Faith Amidst Trials

I've been writing alot lately... sorry to all those who have to read these by email. But I do hope you enjoy it sometimes. I've been trying to be better at my gospel study lately. Why is it that in our hardest moments, that is when we cling to God the most? Why is it that we don't always cling to him as fervently when things are going well? Well anyways, I was reading the latest Ensign (our church magazine) and came across an article called "Faith and Infertility". It is an article about multiple couples who struggle with infertility and how they've handled their trials and been able to maintain faith and hope through it. Though infertility has not been my trial in life, I thought I'd read it anyways. I found it to be extremely faith promoting and helpful to me at the time I read it. One woman told a story where she was in church and her bishop said "when someone has an ailment or an illness and they are healed as a result of a blessing, their faith is being strengthened. But for those who aren't healed but continue faithful, their faith is being perfected. The first is a faith-promoting experience. The second is faith-perfecting." I read that and felt as if he was speaking to me. I know that we need both experiences in our lives, when we are healed we are given strength and a boost in our faith and we remember once again that God is able to do all things and knows what's best for us. But when we are not healed or not healed right away in the time frame we want to be, but keep our heads up and try our best to be strong and faithful, it is truly faith perfecting. I'd never thought of it that way before.

Another quote in this article discussed suffering in silence. One man said "There's nothing in the scriptures or anywhere in the gospel that teaches us to suffer in silence... That's a cultural thing. When you suffer in silence, you suffer more deeply. We went through periods where we were waiting for someone to take the first step to us. Be willing to approach others first. Share your story; you'll find that others will often open up after that." This I can attest to. I've had many moments when I've been willing to share experiences with depression and anxiety and found that once I shared, others became willing to share as well. But that first step in being willing to open up is the hardest. I don't know why our society makes us feel that we need to suffer in silence.

The last quote I came upon in this article was "one of the gospel principles I've learned to appreciate through our experience is that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us... sometimes we get caught up in the one-size-fits-all mentality, and we feel that our lives should look like other people's lives. But that's really not true. Everyone has different trials, and Heavenly Father is aware of those. If we are humble enough to follow the plan He has for us, we'll be happy." That is true, but sure hard to remember when you are in the depth of a hard trial in life.

Music is a huge part of peace and comfort in my life. There are a few Christian and LDS artists that I like to listen to. Paul Cardall is one, he plays beautiful piano music. My favorites of his are from his Primary Worship cd of primary songs. I also recently purchased a Jenny Phillips CD and I can just relate to her music. I also love Janice Kapp Perry and Kenneth Cope. I want to share a few recent favorites that bring peace in my life:

"Live Like You Believe" by Jenny Phillips

"Daughter of a King" by Jenny Phillips

"Come To Jesus" by Kenneth Cope

To be honest, I mostly write these posts for myself sometimes. It's a way of journaling my many thoughts and my testimony of Jesus Christ. These songs are some of the ones that get me through my hardest days. But by sharing them, I hope that maybe I can help someone else who's going through their own difficult trials. I hope you enjoy these music videos as much as I have.