Simple and Sweet: A Big Brother

In an attempt to get more physical exercise, I pushed our boys up our hill. I asked them to get ready. And this is what I got on one boy. He was obedient and put shoes on. They are both his older brothers.

I am the oldest in my family. I've liked being the oldest. Growing up I was told (by Grandparents) that I needed to be an example that all the others would look to me for what I would do. In some ways, there was a lot of pressure in that comment. In a different light though, apparently my Grandparents believed I had great potential to do great things. I have done some pretty great things. Right now in my role as a Mom, I'm trying to do good things so they will become great boys.

They decided to share a blanket on the chilly morning.

I've been learning lately that I don't have control over everything in my life. Something I desperately want. I especially would like to know how the plot turns out so I can go along my way. Yet it is not the plan God has for me. He wants me to trust and wait on him. Robert D. Hales talked about waiting on the Lord and said that from the scriptures waiting is "means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust." (Source) So when I look at Hurricane who looks to his older brother for help and a way to be, and then I look at Underfoot as he and his brother look to us, their parents, on what will be, they have given us an incredible amount of trust. And it is similar to how God wants me to look to him.

Wow! What a great realization!

Elder Hales explains:

We realize that the purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences. How do we do this? The scriptures give us an answer in one simple phrase: we “wait upon the Lord.” Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, “all these things shall [be for our] experience, and … [our] good.” (Source)

 We have the choice to follow Jesus Christ and his teachings to learn and grow. As Easter continues to approach, I continue to think about the power that Christ gave to each of us to deliver us from death and sin to experience joy.

As I walked, I thought of our journey in the moment up the hill. It was a push and hard. But as I've thought about what life is that it too is a push and hard. And can be made easier if we look to Jesus Christ as our big brother and example.