Caught in a Whirlwind

At church on Sunday, I was kind of feeling overwhelmed by everything. I was there with my little ones while my husband was at home recovering from having his tonsils out. If you know our family, well, it's been a tough 4 years as far as medical things are concerned. Each of us has our trials and each of us has to learn to get through them. One thing chemo taught me was that you get to go through your trials, not around them, and that was the best thing for me. So there I was on Sunday trying to figure out the best way to get through this trial. I knew I wanted to be at church even though I would have preferred a nap at that point. I hoped that the Lord would somehow ease my burden. Then in Sunday School the teacher shared this scripture as she was comparing their War with our fight again the influence of Satan. She said that the rest of the Nephite Army started to take notice of the Stripling Warriors - they had not lost one soul. Why? As you read through Chapter 58, the answers are clear and there are many. But the thing that stuck out to me at this time was this:

But behold, they have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually; and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come.

Even though they had received many wounds, they stood fast and were strict to remember the Lord and kept his commandments.

I thought of the Armor of God and how my armor must be full of dents and dings. But I have been protected spiritually by trying to follow the Lord. It kind of put things in perspective for me.

Then to really reinforce things on my way home from church as I drove home with my two little ones (Tyler was at home recovering from having his tonsils out) we were struck by the largest and fastest dirt devil I have ever seen. The dirt clumps were the size of a softball and it really rocked the car and scared the kids. But things were okay other than all the hay stuck in every crack. Each night we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with our little ones. This night we happened to read:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the Rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty Storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. - Helaman 5:12

and I couldn't help but think that the Lord had heard my prayer and answered it. I underlined and wrote down the things those scriptures said to do. It's been great to refer back to. This not only brought me peace, but it strengthened my testimony of church attendance and nightly family scripture study. What a wonderful experience!