Giving and Becoming

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday afternoon session of the April 2008 conference.

We are still dealing with the aftermath of our son's death in the form of going through his belongings and deciding what to do with them. It is a slow, raw emotions process. He is the fourth of my family that I've been part of the disposal of their things. My younger sister died in September 2011, my mom in May 2012, my father in March 2018, and our son April 2023. Each time I tell myself that I won't leave my children with so much to go through, and I hope they won't say, "Mom, what were you thinking? What were you saving this for?" Letting go is hard for me--I might need it. It represents precious memories. And so on.

Elder Lance B. Wickman of the Seventy spoke of living today in preparation for tomorrow. "Of all the challenges we face, perhaps the greatest is a misguided sense that mortality goes on forever and its corollary, that we can postpone until tomorrow the seeking and offering of forgiveness, which as the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches, are among mortality's central purposes."

I wonder if overcoming this "misguided sense" is part of overcoming the natural man, since we all seem to be born with that feeling. We get into the habit of thinking, childlike, that the days and years are long and there will be time for everything, later. I've been working on conquering my bad habit of procrastination for almost two decades. I know I've made progress, but it still is a challenge. 

I love what Elder Wickman says. "This life is not so much a time of getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming." What a wonderfully inspiring insight. I want to put it up on my mirror and fridge so I can see it everyday! I need constant reminding of the mindset I should have in relation to things because I have too many, and too much. And when I graduate from this mortal boarding school they'll all remain here for my children to sort through and dispose of. And wonder what Mom was thinking, planning, and hoping for.

I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ to guide my life with an eternal perspective. I know that my best treasures are the ones that will last through eternity--my relationships, my character, my knowledge, and my memories. 

5 August 2022, the last time we were all together as a family