Mmmm, Lemonade

This week I happened upon a very cheesy looking magazine article about taking lemons and making lemonade.  (Or rather, I creepily peaked at it from my periphery as the person next to me read the article.  I was bored?)  The author talked about making the best out of your life and your challenges.  This is a lesson I have heard over and over and over again.  Be positive.  Learn from struggles.  Yay! Trials are blessings!  *commencing eye roll sequence*

However, as I read, I was intrigued by the way the woman put it.  She had recently found out her marriage was over.  She had to face her children, family, and peers. And one thing she said in particular was simply that, yes, the situation sucked.  Yes, she was heartbroken.  But she had seen people in her past let ordeals make them angry and hardened.  She wrote that she would not allow this challenge to make her bitter.  

I have so much admiration for this woman.  I think it is easy to say that you know trials can be for your good.  But when I am in the middle of one, it is very easy to forget that I control how the situation affects me.  I control how it shapes me.  And I cannot allow the trials I face make me bitter either.

2 Corinthians 4:17-

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."  

I'm understanding more and more as time passes that every detail of my life has shaped who I am. Every happy moment, and every tragedy.  We each have experiences and perspectives that are truly unique.  And many of them come from the unique challenges we have faced.  

The wise, Brigham Young once said:

"Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation."

Whoa!!!! EVERY trial?!  If every trial and experience I pass through is leading me toward salvation, then sure.  I say, bring it on.  Because I have the faith that a path is being laid before me, and that if I face my challenges with my God and those I love, it worketh for me "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."