faith & growth

I attended a conference a week or so ago ... well, I didn't actually attend. I was on the commmittee that put it together, which meant I lucked out and got to hear bits of some of the fantastic presentations.

(Heber & Ardeth Kapp)

During one presentation by Ardeth Kapp, she talked about her yearning for children; about how hard that trial was, and about how if she could have just seen the future, and known that in her responsibility as the General Young Women's President in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she would be caring for a quarter of a million young women, she would not have been so anxious and life would have been easier. When that thought came to her, she heard in her heart,

"Yes, but you would not have come to me so often in sincere prayer, you would not have grown and developed the faith that you have."

(David Osmond)

During another presentation, this one by David Osmond, I heard these words:

"In this life pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional."

David Osmond has Multiple Sclerosis. Having been paralyzed from his waist down, and confined to a wheelchair, David walked again on his wedding day and has been walking ever since.

Two inspirational heroes ... two inspirational messages. These got me thinking about my own life - my trials, my triumphs. Over the next few days I want to share some of these with you. And I welcome your comments, sharing your trials and triumphs. Because I believe this life is a time to lift and inspire each other. Feel free to email me if you'd like to send a private message, or comment with one you'd like others to read. So the next couple of weeks I'm going to take a break from talking about food, shopping, playing and clothes - and it'll be a pretty serious bunch of posts.

I hope you'll join me.