This winter has been excessive, with temperatures extremely low, and snow fall extremely high. These conditions make one of my jobs–chauffeur–difficult and cold. Last night I was shuffling kids around, and as the sun went down, my lights never appeared to come on. I checked the knob to make sure it was turned to “auto”, and it was. As I continued to drive, I couldn’t see, so I turned the lights off and then back on. They did work, but they made such a small difference that I decided to use my brights until I could figure out what was wrong with my lights. Even though my brights weren’t blinding the oncoming traffic, I could at least see. Once I checked my lights I realized there was a thick piece of ice over them, preventing them from shining, leaving me driving in the dark, until I put in my brights.
As the world is becoming darker, it appears that the light that once shone brightly is now overshadowed and often unnoticed. During the storms of life, we must keep shining and illuminating the way for others. We may have to turn on our BRIGHTS. We may have to go the extra mile, be extra kind, turn a few more cheeks, talk more softly, forgive more, love more deeply; we may have to kick up our efforts a notch or two. The Lord is counting on us, he needs our help. We can’t use excuses as to why our light didn’t shine. We just need to find a way through the ice, dirt, fog, snow, rain, and any other obstacle Satan decides to throw our direction.
As we fill our hearts and homes with the Savior’s light and truth, we will have the inner strength to withstand in every circumstance. -Cheryl A. Esplin
Here’s a story of a light that saved a little girl. As you read this, imagine, if you could be that light, that gave someone hope, and the courage to carry on. What if you could shine brightly enough that your light could bring someone lost to Christ?
“Last January, seven-year-old Sailor Gutzler and her family were flying from Florida to Illinois in a private airplane. Sailor’s father was at the controls. Just after nightfall, the aircraft developed mechanical problems and crashed in the pitch-dark hills of Kentucky, upside down in very rough terrain. Everyone but Sailor died in the accident. Her wrist was broken in the crash. She suffered cuts and scrapes and had lost her shoes. The temperature was 38 degrees Fahrenheit (or 3 degrees Celsius)–it was a cold, rainy Kentucky winter’s night–and Sailor was wearing only shorts, a T-shirt, and one sock.
She cried out for her mother and father, but no one answered. Summoning every ounce of courage, she set off barefoot across the countryside in search of help, wading through creeks, crossing ditches, and braving blackberry briars. From the top of one small hill, Sailor spotted a light in the distance, about a mile away. Stumbling through the darkness and brush toward that light, she eventually arrived at the home of a kind man she had never met before who sprang to her care. Sailor was safe. She would soon be taken to a hospital and helped on her way to recovery.
Sailor survived because she saw a light in the distance and fought her way to it–notwithstanding the wild countryside, the depth of the tragedy she faced, and the injuries she had sustained. It is hard to imagine how Sailor managed to do what she did that night. But what we do know is that she recognized in the light of that distant house a chance for rescue. There was hope. She took courage in the fact that no matter how bad things were, her rescue would be found in that light.
Few of us will ever endure an experience as harrowing as Sailor’s. But all of us will, at some time or another, have to traverse our own spiritual wilderness and undertake our own rugged emotional journeys. In those moments, however dark or seemingly hopeless they may be, if we search for it, there will always be a spiritual light that beckons to us, giving us the hope of rescue and relief. That light shines from the Savior of all mankind, who is the Light of the World.” (Choose to Believe By Elder L. Whitney Clayton -April 2015)
-Sherri Jorgensen
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