A thought about foundations and locations

In stake conference today, the wife of the Provo Utah mission president have a thought regarding a cat and a bird's nest.

The thought was focused on the fact the nest had been hidden, but was close to the ground. She expressed he concern she had for the poor bird and the fact that the moment the cat could hear the future cries of it's children, her cat could easily find them. The nest, while stable, was inevitably in danger, if not now, surely it would be in the future.

As she spoke about this nest, I remembered another, one that I had witnessed it's demise, in a short amount of hours, here's the account:

"In front our pension, we have fairly large pine tree, and in this tree we get a ton of visitors from morning doves. Saturday as we went to work, we noticed on the ground was a Dove chick. We noticed it was breathing, but knew that it's time on the earth was short, so we moved it to an area where it wouldn't be stepped on (using sticks, not hands,) and went out to work. We returned back to the pension for lunch, ate lunch, and then left once again. As we headed out, E' Ordenes gave a short, "Oh my gosh!" as he saw another chick fall to the ground. This one was in better condition than the last, but as it had fallen, like the other, it's time was short. We moved him next to his already dead sibling and started to look around as to where these birds were falling. As we looked up, we saw that the nest of these chicks and begun to fall and break. The last chick was still.... on the nest, just hanging by his little foot. We also noticed that the mother of the chicks was sitting next to the nest, watching as her last child sat there, hanging over his doom, and the obvious feeling of panic was in this mother. By the end of the day, when we had returned, this chick had already fallen and been dead for hours.

I reflected on this experience many times through-out the day because it was either Friday or Saturday that I read the parable of the Wise Man and the Foolish Man. I thought about the parents of these chicks. They had found a good tree in which to construct there house and in a good place, just as most parents look to do, but... what happened? While that found a good place they faltered one small thing, that one whole side of the nest fell apart with some of the wind, thus, blowing out their children. I came to understand that as parents (of which one day I will be,) we need to not only construct our houses on a good foundation, but we need to also construct a good house to live on that strong foundation. As I have seen through my mission, there are quite a lot of members which have built there testimonies on Christ, but when a small burst of wind has come into their lives, a part of the house which they have built falls, and they fall of their own testimony. The construction of a good house always comes by doing the things that keep it strong in the church, reading the scriptures, praying daily, and weekly church attendance. If we weaken in one of those areas, we may still have our faith in Christ, but one of the walls our house begins to weaken, till the moment in which it collapses and we are blown of our testimony and faith."

Let us think about how and where we are building our nests, our testimonies, our foundations, and ourselves.

2 Years Later

Two years have passed from the moment I walked off a plane, and began to start anew, the life that I had before.

Where am I now... What a great question. My life is somewhere between absolute wonder and loss of control.

I have a very strong and firm belief in God, at least that hasn't changed. However, my love toward him, and my understanding of the Atonement has increased.

I have begun a path of self-discovery, one that has exhausted me, and refreshed me.

I know who I am, better than I did two years ago. I have been attending school, and I have found a career path that I feel comfortable in.

To be honest, the most important change is that I have solidified myself and confronted my fears... Something I had put off for years.

Sure, I have more tweets, and have stronger friendships... But those things are only strengthed and increased because I am shedding my fears.

My two years being home, have been as purifying and pressured as my mission, but in different ways than when I was in the field, but they are just as important to me.

Somethings about me will never change, and while I know that the purpose of this life is to learn, to grow, to repent, and to flourish, I believe that I have only started to do so recently. What I would do, to try again at certain key moments that occurred in the last two years, but I think to my surprise, I would leave many the same, maybe even repeat the "mistake" so that I can be where I am now.

Only The Lord really knows in the end about what I truly needed, and I am grateful to Him for that. I am grateful that I can do those things that He would have me do, but that if things will take me down a path, which, if I choose to obey His voice, will bring my prosperity, He will equally allow me the option to take a different path, partake of forbidden fruit if you will, so that I may gain knowledge and experience. I know I made mistakes in the last two years, but I know that I have grown, and am continuing to grow, regardless of these mistakes. 

Here's to another two years, and here's to the opportunities, trials, and blessings that will be presented to me. And here's hoping that history will not repeat itself.