So, we're weathering a couple of storms over at our house. And I know you are weathering some storms at your house. I know this because that's how life goes. Houses flood. Cars break down. People disappoint us. We disappoint them. And I, for one, do not like it. Do you know what I like? I like smooth sailing, good news, happy people, appliances that work perfectly- always, basically me bon voyaging through life.
Instead, we have occasional super awesome amazing days with lots of crazy other days. One of the things that's making me crazy right now is trying to register my mother's car. This is a long, whiny story, but it illustrates a principle. There are a few things required to register a car in the great state of GA, not a million things, just a few. Why is this so hard?
1. Title-In January Mom directed me to her safe and provided the combination. Unfortunately the safe was old, and the combination no longer worked. Coincidentally (miraculously) a friend was able to remove the door with his tools so the title was acquired. Crisis averted. Should be easy from here.
2. Driver's license-this includes birth certificate and marriage license which were on the moving truck which was supposed to come the end of January, but instead came the end of March. We ordered another birth certificate, but when trying to order the marriage certificate we were told by 3 counties that they didn't have it. For the record, it was in Salt Lake County (the first place we called).
3. Emissions certificate was obtained in January but expired while we waited for the marriage license. By the time the marriage license came, the car battery was dead. My husband replaced the battery. When he went in to get another certificate, he was told that he had to drive the car 100 miles with the new battery before they could issue another certificate. Mind you, we were to drive 100 miles without car registration. Basically, we were driving around trying to avoid the po po.
4. GA insurance. I was informed that Nationwide is not really nation wide. We needed insurance from GA. We got new insurance. A month later I received an email saying that I had not supplied proof of previous insurance. (I had emailed it to them.) On the phone they said they would reinstate the insurance and they were sorry for the inconvenience. Today, June 3, I went again to try and register the car. I was told that our insurance policy was not in the GA data base. This was the 3rd visit to DDS in 3 months.
I did not feel sweet. I was angry and resentful because of my bad experience and had a sense of unjust treatment. I managed to not take it out on the DDS employee, but I was thinking up all kinds of threats in my mind for the insurance people. In the cooling down process, I have recalled some truths that I believe.
Richard G. Scott said, "God loves us more than our happiness." We also know that "Man is that he might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25 The hard part is trusting that the trials we encounter, ranging from inconvenient to excruciating, can land us in a joyful place. Obviously, we need to make the best choices we can to minimize upsets, but living in this mortal world as a mortal can be tricksy. From up close, sometimes it seems like life is really falling apart. But judging from the mountains in Yosemite, the bays and beaches in Hawaii, roses, fireflies, hummingbirds, butterflies, and sweet little chubby babies, God is a very good planner, and if we "Walk uprightly and be believing all things will work together for our good." Doctrine and Covenants 90:20
Since God created us, he knows all about what humans are capable of. He knows what he wants us to be and he knows how to get us there. He also knows that we have to choose. We have to choose to trust him and obey him and love him and try again when we do it wrong and call on the name of Jesus Christ for grace and mercy. In short he wants us to change into someone pure and beautiful and full of love and other Christlike qualities, one of which is patience.
God wants his children to be like him and have the joy that he has. I think about what I do to help my children change. If I want my children to become strong I might have them stack wood or some other strenuous, long lasting task, but they don't like it. If I want them to learn the law of the harvest, I have them plant and weed and water a garden, but they don't like it. If I want them to learn to be obedient, I give them rules and consequences, and they don't like it, but I don't care. I love them and I know they'll thank me later.
So, if my Heavenly Father wanted to help me be more patient, wouldn't it be perfect to have me encounter obstacle after obstacle in trying to accomplish a potentially simple task? I can be angry and learn the long slow way, or I can be flexible and try again and look for lessons to learn and accept the opportunities to change and improve and trust that things will work for good.
Which leads me to the title of this post. This is a powerful little principle that my daughter taught me. Just as Jesus was humble and obedient in His trial and said, "Not my will, but thine be done." We can trust in God and his love and plan for us to change and grow and then serve him even better. We don't need to become bitter when we drink the bitter cup or cups that are a crucial part of this beautiful process we call life. In fact "we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him." Hel 12:1 "The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." So when I don't get what I want right now, even though it's an excellent idea if I may say so myself, I will try not be angry or resentful. I will be sweet and flexible and trust that I'm going to love the ending to my story.
PS. I got the car registered.
1 comment:
Laurie, you are a superstar with a good attitude to boot. That was a perfect way to describe life and how to learn and grow. Where did you come from anyway! It'a about time that you got that stinking registration. Sometimes the word stinking does help.
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