“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
Sorry for the late post! Josh & I had a lazy sleepy Sunday before going to family dinner so here is my late sunday thoughts! This past week I have been reading and rereading one of my favorite talks: "Remembering Lot's wife." If you haven't read it it is wonderful and here is a link to check it out: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1819
There are many things to be learned from this story but I will focus on a few I really liked. Elder Holland in this talk brings up the fact that the Lord commanded Lot and his family as they fled from Sodom and Gomorrah to not look back but we learn in Genesis 19:26 "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."
When Lot's wife looked back she wasn't just looking back. She was looking back longingly, in her heart she wanted to go back. She did not have the faith that the Lord had better things in store for her than what Sodom had to offer her. She didn't have faith in the future. "As elder Maxwell once said: 'such people know they should have their primary residence in Zion, but they still hope to keep a summer cottage in Babylon.'"
I've been quite anxious and nervous about all of Josh and I's coming changes in May. I'm grateful for this talk because it really spoke to me reminding me not to worry and live in the past but instead to have faith in the future. Elder Holland puts it best saying: "I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot’s wife is to say that she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Apparently she thought—fatally, as it turned out—that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind."
I think at times [especially during big changes] it is so easy to look back at the past, see it for better than it was and to long for it instead of making the best of your current situation. I know this is a weakness of mine! I'm grateful for this talk because I know there will be times [especially this summer!] where I may easily fall into longing for home and for the past. But I know to remember Lot's wife and to remember that faith is always pointed to the future.
So ironic story, I shared this message from Elder Holland's talk in fast and testimony meeting and then in our gospel doctrine sunday school class [for the past 5 months we've been going to a marriage and families class but it ended last week] we just happened to be talking about Sodom and Gomorrah and this is where my second favorite lesson of this story was learned.
From reading in Genesis chapter 13 when Abram returned from egypt there was strife between his herdman and Lot's. Abram seemed to be a peacemaker: "And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife between me and thee and between my herdman and thy herdman; for we be brethren." [Genesis 13:8] when they separated Abram let Lot choose which land he wanted even if it meant giving up the better land.
For me this is a great lesson to be learned. Abram was very selfless and willing to give up the greater land to make Lot happy [this is just what I got out of it forgive me if I'm wrong]. It is not worth it to quarrel and have strife. Sometimes you have to be the bigger person even if it feels like you're always the one who does it!
I could go on and on about all the stories to be learned from Sodom and Gomorrah. But I just wanted to share two lessons that spoke to me and gave me strength to have faith in the future (:
I am so grateful for my family and friends. Josh and I had a wonderful weekend! We spent a lot of time with family and friends.
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| Josh spoiled me and took me to happy hour sushi (: |
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| Fun times at sunday family dinner. You'll never meet a happier little boy than this guy! |
And I just have to brag... We have the cutest nephews in the world! They just melt your heart!!
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| Luke (: |
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| & Roren (: |
And always remember...
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
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