In
life we are asked to bloom where
we are planted. That is to say
that we need to be part of what we our community and environment is. We have a
unique opportunity to give something to our place of living that no one else
can; ourselves. In my home state, we talk a lot of our forefathers who blazed
the trails and created cities; it didn’t start like that. We as a
people started stuck in out old ways. We were neither trail blazers nor earth
movers.
Persecution caused us to stand tall or fall. For some, it was the
later. We didn’t catch the vision of what we could become and were all too complacent
to stay where we were. The Lord moved us
and we created cities and societies that shaped the American continent. To this
day, we, the children of a great people enjoy the hard work that was done by so
few.
For
some the names are forgotten, their name is a street sign or a park. For others
though, their stories are told at family home evening and the excitement of
their lives of where they were planted by the Lord is invigorating and
inspiring. For me in this life it has been a real experience. When I served the
Lord in the early ‘90’s, I am increasingly grateful that he asked me to move
very little (I served in three areas). As time moved on he asked me to move
more and more frequently. I now work in a job that has me moving as fast as a
week to as long as a month. I get little time to be with my beloved wife and
children. I almost feel like the soldiers
and missionaries of ancient and modern times who see little of their families.
There
in this calling of life I have learned that I need to find where I am planted;
what is my calling in my ward that is 200 to 700 miles away? How can I serve my
wife and children as their father and husband? To these questions I have wrestled with the
Lord to know my place in the world and in his plan. I have been blessed to give
blessings to brothers and sisters, give money to the poor and needy, and
receive opportunities to be at the temples of the Lord in many parts of the
country. For my family though I feel that I am lacking. While I am a provider
to my family and work hard to produce a product that is used by everyone who
owns a cell phone, I feel that I do not produce a product that can be used for
my family’s soul. I struggle to keep a strong relationship with my kids and
wife and though there is various avenues of communication there is nothing like
having your son sit on your lap and rest his head on your chest.
Here
and now my calling is to be a blogger (it’s not an official calling by the ward
but…) I take the role very seriously. It grounds me and keeps my skill as a
writer strong and well practiced. It has opened opportunities to meet a lot of
people and talk about some great experiences. I am still looking for a chance to combine my
skill and my home life because I think that it will soon be time to be a dad
that is home more than on the road. I pray daily to know the path so I can be
planted at home. One day I will make it but in the meantime I will work hard
where I am planted.
Image is found here.
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