February 17, 2015

On Pain and Suffering

The past eight months have been full of lessons and blessings and extreme hardships. One lesson I have become familiar with is that you cannot have joy in life without pain. There are always lows and highs.

I have learned to let pain shape me into a better person, which can only happen if one embraces it. It's not something you can ignore or run from. You must rely on faith to work through it. The beauty in this is that trials that test your faith can become priceless experiences.

A quote that I love:


Here, then, is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this way the divine image can be mirrored from the soul...

Into every life there come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. 
-James E. Faust, "The Refining Fire"

In every trial, there is a choice we must make. We can let the hardship consume us, or we can let it soften our hearts. If you choose the first, you will become bitter and hateful; if you choose the second, you will become more spiritually receptive and understanding. 
I've made my choice to continually strive to allow pain and hardship make me the better person. I refuse to be a victim of my dad's abuse--my sisters and I will be victors

4 comments:

  1. These things are very true.

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  2. Yes you will be! Already are.

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  3. To all those who suffer from the effects of abuse, and to all those who are the abuser, here is a beautiful and powerful article about healing from abuse. I hope that everyone will read it and truly let Christ guide them through the healing process. I especially hope that this somehow reaches Dani and Sydney. The article is called "To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse" by Elder Richard G. Scott, April 2008. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/to-heal-the-shattering-consequences-of-abuse?lang=eng)

    I love you all so much! I have watched you ladies grow up. I have watched you suffer so much starting from before the divorce. I love you as sisters, with a bit of motherliness in there too. I want to share this article because it has helped bring me so much more peace and understanding about healing from abuse. It's OK to take it slow and soak up all that Christ (and all your loved ones) have to offer your anguished heart!

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