One such word of wisdom with awakening wonders in my world are President Lon Edgar Henderson's words during a time of my struggle:
"Elder Aaron Jordan Kaw, don't pull up the plant! Do you know what I mean when I say don't pull up the plant? You work hard, and you work faithfully. You plant seeds and do God's will. Then you get to a point where your plant begins to grow. You're excited! You're amazed! But you then want to see how well it is growing. So, in anxiety to know how you're doing, in anxiety that you aren't receiving the blessings you might expect early enough, and in anxiety that you're missing the mark you should be getting, you pull up the plant. This shocks the plant and affects its growth. Despite the fact that the plant is growing well, and now you've witnessed it, you have affected its growth by pulling it up. Planting it can encourage it to continue growing, but you've retarded its growth."
If only I could remember all the sentences and words he spoke - above is a paraphrase.
I was guilty of this on my mission - too eager to pull up the plant too early!
In an article titled, “Open Carefully, So the Love Won’t Escape”, Rex C. Stallings reflects upon his learnt life lesson of finding love within each given gift, and ensuring there is always gratitude.
We didn’t have a lot of money, so we tried to get things that were practical. But many a Christmas Eve, as my wife and I prepared the presents around the tree and finished wrapping the gifts, I would find myself in a state of near-panic. I would think, “What if they open these gifts and don’t like them? What if they think we haven’t given them the things they want because we don’t love them?”
To help lessen this panic, I tried to postpone the moment of opening the presents. We started a tradition that on Christmas morning we would all get up, dress, say family prayers, and eat breakfast. Then we would go in around the tree. And just in case postponement didn’t do the trick, I would give “the lecture.”
“We have a lot of presents,” I’d begin. “We want you to know that inside each box and each package is wrapped up our great love for you. So we will open the presents very carefully, one at a time. If we just rip them open and grab whatever is inside, the love may escape unnoticed. After all, the love that is with the gift is greater than the gift itself.”
After my lecture we sat around the tree and opened our gifts, not in wild excitement, but in quiet appreciation and love for one another.Trusting in the Lord is also trust in His timing and His ways.
What plants are you growing in your life? Schooling? Work? Family? Talents?
Grow them His way.
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