Growth

Today I seemed to notice how much my children have grown.   Camden seems to be getting taller by the day and has a growing vocabulary....some words amaze us and others have us wondering what he is hearing his sisters say.   Brenley seems to be more of a young lady than a little girl and Haley must have grown in her sleep last night.

Sometimes growth takes me by surprise.

I had the blessing of attending all 3 meetings at church today.   I haven't had that pleasure since the 2nd Sunday in August.  I think I shed tears in every meeting....it felt so good to be there among the ward members partaking of the Sacrament and learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Attending Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society gave me such a lift!   I am so thankful for these two incredible Sisters in our ward who came prepared to teach.   They have both expressed either privately or in class how nervous they are to be teaching and I am sure they feel they are having a growing experience as they fufill their callings.   It seems that growth is inevitable...I just hope to grow in the right direction.

 Many times growth comes after or during trials....we can look back and see how we have changed.  I have had this experience many times and I have seen profound change in my own life for which I am so thankful.   I hope I will always have the faith to grow.

Today this quote was shared in class...I loved it so much I wanted to share it here.

The Growth required to return Home

"One's life...cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free..."Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, 'Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken.  Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art!  Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!'....

"Real faith...is required to endure this necessary but painful developmental process."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell