Eagerly Accepting

I just thought I'd share something I've been pondering a bit lately. The subject came about from a combination of two sources: my Sunday School lesson this last Sunday and the bits of the blessing that Russ gave Cindy (as told to me by Cindy).

My lesson this last Sunday was about Abinadi (we're a week behind most people because of the snow day we had). We started out by talking about different people throughout the scriptures who accepted difficult missions. Like in Isaiah 6 (and 2 Ne. 16) where Isaiah responds to the Lord's question, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" with a very bold and faithful, "Here am I, send me." Isaiah, along with the many others we discussed, such as Noah, Moses, Lehi, Esther, and Samuel the Lamanite, all knew that the missions would be difficult. They knew that the people may not want to hear and that they would resist and possibly even try to kill them, but they accepted anyway.

In Cindy's blessing, she was told that her baby knew the challenges he'd face before coming to the earth, and that he eagerly accepted them.

So it made me wonder what challenges we eagerly accepted before we came to earth. Did Cindy know that her 5th child would have something wrong with his heart and she eagerly accepted the challenge of caring for him (knowing Cindy, I'd say that it's a very distinct possibility)? Did my friend Katie know that she would lose her husband and have to raise their son alone for a couple of years before she'd remarry? Would knowing about these challenges in advance make them easier or harder?

I always admire those who have the really big challenges and yet never seem to waver, the people who are rocks. I would describe Cindy that way, for sure. It may be a struggle and she may have the sorrow and cry at times, but she remains stalwart and is a great example to me.

My patriarchal blessing tells me that I came here knowing that there would be times of sorrow, and hurt, and challenge, but that I would be able to hear and understand the gospel principles, that I understood them clearly before. With all the examples from the scriptures, they were all people who had a clear understanding of gospel principles. They had strong faith and a determination to do God's will, no matter the consequence. I'm sure that Cindy takes comfort in knowing that her baby eagerly accepted his challenges, and I know that Katie takes comfort in the knowledge that she will she her husband again and that they are sealed for all eternity. I know that for me, it's much easier to go through whatever challenges that come my way when I try to look at them from an eternal perspective, when I know that "all these things will give thee experience and shall be for thy good."