Back in 1996, I met and fell in love with a wonderful man named Rick. We were in Alaska going to school at the time. Other than my sister and brother-in-law, we didn't have family around while we dated. In December we were ready to get engaged --- correction, in December Rick was ready to get engaged. I was ready much earlier, or so I thought. --- so we had to meet each others' family to pass that final hurdle. Rick was traveling with the basketball team for much of the holiday season, while I was home in Utah with my family. He stopped through for an evening when he got the chance, and was planning to talk to my dad about our plans and get permission to marry me, all in the same night he met the rest of my family. Now, anyone who really knows the Legas family has heard of 'Hurty games'. And it just so happened that Rick arrived in the midst of a new one that involved a pie tin, and a stomp rocket that shot a plastic arrow across the room. If I'm honest, this seemed to me to be a pretty tame 'Hurty Game' as far as those games go. The game consisted of one person as the Stomper/shooter, and the other as the target/victim as most of our games do. But this time the Target had one pie tin and one choice. He could choose where to place the pie tin -- what he wanted to protect. Most often the choice of what to protect was either to place the pie tin in front of their face, or the more popular in front of the groin area. And then the Stomper got to take his best aim, and best shot at whatever vulnerable area was left.
So my dad and my brother-in-law, Cass, were playing. And Cass was standing in the middle of the kitchen with his eyes closed and a tight grimace on his face, while holding a pie tin in front of his groin area....
---Enter Rick, stage left---
I can only imagine what thoughts went through his head as my father stood there smiling ready to shoot a rocket at the only other man who had dared marry into the family so far. And the rest of us sat there happily watching the entertainment. He might have rethought whether he truly wanted to ask for permission to marry into this band of crazy people... I'm not sure, but he was brave and had a chat with my dad anyway (That is another story). Maybe he saw that my dad wasn't a great aim with a stomp rocket? Maybe he felt like I was worth getting shots taken at him for the rest of his life? Who knows? But, that is the story that came to mind today, when I thought about choosing the right things to protect.
Today I sat down to read in the scriptures for a moment, while "Spiderman" and "Superman" went outside for a little bit to play. I read the first chapter of Helaman, in the Book of Mormon, the lesson that really hit me was from about verse 15 on. (Click here to read the full version)
To paraphrase, the Lamanite King sent Coriantumr to gain power over the Nephites. Coriantumr took his army and marched straight and quickly to the heart of the Nephite lands and took control of the greatest city they had, Zarahemla. He thought that he had defeated the strongest hold of the Nephites, so he was confident and took his army out to conquer more lands and more cities, killing any group of people they came upon along the way.
Moronihah, the leader of the Nephite army, had supposed that the Lamanites would be too afraid to head for the center of their lands, and that they would attack the outer/weaker cities first, so he had placed his armies in the outer cities instead. Because Moronihah had his strong armies still, he was able to catch up and head off the Lamanites before they could conquer the next city. The Nephites surrounded the Lamanite armies and saved the rest of their lands, they also regained possession of the city Zarahemla.
When I first read this, I thought Moronihah was in the wrong place. And I thought he had made a mistake by protecting and guarding against the wrong threat. I wondered if I was concentrating on the wrong threats... "Are my armies in the right place!? Am I focused on and putting my energy into the wrong things!? Maybe my focus needed to be in the 'center'?!?" That had me thinking for a minute.
But as I reread the verses I understood that because Coriantumr had attacked the center first, and because Moronihah had been focusing somewhere else, Moronihah still had the time and strength to regroup and stop the attack, and avoid the total loss of the lands.
Moronihah was doing his best. He was thoughtful and prepared. He just couldn't predict where the attack would come from and hit first. But he wasn't destroyed because of that mistake. Heavenly Father was still blessing them to be able to catch up and defend the rest of the land. And after that they regained all of their cities again.
Moral of the Story (aka: What I learned) --- If I do my best to be prepared, if I train up and teach my family, (even if I don't predict right where the threats and attacks are coming from, and even if we lose some battles) Heavenly Father will give us the strength to catch up and stop the adversary from gaining anymore ground. And we will be able to regain what had been lost in the first attacks.
I am thankful for the Atonement. Thankful that it makes up for my weaknesses and moments of a lack in good judgement. In my own life and in my family there have been attacks at the heart of us, and there will continue to be. But, I know if I am doing my best to be thoughtful, prayerful, diligent and prepared, Heavenly Father will give me the strength and ability to make up any lost ground through the gift of His son, Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment