Dear Family,
With the New Year comes the opportunity for a fresh new start for our family and for each of us individually. Many people make New Year's Resolutions, only to be broken in a few days or weeks. As for me, I know I just need to keep trying, and never give up.
My thoughts for this month come mostly from the Conference talk by President Uchtdorf, entitled, "Of Regrets and Resolutions." He tells us, "When we are young, it seems that we will live forever. We think there is a limitless supply of sunrises waiting just beyound the horizon, and the future looks to us like an unbroken road stretching endlessly before us," he said.
I remember thinking that I'd never grow old, though logically I knew better. Then one day I realized I was there. Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was young, like you.
President Uchtdorf continues: "We remember many sweet memories...But we also remember the regrets--the things we wish we could go back and change." Some of the regrets people express as they are nearing death is, "I wish I had spent more time with the people I love."
There are those who "realized that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained unsung.... Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence.
"When it comes to living the gospel, we should not be like the boy who dipped his toe in the water and then claimed he went swimming. As sons and daughter of our Heavenly Father, we are capable of so much more. For that, good intentions are not enough. We must do. Even more important, we must become what Heavenly Father wants us to be.
"I wish I had let myself be happier. ...So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.... We determine our happiness....Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey."
He concluded with these thoughts, "We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and remove the burden of our sins. His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart, and a determination to do better and especially to become better."
I want to do better, and be better. I find myself so hopelessly flawed, and wonder if I'll ever become the kind of person I truly want to be. Then I realize that we all just need to keep trying, keep learning, repenting, and growing. The Atonement of Jesus Christ will make up the difference.
I'd like to invite any of you to share your thoughts, experiences, stories, quotes, songs, feelings, or anything you feel would uplift each other. Together we can become better by helping one another. I love you all, and pray for you daily.
--Love, Mom
