On Connection and Service

For the last couple years, I have felt like I have been learning a lot about people. My ideas about the way I view others has totally changed. I feel like it has been God helping to change my heart, but I don’t really know that I have the words to adequately explain this change.

Growing up I felt that part of my mission in life was to spread love to others. I loved the idea in theory and it shaped a lot of my decisions in life. I often was able to spread that love, but I did not realize that there were beliefs that shadowed that idea at times. There were times that, because of ignorance or blind judgment, I let my views get in the way of loving someone. This became slightly apparent to me with some roommates of mine in college, or with companions on my mission. But somehow, I still didn’t fully realize this weakness I had until much more recently.

I’m not quite sure when this discovery began. Maybe it began as I moved to a bigger city with a job that gave me more opportunities to serve and meet people with many different backgrounds and lifestyles. Maybe it came as I read books about people with different cultures or lifestyles from me and I had to confront and change some unconscious biases. Maybe it came because of my own experiences of making mistakes and learning to forgive and love myself. In the end, I think it was probably a combination of all of these things.

So, here's what I feel that I have learned.

Over the last couple years I have learned more and more that people are good. I have learned that there is not just one form of goodness, but many. I have learned, as Brené Brown teaches in her book, Rising Strong, that most, if not all of us are doing our very best, and that we should expect to see that in others (p. 118). I have learned that the best way to love people is to leave judgment to God. To realize that it really doesn’t matter to me what other people do or believe, but that I should share God’s love with them. If I truly believe in a God of mercy, I should share that mercy with others and I should try to see the best in them. I have learned that everyone has a past and that we don’t always understand where they are coming from, but that we should believe that they are doing what is most rational to them. I have also learned that when someone is doing something I may believe is wrong, that what they need, is still my unconditional love. They need to know that I love them for who they are, not what they do. Love the sinner, but not the sin, right? Well, I believe that’s exactly what that means. It means that we honestly don’t let the sin of the sinner get in the way of our loving them. And aren’t we all sinners, am I right? Don’t we all do things that we aren’t proud of, but still hope for and yearn for love and acceptance from others? And I have learned that most of the time, loving and serving others is more important than judging them.

A huge influence on this subject for me has been Chieko Okazaki. She was formerly a member of the General Relief Society Presidency of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She writes a lot about the way we love in the gospel. Her perspective is such a breath of fresh air. In one instance she writes:  

"When we recognize a difference between ourselves and our lives and our choices and those of another woman [or man], we do not need to say, 'Hmm, who is right? She or I? Is she better than I am? Is she worse than I am? Who is being righteous here?' No, all we need to do when we recognize the difference is to simply say, 'This is a difference. That's interesting.' There are no 'shoulds' or 'oughts'. There's just 'interesting'. And that frees the other sister to look at your differences and to say in turn, 'That's interesting.'" What a Friend We Have in Jesus, p. 46

As I’ve been learning and reading about parenthood, Jon and I read a book called Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn. This book rejects the idea that punishment is good. Instead, it talks about how we should believe that what our children are doing is rational to them and that we should try to understand things from their frame of mind, instead of just scolding them for doing what is wrong. We should get down to their level and treat them like rational human beings and then we should help them understand why we want them to do things in a different way. But we should do that through words and actions, instead of through punishment that shows a decrease of love. I think this idea also applies to other aspects of adult life. For example, think of a time when you did something you weren't proud of. When that happened, you may have felt embarrassed or ashamed. You also may have desperately hoped others would be forgiving and understanding of that mistake. But as adults do we always react this way to others? Not really. We often punish them by judging or blaming them and then by letting that one instance define them from then on. But in that moment what that person really needs is our love and our understanding. That will help them to be able to move on and to change and let their past go. The opposite response leads to shame and causes both parties to distance themselves from the other.

Of course there are circumstances of abuse and suffering that defy these ideas, and I do not condone those acts. In these instances people often need to separate themselves from those causing those acts. And I do not claim to understand what it is like to experience suffering or abuse nor do I claim that love and forgiveness is easy in those circumstances. But what I am speaking about here is that loving people that do things we don't agree with will require effort and change on our part.

In my job as a nurse of cancer patients I have noticed that it’s easy to love the people that I serve. It’s easy to see good in them. In spending time with them, I am learning more about who these people are and what they are going through. I have found that the deeper I know someone, the easier it is to love and understand them. I think that is partly because I know better what their life circumstances are and what they are going through. 

Jesus taught us about judging others when he said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Matt. 7:1-5

Why judge others when our own faults keep us from seeing other people for who they really are?

I loved the talk given by Robert C. Gay, from the October 2018 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, entitled "Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ". He speaks of his sister and how he had judged her choices most of his life. On the night before she died, he felt the Lord was chastising him. "I was made acutely aware of her goodness and allowed to see her as God saw her--not as someone who struggled with the gospel and life but as someone who had to deal with difficult issues that I did not have. I saw her as a magnificent mother who, despite great obstacles, had raised four beautiful, amazing children. I saw her as the friend to our mother who took time to watch over and be a companion to her after our father passed away."

Later Elder Gay also shared this: 

"Can any one of you imagine our Savior letting you and your burdens go unnoticed by Him? The Savior looked upon the Samaritan, the adulterer, the tax collector, the leper, the mentally ill, and the sinner with the same eyes. All were children of His Father. All were redeemable. Can you imagine Him turning away from someone with doubts about their place in God’s kingdom or from anyone afflicted in any manner? I cannot. In the eyes of Christ, each soul is of infinite worth. No one is preordained to fail. Eternal life is possible for all." 

I've been amazed at the thought that Jesus Christ, the one who knows all aspects of our circumstances and is the only one who truly can judge us, always loves us unconditionally. Why shouldn't we try to spread some of that love we receive from Him to others?

As this idea of love has grown, I have felt that maybe just loving others better is not enough. I have felt a greater desire to serve others. I have felt that it is very important to make sure that I not only serve people that are similar to me, but people that are different than I am. One of those opportunities came as Jon and I felt inspired to "adopt" a refugee family through Catholic Community Services, along with a group of people from our neighborhood. We were paired with a family from the Democratic Republic of Congo and fell in love with them almost immediately. We showed them how to use public transportation, how to buy groceries, helped them find jobs, and in turn have learned so much from them. Through my imperfect offering of love and service, my love and appreciation for them just grew and grew. Learning about their culture and their background and their goodness through that experience changed my heart. They have become some of our deepest friends and favorite people. It made me want to go deeper in my connection to others.

Something that Sharon Eubank shared in a devotional from January 2018 really stuck out to me. She said that in humanitarian work, we are the gift. Not our goods, not our money, but us. Spending quality time with others and providing that friendship and human connection is often more important than anything else we can give. In the past I have thought of service as tying quilts or putting together humanitarian packages. While these are wonderful and noble causes, I think there is a greater service to be given, and that is when we share ourselves, our light, our love with others, face to face. 

Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, and a civil rights lawyer who has worked extensively with the prison population, gave a forum at Brigham Young University on October 30, 2018. In this forum, he shared "We have to get proximate to the poor and the excluded...Most of us were raised that if there's a bad part of town that we should stay as far away from the bad part of town as possible. Today I'm going to argue the opposite. I believe that we need to get closer to the people and the bad parts of town and the places where there's abuse and neglect and despair and violence. I believe we have to get proximate to truly reflect on what it means to be an agent of change, to show God's grace and mercy in places where there has been a lot of hostility and violence. There is power in proximity....When we allow ourselves to be far away from the poor we don't hear the things we need to hear. We don't see the things we need to see."

Later he said, "We've got to be willing to do things that are uncomfortable and inconvenient. We cannot change the world, we cannot create more justice, if we insist on only doing what's comfortable and convenient....Change only happens when good people make the choice to do the uncomfortable....I believe we will be judged by how we treated the poor, the abused, and the neglected."

My take away from all that I've learned is that our love is so needed in the world. Our kindness and understanding will help heal hearts and build bridges. And that's what I want to spend my time doing: healing hearts and building bridges, not walls.

I guess why I am writing this in part is because these are things I need to hear again and again. Because love and service aren't always comfortable. But it is right. And I want to find more ways to wear out my life in service to others (D&C 123:13). I want to help change this world into a more loving, accepting, kind place. I want to make more of a difference. I don't want to pass up opportunities to serve anymore. I want to find those opportunities and give my whole heart to them. I am still learning what that looks like in my life, but I know that if I am to do God's work, these ideas need to become a part of who I am. 

Jack

On December 5, 2018 at 9:51 pm our son Jack Andre Hardy was born. What a miracle he is! We are absolutely in love with him and his sweet personality. It's amazing how much love you can feel for such a tiny human.

During the delivery the Spirit was so strong. We knew we were so close to meeting this precious son of God who would change our world dramatically. We also felt as if there were other beings in the room besides just Jon, the medical staff, and me. I felt so strengthened through the labor process and was completely in awe of what abilities God gave to women's bodies. At one point, after laboring for 12 hours, we thought I may need to have a C-section. I still had not fully dilated and things weren't progressing. We had both of our families praying for us. The last time the doctor came in he decided to try pushing, even though I still hadn't progressed to 10 cm. We pushed and 45 minutes later, Jack was born. He weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz., which I felt was huge for my body. He truly was a miracle! Haha. 

Jack was so alert and so calm. And in most ways, he has stayed that way. At 10 days old, he is so curious and seems to just be taking everything in. He smiles all the time, and though I know it's not a social smile (that doesn't happen until at least 6 weeks old), it's the sweetest thing in the world. He loves cuddling. He loves being outside. He really just blesses our lives so much. I am trying to cherish this time of newborn snuggles and not having more priorities than just taking care of this sweet baby. I'll admit that it's been an adjustment, but I truly am cherishing the time I have with this sweet boy. I hope more than anything that Jack feels so loved and so safe with us. And that we can continue to keep him alive. ;)

It has been amazing to have a baby at Christmastime. I feel like I am learning so much about the Savior and the Atonement through my experience of becoming a mother. As Jeffrey R. Holland has stated, "No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child"(Behold Thy Mother, General Conference Oct. 2015). It's amazing how God blesses you with this ability to love someone so much that you would give up so many comforts and sleep and still want to keep giving more and more. And then I think of how the Savior has done the same, and more, for each of us. And how we can rely on Him for strength as we try to learn to become more like Him. I've also thought a lot of Mary and how she must have felt giving birth to and raising the Savior of the world. How faithful she must have been. And Joseph as well, to have trusted enough to give up his reputation to marry Mary and father this sacred child. Lastly, I thought of how the Savior so humbly came to this earth as we all do, so innocent and so dependent on others. Watching our sweet boy, I can't imagine that such a powerful being would condescend to come to earth as a small baby. 

A couple weeks before Jack was born, I wrote him a letter. I hope to give it to him one day, but for now, I simply want to remember all the emotions of anticipation and all the hopes that I had for him. We have so much to teach him and so much love to share with him. 

                                                                                                                November 14, 2018

Dear Jack,

It’s a few weeks until your due date and I have been anticipating the day you would join our family for a while. This morning I spent about a half hour just sitting in your room and dreaming of what it would be like to be your mom. I cannot wait to meet you! I feel like I already have a connection to you because of the time we’ve spent together with you inside me. I love feeling you move and trying to communicate with you. I hope you know my voice. I hope you know your dad’s voice too. We try to talk to you often and tell you how much we love you. Let that love sink in because it’s real.

Sometimes when I think about you I start to cry because I already love you so much! It was harder than we initially thought to get you here, and it took me longer than I thought to become your mom, but I know you are coming at the exact time that Heavenly Father wants you to. And that’s part of what I want to talk to you about.

One thing I want you to know about is God. I want you to know that not only do you have your dad and me, who love you so much, but you have a Heavenly Father who loves you even more than we do, if that is even possible. He knows who you are. You are His precious son. He will always love you, no matter what you do, just as will your mom and dad. He will always be someone you can turn to when you need help. Your mom and dad want to help you and support you always, but God can do that way better than even we can. Please believe in Him and get to know Him. We will teach you how to pray and about the scriptures and about God’s plan for all of us. It is the most important information you will learn in this life.

There’s so much more I want to teach you. I want you to know who you are. I want you to be confident in yourself. I want you to learn to unconditionally love, although I’m sure you’ll teach us more about love than we may ever be able to teach you. I want you to learn that people are good and that they deserve our love and compassion. Serving other people will make you so happy.

I want you to learn about how joyful the world can be. I want to share with you my favorite things, like mountains and hiking, chocolate and cheese, music and dancing, laughing, reading, traveling, and spending time with others. There is so much goodness the world has to offer and we are so blessed to get to experience it here.

I want you to enjoy learning. There is so much knowledge you can gain in this world that will make you a better person. Learning about other peoples and cultures will help you be more understanding and kind. It will help you to connect with others more. Learning will also help you to greater understand the complexity of the world. It will help you be humble and teachable because you will realize that you will never quite understand everything.

I hope you feel safe and loved as you grow. Know that you will make mistakes, but so will mom and dad. We will teach you to say sorry for those mistakes and we will always forgive you. We will also say sorry when we do something wrong and we hope you can forgive us and see that we are just trying our best to love and care for you. I hope the safety and love that you feel will help you to share that safety and love with others. We are all here to help each other. That’s what life is all about.

There is so much more I want to teach you, but that will come with time. Above all, know that you are precious. You are wanted and you are needed in this world. And you are never alone.

Love you forever,

Mom

Who is Christ to me?

Happy Summer! We are well into summer and Jon and I are enjoying our time in Portland. Jon loves his internship and we feel very blessed to be in such a beautiful place. We also announced recently that we are expecting our first child who will be due in December 2018. This has been such a blessing in our life and we thank Heavenly Father every day for such a gift! In a couple weeks we will find out the gender, but for now, we’re relishing in all the new challenges and growth (literally) that come with pregnancy and later with parenthood.

Recently, a friend reached out to me who is in the midst of a super inspiring project. She is interviewing her friends with a bunch of different questions, but they all center on the idea of “Who is Christ to you?”, and she asked me to be a part of the project. I was a little intimidated and hoped I could give her answers that would be worthwhile.

The night before we met up for breakfast to talk about her project and my answers, I decided to spend just a little time thinking about what I wanted to share. That experience I had that night and thoughts I've had since have really helped me to greater solidify who Christ has been in my life. I thought I would share some of them here.

First off, I believe that Christ is the Savior of the world. Though He is the Son of God, He lived on this earth and taught us how to live and suffered for our sins and all our pains. He is the one who helps us repent and be forgiven of our sins. This is all very significant information to me.

But as I’ve reflected on who Christ has been and is in my life, in big and small moments, some other roles of the Savior came to my mind. They all seemed very personal to my experiences, but I wanted to share them in hopes that they would resonate with people reading this and prompt you to think about what roles the Savior has played in your life personally.

Also, in thinking of these roles, I realized that all of these came from either an experience I had with the Savior or from scriptures I had read that taught me of His role in my life. We learn so much from the Savior and about His character as we read the scriptures and then see those character traits in our lives.

Who is Christ to me:

Supporter/Comforter

• In John 11:32-36 in the New Testament, Jesus has come to the house of His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. A few days earlier Lazarus had died and Mary and Martha are mourning the loss of their brother. If you know the story, you know that soon Jesus will go to Lazarus’ grave and raise him from the dead, which is one of the greatest miracles He performs while on this earth. But in the moment that He sees Mary and Martha mourning, instead of reassuring them by saying that everything will be okay, he takes time to mourn with them. The scripture says “Jesus wept”. Through reading this and through personal moments in my life I have felt that Jesus takes time to weep with me instead of just trying to fix the problem. He takes time to be right where I am and experience the emotions that I experience. He is sad when I am sad and he rejoices when good things come my way. I have felt that this is true multiple times in my life.
• See also Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

High Priest of Good Things to Come

• This title comes directly from Hebrews 9:11 and has been a favorite of mine for a while. As I thought back through my life so far, especially through my twenties, I thought of all the good things the Savior has brought into my life. Some of those that I specifically feel came from divine intervention are: my husband Jon, some very important friends, a chance to become a nurse (after a very long rode to get there), my current job that has absolutely fulfilled all my hopes and dreams, and now a chance to be a mom. I don’t know how to describe how much these gifts mean to me. And at times in my life, these gifts seemed out of reach to me, but I always felt like the Lord was personally trying to whisper to me to just wait on Him a little longer.
• There are so many other small things that have come into my life that I feel He has helped guide me to. For example, our ward and our neighbors that we live by in Salt Lake have been such God-sends in our lives. We felt like He led us to the apartments we have lived in and to the people we have met. Also, this summer we are in Portland with one of my dear high school friends, Lindsey, whose husband randomly (or not so randomly) is studying in the same program as Jon and got an internship in the same city as us. It has been such a blessing to have her and a couple other friends here in the Pacific Northwest this summer.
• The more I learn about Jesus, the more I realize that He is a high priest of good things to come because He wants to give us great futures, not just in this life, but after. He wants to shower us with all His blessings, because His love for us is so big.
• See also 2 Nephi 2:25, Ether 12:4, Moroni 7:22

Refiner

• Though the Savior wants to bless us, some of those blessings come in the form of challenges or struggles in our lives. They give us a chance to come closer to the Savior and make us better, not bitter. These trials come sincerely out of love.
• See recent blog post here.
• 3 Nephi 22

Miracle Worker

• One of the biggest evidences of this in my life is when, in 2013, I felt so protected during a fall off a waterfall. There are so many details of this story, and many of you know them, but I will say that the miracles just kept on coming. It was so clear to me that I had been saved in so many ways. I knew that only the Savior could have made sure all those coincidences/miracles happened.
•  Getting pregnant took longer than we expected. In a blessing we received after finding out I was pregnant, I was told that this was happening faster than it would have because of prayers and faith from us and from those that love us. If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is. 
• 2 Nephi 27:23 and Mormon9:11

Strengthener

• The Savior gives me strength to do things I know I cannot do on my own. While serving as a missionary, I was very afraid of approaching others that I did not know, especially in Spanish. But I felt that as I prayed for the courage and the strength to do that, it came. A couple months into my mission, that fear was gone and it was completely natural to me. At other times in my life when I felt like I could not bear the burdens I had, I prayed that God would take the weight of that burden away. He did not take the trial away, but almost immediately, the pain and weight of that moment was alleviated. 
• Mosiah24:13-16 and Moroni 7:33

“See”er

• The Savior sees the big picture and knows what we need more than we do.
• Looking back on my life I can see moments that it seemed like everything was going completely wrong, but now I can see how perfectly all those aspects of my life have fallen into place. I loved seeing this concept in Ether 6:5-12 and also in The Chronicles of Narnia. In the book The Horse and His Boy, it seems like everything is keeping Aravis, Shasta, and their horses from making it to Narnia, but later they realized that all the things that went wrong were actually times that Aslan had been redirecting them toward the right path.

Bold Example

• The Savior lived his life in His own unique way. He was not ashamed of who He was or His mission and shared that with all He met.
• In college, I had a professor teach us that we cannot be like the Savior while we are in our comfort zones. I liked that thought a lot and have realized that in order to become more like Him, I have to embrace making changes and doing uncomfortable things.

The Perfect Judge

• One big lesson I feel like I have been learning lately is that Jesus is someone who sees my weaknesses and sins, but also sees my reasoning behind them and understands me more than anyone else. He knows my history sees me with a perfect love. Only someone who can see all of the pieces of the puzzle can adequately judge me. And He is the only one that has to.
• He is not a respector of persons: he loves people of all backgrounds, races, religions, gender, etc. He understands what each person has been through and why they do what they do.
• I have also been taught that because He is the perfect judge and because He is no respector of persons that I do not have to judge others. I can just love them and try to see the best in them.
• Matthew 7:1-5, John 8: 3-11, John13:34-35, 2 Nephi 26: 24-28

Personal Friend

• Of all the roles I have thought of, this is the one that I think encompasses them all. He is our friend. He knows us, He loves us, and He will always be there for us.
• In very personal ways, the Lord speaks to us and reassures us. Recently I had a very dear experience when I was feeling lonely here in Portland. In a church meeting, all of a sudden the words “Let me be your friend right now” came into my mind followed by the sweetest feeling of love. I believe Jesus finds those quiet moments to speak to us and encourage us when we really need it. And He wants to be our friend. He will be the most faithful, loyal friend to us if we let Him.
• D&C45:52, D&C 84:63, D&C 98:1-3

As I think of these roles Christ plays in my life, I am in awe by all the ways He has blessed my life. The more I learn about Him, the more magnificent He seems to me. The more loving, compassionate, understanding, and faithful He becomes. And I realize that He's been that way all a long, but I just had to pay more attention. 

It has been interesting that as I have been preparing for motherhood, one of the things I have been impressed to do is to study the character of Christ. I have felt that as I learn more of Him, I will learn more what type of mother I want to be. I cannot wait to share these thoughts and my testimony with our new little one!

I would love to hear from you the roles that Christ has played in your life, so please feel free to share those with me.

Nature's Lessons

Every spring, when the flower buds start to bloom on the trees, the temperature slowly rises and it seems like the world is waking up again, I think about an experience that taught me the role of nature in my life.

The summer of my 20th birthday was a very vulnerable time for me. I was a young college student trying to navigate being an adult, relationships, and confidence in who I was. During that summer, I was trying to start over. I moved apartments, hoping that I would find some good friends and be able to move on from the sadness of the previous year. Just six months before, I had ended my first real dating relationship. It was my first true break-up and I felt devastated. It sounds silly looking back on it now, but it was very real at the time. I felt very alone and depressed. But God did not think my feelings were silly. He knew my sorrows and led my path.

I moved forward trying to have faith that the change would bring renewed joy.

Almost immediately after moving in, I began to make friends. They were so welcoming and kind and genuinely interested in knowing me. They had activities almost every night that first week and by the end of the week I felt like I had 20 new best friends.

That summer was a really important time for me. It was a time of building myself back up and regaining my confidence. It was also a time of a lot of learning. I felt that God was trying to help me heal from the sadness I had experienced and that He wanted to remind me that there is always happiness and peace in the world, no matter what may be happening. He came to where I was, to the hardest trial I had experienced up until then, and used different things to help me to heal. One of those things was my new friends.

Another very important thing that helped me to heal was nature.

Through these same friends, I was invited to try many new activities. Some of these friends were very involved in outdoor activities and brought me along on hikes, outdoor climbs, bike rides, and camp-outs. And for the first time I realized the power of nature to heal and to bring joy into our lives.

In the book of Genesis, in the Bible, we read about the creation. God created all things in the earth (Genesis 1). In the Book of Mormon we read that He created it for us: “Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it” (1 Nephi 17:36).

Nature provides many things for us. It provides food, shelter, water, air, etc. that give us the things we need in order to survive. I  think that God also created it in part to give us joy. He created mountains, beaches, and flowers that, although they provide for us in many ways, are just plain beautiful.

Nature is patient. It is still. It is peaceful. When I am in nature, I am able to forget the anxiety I feel about my struggles and sorrows; I feel peace. That is what I initially felt that summer. I would find myself in nature feeling the need to be still and to quiet my heart. I would look out at the beauty of God’s creations and realize that God wanted me to see my life as beautiful. I would breath in the fresh air and feel the weight of my sorrows lift. I would find myself able to smile and laugh again easily.

When I was a teenager I went to a church girls camp each year. One year we went on a silent hike. We weren’t allowed to talk and we were asked to think about what we saw. At one point on the hike we stopped for a break. Suddenly, I noticed a leaf beside me. I looked more closely at it and saw how intricate the design of that leaf was. I saw all the little details that had come into play to make that leaf what it was, though it was such a small, seemingly insignificant plant. I had never noticed this before and was in awe of what an incredible scientist God was.

Through the years, as I have thought about that moment, I have realized that through nature we learn that God is in the details of our lives. We see how He takes care of plants and other things in nature, and we realize that we can compare that to our lives. I love the song “Consider the Lilies”. The lyrics say:

Consider the Lilies of the field

How they grow, how they grow

Consider the birds in the sky

How they fly, how they fly

He clothes the lilies of the field

He feeds the birds in the sky

And He will feed those who trust Him,

And guide them with his eye.

As I look at nature, whether it be a beautiful mountainside, beach, field of wildflowers, or rain-forest, I have no doubt there is a God (Alma 30:44).

I feel as if my time in nature is very sacred, almost like time in a temple or other holy place. In the scriptures, prophets would go to the mountaintops to talk to God. There have been many times I have been searching for God’s voice and for answers in my own life when I have found myself in the mountains. I have been able to quietly plead that God would help me. Though, I do not think you need to be in a specific place to pray, I have felt that my heart is often quieted and in a better place when in nature.

Many times in nature the peace that I have felt has helped me to find perspective. It’s like when you climb to the top of the mountain and you see the beautiful, breathtaking view, and realize the hike was all worth it and for a greater purpose. It’s like that in life. Our life doesn’t always make sense when we focus too much on certain details. But when we put those details into the big picture and see the perspective, we often understand why we have to experience certain things. And we realize that some trials are small compared to the joy that we have and will feel in this life.

Through nature we learn patterns. We learn that “to everything there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Through each season of the year, I learn more about the different seasons of life. A time to grow, a time to flourish, a time for color, a time for rebirth, a time for death, a time for joy, a time for sorrow. And I have realized that each season has its purpose and each has its beauty.

Ultimately, I feel that nature teaches us that God loves us. He loves us enough to create beauty for us. I think this children’s song says it perfectly:

Whenever I hear the song of a bird

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose

Or walk by our lilac tree,

I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heav’nly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see

The color of butterfly wings.

He gave me my ears that I might hear

The magical sound of things.

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:

I thank him rev’rently

For all his creations, of which I’m a part.

Yes, I know Heav’nly Father loves me.

As I think of these lyrics, I realize that I too am a part of God’s creations. That He gave me specific gifts and abilities that allow me to find joy and beauty in the world around me.

Last fall, I went to the mountains near my house to pray. I wanted to feel that my life had purpose even when some aspects weren’t exactly how I had planned them to be. I hiked a little on a trail that a friend had told me about. The sun was shining and the leaves were just starting to change colors. I found myself thinking of the miracle and beauty of nature that had touched me so many times. And suddenly, I was very distinctly reminded that my life, my body, and my mind are all miracles. So many of the lessons I had learned about nature came back to me. And I felt so strongly then that God knew and loved me. That He had used nature again to teach me about His plan and His love for me.

Today, I find myself in nature a lot. I plan whole vacations around nature and spend much of my free time hiking. I continue to learn about the goodness of nature and love to share it with those around me. I find myself going back to nature time and time again because it reminds me about the nature of God and His goodness in my life. I will always be grateful for what I learned that summer so many years ago.

You may also view this posted on A Voice of Gladness.