Words that lift and strengthen

Advice from Elder Busche:

From my dear cousin:
So, here's a story I heard at stake conf and LOVED, so I thought I'd share:

So, the guy speaking shared a story his daughter posted on her blog recently. She had been out shopping and was in a boutique or something and saw these large music boxes- the kind where a ballerina dances inside to music. She knew her two young daughters, somewhere around 6 and 4 years old or something, would absolutely LOVE to receive these for their upcoming birthdays. She purchased them and was so excited to be able to give them to her daughters in a few weeks, knowing how excited they would be. As she was leaving the store, she remembered her neice's birthday was coming up as well, so she went back in and bought a smaller version of the music box for her niece.

When she arrived home, she got the smaller music box out and showed it to the younger daughter, explaining that it was the gift they were going to give to their cousin. At this, her daughter burst into tears, the huge crocodile kind. The mom said she could tell her daughter was trying to keep her emotions together but simply couldn't, and that she just broke down and was sobbing. She asked her daughter what was wrong and her daughter told her that the music box was exactly what she had always wanted, and that she was glad her cousin would have one, but she was just so sad she didn't get one also.

The girl's Mom found this somewhat humorous since she knew the gift she had for her daughter's own birthday was stashed away, waiting for the right time (her birthday). But, trying to help her daughter calm down and regain her composure, she mentioned that maybe her daughter would get a better music box for HER birthday. This only brought about a new round of tears as her daughter told her that THAT music box (the one going to her cousin) was just what she wanted. It was perfect, and there just simply couldn't be a music box any better or more perfect than that one!



The speaker related this to our lives and how the Lord has so much in store for us that we don't even realize! I immediately thought about you and the struggles you've been having with guys, and how it's hard to see that there could actually be something/someone better than what you've seen, but that the Lord sees us and our own crocodile tears and just lovingly comforts us, knowing full well He has something MUCH better in store for us, just waiting for the right time to be able to give us the things He is so looking forward to giving us because He wants to see us be so happy.



The Pearl Necklace:
And...I remember this pearls story from when I was an adolescent.  Where a girl's favorite possession is her fake pearl necklace.  Her father asks her nightly if he can have the pearls and she refuses each time.  Finally, he asked her to show her love by giving her pearls away.  Reluctant and heartbroken, she gave her father her treasured pearls.



He got her real pearls to replace them.  Little did she know how much more was in store, all she had to do was give up what he asked of her.  Even if it seemed the best thing at the time, the father needed her to pass the test of faith to give her more.