- I remembered how unhelpful it was when Mary was born and mothers of three children would say, "Wait until you have three."
- I remember a similar feeling after David was born.
- I'm not much of a comment-leaver anyway. (And why start now with a piece of really trite, bad advice?)
But I did get to thinking about how amazing life is. It's not only through our big trials and major tribulations that we grow stronger, but also, and even primarily, through everyday living. When Paul writes that "all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28), I think he really does mean all things--the joys, the heartbreaks, and even the banalities of daily life.
God has given us the opportunity to continually learn, progress, and gain new perspectives. Sometimes our personal growth is so gradual that we don't realize it until we look backwards a few years and see how far we've come. I think a lot about that scripture in the Book of Mormon: "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then I will make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27). I used to think that this never happened to me and that this transformation--a weakness becoming a strength--would be dramatic and fast-acting. But most of the time it's not. We grow stronger slowly, over time, almost imperceptively, until we can't even remember the weakness and we simply take for granted our new-found strength. When I stop to think about it, experiences in life, often mundane, have helped me find inner strength I never knew I had.
I think life is pretty wonderful. I think it's pretty neat that I'm stronger than I was 5 years ago. I also think it's a good thing that I'm not, right now, the person I will always be. God has given me the opportunity to change and become better, forever. Eternal progression. That's the plan, right?
