The 2848th Drop

Once upon a time there was a woman with a leaky faucet.  drip....drip....drip.... the drops fell consistently and endlessly.  The plumber wouldn't be there to fix it for another 30 minutes, and she didn't want to waste water, so she put a cup underneath the faucet.  drip....drip....drip.... the drops didn't seem to be amounting to much.  But she had nothing better to do, so she counted the drops.  drip...one...drip...two...drip... 2847 drips later, the plumber showed up to fix her leak.  She pulled the cup out of the sink to give him room to work.

She now had a cup full of water.  Time to celebrate.

As she looked at her cup of water and thought about how many drops of water it took to fill it.  Their combined effort made a great way to quench her thirst.  Together they made something great that no one drop could have done by themselves.

"Sounds like life," she muttered to herself, "we're not much good as individuals unless we work together."

The plumber overheard her musing.  "Pardon?" 

She motioned to the dripping faucet and then to the cup of water in her hand.  "This cup has 2827 drops of water in it," she explained and quickly waved away his bemused expression.  "But it doesn't really make a difference if there is 2826 drops or 2828.  It's the combined effort that makes the drink."  

The plumber nodded thoughtfully.  He looked at the leaky faucet and then looked back to the woman.  "No, they wouldn't make a difference because it's just ordinary water.  But one drop can make a big difference in that glass."  

She looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?  One more drop wouldn't make a big difference at all, even if it was the purest bottled water that you could find.  It still would be only one drop."  

A slight smile tugged at his lips.  "Wait right here," he said and he went back out to his car.  He returned with a grocery bag.  Without a word of explanation, he reached in and pulled out a little box.  And in that box was a little dropper filled with a blue liquid. "May I?" he asked with his hand extended.  The woman handed him the glass of water which he then set on the table.  

He lifted the dropper up and let one drop of blue food coloring fall into the glass.  It swirled down through the water, a startling contrast of solid blue amid the clear white.  The plumber quietly went back to work, letting the food dye speak for him.

The water was still the same volume, the one drop didn't change that aspect of it.  But in a few minutes, without any effort on anyone's part, the entire glass of water was tinted a light blue.

It was the 2848th drop, and with it, everything changed.

"There is power in the individual," he spoke as he worked.  "One person can make a difference.  The key is, they must rise from the ordinary and conventional, and become something greater.  When they master that, they can change everything."

The woman picked up her glass of 2848 drops with a smile.  Ordinary water had just become extraordinary to her, in more ways than just the color.  The plumber stood, the faucet fixed.  She shook his hand in gratitude.  

"Thank you."

He nodded with understanding in his eyes, picked up his grocery bag, and left.

The woman sipped at her blue-tinted water.  With a thoughtful look at the drink, she drank the rest of it, set the empty glass in the sink, and hurried out the door.  

It was time to do something more.

Footprints in the Snow

Have you ever walked in a snow storm where the snow is piled high?  Where it is bitterly cold, it's dark, and you have a difficult journey ahead of you?  Have you ever wanted to quit?  Give up?  Wait for a better time when the sun is shining and everything is perfect?

I've looked at the snow and I've felt discouraged.  The snow is too deep.  It'll get into my boots.  I'll get too tired.  I don't want to do it.  And just before I could admit to defeat at this insurmountable obstacle, my companion said "I'll go first and make a trail for you."

A trail to follow?

It is much easier to go stomping through the snow when someone else has gone the way before.

She led the way and broke through the challenge that so easily discouraged me.  With her footprints stretching out before me, it was much easier to get through the snow.  I still had effort that I needed to give, but she had already gone through the difficult part of it.  She showed me that it could be done, and gave me the courage I needed to walk the path myself.

There is someone else who has gone through it all before us.  Jesus Christ has walked the path of most resistance and won.  In Alma 7:11 it says "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." Christ has suffered everything that we have ever felt.  In doing so, he paved the way for us to walk.

Life is hard.  Often times it's dark and you don't know where to go.  It's easy to just want to give up, turn back, try again when things are in a prime condition.  But we can't.  We must keep going forward.  Sometimes it's dark, scary, cold, and it looks like there is a giant obstacle that makes the whole effort impossible.  In those times, remember that there was one who walked the way before you did.  One who broke through that wall and is beckoning to you to keep going.

The pathway is before you.  You can see it clearly through prayer, scripture study, and attending church.  You can feel peace near the temple.  You can find guidance in your life through the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost.  Take those first steps, and you will see clearly the steps that come after.  Life is not impossible because we have that path.  Take it, and don't deviate from it. 

Redeeming Your Gift Card: The Atonement

It's your birthday!  And you just got a card telling you congratulations on another year well lived.  Inside you find a little plastic card with a pretty picture on the front: a gift card!  With joy you leap up and wave your gift around!  Look how pretty it is!  It should be framed and put up on the wall!  For the next hour you play with your gift, giving each other back scratches, unlocking the door from the outside with it, cleaning underneath your nails, in cracks around the house.  You even play a little bit of finger foot ball with it.  Eventually you've had your fun and so you put the gift card in your wallet and forget you even got it in the first place.

A gift card well used.

 

Or is it?

 

What is the purpose of a gift card?  To buy things with.  You put money on the card and then use the card to gain other items of value.  It may have a pretty picture on it, or may be handy in a jam when you've lost your keys, but it wasn't created for that purpose.  The point is so that you can buy other things.

 

Christ's atonement is very much like a gift card.  He paid the price in full as he suffered in the garden and on the cross.  He paid the consequence of our sins so that we wouldn't have to.  While we can learn many great things from his suffering - like the importance of laying down our own will and doing the Father's, or how the greatest love a person can have is when they lay down their life for others - that was not the purpose of his atonement. 

He suffered so then he could understand every pain that we go through - and then can help us with the trials!  We can pray for help, understanding, and peace and he can give it to us!  How?  Because he has already gone through it.  Not only that, but he paid the price for our sins so then we can be made clean.  When we make a wrong choice we feel guilty, and that guilt tears us down.  Because of his atonement, we can be forgiven and we don't have to carry around that guilt anymore!  That is amazing!!

Yet through our lives we rarely use this gift that we've been given.  We honor Christ, revere him and remember his sacrifice, but how often do we actually use the gift he has given?  Do we repent daily of our sins?  Do we turn to him for understanding and peace?  Or do we turn to other sources to fill the gap in our hearts?

Christ is the only way we can find happiness in this life.  He has provided a way through his atonement for us to have peace.  There is no substitutions, no back roads.  I know that as you search for His help, you will find it.  So seek and find redemption through the mighty power of the atonement.

Let There Be Light

The first commandment that was ever recorded in scripture was "let there be light" (Genesis 1:3).  While it was spoken in reference to the creation of the world, it also applies to us.  What is this light?  It is the light of Christ.  "The Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:46)  Everyone has this light because it comes from our Father in Heaven.  How brightly we shine depends on what we do with it.  When we follow Christ's example of love, service, and charity, then our light shines brightly for all to see.  When we are disobedient, that light grows dim.

We may sometimes feel that our little efforts are too small to make a difference - too small to be noticed.  The truth is, even a small light makes a big difference in a room.  For example, go into a completely dark room, one with absolutely no light.  Then light a single birthday candle.  It is small compared to the great expanse of the room, and yet with it you can see the things around you.  It has the power to dispell the darkness and provide visibility.  

Even with all of the gunk that is going on in the world today, we can let our lights shine with goodness.  A simple smile, a friendly "hello", or even a sincere question of "how are you doing today?" makes a big difference when life seems dark and dreary.  You don't need to do big things to make a difference.

Some lights are put on candlesticks and put in the middle of the room for all to see and admire.  Others are placed in the corners.  It's easy to forget those corner candles, but what a difference it makes!  It chases away the shadows that like to linger in the corners of the room and creates a warmer, nicer atmosphere to be in.  

This also parallels our lives.  Some people are in the middle of attention, and many people praise them for their good works - their light.  Others may be doing similar things, but might not be noticed for their efforts.  It's easy in those moments to feel discouraged, that you're not good enough to be put in the middle, or your light is not important.  Please, do not let your light grow dim because you think it's not important.  Your efforts are very much needed!  Do good works no matter where you are, and do your best in every situation.  It won't always be front and center, but it will always be worthwhile.

Every person is different, and so is every candle.  Some people go the extra 3 miles to get a job done, while others slide by with minimum effort.  Some candles are big and last for hours and hours before they finally admit defeat.  Others, like birthday candles, come and go in a matter of minutes.  We need to build ourselves up to last through anything.  We must become consistent in our efforts - and that takes time and effort.  

 

Think of the way that candles were made in the past, they didn't fill molds with wax, they started with a single string and dipped it into the wax.  Layer after layer after layer they had to work to get a single candle formed.  This is parallel to our lives, we don't become great in one dazzling moment, but by our daily actions we build up our character until we become someone who will last through anything. "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (Doctrine and Covenants 50:24)

Now, certainly there is opposition in all things.  There are many people who don't want us to let our light shine and do good works.  We ourselves might be terrified of letting people see who we "really are".  In Matthew 5 it talks about how men don't put a light under a bushel.  I think an equally good analogy is putting your light under a cup.

 

Why?

Because when you put a cup on top of a candle, something happens to that light: it dies.  As it uses up the oxygen, the light grows dimmer and dimmer until it finally goes out.  The flame is gone, leaving nothing more than a partially glowing stub as the final memory that something used to be there.

This is also true about us.  When we hide our light and hold back on doing good, we're not just simply keeping others from seeing the good, our own light and capabilities diminish with it.  Our light grows when we share it.  When we do good, we become more able to do more.  So don't shy away from doing something good!

Whenever it's time to light the candles on a birthday cake, there is really only one way to do it (or at least only one way that I've ever done): You light one candle with the match, and then you use that candle to light all of the others.  The candle isn't diminished because of this, it still burns happily even as the flame multiplies from one candle to 9 flickering flames. 

This is another benefit to us sharing our light and doing good works.  It not only makes the world a brighter and better place, but it also inspires others to do the same.  There is a quote in my room that says "your spark could turn into a flame and change everything".  Our one act of good can set off a chain of events where another person does a good deed, and then another, and then another.  We are not lessened by the experience, in fact quite the opposite.  When we share our light, others will share theirs. 

Our light comes from the light of Christ, and when we shine brightly, we are pointing the way to His eternal light.  It creates a path for others to follow, so then they can travel in safety.  Robert D Hales said,

“Have you ever stopped to think that perhaps you are the light sent by Heavenly Father to lead another safely home or to be a beacon from a distance to show the way back to the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life? Your light is a beacon and should never stop burning or mislead those who are looking for a way home. Let the lower lights keep burning—you may save a struggling seaman in the turbulent sea of life.”

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) There are a lot of good things that we can and ought to do in this life.  There are many reasons why we should, but the most important thing to remember is to do it.  Let your light shine; don’t hold it back for any reason.  Share your good works, share your testimony, share your light.  You were made to shine brightly, for you are a child of God.

Basil Plants and the Process of Pruning

Last year, I was given several packets of seeds.  Through the process of elimination (meaning I need to work on having a green thumb), only one of the seeds survived to be called a “plant”.  Thus began the life of my basil plant.  Over the months I’ve kept it in the sunlight and gave it water.  As a reward, it has grown up tall and strong and I’ve even used a couple of the basil leaves to flavor my cooking. 

A few months ago, I looked at my cute little basil plant and noticed something: it was growing flowers!  :D  How cute!  I didn’t know that basil plants did that!  They were cute little white flowers.  I was very pleased with my plant.  As time continued to progress, however, I noticed that it was no longer producing basil leaves.  The flowers quickly died, leaving little green bushes that smelt funny.  Not a very helpful thing to do.

As I looked at my basil plant, I wondered what to do.  It was growing, and that was good, but it was no longer producing the leaves that I wanted.  It wasn’t fulfilling its purpose.  I didn’t want to simply throw it out – not after the effort I had put into it – but what could be done?  An idea came to my mind that I needed to trim it down.  Like rose bushes need to be pruned to produce more roses, maybe my little basil plant needed a little snip to produce the basil leaves.

Out came the scissors. 

I hoped that the plant wouldn’t die from the abuse.

It no longer had flowers; it just looked like a stick in a pot of dirt.  But I continued to leave it in the sunlight and give it water with the hopes that something good would come from it.  A few days passed and I looked at my plant again.  To my joy, I saw that it was producing little green leaves.  Basil leaves!  It worked!  The pruning had helped the plant to grow leaves instead of flowers!  Success!

As I thought about this experience, I remembered the story about “The Currant Bush” by Elder Hugh B. Brown.  In it he talks about the same thing, about cutting down a currant bush so then it would produce berries again.  He then talks about when he was denied a higher position in the military and how he was glad that he was cut down to size.

Our lives are like these stories.  We may have an idea of where we want to go and what we want to do that might not be the best use of our time and energy.  The basil plant produced cute flowers, to be sure, but it wasn’t growing what it was intended to grow.  You don’t grow a basil plant for pretty flowers, you grow it to use the leaves as herbs.

God knows perfectly our talents and abilities and he knows what we need to do to have the most success in our lives.  When we start going off in the wrong direction, he will send us into a situation that might “prune” us.  He does this because he knows our needs better than we do.  We need to trust that he sees things more clearly than we do.

Now, it hurts.  I’m sure my little basil plant didn’t like looking like just a stick in some dirt.  It hurts when people don’t recognize your value or you are denied an opportunity that you want so desperately.  It’s hard to be cut down – especially when you’re sure you’re in the right.  So what do you do when you come across that kind of a situation in your life? 

 

While there are many reactions you could (and most people do) have such as anger, frustration, depression, sorrow, and a desire to give up on everything, what is the right reaction that will bring the most happiness and progression into our lives?  In answering this question, we can look at the greatest example of being cut down in the entire universe: Jesus Christ.

 

Never before or since has there been someone so great and so powerful as our Lord and Savior, and never before has someone gone through so much pain suffering and ridicule as he.  What did he do in the midst of all of this hardship?  He humbly and meekly suffered through it.  He didn't turn away from his course, he accepted all that he was called to bear.  So too must we do. 

 

It does hurt, and it is hard, but more importantly it is worth it to stick it out.  We will grow from the experience and we will fulfill our potential as the Lord sees fit.

Pocket Change on the Carpet

I love change.

Change is a good thing.

You can keep it in your pocket and it makes a nice jangle whenever you walk.

You count yourself lucky when you stumble across an extra penny - or better yet a quarter.

Change is nice.  Change is good.  I love it.

I also happen to love sarcasm, in case you can't tell.

A little while ago I found a penny.  A penny from 1955.  Old and worn it sat on the carpet like any old forgotten penny would.  As I looked at it, I thought about all of the changes that have happened between 1955 and now.  A lot has happened, and I barely know a hundredth of it.  This penny has been through it all.

I wondered about how many different people have held this penny.  How many things has it been used to pay for?  What states has it traveled?  If this penny had ears to hear and a mouth to speak, what would it say?  What conversations would it have overheard?  What kind of conditions has it been through?  How much would this little bit of change teach me from over the years?

It's a nice thought.

Then my mind turned to the present.  A lot of change has happened in the past year.  I'm sure I don't even understand the thousandth part of it.  More change looms in the future.  And quite honestly, I don't like it.  I'm scared.  I'm frustrated.  And I'm a little bit angry.  Things are good as they are, so why change it? 

The answer comes as I soften my heart (and my pride) until I am open to receive the answer: because it takes change to make good things better.  It takes change to make better things become best.  I am not at the end of my progression.  There is still more I need to learn and do.  I'm not done yet.  God is in control of the changes that come my way, and they are changes that will be beneficial.

A little bit of change can go a long way.  I love quarters.  They make me smile.

Change is in the air, and with it comes the promise of a better tomorrow.  If I will simply face it, accept it, live it, and love it like a 1955 penny on the carpet, then it will help me grow.

Hold your breath.

Because here it comes.