What I Learned from Snails

Eighteen months ago, I was called to serve as a leader in the Young Women's organization at church. With this calling, I was also put in charge of Personal Progress. In the program, the leaders are encouraged to work on Personal Progress along with the girls. So, I chose to grow and maintain a vegetable garden over the summer to fulfill one of the projects. I learned more than I expected.

Part of the garden included a plan for a small pumpkin patch and I frequently checked on the progress of the plants. For two weeks, I watched the progress of the pumpkin plants with pride and anticipation for how great the pumpkins would be.

Then, one day I went out and noticed that one of the pumpkin plants had been chopped off. At least that's what I thought had happened. The second pumpkin plant looked slightly tattered and the leaves seemed to be torn. I was really confused and thought maybe it wasn't getting enough water. So, I made sure to leave the water on longer to give it a boost.

I went out the next day to check on the surviving plant and found it to had been chopped to the ground, too. At this point, I realized something wasn't right and began to look around the garden for signs of what had happened. That's when I came across several snails hiding in the flower bed next to the vegetable garden. That's when I realized, the pumpkin plants hadn't been cut and vandalized by some cruel neighbor. No, they had been eaten by the nasty snails in the garden. I was both furious and sad. My beautiful pumpkin plants were gone!

Once the cause of the problem was discovered, I left for the hardware store, purchased several bags of poison to take care of the snails, and also bought new pumpkin plants to replace the devoured patch. From that day on, I had a vendetta against slugs and snails and went through several bags of poison. Luckily, my abrasive actions and unwillingness to surrender allowed us to have the pumpkins we hoped for.

This turned into a great metaphor for me and I now understand why growing a garden is one of the suggested activities to learn more about faith. When I started the project, I thought the goal was to have faith that a seed would produce fruit or vegetables and that faith and a garden had to be constantly cared for. It turns out that the lesson I learned was deeper than I expected. Yes, faith must be cared for, just like a garden must be watered and weeded. The pumpkin plants represented the faith each of us have. Faith has potential to grow into something great, but we must be diligent. I was not diligent in protecting new pumpkin plants from snails that saw the plant as dinner. Worldly influences can be like the snails and slowly devour our faith if we don't protect ourselves and do the gospel basics to keep us strong like praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church.

If for some reason our faith is attacked and diminished, the Lord allows us to repent and start over. Just like I had to replant the pumpkins and continue to lay snail bait the rest of the summer, we also have the opportunity to make things right, adjust our course, and put up protective barriers to help us stay strong. It may take work and it may not always be easy, but the reward at the end is irreplaceable and so incredibly worth it!

Learning from the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon from the airplane window.

A couple of weeks ago I flew down to Phoenix to visit my sister for a quick trip. As I was flying home, I got to see the Grand Canyon from the window of the airplane as the sun was rising. I've flown over the Grand Canyon multiple times, but never in the early morning. I could see the layers upon layers of rock, the sharp ridges, and the varying shades of red and brown. I always felt like I was looking at a map when I flew over it before. The rising sun gave me a whole new perspective of that Canyon. I was struck at just how big it was and I started to think about how long it took for the Grand Canyon to become that majestic. Those thoughts reminded me of a talk given during the October General Conference last year of how each of us is a house the Lord is building. We may be looking to become a cottage, while the Lord is rebuilding us to be a mansion or castle.

The Grand Canyon wasn't a big, spectacular site when the world started. Erosion happened over hundreds of thousands of years. It probably started out like a little stream. I'm not sure of all the water, wind and earthquakes that it took to make such a large crevice in the earth, but I'm sure it wasn't an easy transformation. Imagine being the Grand Canyon with thousands of years passing while the water and wind are slowly wearing you down. I'd feel beat up, tired, and happy to just stay that little stream – comfortable with it. So, why change? I'm sure that little stream had no idea that it would become one of the wonders of the world. The rock bed that was slowly worn away had no idea of the beauty that would be revealed.

How are we any different? We start out this life like a little stream flowing pleasantly down a rock bed. With each storm the water flows faster, breaking away rocks and wearing the stream deeper. Each of us are being reshaped and transformed into a personal, majestic work of art. We don't see it now, but it's happening. With each trial, each struggle, each heartache, we are being transformed by the Lord to learn and grow and prove ourselves worthy. We are spiritual beings having a mortal experience on earth. We came hear to learn. We may not always like or appreciate the lesson being taught at the time, but hind sight is 20/20.

Just like a piano student hates to practice when they first start learning to play, each of us won't enter willingly into some of life's trials. However, just like a piano student who keeps practicing will come to love playing the piano, so will each of us look back on our mortal experience with fondness because of what we have become.

Unfortunately, this life wasn't meant to be easy. Fortunately, we have not been asked to go through this life alone.

"Fear not, I am with thee; oh be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand. Upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand."

~ How Firm A Foundation, LDS Hymn Book, Verse 3 ~

Just Keep Paddling

Last week I went on vacation with my mom and my brother and his family. We went up to the beautiful paradise that is Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada. Growing up, Waterton was like a second home to me. We had a great time but it was very different not having my dad there. All part of finding a new normal and adjusting.

Heading out from Farmer's Bay for our kayaking adventure.

While we were there, my brother decided we should go on the kayaking trip he had done two years ago. So, my brother, my sister-in-law, my nephew, my cousin, and I all went. We started the trip on a beautiful, calm, clear morning. The lower lake was smooth as glass, which is highly unusual for Waterton because there is ALWAYS wind. It was beautiful! The sun was shining, there were very few clouds in the sky, it was a perfect day for a kayaking trip. Or so we thought. . .

Scott, Tyler, Stacy and Jenny on Lower Waterton Lake. 
Jason is taking the picture. This is one of the last pictures we
took before his camera died.

About an hour in, we heard thunder out on the prairie. When the lightning started, my brother told us to keep to the shore line so that we wouldn't become lightning rods out in the middle of the lake with aluminum oars. So, we stuck to the shore for safety's sake. The storm rolled in VERY fast. We were paddling about 10 yards off the shore when a huge wind storm started up. We hastily pulled out, dragged the 5 kayaks to a tree, and made a shelter. It started to rain just as the last kayak was put into place. Storms normally pass quickly in Waterton, so we weren't too concerned and just planned to wait out the wind. At this point, we couldn't just end the trip. We weren't anywhere near a road for my mom to meet us and pick up the kayaks, so we had to keep going.  Just as the wind died down, the hailstorm started. I must say, kayaks make pretty good shelters for hailstorms.

Once the storm passed, we hopped back in the kayaks and called my mom to tell her we would be 20 minutes later than planned because we had to pull out and asked her to pick us up at a pull out closer than the original pick-up location. As we started paddling again, I realized just how tired my arms were. My cousin, Scott, and my sister-in-law, Stacy, were close to my kayak. I jokingly stated that this experience of paddling in the rain had to be a metaphor for life. Stacy laughed and said, "Surely I could use this in a gospel doctrine lesson!" And we kept paddling, hoping the river would show up soon so we could get out before the rain got worse.

Our luck for the trip held out. We got to the pull out and talked with two fisherman there that said the road was closed and they had to hike in. Jason, my brother, made another call to my mom and told her to go back to plan A. We continued on the river, all of us tired. Half way through the river we encountered another hailstorm. This time, there was no where for us to pull out. I've never been caught in a hailstorm without shelter, but I pity those who have now. I know what it's like to have pea-sized hailstones pelting your bare arms. Luckily I had a baseball cap and sunglasses on so I could still see. However, when the wind picked up with the hailstones, I had to put the nose of my kayak into the bank. My cousin Scott was with me and I told him if I was going to make it to the end of the lake, I wouldn't be able to paddle against the wind. He anchored with me and waited out the hailstorm.

The pull-out at Knight's Lake. My mom took this picture
to show the "Soaked Ragamuffins" at the end of the trip.

 We finally got out of the river and onto the last lake. It's amazing how close a shore can look and yet be so far away. We saw the two cars watching for us on the lookout and I knew the end was in sight. I was so close to being done kayaking in the rain. We were drenched, hungry, and cold. We started cutting across the lake and my mom was waving at us. I was exhausted at this point and really didn't want to keep pulling. I was so tempted to just stop and let the wind blow me wherever it wanted to. I mentioned this to my cousin and he so wisely said, "Well Jenny, if you are going to do that, you may as well paddle all the way back to the beginning." I cringed at that thought, put my focus on my mom and started singing, "Just keep paddling. Just keep paddling. Just keep paddling, paddling, paddling." Over and over again, until I reached the shore. Our two hour trip turned into three and a half hours. That was the end of my kayaking trips for the week.

This kayaking trip, in a way, represents the last year of my life. The journey started out smooth, calm, beautiful and exciting. That was last summer for me when I got engaged and married. Then the storms hit. My husband, Reed, started getting very ill. The first hailstorm represented Reed's car accident and passing. My family, friends, and the temple provided shelter from that storm. Just like you can't stop living and give up, we had to get back in the kayaks and start paddling again. Our journey wasn't done. The rain continued, but we pressed forward with the end goal in mind. The second hailstorm was my dad's passing. We had no choice but to face it and keep moving. I stopped momentarily, but I didn't give up. The final leg of the journey on the river and the second lake in the rain represents what I'm pushing through now.

My picture of triumph. I made it through!

I've had two really big hailstorms in my life in the last six months, but I've had to keep paddling. My end goal is to obtain the blessings of eternity, to be with Reed and my dad again! Life is full of storms, whether it is rain, hail, snow, or thunder. We are all on the kayak trip of life. I was reminded that I can do hard things, I can keep paddling when I feel like giving up. I was reminded that I can face hard things and keep paddling!

I got in the kayak that morning looking forward to a nice calm ride. I got so much more! That experience keeps coming back to me. On my toughest days, when I want to give up, I hear myself singing, "Just keep paddling" while kayaking in a storm across a lake.

It IS possible. The trip WILL end. The blue skies WILL return. 

JUST KEEP PADDLING!