Thriving

I have been reading and loving the book Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong.

I feel like change and I have been introduced and I could use a little help with the relationship, so I bought this book.

Yesterday, I read a part that has stuck with me.  She pointed out that a definition for thrive means to grow well.

Thriving, according to Kristen Strong, "doesn't mean we are running sunny-faced, skippy-dippy through life with our head filled with Pollyanna cliches.  No, to thrive means to grow well.  And a big part of growing well is seeing change with the eyes of heaven and knowing that God will always, always use it for us."

I needed to read these words; I need to read this book.  Because I don't always feel like I'm thriving.

I certainly don't feel sunny-faced and skippy-dippy all the time.

Sometimes I'm just plain sad.  Sometimes this is just plain hard.  Sometimes I wonder why we uprooted our kids from their happy and comfortable friendships.  (And my own happy and comfortable friendships.)

At such times, I remember that moving felt like the right answer when we prayed.  OK, but I didn't sign up for this.  Crashing on the heels of that thought is that this is exactly what I did sign up for.

This is life.  This is what will make us learn and grow.  How can you ever learn to forgive if no one ever wrongs you?  How can you learn empathy if you're always happy and comfortable?  How can you understand loneliness until you're lonely?

I read an article in the Ensign by Hillary Olsen.  It was about patience which is a whole other topic I need to work on.  She wrote, "When it comes to serving the Lord, He cares about the instrument as much as He does the task at hand."

We are the instruments.  We need change.  We need hard.  We need discomfort.  We need to learn.

Because then, we'll thrive.