Escalators

I remember as a child trying to go up the down escalator. It wasn't easy you had to sprint to even move forward and you had to full out run to get all the way to the top in a decent amount of time. If it was a particularly long way up, you would want to take a break and catch your breath, but that just sets you back as the escalator carries you back the way you came. Sometimes life feels like a down escalator that we are trying to go up. We are constantly striving to move forward and upward, reaching for the aspirations of Heaven. It isn't an easy climb, sometimes we are running full out and at other times we are merely striving to keep from being set back. When we stop going to church or reading our scriptures or praying it as though we are standing still on a down escalator. The moment you stop you aren't moving forward any more, you are moving back, there is no real standing still. The closest you can come is walking up instead of sprinting. At least then you are staying in the same place but you still have to work, to strive, to take action toward moving forward.

The Lord expects us to do our part. Christ suffered for us but that does not relieve our personal responsibility. If we never take steps up then we are standing at the bottom, thinking 'the Lord will just come get me when the time is right.' We need to come to him. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt 11:28-30). Press forward up the down escalator.

Familiar Strangers

Have you ever met someone and felt like you have known them for an eternity already and then you become instant friends? I know that I have. It has happened for me over and over again in my life. Have you ever thought about where those feelings of familiarity come from? Have you known them before? I would most definitely say, that you have. We all lived in heaven before we came to this earth. Just imagine one big happy family. We had the opportunity to get to know not only each other but also our Heavenly Father. Not only that but he took his time in getting to know us. I love this confirmation of meeting people that you "already know" It helps me remember that my Father in Heaven Loves me and that I lived with him before. To Jeremiah the lord says "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee" and so it is with us.

Are you Forgotten?

I spent a good chunk of my growing up life attending church and going to activities that were planned for my edification and development. Somewhere along the lines I sort of lost it all. I stopped believing. I didn't know if any of it was true. I turned away from the Lord. I no longer went to the activities that were planned for my edification and development, I no longer went to church. I began to feel forgotten and abandoned. I didn't have the sense of care that came with being close to my Father in Heaven. So did the Lord turn away from or forget me? No! I can now look back on my life even during the time when I wasn't doing all the the Lord wanted me to do where he was still leading me by the hand and bringing me back. "The Lord uses a scale very different from the world’s to weigh the worth of a soul. . .At times we may even feel insignificant, invisible, alone, or forgotten. But always remember—you matter to Him!. . .God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season—He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf).

During this time of my life I made a major move on a whim. A friend called me up and said why don't you move over here? I said if I can transfer I will. I was able to so I moved. Where before I had NO direction in my life I began to move forward! I went to college because my friend lived in a college town and I thought well I'm here I might as well go. Then I got active in church again. The Lord knew exactly where I needed to be and who I needed to be around. The Lord had not forgotten me as much as I felt abandoned. He was literally picking me up and placing me lovingly where I needed to be. I know that he has a great plan for my life and it is much easier for me to fulfill it when I am following him. "The Lord doesn’t care at all if we spend our days working in marble halls or stable stalls. He knows where we are, no matter how humble our circumstances. He will use—in His own way and for His holy purposes—those who incline their hearts to Him" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf).