Talk Of The Town

I had an interesting experience last month.

I was headed to work on a Saturday at 7am (because my boss hates happiness) and wasn't feeling too swell. The only thing that seemed to not make me want to throw up was applesauce. So to the store I went. Upon purchasing my case of applesauce, I headed out the door. As I was reaching the door, an employee of Smith's caught my attention. He was throwing away some old, dried up, kind of pathetic looking flowers and asked me, "Hey, do you want a flower?"
"Sure," feeling a small sliver of a smile appearing on my face.
"You know what, just take the whole thing! Have a good day."

So away I walked, feeling surprisingly better by the small gesture of the employee at Smiths who didn't know that I was feeling awful and completely spent emotionally and spiritually and physically. He didn't know that. He was just tossing the old flowers to make room for the new. But the second I walked out of that store my eyes filled with tears. The Lord knew. He knew I was hurting. He did not take the hurt away, but lessened it and said, "Laura, I'm here and I know your heart."

Moral 1: You never know what a small kind gesture will do for someone.
Moral 2: Never, ever, EVER underestimate the Lord. He knows you. He knows your path. If He brought you to it, He'll guide you through it.

But wait, there's more.

Remember how I said these flowers were old, wilting, and kind of pathetic? 

I put them in water as soon as I got home from work. 4 days later, these flowers look brand new. They perked up and look vibrant and full of life. Not only was this a nice surprise that my pick-me-up flowers literally perked up, but also a beautiful analogy to me.

If I had been a bunch of flowers, these would have been me that week/month. Wilted, looking as though they were going to give up in a matter of seconds, downtrodden, weak.

They became lively and full of beauty.

John 4:14 

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The love of God and the peace the gospel of Christ brings is a source that never dries up, that never ceases to give light and life. 

I've been thinking more and more about the enabling power of the Atonement lately. Some experiences I've had have pushed me to depend entirely on Christ. Days went by, weeks were there was literally nothing I did without the Savior's help. But I got thinking, isn't that how it should be always? We should always depend on Him, not just through the hard times. But ALWAYS. Through rain and shine, we should give His thought first priority. The Atonement is an incredible gift that I understand more and more little by little. Just like everything in the gospel and life. Line upon line and precept upon precept. Through it all, we have patience. Or rather, we should have patience. Be patient. 

Through our trials and hardships, we can have comfort knowing that Christ knows exactly what it feels like. He's been there. On the other hand, we can know just a fraction of a fragment of the pain He went through. Our times of despair should bring us closer to Christ, because we are walking a path He did, though because He did it alone, we don't have to. 

Hebrews 11:40
God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.