People get sick. Or die. They stray from what they are supposed to do. And sometimes you just can't help them. You want to tell them exactly what they need to do.
wake up
come back
don't leave me
be who I remember you being
keep fighting
don't let go.
You want to say what they need to hear to snap back into place, but that usually doesn't make a difference. Everyone is fighting their own fight. Everyone has their own battles and challenges, and you and I can't really do anything to fix them or make them go away. We love them, tell them what we think, and do our best to help, but we can only do so much until we end up on the side-line watching them live their lives in a way that we may or may not agree with.
Sometimes I feel like my biggest trials are other's trials. Not to say that I don't have my own tough times, but sometimes it seems like I spend more time trying to help others through their hard times than I do on mine. (And I wouldn't have that any other way! I would so so much rather help others than focus on myself.) The heartbreaking thing for me is that there always comes a point where I can't help my friends or family with their burdens anymore. A point where what I say doesn't make a difference, where they stop listening. It's like watching a romance movie and knowing that if the main character would just turn around they would be reunited with their true love or something. In life sometimes you just know that if someone would do what you told them to, they would be okay. That's not how it works though. It's up to each individual to find their own way through their own individually designed experiences and trials.
Last Sunday at church, my teacher brought up the classic church phrase we say in prayers, "bless that we will all get home safely". Think of the significance of that for a moment. Maybe you can already guess where I'm going with this.
1) The fact that so many children and adults alike say that in the end of their prayers shows the simple, yet great faith they have. Faith that God is watching over them in their most simple actions and moments. They have faith that God will physically watch over them as they "drive or walk home in safety". How amazing is that? God is in our daily lives, in all of the mundane little details! Driving home from church is not a big deal, but it's the basis of our childhood faith, and as ridiculous as it sounds, God will watch over us and allow us to "get home safely". And think, really. I can't number the times that I have gotten that simple, no-big-deal reply to a text, or that smile in the hallway, or that song on Pandora that makes all the difference. That simple little thing that holds me together when I'm feeling down. That is God helping me in that little mundane moment.
2) In the context we were talking about it in Sunday school, we were talking about the faith of the pioneers. They may well have prayed to "get home safely" to their Zion, their home in Utah. Although many of them did not make it, they had faith that God would not let them go before their time. One of my favorite quotes from a pioneer woman is, "The price we paid to become closer to God was a privilege to pay." She was part of the Martin Handcart Company. She had just buried two of her babies. And she looked her trials in the face and felt privileged. I am in awe of her faith. I don't even know that she made it to Utah, but she felt privileged. Are you kidding me? Amazing. I wish I could have that faith. I wish I could give that faith to my friends and family who are struggling right now. Somehow that faith seems like something only the angels above could have. Yet I know it is attainable, and so I will continue to pray that God will help me "get home safely" through my trials, that I may recognize how privileged I am to know that each one brings me closer to God.
3) Ultimately, I know that my eternal goal is to "get home safely" to God in Heaven and have a place with Him. Each time we pray, we are asking God to help us "get home" to Him. How happy must that make Him? That we wish to join Him again? A woman in my ward once spoke about how she had remained strong during trials and explained that she felt God had given her some trials multiple times because she hadn't learned all she needed to the first time. Had she only experienced sorrow and heartbreak once, she wouldn't have been capable of learning all the different lessons about herself and life that she had through all of her struggles. She said she sometimes felt her whole life was a series of never-ending trials, but that she had faith that God was simply preparing her to return to Him, worthy and humble. I think that the pure essence of faith is believing that no matter what Earth and Hell throw at you, you can make it though because God has placed you where you are and made you who you are so that you can fulfill a much greater purpose.
I guess that I wish a smile, hug, and/or band-aid could still fix every problem under the sun. But it doesn't. Those things might help, but in the life of a teenage girl, kind words, the truth, and prayers sometimes aren't even enough. You just have to endure to the end and have faith that God will "help you get home safely". Because He will.
I'm still in awe of how God places people in my life for me to help and to help me every day. So, on those days when you feel weighted down by yours and others trials and burdens, say a prayer, smile, get up, and keep going. You might not win every battle, but you will win the war. And remember, sometimes a good hug is still the best medicine for a bad day.
I pray that we can all "get home safely".
Until next time,
A
