Our job is not to teach someone who’s going through a rough patch that they are bad or disappointing. When our oldest son, Ryan, passed away a few years later, I remember being grateful our time together was happier and more positive.īefore we interact with a loved one, can we ask ourselves the question “Is what I’m about to do or say helpful or hurtful?” Our words are one of our superpowers, and family members are like human blackboards, standing in front of us saying, “Write what you think of me!” These messages, whether intentional or unintentional, should be hopeful and encouraging. When I read Brother Maxwell’s comment, I threw away the lists and silenced that critical voice, so when I saw my grown children for that brief time each week, I focused on the many positive things they were already doing. During the week, I found myself making lists in my mind of things I could remind them of on Sunday, like “Maybe try and help out more with the kids when you’re home” or “Don’t forget to be a good listener.” This was around the time our adult children were starting to come home for Sunday dinners with their spouses. He said dinners at his parents’ house because he always left feeling like his dad believed in him. Maxwell passed away, a reporter asked his son what he’d miss most. This visual image has helped me during low moments when I find myself at the tree, eating the fruit and crying because I’m worried and really, how helpful is that? Instead, let’s choose hope-hope in our Creator and in one another, fueling our ability to be better than we are right now. You go to the tree, stay at the tree, keep eating the fruit and, with a smile on your face, continue to beckon to those you love and show by example that eating the fruit is a happy thing!” 4 Like Lehi, he knew that you don’t chase after your loved ones who feel lost. He became my cheerleader, and everybody needs a cheerleader-someone who isn’t telling you, “You’re not running fast enough” they’re lovingly reminding you that you can.ĭad exemplified Lehi’s dream. When I graduated from high school and went to BYU, my dad sent letters reminding me of who I was. 3 He used the eye of faith to see that everything would work out, and his hopeful approach changed me. He’d learned from experience that worry feels a lot like love, but it’s not the same. At the time, I worried that her tears meant she’d lost hope for me, and if she didn’t feel hope for me, maybe there wasn’t a way back.īut my dad was more practiced at zooming out and taking the long view. I remember seeing my mom crying, and I wondered if I’d disappointed her. I went through a rough patch my senior year in high school when I wasn’t making great choices. Everything you and you and you are worried about-it’s all going to be OK! And those who look with an eye of faith can feel that it’s going to be OK now. With an eye focused on the Savior, they felt joy and knew this truth: because of Christ, it all works out. Moroni speaks about those whose faith was so “exceedingly strong” that they “truly saw … with an eye of faith, and they were glad.” 2 Is it possible to begin to see as God sees even while living on the surface of this planet-to feel this overview feeling? I believe we can, through the eye of faith, zoom out and view ourselves and our families with hope and joy. He sees all creation, all of us, and is filled with hope. It gives people that type of energy … that type of power.” 1Īs humans, we have an earthbound point of view, but God sees the grand overview of the universe. One space traveler said it “reduces things to a size that you think everything is manageable. Viewing from a new vantage point changes everything. While floating in space, they were struck by the power of seeing our earth and took this spectacular image, capturing the whole world’s attention! Those astronauts experienced a sensation so powerful it has been given its own name: the overview effect. But by the Apollo 8 mission to the moon, the astronauts had one. Tonight, I invite you to zoom out and look through a different lens-an eternal lens that focuses on the big picture, your bigger story.ĭuring humankind’s early push into space, the unmanned rockets had no windows. Sometimes all we can see is that up-close, magnified view of those we love. I thought, “Where has the time gone? She’s so big!”Īs I lifted my reading glasses to wipe away a tear, I realized, “Oh wait-she’s not bigger it’s just these glasses! Never mind!” ![]() One day, as we sat together reading a book, I looked at her with love but also sadness because, suddenly, she seemed more grown up. ![]() When our youngest daughter, Berkeley, was little, I started using reading glasses―the kind that zoom in and magnify everything.
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