stormy seas.

           

Hi. Well I fell off the planet for a solid two months. But I had good reason to. There have been a million things I’ve wanted to write about, but I just kept getting hit with wave after wave of...well, hard. I love this blog, I know that I’m its number one fan, and that’s okay. Maybe my best friend liza, or my mom will take a peek at it sometimes. But it is so therapeutic for me to write. It gives clarity to my thoughts swimming in my brain.

Regardless, let’s get to the point. Even though there are many points I wanted to catch up on. The most important one are these “waves” I was just talking about. So, this little analogy, that I’m now obsessed with, came out of getting dumped back in November. I think it’s really applicable to that situation, but it actually applies to so many situations. So here it goes, hopefully it makes a twinkling of sense.

After I was dumped, it knocked me off my feet. I was so confused. I didn’t see it coming in the slightest. The night it happened, I just felt like the dust of the earth. I felt weak. And downtrodden. I begged Heavenly Father to just give me something—anything. So I cracked open my Book of Mormon and there was the Book of Ether, chapter 2.

{context: the Jaredites are preparing for a sea journey to the promised land}

vs. 5

“And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions wither they should travel.”

vs. 6

“And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord.”

vs. 7

 “And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.”

So, before I begin. Let’s think about this situation. God is telling you to build a boat. A boat that has no windows. And you are supposed to get in there with your family, animals, and supplies. Then you are supposed to launch this boat into the ocean and just hope and pray that God is going to deliver this little cubicle to some promised land. Let’s be real...how would I probably respond? Hell no. (excuse me). But seriously, think about it. Could you imagine how crazy you would go in a dark boat, not knowing where you are or how far you had to go? I would probably jump ship. Luckily, God knew I couldn’t handle being a Jaredite. Except, here’s the thing—God has actually asked all of us to trust him, and get in these dark little boats. Whether we like it or not, we are in the same situation as the Jaredites. Our boats are just custom tailored differently for each of us. On the largest scale, we jumped in our boats to travel throughout life. Life can be a scary place at times. It’s confusing. It’s stormy. It can be a lot of things. But we can take faith, because we know that the Lord will go before us, directing our little boats called our lives, “continually”.  Another interesting note is that it is actually the storms that guided them to their destination. Similarly, the storms we encounter in our lives are what actually force us to grow, to become, and to arrive at a happier state of being. Additionally, God isn’t going to let us jump ship before we reach the Promised Land. I can imagine, that I would have, and I have, complained about being dragged through a stormy sea. Sometimes I just want to be left alone for a minute, I am tired of being tested. Thankfully, we have a Father who loves us far too much to let us out the easy way. God wants what is best for us, he wouldn’t let us settle for anything less than the Promised Land...so he keeps us on the boat, and doesn’t let us “stop beyond the sea in the wilderness”, but makes us wait till we have truly arrived.

Now, to apply to dating. Dating is it’s own little dark Jaredite ship. We get tossed around on the sea, and it’s sort of terrible sometimes. We all think we want to get off the dating ship as soon as we can, but for some of us, we have to stay on the boat until the right Promised Land rolls around. Take faith in the notion that God wouldn’t let you settle for something less than the best. And with every storm, you are becoming, and growing closer to your final destination.

Regardless, (sometimes I feel like dating is a little shallow of a topic...) I think the principle applies to everything. So, what I'm trying to say, is I'm thankful for the storms. But I'm more thankful to know the purpose and the big picture behind all the waves.