Love it! #1: Found an article this morning that floats my boat. Focusing on the Problems May be the Problem by H. Wallace Goddard.
Love it! #2: Yesterday I had the privilege to attend a new missionary orientation session at the MTC with my southern cousins as they bid their youngest son farewell for two years, and to watch the plain and exquisite love of families when time for saying goodbye came. Because I wasn't so emotionally caught up as the rest of the family in our elder's departure, I was somewhat free to look around at the other people present who were also kissing and hugging and openly weeping and bathing one another with endearments and encouragements. I'm not sure when I last saw something so touching. The great majority of people in that room were there for a single reason: love. It thrilled me to witness so much raw evidence of honest health, loving devotion, and apparent sacrifice. I thought to myself, How many spots are there like this in the world where such a scene takes place? What a concentration of (undoubtedly imperfect but nevertheless) sincere, caring families--fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, siblings, even some grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins--rallying around the cause of giving and sharing, not only to their own families but also to faraway strangers. I wish I could post my mental movie here. What a gorgeous sight it was.
6 comments:
My brother is serving in Brazil right now, this post made my tear ducts move to action. Missionaries and their families sacrfice their most precious posessions, each other, for the service of others. I love the gospel.
I used to go to those MTC things whenever I could for that same exact reason--it is beautiful and it buoyed me up often. Hey, Wallace Goddard wrote a couple of article for Meridian back in 1999 which led me to make a life- altering decision about marriage (you may recall the time...). He's great! Love you!
That MTC farewell is powerful stuff. It always makes me bawl like a baby. I think I did better when I was the missionary than when I'm waving a missionary good-bye.
As to part one--I'm going to start focusing on the solutions instead of the problems. Good perspective.
p.s. I've been meaning to thank you for going back to read and share your sweet and insightful comments on all of my latest posts.
Come back, Georgia! I miss you!
When I read the MTC thing my own mental movies of my two missionaries (one son, one daughter) replayed with perfect clarity. There is nothing quite like it...something akin to flight I suppose... room(s) filled with the elevating, enveloping spirit of love. Thanks for writing this, reminding me.
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