I realized that all of my posts on my blog are of happy times and fun things and positive things. It may seem like life is easy and I that have no troubles or trials. I know when I look at Facebook or Instagram and see how perfect everyone's families look, I forget that they don't share the moments of their troubles and their kids tantrums or the times when they are having a bad day.
I don't like posting about my bad days or trials. I usually keep those to myself. I can't help but post about my troubles because I want to share the perfect quote I came across tonight.
Let me preface it first. I have daily trials of all sorts of varieties...microwave breaking, Lynnlee getting cellulitis in her leg twice (in six week span), craziness of working and being a mom to five, James getting a ear infection, two fussy babies, etc. But those are all little difficulties. The hardest thing we have been dealing with is our condo in Bountiful. We felt good about selling it but the sale fell through. So we felt good about renting it again. We felt good about the renter we signed a contract with and ever since then it has been a nightmare. Our renter hasn't paid and I'm learning more as a landlord then I ever thought I could about eviction law. It has been a discouraging last few months and there is no end in sight because the process of evicting a renter is long, slow and painful. So with that said, I have been very discouraged tonight. I believe in the power of prayer and I've been praying a lot about our situation. I was reading an article about Joseph Smith in the July Ensign that spoke to me. It said:
Like Joseph Smith, you need not lead a perfect life in order to be a powerful instrument in God’s hands. Mistakes, failure, and confusion were part of Joseph’s life and mission, and they are going to be part of yours too. But do not despair. Do not be tempted to think that “all is lost.” All is not lost and will never be lost for those who look to the God of mercy and live.
You have a Brother who watches over you, ready to rescue you and advance your service with arms far stronger than your arms—far stronger, in fact, than all other arms of the flesh combined. Those arms are there to sustain and bless you, “in every time of trouble” (D&C 3:8), no matter how alone and discouraged you may feel. Therefore, as you move forward with your life, trust in those arms and “be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid … for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
