Thoughts on Growth

In the past several weeks I've been pondering at length on the process of how it is that we grow. I've thought a lot about those tiny seeds we put under the earth. We nurture them and give them a healthy environment; but unless they are willing to sprout and push through the ground with all their might they will not grow and become what it is they are meant to be. It's in that pushing, that reaching, that striving toward the sunlight
that they reach their full potential. The work and the struggle ultimately provide the chance for good seeds to grow.

I've come to feel for myself that all of us will have to push against the dirt at one time or another. A wise and trusted apostle once shared a story about a truck that was stuck in the mud. The driver figured that while he waited for help he'd go ahead and load down the outfit with the firewood he had come to the mud to gather in the first place. As he loaded down the truck bed he came to a realization. The load-the weight-the hefty burden placed upon the vehicle- would provide exactly the traction it would need to roll it's way out of the mire. The apostle, at the conclusion of his lesson, admonished us to remember that in our lives, it is the load that provides the traction to move us forward. The load causes us to seek, to reach and to grow closer to that God who loves us so. He advised us to "evaluate the load" and reminded us that sometimes we throw a few heavy burdens onto our own backs through choices which bring sorrowful consequences. But sometimes the load is placed carefully, even lovingly in our lives in order to help us push against the dirt and grow. And sometimes that load is just a crazy accident, a sad crossing of the wrong stars,a fluke.

A few of you may have read the few words I was invited to share on a "blogging friend's" Mother's day post last spring. Nie Nie, of the Nie Nie Dialogues, has become somewhat of a "blogging colleague". Someone who I admire and feel a personal connection to because of our mutual beliefs concerning religion, mothering, being a wife and being a woman. I could go on and gush-I hope you'll find out for yourself the quality and depth of the woman I'm introducing you to...

Ms. Nie and her loving husband were involved in an accident over the weekend that involved an airplane. A third individual involved in the accident has perished, and Mr. and Mrs. Nie are critically burned and looking at months and months of recovery. Their 4 children are in the loving care of other family members.

A load has been weighed down upon the backs of many. A dramatic, life-changing and faith challenging load. Nie and her sweetheart fight for their lives, and their family and children humbly pray and wait and work as the load they face becomes more apparent day by day.

I have great confidence that we will see-through blogs and other media-this family rise to this horrific occasion and carry their load with dignity, courage, and humor as they push through. I've been a witness to their faith, and I know that they allow the Savior of the world to shoulder this burden with them as they meekly seek help from heaven.

It is times like this when I evaluate my own load. And for my own load, I am grateful. I don't wish to carry it-and sometimes I even resent it-but I see it is my own, and I will bear it with all the dignity and faith I can muster. And I can humbly testify that I don't carry it alone. I recognize that my Savior carries the greater part with me (and He sweetly sends me help through family and friends too), and I know that yoked with Him I am able to move through the mud, push up against the dirt

and grow.