ETTE

This phrase "Endure to the End" is one that I have read and heard often in scriptures and from prophets of God. It is my understanding that this life is how we prepare ourselves to meet the Savior and stand face to face with Him. So how can one practice this enduring to the end quality? I think it is through hardships we can grow.  For each of us the problems of life can teach us this eternal concept of enduring to the end.

I think I may need some more practice on this one.

It all started when I decided to focus on feeling better through exercise and healthy eating. When I moved to St. Louis eight years ago I felt fantastic physically. I miss that feeling a lot. I have put on 30 lbs and my exercise regiment has come to a screeching halt.

One day last week I had been eating, what I would call PERFECTLY, all day.  My mind was fixed on the task. At day's end I  fixed a casserole of chicken and broccoli, a family favorite, and didn't feel the temptation to grab cheese for a snack as I sprinkled it on as the last topping of this layered deliciousness. This food was for the family. I would then broil a single chicken breast for myself and have that with a side salad and green beans. It was getting a little difficult when others sat and ate their dinner while long strings of the cheese were pulled from their forks. My chicken was not quite done so I waited and watched. The smell of the curry and lemon from their meal was divine. My mouth watered...still watching and waiting. And yet I was ready to endure to the end.

Some family members were saying,

" Just eat the casserole with us. It's so good"

I have heard of this kind of peer pressure.
Nope. I was enduring to the end. For sure. There was no wavering for me!

Until....
I heard a loud pop and crash from inside my oven.

The glass pie pan that my little piece of chicken had been sitting in had burst into many, many small pieces. There sat my lone piece of chicken on the oven rack with bits of pyrex glass surrounding it.
It was then I decided that my endurance wasn't so good after all and the dialogue in my head said,

"Bag this! I am eating the chicken, broccoli and fattening cheese with extra sauce!"

No guilt or regret either. There was a vegetable in it! It was delicious.

Since then I have decided to pick myself up, wipe the cheesy sauce from my chin and get back to my good intentions. Perfection is out there somewhere. Endurance is tricky.

Today I fixed a grilled chicken breast. I had a side salad and green beans. No explosions or loopholes that could justify me eating the golden brown fried chicken and buttery, cheesy mashed potatoes that my family was eating.

I endured today!

 I guess that is the point; we just keep trying and trying and trying and trying....