I was shocked and inspired by the depth and understanding of the sweet young sisters in my class and their mature and comprehensive grasp of adversity and how to endure it with faithfulness.
My counselor to the Beehive class suggested we do a lesson on Adversity. I thought what could 12-13 year old girls know about Adversity. But boy was I WRONG!! Dead wrong. Those girls taught me so much about adversity.
First we started with a question. What is Adversity? They gave me a very impressive list of things big and small that was comprehensive.
Exhaustion
Sorrow/sadness
Sickness
Death
Moving
"Can't" (this meant things we aren't able to do through our weakness)
Frustration
Then we talked about how to endure faithfully adversity.
I had 4 girls in my class.T. has a life threatening chronic illness, Cystic fibrosis. A. lost her baby brother to SIDS. I. had a best friend die last year suddenly of an accident. And A. who just moved here from Germany
These four girls had some really severe experiences with adversity and they inspired me with their answers to the question how to endure faithfully.
A. especially was very sweet and a blessing to me. She said "Each morning my mom would have me get up with my little brother so she could sleep in a few more minutes. I was sort of resentful of it at the time. But after he died I was very grateful for the time I had been able to hold him all alone." Then another time she said "Sometimes I would just choose to be happy and distracted by playing and having fun. You can't be sad all the time." Some people saying "Just choose to be happy" it would feel like "Ya what ever" but A. has had some really hard experiences. I didn't tell you but her mom was diagnosed with Leukemia last year as well and she was very sick for most of last year. A. knows true sorrow both from death of her baby brother and from the very serious sickness of her mother. To have her say "Sometimes I just choose to be happy." Meant something very powerful. And inspired me to try harder to choose happiness and faith during my trials as well.
Last but not least A. that moved from Germany testified that we can all do more to serve others even during our trials to find peace and joy. It was a great lesson taught by some amazing girls. I love Come follow me and know it is inspired. There is a wealth of faith and knowledge in the youth of the church.
