Don't Forget to Include...

“You can do anything you set your mind to!” “Follow your dreams!” “Envision it and it will become reality.” These kinds of statements always make me cringe a bit. So, when the speaker prior to me spoke to the youth with such words, I began squirming in my seat. I believe firmly in envisioning great things, setting righteous goals, and working hard to make my life great; however, there is a huge component missing from the statements above. It is vital to include the Father’s will in the whole picture, or discouragement will take over when life doesn’t match our plans. The room was filled with teen-agers, including my sons. How was I going to share my story of facing cancer and going blind without telling them that the previous speaker was almost correct? I had giant plans for my own life. I had great faith. I even worked hard to have good things happen. But, mortality gets in the way of dreams sometimes. My battle with cancer and subsequent blindness were devastating to me and to my dreams. No matter how much faith we have, we are not completely in control of what happens to us. I taught those kids that we dream big, follow our dreams, and make great plans for our lives. We do these things with the help and direction from the Spirit. Then, when hard things come, because they will, we don’t remain crushed. Because we already have a strong relationship with our Father, we can trust that we are still on the right path for our lives, the path he wants us to travel. For, he will take our dreams and exceed them.