What's been on my mind...

(don't judge me-It's just my mind just...going. My grammar is awful, I'm sure, as is my spelling and just the overall format but it's just what I've been thinking about. That's all...and the quote at the end is the best part. Don't miss out on it. I have no idea where I got it from. I found it in an old email I sent to Bryce when we were dating.)

Everyone has a story--one that just naturally formulates and evolves throughout their lifetime. No one makes it through this life without scrapes and bruises. Plan A just never really happens. Yes, in my case, I married the man I planned on marrying but certainly not how I planned. I had no idea the things I would go through in order to get here or there or wherever we're referring to at the moment. Plan A turns into Plan Q faster than you realize. And that's where the story really takes place. In that time where you realize that nothing is going the way you thought it would go... Why do so many couples end up divorcing? And how can I prevent that? It takes two to tango. Yes, so we should each take responsibility for our actions so we can be sure our part of that Tango is fulfilled. Right? Why do people hurt each other? How did the world go to pot so fast? And why do people lie? It doesn't get you anywhere. Yet it's amazing to me how much good there is in such an evil world. Satan must think he's winning, but guess what: he's not. Go sit in the conference center during a General Conference Session and think about how many other people in the world are watching and thinking about the same eternal things all at that same moment and feel what you feel while you're sitting there and you tell me that he's winning. You can't. Despite the discouragement I feel at the amount of despicable acts that go on in the world, I know the righteous are becoming more so and they're doing amazing things and coming closer to the Lord and they're teaching their children eternal saving truths. ... Within those stories we create are, not only those plans that you make but also, your failures and successes, your disappointments and fears, your moments of complete confusion and your moments of stark realization. Like the reality of the fear of infertility that you've had since your teenage years or that moment you've been waiting for for two years when the love of your life walks back into your life and all that pain-all those tears are gone and it's like they never happened...that pain that you felt in your chest-you know the one-that feels like your heart just got ripped in two? or maybe twelve. That one. Remember how when it was over you have the memory of the pain but, because it's over and in the past, the pain seems so insignificant now-even worth it- that it's just that-the past?

For all these reasons and so many more, I have this quote at my desk at work...

"True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage, and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ. Obedience to His teachings provides a secure ascent in the journey of life. That takes effort. While there is no guarantee of overnight results, there is the assurance that, in the Lord's time, solutions will come, peace will prevail, and happiness will be yours. The challenges you face, the growth experiences you encounter, are intended to be temporary scenes played out on the stage of a life of continuing peace and happiness. Sadness, heartache, and disappointment are events in life. It is not intended that they be the substance of life. I do not minimize how hard some of these events can be. When the lesson you are to learn is very important, trials can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining focus of everything you do. Your life can and should be wondrously rewarding. It is your understanding and application of the laws of God that will give your life glorious purpose as you ascend and conquer the difficulties of life. That perspective keeps challenges confined to their proper place—stepping-stones to further growth and attainment. Jesus Christ possessed merits that no other being could possibly have. He was a God, Jehovah, before His birth in Bethlehem. His beloved Father not only gave Him His spirit body, but Jesus was His Only Begotten Son in the flesh. Our Master lived a perfect, sinless life and therefore was free from the demands of justice. He is perfect in every attribute, including love, compassion, patience, obedience, forgiveness, and humility. His mercy pays our debt to justice when we repent and obey Him. Since with even our best efforts to obey His teachings we will still fall short, because of His grace we will be "saved, after all we can do."

Read it again.

And maybe a third time.

That quote becomes more and more amazing to me the more I read it...