Posted by rayww on April 9, 2003, at 11:02:31
Sometimes it becomes easy to use our disorder as a scapegoat for unseemly behavior. Some is uncontrolled, but in the Lord, it is possible to control simple things that require simple sacrifice, that bring forth the blessings of heaven. These blessings, in the form of support and spiritual help, give us hope and strength and increase our faith, which empowers us to carry on.
It just takes a little resolve to privately declare a little thing we are willing to sacrifice [for the Lord]. He must be in the equasion.Several years ago there was a drought in Ethiopia and the whole world responded. We were given the opportunity to respond as a family through a donation to the church. In a family home evening one night we gave our children that opportunity. Each child left the room to retrieve their donations--$2.00, $5.00, $1.00 donations were collected from everyone but one. This daughter went to her savings and emptied it, giving all that she had. I believe this daughter has been particularily blessed over the years because of her willingness to sacrifice for others.
I feel blessed today because of a private resolve I made last week. It has been a rough 3 months because I lost my will to survive and let myself slip. I quit trying, I stopped writing here, I gave up hope. It is coming back now because of my resolve. I made my resolve because of a talk I heard Sunday in General Conference by Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Sunday morning session
http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-353,00.html
transcripts available on site Wednesday night,
I am sharing a private victory, simple as it might be, but compared to the past three months, it is monumentous.Sacrifice:
http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=sacrifice&search.x=33&search.y=8
poster:rayww
thread:217776
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20021227/msgs/217776.html