183 Joyful Noises

Heavenly Father's Consecrating Our Afflictions    I thought a lot about this scripture over the past week. Lehi, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, counsels his son Jacob, who was born under some grievous circumstances in the wilderness, that things will be okay, that the Lord will consecrate his afflictions and trials for his gain.  As I pondered this all week, a really cool experience happened on Saturday evening.

We visited some old neighbors' new home for a birthday/housewarming celebration.  While we were there, we visited with them, their friends, and their family.  However, after I'd already visited for quite some time with the wife, she again sought me out, when I was alone in the backyard with my boys.  For whatever reason, she started asking me about things that she had no idea that I had experience with.  For 30 or 40 minutes we spoke and she shared some very personal struggles with me.  Without even realizing it, I found myself bearing testimony of the Savior's love, the plan of salvation, of Heavenly Father's plan for each of us and submitting our will to that plan, faith, and hope.

After we left, Ryan and I were discussing my bearing testimony to her and the entire situation.  It then dawned on me that Heavenly Father had consecrated that affliction for my gain.  He used an experience I had years ago and allowed me to be an instrument to strengthen our friend.  It was a really awesome experience.  I'm grateful for that knowledge and I'm grateful that there is a reason behind suffering.

 Water balloon fights = happy boys

And Ethan lining up more trains and cars, while snacking on pretzels.