Endurance

Do you ever feel beat down by life? I do. As I was taking my son out of Sacrament Meeting to go to the restroom on Sunday (my dad would be appalled--you go to the restroom before or after the meeting NOT during!) I caught a glimpse of a phrase written on a chalkboard in one of the rooms we walked past. It said "Endure to the end." Now I have seen, heard and read this phrase many times before but for some reason it really got me thinking this time. Endure to the end of what? The end of Sacrament Meeting or Primary? The end of my fast (my stomach was awfully rumbly)? The end of the Summer? The end of  Dave's schooling? The end of the day? There are all kinds of things to be endured. Sometimes I start feeling like quite the martyr for all the stuff that I have to endure. Yep, I do. I start feeling sorry for myself.

As I was thinking about all that enduring, I started to think about Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. I guess maybe that was fresh in my mind from visiting that site a couple of weeks ago. Boy, Brother Joseph endured way more than I ever have had to endure. He endured mobs, ridicule, his friends turning against him, attempted murder, the deaths of his children. Wow. Talk about endurance. Thinking about Joseph turned my mind to Jesus Christ. What he endured is more than my limited mortal brain can even comprehend. Amazing. Truly.

Still, I don't think that Heavenly Father would trivialize our trials. True, we may not have to endure anything close to what Joseph or Jesus endured, but we still have our own trials and they are custom made for us. My trial of  having a child break an entire jar of maraschino cherries on the floor less than 24 hours after I mopped it might not seem so big to you, but that's because it's my trial. My trials are all mine; my little burdens and weaknesses and frustrations to overcome, learn from, grow from.

I also started thinking that just because I have a few trials doesn't mean I should let them get me so discouraged. Didn't President Hinckley say "In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured"? Maybe enduring to the end is like going on a hard run. You are exhausted, hurting even, wondering if you can really keep going but you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and before you know it you are across the finish line. Then comes the endorphin rush--that joy and exultant feeling of accomplishment. I could use more of that.

I came across this favorite scripture as I was working on writing the Primary Program:

"I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God,” he counseled.
“For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and
spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are
received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God
in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember
that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it”
(Mosiah 2:41).

I can't imagine anything better than dwelling with God in a state of never-ending happiness with my eternal family by my side. Can you? It makes me want to keep going; to keep the commandments and to quit whining already. That is something truly worth enduring for.