FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT -- The Miracle of Life

Yesterday was bittersweet.  A new friend of mine, LaDena K., said goodbye to her sweetheart, Mark, after he had battled sarcoma for several years.  I met LaDena and Mark on the day of my friend, Trent Rasmussen's, funeral.  I had chatted with LaDena briefly, as a mutual friend of the Rasmussen's, on Facebook the day Trent died to let her know when the funeral was planned.  After chatting with her, I felt an instant connection with her.  When I overheard her speaking with someone in the lobby the morning of Trent's funeral, I introduced myself to her and we ended up sitting together for the service.  While waiting for the funeral to begin, she told me that her husband was battling the same cancer that Trent had battled.  Though in a great deal of pain and discomfort, Mark came into the chapel to listen to the service and pay honorable tribute to his fellow warrior.  LaDena and I talked amiably, not as new friends, but as good friends.  It felt as if I had always known her.

We have continued our friendship via Facebook, and I have followed her faith-inspiring blog, www.ourbeautifulheartache.blogspot.com.  I have been forever changed by this couple.  Their love for the Lord, their desire to do and accept His will in all things, their love for each other, have inspired me to live with more deliberate discipleship, and to live each day to the fullest.

Yesterday, I also had the opportunity to go to my first prenatal appointment.  I heard this little one's heartbeat for the first time.  As always, it was such an amazing and spiritual experience.  I feel so humbled that my Father in Heaven, knowing all my flaws and weaknesses as a mother, feels confident enough in my abilities to send our family another baby.

I have also been thinking about many of my good friends who have been asked to deal with infertility as a challenge in this life.  My heart aches for them.  I know that their struggles are some of the most painful challenges that the mama heart may be called to bear in this life.  I love them and though my heart is full to overflowing, I honor these very special ladies.  I truly admire their resilience and fortitude.  I know that they will bear children...many, if not in this life, then in time to come.  I believe that women who deal with limited fertility must be, in many ways, some of God's choicest spirits.  He has special blessings awaiting them.  I know He does.

I feel so blessed as I think of God's plan of salvation.  It occurs to me that this gospel is true and that the promised blessings He promises are real.  I feel it in my heart so strongly as I type these words, that I can never deny it.  This gospel is true and real.  And I know that living the gospel faithfully, even through our darkest hours WILL bring unimaginable blessings.  I testify these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.