Lucky Stars

You know those times that make you stop and think? 

My family had one of those.

 My brother Colin was driving alone back from Flagstaff and rolled his truck. As you can see from the picture below, he is OK. He was able to climb out on his own and was checked out at the hospital. (Also, He was not texting.)

Taken on the way home after being released from the hospital

When my mom told me he rolled his truck, my heart beat faster and my mind raced.

She had already told me he was ok but usually when you hear of rolling vehicles in the mountains, people aren't ok.

It is an absolute miracle that he walked away with a sore body and a few scratches. 

But it really makes you realize how you feel about someone. I have obviously always loved my brother and my family. I've always loved them a lot! But the fact that it came so close to losing one of them made me much more appreciative of our Heavenly Father's plan.

In the July 2012 Ensign, President Deiter F. Uchtdorf said this:

Always In The Middle

“Yes, there will be moments of beginnings and moments of endings throughout our lives, but these are only markers along the way of the great middle of our eternal lives…Being always in the middle means that the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final. For no matter where we are or what our circumstances, an eternity of beginnings and an eternity of endings stretch out before us.”

In this case, Colin is lucky that his 'ending' is only that of the life of his truck. But that doesn't make it easier to realize that you now have no vehicle and that all of your moving away plans have drastically changed. The thing that makes it easier is knowing that Heavenly Father has a 'beginning' set in place for him.

It completely sucks that his vehicle is gone and I don't know what this new beginning will be for him. And I'm not saying it's going to be easy to have to ride his bike everywhere. (Although it will give him some nice buns!)

But life is a gift that we have received. And if we truly believe in the plan, than "the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final."

And that is a wondrous promise to have.

In a talk about Missionary work Jeffrey R. Holland makes a really good point about why our lives can be so difficult.

Missionary Work and the Atonement

“Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. Why would we believe, why would we think it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? ....

If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,” then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that.

Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.”

I have nothing but the deepest of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for saving my brothers life. It reassures me that Heavenly Father watches us and protects us and that he does have a plan for each of our lives.

We sometimes look at a situation and think "Why does God hate me?" But what we sometimes forget is that we are the human, we are the ones that sometimes make mistakes. Heavenly Father is the one who comes to share our burdens. He is the one who loves us, he is the one who created the plan.

I am so thankful that Colin is ok. I pray for my families safety and I know that Heavenly Father will not allow anything to happen to those I love unless it is part of His plan. And if something were to happen, as hard as it would be, I would know without a doubt that I could see them again.

And I end with the testimony of President Thomas S. Monson, October 2011 conference:

Until We Meet Again

"I bear testimony to you that this work is true, that our Savior lives, and that He guides and directs His Church here upon the earth. I leave with you my witness and my testimony that God our Eternal Father lives and loves us. He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real. May we realize and understand how close to us He is willing to come, how far He is willing to go to help us, how much He loves us and how much He does and is willing to do for us.

May He bless you. May His promised peace be with you now and always."