Thoughts and Jots - FAITH, TRUST, HOPE

I have still been quite busy and not getting to updating my blog like I have wanted to. I have finally taken the time to sit down and jot a few things down before I loose my train of thought.

Sometimes in life it seems as though many trials hit all at once - some being big "mountains" to overcome, while others are many small hills one right after the other or even building upon each other. Choices need to be made, difficulties arise, and obstacles just seem to be never ending. I feel like with many areas of my life lately I have had a struggle on top of a struggle - whether that is trying to be a better mother to my children, being more patient in my circumstances, more understanding of my husband and his schedule, my own feelings of inadequacy and even when my own character is attacked and questioned.

I have sometimes begun to wonder where the silver lining is - where is the "light at the end of the tunnel"? How can we face some of these trials? Why do we face some of these trials? How much do we need to endure? How we can have hope to get through the things we face in life?

Recently I read the blog of a friend of a friend. Through reading her story I have been able to verbalize (or type up) my own thoughts. A few are paraphrasing her, but mostly just finally getting down in writing what has been being formed in my head over the last couple of weeks.

I understand Charity: Charity is seeing and loving people how our Savior sees and loves people; its treating them how He would treat them; it is the pure love of Christ. Often loving and forgiving for no other reason than for the sake of loving and forgiving.

I understand Faith: Faith is believing in something that is true that you can't see, sometimes you can't even describe it; it is a conviction; it usually moves us to action. Keeping the commandments is an act of faith.

However, hope has been a concept that I have had a hard time wrapping my brain around. I have struggled to keep the hope in my life as I face trials. I try to maintain a feeling of hope in my life. Unfortunately, oftentimes it just feels like wishful thinking to me. But in the scriptures it talks about the need for hope. So I have been studying hope, trying to understand, grasp, and ultimately develop this Christ-like attribute so that I can overcome trials and struggles in life.

I have come to understand better what hope is. We have HOPE that things will be ok, then we TRUST in God that whatever happens will be for the best. I am finally making the connection that HOPE and TRUST go hand in hand. Hope is the optimistic attitude that everything will be made right because we have trust that our Savior and our Heavenly Father know who we are!! Also, that they are aware of our personal and very individual trials. "Faith knows this, but Hope smiles and knows."

We need to have HOPE; hope that things are all going to work out - not necessarily the way we think they should, or how we except them to; hope that there are awesome people here on earth that can help us and guide us; hope that when things go bad in life that it doesn't have to and won't stay that way. "And it came to pass..." It is through prayer, pondering, and staying close to our Heavenly Father that we increase our hope, faith and ultimately our trust.

It is in giving our will to the Lord that we show our true willingness to TRUST in His will for us. Often times we don’t understand the “what” and “why” of His will for us and that is where the HOPE and TRUST come into play.

The miracles will start to pour out upon us. We must remember that Faith and Hope always precede the miracles. There are true tender mercies all around us. It is amazing to see the hand of the Lord in our lives, in the perfect timing, in the growth, and in us personally as we look back on experiences in hindsight. But, what about while we are going through it? Do we recognize it during the journey of the trial. It takes a tremendous amount of hope and trust to get us through the experiences - Knowing that hope is the positive and optimistic view of the situation.

My sister posted this as her status on Facebook yesterday. "A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather, a person with a certain set of attitudes."

I believe her quote goes right along with the thoughts that I have been having. We all have to go through life. Just because we follow the Savior doesn't mean that our lives will be free from trials and struggles. But when we maintain our hope and keep our attitude positive and uplifting then we can be happy through the trials and struggles, believing that the best possible outcome will happen as we trust in Heavenly Father and follow His will for us. We can in turn be an influence for good and an example for others around us.

Hope is truly a powerful thing.

Hope is an amazing thing. I found that I was letting things get to me and allowing them to impact me negatively. I can change that though. I HOPE that I can develop more HOPE through life. I will be more positive and work to improve myself this way.