On Monday, I was discouraged. My friend (the very same who said I should have a blog) recommended I take a break from work to stop at the Salt Lake Temple, which is on the same block as my FamilySearch job. I had considered it myself already and agreed that it would help me, whether to find comfort or inspiration.
A half hour was all I needed, as it turns out. Sitting quietly by myself, I said a prayer, at first filled with the turmoil of my thoughts as I thought of all my worries, concerns, and uncertainties. Somehow, as one thought confusedly spilled over another, the raging flood slowed into a calm stream and my thoughts shifted from me to those I care about. My pregnant younger sister, my aunt and injured uncle, my friend struggling against Lyme disease... I prayed for them and in doing so found peace.
I also picked up some scriptures. If I'm not picking up where I left off, I often flip open to a page at random to see what piece of revelation awaits me. The later was the case this time and the book I held fell open to Alma 26.
"23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn?
24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language."
I smirked; my modern-day Lamanites are my middle-schoolers. My friends and family certainly aren't laughing me to scorn, but there seems to be a general sentiment that those kids are crazy and just very well may eat me alive! Really, I've seen how poorly kids who learn Spanish in secondary schools speak Spanish when they reach the university. Why should I even hope to teach my kids much? How much are they going to retain?
Go ahead. Reread the passage, replacing "Lamanites" with "middle school students."
See what I mean? Yes, God MUST have a sense of humor to show me a passage like the one above to cheer me up! It also shows that He knows my sense of humor, too.
I read on, wondering what gem would reveal itself. I wasn't disappointed.
"26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.
27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.
28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God."
Like the Lord comforted them, at that moment, through their words and wisdom from their trials, He comforted me. I can succeed and with Him, I will. I don't know how I'll get to school to teach for the next couple of weeks, but I don't need to know the end from the beginning. And every day I have seen God's mercies for me through others' kindness and service. Yes, He has a sense of humor, and He uses it to bless His children in every stage of life.
