The Most Enduring Virtue

I'm notta gonna lie...this last year has been one of the toughest in my life. Not the toughest, but a close second or third. Each member of my family has felt heartache and disappointment in full measure this year. Each of us has felt the sting of gossip and judgement from those who profess to be friends and believers in Christ. There have been many physical and emotional struggles. We have all felt lonely. All of us have prayed for each other and for strength to stand. Each of us has had a good cry or two or twelve into our pillows. But when I consider all my family has struggled with I am reminded that truth never changes.
I posted a picture of Shane today, not because he is struggling the most but maybe because he has just started to understand that life is not easy. I hate when my children leave behind the innocence of youth. I always feel so sad for them.
And yet with Shane's own challenges there have come better conversations between us. With his doubts have come more determination from both of us. With his insecurities have come more insight. We have landed in the light of the truth, which is, if we rely on the promises of the Savior,  He will help us if we allow Him to.
Another truth has come as I have looked to know and understand what my role in this world is. I have come back to one answer ALWAYS- that answer is, to love. Love the challenges, love those that gossip, love those who exclude and judge, love those that suffer and love those that cheat. This is truth. We can feel a sense of peace when we trade doubts for determination, insecurities for insight and challenges into conversations.

"Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is not found only at the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arched across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. How rich are those who enjoy it in their associations with family, friends, and neighbors! Love, like faith, is a gift of God. It is also the most enduring and most powerful virtue." 
Gordon B. Hinckley