Life's not fair

So despite my best intentions to get out of my blogging slump and post this past week, it didn't happen. Partially because of my inherent laziness, but also because the last couple of weeks haven't been that stellar. Life is really sad sometimes, you know? Sometimes it's stressful and frustrating and sometimes it's surprising and delightful and sometimes it's just . . . sad. And even when the tragedy isn't directly yours, it still means that someone is hurting and grieving and no matter how much you love that person, you can't take that pain away - which is heartbreaking in and of itself.

Because I'm a girl, and I'm emotional, and I have a natural leaning towards discouragement/depression, I sometimes find myself focused on sadness. I start thinking about one set of sad circumstances, and my train of thought follows that until I'm emotionally drained from mentally empathizing (often for the eighteenth time) with everyone I can think of who's recently endured hard times. As I was caught in the midst of sadness and worry and a lack of my usual optimism last week, my doctor wisely encouraged me to 'be of good cheer'. And in order to be a good patient, that's what I've decided to do.

I have a strong testimony of an eternal Heavenly Father who loves His children and will always send peace and comfort, often through other people. My favorite block of scripture comes from the Doctrine and Covenants, section 121, verses 7-9. Joseph Smith had been wrongly imprisoned and was pouring out his heart in prayer. These are the words of comfort that were given to him:

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions
shall be but a small moment;
And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high;
thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again
with warm hearts and friendly hands."

So, although life is sad and confusing and painful, it's also beautiful and funny and peaceful and meant to be lived. And we're not alone - we have each other to turn to for aid and lifting of spirits.

In an effort to help everyone 'be of good cheer' (and kind of in keeping with this post's religious overtone) I'd like to share two slightly hilarious (if somewhat sacrilegious) recent Clyde stories.

One day a couple of weeks ago, Clyde was in the playroom and Chuck and I were in the living room when Clyde suddenly exclaimed "Jesus Christ!" Chuck and I quickly raised our eyebrows, then Clyde bounded out into the living room waving a program from church and said, "Look, it says 'Jesus Christ' right here!" I breathed a sigh of relief and then promptly shared with Clyde that I was so proud of his reading but we usually speak about Jesus in a slightly more reverent volume and tone of voice :).

Then last week, the little boys and I were hanging out with Quinn when Clyde shared some funny little ditty about how 'the worms make the dirt and the dirt makes the earth'. (Google has informed me these are song lyrics from the Aquabats and I sincerely have no idea where Clyde picked them up). Anyhow, Clyde thought it was hilarious and Quinn and I laughed heartily along. Later that day I was recounting the story to Chuck, but after I recited 'the worms make the dirt and the dirt makes the earth', Clyde indignantly rebuked me with "No, Mom, Jesus Christ made the earth." Obviously, I stood corrected.