I found that writing and tracking so many thoughts from each weeks lesson became too daunting.. so I stopped. Various things prompted me to try again, but each time I tried the sheer volume tripped me up and I would give up. I was working on adding some quotes and realized what I needed to do different, focus on one or two thoughts per week. So let's give this another shot
And we did follow the directions of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.
1 Nehpi 16:16
This seems to be a common theme in the scriptures. Life is hard, it is meant to be hard, but wow is it hard. I have spent more hours thinking about how to cope and make it through challenges than pretty much any other life topic. So many of my favorite quotes touch on this very topic. The thing I like about this verse is that Nephi acknowledges up front that they are traveling and being lead through the wilderness. However even as he is traveling this hard road he can see that the Lord is leading him to the more fertile parts. They may not paradise, and frankly may not be all that pleasant, but they are better the best places around. It is important that as we wander our own wilderness of life to realize that even in the worst challenges, if we trust in God he will make sure we have the more fertile places to rest and charge up a bit before we trek back into the wilderness for yet another day's travels. The trick is to recognize and thank him for these little miracles and blessings along the way.
