i believe in consequences

Quite often, a life that appears to outsiders to be "easy" or "perfect" is the result of years and decades of coming in last in the eyes of the world. Truly, there is no one with an easy or perfect life. Choosing the right is hard. And there is no substitute for it.

Sometimes we all find people in our lives who seem to have the opposite of an easy or perfect life. An unusual amount of hardship seems to befall some people, with no easy explanation why. However, they too are faced with a choice. There are volumes written about the fact that we choose how to react to hardship. But in my thoughts tonight, I am thinking about those who fail to recognize that some hardship is a consequence of previous choices. I don't want that to sound too condemning. It is hard for most all of us to look at hardship with fair eyes. In other words, no one ever purposely seeks hardship, or enjoys it. Not all hardship is self-inflicted. It is often difficult to connect the lines between choices and consequences when years expire between the two. But that doesn't make our accountability escapable.

I'm pretty sure this isn't making much sense, but what I'm getting at is that I'm in a position where I feel a great concern for friends who are struggling with life. I can listen to what struggles they are enduring, but it's kind of excruciating not to be able to help AT ALL. Sometimes the only way a pitfall can be overcome is by avoiding it in the first place. I cannot take away the consequences of decisions made years ago, or even a week ago.

I get especially concerned over the lack of care taken by many when choosing whom to marry. That is not to say that many people do take great care in their choice, only to find disappointment in the future choices their spouse makes. It is, however, a reality that anyone who chooses to marry will find the rest of their lives altered by that person for good and for bad. I had to involve God very heavily in my decision on whom to marry, in order to have the courage to go forward with it.

Here is a picture of my family last year in Hawaii. I have a "PERFECT" (for me) husband, but like I said, it was a long road of many difficult choices in order to "earn" him.


I believe God wants us to marry and have families, and that He will be as involved in all of our decisions as we allow Him to be. Family can be the greatest joy EVER in life. Sadly, it is too often the source of the greatest sorrow. I believe the secret to the joyful kind of family is in the nitty gritty moment-to-moment decisons we all make. We have to constantly think of consequences, short-term and long-term, and let ourselves be guided by that "spark" of God that every human is born with. That means sometimes looking like a nerd or a weirdo. It means I can't always explain myself to others. It means I feel left out and embarrassed and afraid during some of the most important times in my life. But none of that matters when I know I am pleasing God. His relationsip and approval are my goal, and the thing I treasure MOST from my association and membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know Him. I know He knows me. That spark of God everyone has is amplified enormously with the authority of the Priesthood to bless me with the Holy Spirit as my constant guide in life. I wouldn't have any of that without being taught by many others who have found the same thing through His gospel. I heard someone today witness the same thing; although he had been raised Baptist and spoke of not feeling a closeness with an "everywhere and nowhere" God. He now knows, and I know- that God is near us, and that we have a purpose in being on this earth. Part of that purpose is to understand consequences, and to prove ourselves in making choices.