Look to the Lord in gratitude

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My life right now is hectic.  I’m teaching a summer physics class that’s working me to the bone.

A colleague gave me two sets of lecture slides, but they won’t do. They contain no student activities or in-class demonstrations.  Using them means talking for all of each 3-hour class session.  That would be an easy way out, but my throat wouldn’t appreciate it, and neither would my students.

But wait!  There’s more.  The textbook goes all over the map, attempting to cover more content than really feasible, especially for a summer class. So I must discard everything not truly essential and arrange the material so my students can learn better in the shortened time frame.  So I really have to make my own slides.

All that affects the labs.  Because my lectures don’t mirror the textbook, I’m using only those labs directly related to my lectures. That leaves some blanks in the schedule, so I’m developing some lab activities to fill in the blanks.

And then there’s the homework.  The online product the school purchases to manage that is atrocious.  Because I’m redoing the lectures, I have to filter the homework questions that product provides, removing all the ones not related to my lectures.  Then I must create my own questions to replace what I removed. But the online product has removed questions I created and replaced them with questions I removed!  That means more work for me.

In essence, I’m creating a summer class while teaching it.  And it’s extremely taxing on me in every way.

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Amazingly blessed in trial

Add that to the severe life storms I’m weathering right now, and you get a hard row to hoe.  But the Lord hasn’t forgotten me.  His recent tender mercies have helped to lift my burdens, though I still have them.

I heard the sweet whisperings of the Spirit recently as I was proceeding to the lab to work on developing a couple of lab exercises.  And I felt extremely blessed.

Sure, working my fanny off really wears me down.  But when I’m in class or lab with the students, I’m so alive.  Compared with my past jobs, I know teaching college is the right job for me.  I’m not making anywhere near what I made in industry, but I’m exponentially more happy.  And it was the Lord who brought me to my current job.  I am so amazingly blessed.

As I walked to the physics lab, I also realized I have a key to that lab.  Let me say that again.  I have a key to a physics lab.  Translation: I, an incurable enginerd, have unrestricted access to an engineer’s playground.  I can go whenever I want and assemble whatever equipment to perform whatever experiment I want.  I could never do that in industry.  I really am so amazingly blessed.

The sweet whisperings of the Comforter brought me those realizations.  Even with all the burdens of the life storms I’m weathering right now weighing me down, the Spirit brought to me feelings of sincere gratitude for some things that are actually going really good in my life.  I’m so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

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Guided in gratitude

Our focus really does determine our reality.  If we LDS singles immerse ourselves in a dim view of the future and constant self-talk “proving” why we aren’t worthy of anything glorious, then how could we be filled with any sense of hope?  How could we not be anything but depressed?

I’m so grateful the Lord guided me on the path leading to my blog and now my radio program.  It’s certainly been a bumpy ride, but I’ve learned so much about myself, about life, and about the many opportunities and tender mercies the Lord provides to all of us each and every day.  We LDS singles have every reason to be optimistic and hopeful.

Indeed, though the storms of life batter us about, we can still seek out the good.  In that regard, we can follow Nephi’s example:

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   And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.
   Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions. (1 Nephi 18:15–16)

When we look to the Lord in gratitude for the many good things surrounding us every day despite the extremities of the storms which howl around us, He will lift us.  He will inspire us.  He will show us our path.  He will give courage to take the next step.  And in His time, He will calm the storms around us, just as He did for Nephi.

Look to the Lord in gratitude.  He will open your eyes to see His bounteous tender mercies which surround you every day.  And He will help you to feel the truth that there is always hope because there is always Christ.