There was this time in the 2nd grade where my best friend, Tom, kept telling me lies, or at least I thought they were lies. He was telling me all these things that would be really cool, but for some reason I thought that it was impossible and so I thought he was making it all up. He insisted that he was telling the truth, but I stubbornly resfused to believe him and I let him know that if he couldn't tell the truth, then I wanted nothing more to do with him.
The next day at recess, I couldn't find my friend anywhere so I walked around until another boy came looking for me. He said that Tom was up at the top of the playground crying and that I should go talk to him. I was taken aback that my friend who had seemed so cool and tough would cry, especially at school. I just nodded at the other boy and started climbing the hill to the top of the playground.
I found Tom sitting on a low cement wall looking down at the ground, eyes still red from crying. Cooly, I walked over to my friend and sat next to him, sayingnothing. After a bit, Tom looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry that I made you mad Erik." It sounded so sincere that I was again taken aback. Why was he apologizing? Maybe he hadn't lied to me at all and I was just being a jerk. I said, "Tom, I was a jerk, I'm sorry for not believing you. That was a dumb reason for me to get mad at you for. Let's be friends again, k?" And that was it; best buds were reunited and I was careful never to let my pride ruin another friendship.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
True Love Begats Miracles
Before I begin, here's a bit more about myself, I'm seventeen, male, and have moved around nearly as much as a military brat, even though I'm not one. I've been to many, many different schools, and I've met all kinds of people; some amazing people, some famous people, and quite a few foreign people. I was raised in a loving home where I was privileged be taught all of the principles of the Gospel. I love God, and try to support his work as much as I can, but I am by no definition of the word, great. Still, I do a lot of thinking about great things...
I am also a teenager, which means I have begun to search myself for answers to life's many great questions, one of which is love.
What is love? I might as well be asking you to put the whole sky in a box and mail it to me...love is too huge to just define like that! I can try to describe it though: it's long and wide, tall and thick, great and spacious and grand. Okay, so I can't tell you what love is, because it must be learned through experience, however, I can tell you what love isn't.
Love isn't lust, it's not sex, it's not giving up everything for some girl or boy who says they love you back...love has to be more than that. I know that love is more than that!
Love is what prompted God to give his Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins and pains of mankind. God's love for us is perfect. When I feel the spirit, I can feel His overwhelming love for me. It is a miracle that even me, a sinner, could be redeemed of all my sins.
Love of God and freedom is what brought our Founding Fathers to declare their indepence from Great Britain on July 4th of 1776 and it is a miracle that they won the war that followed.
Love is what brought my mother and father together and I was the product of that union. They cared for me so much, even though I was not yet born, that they give me a chance to receive a body and live in their home. Heck, they love me so much I know without a shadow of a doubt that my parents would give their lives if it would mean that I had a chance to survive. Now I'm not vain enough to say that my birth was a miracle, rather I submit that the birth of a human child is a precious and miraculous event!
There's a pattern here: love begats miracles.
I'm sure you're all very intelligent and you've already figured out much if not all of what I've said. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on the subject. Let me conclude with this final statement: love is a gift from God to make our lives better, if you find that it is making your life more difficult then perhaps you should take a step back and do some soul-searching. Perhaps you just need an attitude adjustment. Think about what you want out of life, what is most important to you, and then ask yourself if your current actions are taking you closer to it. I did, and it's done miracles for me. ;)
By the way, if you havn't read the FRG blog yet, you most definitely should!! We have really excellent writers posting on there. Please check it out at http://youth.fairblog.org.
I am also a teenager, which means I have begun to search myself for answers to life's many great questions, one of which is love.
What is love? I might as well be asking you to put the whole sky in a box and mail it to me...love is too huge to just define like that! I can try to describe it though: it's long and wide, tall and thick, great and spacious and grand. Okay, so I can't tell you what love is, because it must be learned through experience, however, I can tell you what love isn't.
Love isn't lust, it's not sex, it's not giving up everything for some girl or boy who says they love you back...love has to be more than that. I know that love is more than that!
Love is what prompted God to give his Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins and pains of mankind. God's love for us is perfect. When I feel the spirit, I can feel His overwhelming love for me. It is a miracle that even me, a sinner, could be redeemed of all my sins.
Love of God and freedom is what brought our Founding Fathers to declare their indepence from Great Britain on July 4th of 1776 and it is a miracle that they won the war that followed.
Love is what brought my mother and father together and I was the product of that union. They cared for me so much, even though I was not yet born, that they give me a chance to receive a body and live in their home. Heck, they love me so much I know without a shadow of a doubt that my parents would give their lives if it would mean that I had a chance to survive. Now I'm not vain enough to say that my birth was a miracle, rather I submit that the birth of a human child is a precious and miraculous event!
There's a pattern here: love begats miracles.
I'm sure you're all very intelligent and you've already figured out much if not all of what I've said. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on the subject. Let me conclude with this final statement: love is a gift from God to make our lives better, if you find that it is making your life more difficult then perhaps you should take a step back and do some soul-searching. Perhaps you just need an attitude adjustment. Think about what you want out of life, what is most important to you, and then ask yourself if your current actions are taking you closer to it. I did, and it's done miracles for me. ;)
By the way, if you havn't read the FRG blog yet, you most definitely should!! We have really excellent writers posting on there. Please check it out at http://youth.fairblog.org.
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