the divine nature is to trust, to
have faith in the Lord enough to “be still and know that He is God”
(D&C 101:16). This has become one of the most important scriptures
to me. To have faith that the Lord will come through in the way that is
best for me and my family. It is working, because ..
I ride the Dark Horse!
