A Life Made Clear

   I have terrible eyesight! I can't see anything with out the assistance of contacts or glasses. Now of course I can see how many fingers you are holding up, I just can't tell who is holding them up. My eyes have been like this since I was a little boy.  I remember being about 8 years old and sleeping on my trampoline. All of my brothers and sisters were pointing out constilations and saying how butiful the shooting stars were. I really felt like I was missing out. I just couldn't see life as clearly as they could. Up until this point in my life I had never noticed that I see differently than other people. I assumed that everybody saw that way.
    I got glasses my first grade year and from there on, I could see clearly. Life was completly different. There have been instances where I lost my contacts on a vacation and I didn't have my glasses. I have no idea how I did it before. The trip loses some of it's fun. I still get enjoyment from those around me but it isn't the same. I can't enjoy life with out seeing it. (Although there are many truely blind people out there; I have the greatest respect for them.)
   When people are without the influence of Jesus Christ in their lives, there is something missing but they don't realize it. They think that they see life the same way everybody else does. They may be happy, but the peices don't all fit together. When these people see the influence that Jesus Christ has in the lives of others, they realize that they don't see clearly. They, most of the time then make the choice to follow Jesus Christ.
   As we go through our lives, many people don't realize how much they come to rely on Jesus Christ. They don't realize that without Him everything is out of focus. It is when they turn their backs on Jesus Christ that they see all that he has done for them. When I lost my contacts, life was tough to get around. I was always triping over stuff and struggling. This is what happens when Jesus isn't there. We hit trials and struggles and we have no one to help us.  
  We all need to see life a little more clearly. We need to up our perscription. We need to remember all that Jesus Christ has done, still does, and will do for us. All of our eye sights can be improved through reading the scriptures, through going to church, and most importantly through prayer. God wants us to see, but He can only help when want him to.
  

Wrapped Up In Sin

   Back when I was growing up, my summer days were mostly spent in my pond. The pond was located out in front of my house. I would be playing on the raft and then hop on the log near by and engage in a log role competition. As a young child the possibilities of what I was going to do next were endless. Maybe I would go and swing on the rope or swim to the bottom and get some seaweed; piling it up in preparation of a seaweed battle. Canoe vs. raft. Last one standing wins.

   This is what I was doing on one particularly hot summer day. I would swim to the bottom about 10' down and pull out the seaweed, dragging it to the top and throwing it into the canoe. Then repeating the process. I would wrap the seaweed around my arms and torso so that I could carry more.
   On my last dive down I wanted to get as much as possible so I stayed down longer wrapping the seaweed around myself. As I tried to swim to the top I quickly found that I had too much. I couldn't make it. I was all out of breath and started to panic. I was tearing at the seaweed all around me. There was so much and everything was getting darker. With the last of my strength, I pushed as hard as I could off of the muddy bottom of the pond, propelling me upward. As my face broke the surface I took a massive breath. The seaweed pulled me back down. I was able to remove the last of it and make it to the surface again. Needless to say I learned my lesson.
   Looking back it frightens me to know how close I came to drowning. I barely made it. A lot of times in our lives we start to slowly wrap ourselves in sins. If we repent soon enough they won't drown us, but the longer we stay there and wrap ourselves up, the harder it gets to get to the surface.When we reach the surface after what seems to be a last ditch effort, we are cleansed through the Atonement and that burden is taken from us.
   We all need to learn our lessons and make sure that we don't go back, if we do it could be our last dive. Don't get wrapped up in sin! It will drown you! Always stay close to the surface and close to the Savior.

Prayer, The Only Relief

   Going through high school as a senior was no small task for me. I had such a crazy schedule, I was scaring the color right out of my hair. Between cheer, college credit classes, gymnastics, coaching, and home work, I was getting up early and going to bed late. I was falling behind in classes. I had no time to break pattern. Needless to say, I was living a pretty stressed life.
   I could find no relieve. The only time I could feel relaxed was during the late-night ping pong competitions that me and my dad would pursue. Even then I was pushing back the home work and the studies I should've been doing.
   There came a night, about mid-trimester, that I couldn't keep going. I could hardly take it all in. I couldn't sleep; the next days exams were keeping me up. At this point in my life, I would try and read from the Book of Mormon most every night and I would make sure to say my prayers. Due to the extreme schedule I had, those small but ever so important things got put on the back burner.
   I prayed to the Lord to help me. "Just help me Lord," I pleaded. A plea similar to that of Alma while in bondage,"O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ." (Alma 14:26) At the closing of this prayer, I felt that I needed to read from the Book of Mormon. I picked up my Book of Mormon and fanned through the pages, slamming my finger down on a verse. It landed on 2 Nephi 31:20.
   "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
   Never had a verse hit me as hard as this one did at this time. Feeling comforted, I slept well, pondering the verse. From that point on I took the advice given. I tried to have more love towards my friends. I prayed to God, assuring Him of my love. I started to do the little things again. Some call them the primary answers; read your scriptures, say your prayers, and go to church. Granted the last point I never stopped, I did put a renewed interest in learning from church.
   My schedule didn't change. I still woke up early and went to bed late, but for some reason it seemed to get easier. It took me a bit to realize that the Lord was helping me. I am so grateful for the strength of the Lord. We don't need to stress and we don't have worry how we'll get by. The Lord will help if you remember him through prayer.

The Key to Overcome Fear

   Gymnastics is a true passion of mine. I deeply and very sincerely love it. Nothing can match the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I am doing a double back-flip over ten feet in the air or swinging around the high bar, gaining speed in preparation for the next skill. I would be considered by some a adrenaline junky. I love the rush.
   It is often said of gymnastics that it requires 90% mental strength and 10% physical strength. I have found this to be extremely true. Especially on the Floor event. This is my best event but when I go into a competition, this is the event I am most worried about. As I am about to get onto this event, my heart starts to race, I have a tough time thinking rationally. I am overcome by fear.
   My family will try and quail my enveloping fear. They tell me that I will do great. This helps a little but in the back of my mind I can't get the fear out. My family, as loving as they are, don't know the difficulty I have and can't fully understand. It is when the coach sits me down and talks with me that I feel like I can do this. He knows the skills; he has done it all before.
   It is then that I head out to preform some of my best routines ever. It is the faith that I have in the words of my coach. As I put my faith in his words, I feel the consuming fear melt away.
   How many of us feel this same fear in the world around us? As the skills in gymnastics get harder, the fear rises. In the world today there are wars and political battles. Neither side willing to submit to the other. Tensions rise, civil wars break out, and lives are lost. It is hard not to feel the dark edges of fear begin to seep into our everyday lives.
   I have found Jesus Christ to be the coach in my life and in all of our lives. As I read from the Book of Mormon and the Bible I feel his words of comfort. He tells us in Doctrine and Covenants 68:6, "be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you"
   He has done it all before. He has worn the same shoes that I am wearing now. It is through His ultimate sacrifice that He understands everything that we go through. He knows my pains, my struggles, my guilt and shame, and my fears. It is when I turn to him in prayer that I can feel his love. I just have to listen to, and put faith in, the Coach.
   He knows me and he knows you. It is through him that we can feel relieved from the fear of this world. When we put faith in Jesus Christ, everything else in this world doesn't matter. The fear doesn't have to torment us anymore. Fear only goes as far as our faith will let it. God has presented a plan. He loves us, He knows us, and He is always with us. We just need to listen to the Coach