Tough Love

Once upon a fictional modern time a man was given a chance to build an ark. Recently elected as a US congressman, Evan Baxter embarks on a journey that is both incredibly difficult and inspiring. After announcing on a very public broadcast of a congressional meeting that he had been commanded by God to build the ark, his wife packs up the kids and heads back to their home town, leaving Evan in the sprinklers out on the lawn. Remembering having been told that whatever was done was done because the Lord loved him, in his discouragement he cries out "Do me a favor, love me less."

I am having a particularly difficult time this year, both at work and in my personal life, through which I feel I can relate to this statement. Sometimes I wish the learning could take a break, that for a while life could just be easy for a change. I hear of the vacations friends take and the loving relationships they are in and I find myself struggling to sit through anything akin to a romantic comedy. If only life would fit into what I wish it would be for a change, and I wouldn't have to constantly run up against tests, temptations and trials.

Fortunately, though, I know better. I truly know that the Lord loves me, and it is through that love that I have been and will continue to Spirit would teach me. That there are so many lessons to learn in this short time of mortality that cannot be taught without taking the tests, overcoming the temptations and working through the trials. My life is so much more in so many ways that it could have been had I had my girlhood fairy tales come true. So if you see me struggling at times, know this: I know that I am the daughter of a Heavenly Father that loves me enough to guide me through those lessons that will bring me more eternal joy than I could ever possibly imagine.