Friday, April 03, 2009

You are loved

I just read this article by Tamara A. Ilich. The article was in the Ensign in 2000. I have no idea who she is, but as I read my mind went to some of my dearest friends, some of who are struggling with infertility.

"I realized I believed my long unanswered prayers for a baby meant that I was not loved. This realization brought me once again to my knees. ...What I asked was simply, “Do you love me?”
As soon as I uttered that question, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of love, joy, and peace. Like Alma, I had been in the “gall of bitterness,” but “I could remember my pains no more.” Indeed, “my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:18–20).
From that moment, I began to better understand the Atonement. In Gethsemane our Savior took upon Himself the pains, sicknesses, and infirmities of His people so that He would know how to succor them according to their infirmities (see Heb. 4:15; Alma 7:11–12). He sweat great drops of blood as He suffered for all of the afflictions that result from living in a telestial world. Before this answer to prayer, I understood that He did what He did for the world. Now, I understood that His sufferings were also for me.
I knew that because of the Atonement, the Savior understood the nuances of my pain. Because He knew my experience, I did not have to feel alone. My understanding of the Atonement and of the Savior’s love for me were forever changed. Now I have hope. I have joy.
...I do not know if our home will be blessed with more children, but one thing I do know:
I am loved, and my Savior knows me by name. ... "
We all have our individual struggles. They are put there to stretch and strengthen us. Yes, I hate hearing "it'll happen in the Lord's time" as much as you, but no matter what are struggles are, the Lord loves us. He tries us to help us grow. If we hold fast to the promises he has made to us and obey the commandments, we will be blessed, no matter what.
Whoever you are, whatever you're going through, I testify that the Lord loves YOU. God so loved YOU that he sent his Son for YOU. If you were the only person who needed it, He still would have died for you. I know that with every fiber of my being. His arms are open waiting for you, I plead for you to run to Him.

1 comment:

The Jensens said...

Thank you for this Julianna. It really hit home. With all the emotions I have been going through with the hysterectomy and all I needed a reminder that He does love me :0)