100 mph headwinds

Sometimes it seems as if we are fighting headwinds, going up hill in the snow, rain, and blazing heat in our lives.  Last night at work on our way to our destination, we indeed did have headwinds of over 100 knots.  I much prefer this type of headwind, the plane does all the work.  Interestingly, airplanes require headwind to take off and to land.  To gain altitude, a plane has to have headwind to take flight.  (I don't know if I particularly like the implications of this translating to my life!)

The phrase, "No pain, no gain" comes to mind, but I also love the humorous take on this phrase by a favorite LDS  speaker/author, John Bytheway, where he says, (jokingly about the previously mentioned phrase) "No pain . . . GOOD!".  I quite like that phrase, John's version of it.  During these times in our lives it can seem quite scary and often times lonely.  A story comes to mind that I just heard at my nephew, Austin's funeral of a little girl who while watching an action movie with her dad would ask her dad to fast forward over the intense/scary/action parts.  Then when the movie was over she surprised her father by asking him to watch the movie with her again.  This time with an important difference, she wanted to watch the whole thing without skipping or fast forwarding the scary parts.  She explained wisely to her father that this time was different because she knew that it would end well even though they had many hard times.  I feel like this little girl, I would much rather fast forward many parts of my life, and "peek" so to speak at the end so that I can make sure that although many scary things happen, that it all works out in the end . . .

But that does not seem to be my family's lot.  It seems as if we have a magnet to the "Refiner's fire".  Although, through my and collectively our family and extended family's refining fires, Gethsemane, Vietnam, etc. I feel as though I have been with angels here on earth in the forms of my children, my parents, and my sister.  I am sure that there have been unseen angels as well.

I have been very blessed, as Nephi was, to be born of "goodly parents".  My mother's family, all eight of her siblings have stayed true to the faith, not been a weak link, and lived with integrity through much tribulation.  I admire and love them for that.  Most of my mother's siblings have died, through car accident, cancer, and many from ALS.

Throughout my life I have felt that I have lived with a type of Nephi, Captain Moroni, Abinidi, etc.  My Mother and sister are the most incredibly powerful, gentle, people I have ever had the incredible privilege of knowing and very blessed in being loved by.