Destined for Greatness

We accepted an offer our house last Saturday -- and it was an incredible blessing! Less than a week from list to an accepted contract. No realtors, no signs. When the first person to look at it buys it, you know it was simply a tender mercy from Heaven. Father is so merciful. He has many ways for us to grow, and right now that growth comes as a lot of decisions in a short amount of time.

The sale of our house is bringing up a host of options, including where we move and MANY more. Some moments it's smooth sailing, and some moments I just want to know what we'll choose and what all of our outcomes will be. I want Father to give me an answer. But that desire is just part of human nature I think. We want to be all-knowing and all-seeing, but herein lies the opportunity for Father to shape us into the beings He sees. We look at ourselves and see only today, tomorrow, next year and Father sees us with eternal perspective.

I think of the Brother of Jared.

Ether 2:5-7 "And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel.

"And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord.

"And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people."

I have this image of the people being carried by the Lord over the lands until they reached the promised land. This image exemplifies my thoughts so well.

I listened to the talk "Are We Not All Mothers?" today at the gym, and I loved sister Beck's thoughts about her mother and how her mother took all of her talents she had learned and applied them to mothering.

I also read a talk from President Hinckley that meant a lot to me. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

We are all children of God, and there is something of His divinity within each of us. We are more than a son or daughter of Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So who reside in such-and-such a place. We are of the family of God, with such a tremendous potential for excellence. The distance between mediocrity and excellence can be ever so small. As we shall see again when the Winter Olympics come to Salt Lake City in 2002, that difference will be measured in tenths of seconds. The little extra effort we make becomes such a tremendous difference.

I speak of the need for a little more effort, a little more self-discipline, a little more consecrated effort in the direction of excellence in our lives.

This is the great day of decision for each of us. For many it is the time of beginning something that will go on for as long as you live. I plead with you: don’t be a scrub! Rise to the high ground of spiritual, mental, and physical excellence. You can do it.

Don’t muff your opportunities. Be excellent.

Cherish your spouse as the greatest possession of your life and treat him or her accordingly. Make it your constant goal to add to the happiness and comfort of your companion. Never permit yourself to let down in your affection, or your respect, or your faith in one another. Be excellent in every way.

Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). That is the great crowning example of excellence. May each of us have a rich and wonderful life moving in that direction. We will not become perfect in a day or a month or a year. We will not accomplish it in a lifetime, but we can keep trying, starting with our more obvious weaknesses and gradually converting them to strengths as we go forward with our lives.

“Look to God, and live” (Alma 37:47). Kneel before Him in supplication. He will help you. He will bless you. He will comfort and sustain you. There will be progress. There will be growth. There will be improvement. And there will be much of added happiness.

Tremendous is your opportunity to reach beyond the hoped-for goal of wealth and worldly success, though that may have some modest importance, to build and strengthen others, to relieve suffering, to aid in making the world a better place, to pick up and carry the lantern of Florence Nightingale in walking through the pain-ridden wards of the world.

It was said of the Master that He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). In that process He became the epitome of perfection.

May the Lord bless each of us as we walk the path to perfection that the Lord has asked us to walk—with hope, with faith, and with that charity which “is the pure love of Christ” (Moro. 7:47).