I Am Not My Body

I found this video about an amazing woman that I wanted to share with you.  Although she is not struggling with infertility, she is dealing with a severe trial of her own, and I felt her story resonate with me.  I love the part where she says, "I am not my body."

All too often, we allow our physical appearance or limitations to define who we are.  When I was struggling through infertility, that infiltrated every part of me.  I believed I wasn't as good as women who could get pregnant.  That there was something intrinsically wrong with me that had caused this.

The logical part of my brain told me that this wasn't true, but it took a lot of time and healing for my heart and mind to believe it.  That's one of the reasons I love this video.  She has learned something that is definitely worth sharing:  I Am Not My Body.

She also talks about her new feelings about motherhood.  Again, my heart was touched.  I have often told people that I don't think I love my children any more than any other mother, but I do think that I appreciate them more because of the long and painful journey it took to get them here.

The video closes with one of my favorite scriptures, that I have written about before.  What a great story about someone who is choosing happiness in the face of living a life that she never planned on.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?f​eature=player_detailpage&v=KHD​vxPjsm8E

When Life is Hard, Keep Going

Grandpa taught me that when life is hard (and sometimes it will be) you just have to keep going.  When you live to be 102, (or 32 for that matter) you are going to face some hard times in life.  My grandpa was 20 years old when the United States plunged into The Great Depression.  He lived through it.  He has been a farmer, a rancher, a truck driver, and the owner of a small dairy freeze drive-in.  During his lifetime, he has lost his job, lost his farm, and lost children and grandchildren to death.  His dear wife of 50 years died about 22 years ago.  He has watched his children and grandchildren suffer from sickness, injury, disease, sadness, and heartache.  He has suffered from injury and illness himself.

Through all of this, I have never heard or seen Grandpa complain.  Don't get me wrong, I have watched him grieve.  I have watched him pray.  I have seen him correct.  I have heard him comfort.  But always, ALWAYS, I have watched him move forward with faith and love. 

Only God Can Do That

For my neighborhood book club this month, we read The Silence of God by Gale Sears.  I enjoyed the historical aspect of this novel (it's based on the lives of the only LDS family in St. Petersburg at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution), but the thing I want to talk about is the Christian side.  At one point the father of this family explains to their neighbor (who also happens to be the very best friend of his daughter) that no person - not even Marx or Lenin - knows how to change man from a selfish, self-centered being into a hard-working person who helps those around him.  That kind of change can not come from outside sources; it comes from a change of heart, and "only God can do that".

This really struck a chord with me!  It's so true!  And not only as it relates to this specific situation.  No matter what trial we are going through, no matter what heartache we are facing, no matter which character flaw we are striving to overcome, no matter the type of pain that we are trying to heal from....none of the help and change we need comes from outside sources.  It must be a change of heart, and in order to have that, we need to allow a Higher Power into our lives in whatever form we believe.

For me, that Higher Power is a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  So, I daily do the simple things that bring me closer to them...things like praying, reading scriptures, serving others, enjoying the miracle of a flower blooming, watching the birds hop around the grass in my back yard, pausing to watch the sunset...anything that elevates my thoughts and feelings.

So, whether you are trudging through infertility, or trying to find healing after placing a baby, or watching a loved one go through one of these experiences...please know that peace can come, but my experience has been that "only God can do that!"