Your past is redeemed and your present makes sense. (Chris)

So October is always a wonderful time to reflect on my life and where I am at in the Lord's eyes.  I love conference.  It is something I look forward to every 6 months.  This conference I really felt the Spirit speak to me and I wanted to share some of the things that I've been thinking about.  I wrote this on the bus during my ride out to work and saved it in my phone. 

We are uniquely qualified to live our lives.  Every trial, every relationship, every person that has come into our lives has a purpose in it.  Everything that has ever happened in our lives, including what we struggle with now, will be for our good and will bless others as we become one with God and Jesus Christ and serve their purposes.  Acknowledging this allows us to let go of the past.  Why do we carry dead weight in our bags hiding it from others and hating what it has done to us?  If we were to open that bag and realize that those are the things that have shaped us, the heavy tools that have crafted us into who we are now.  It is so important to live in the present and be present each moment of the day.  Worrying about the past or the future prevents us from living our present moment.  We can't live richly or love deeply when we allow our worries to hold us captive.

 The adversary does not want us to speak the words that the savior would have us speak.  When you have tasted bitterness and have been redeemed through the Savior and have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, your voice becomes a valuable tool for the Lord to use.  There are things that you can say to people that will touch them and give them hope and inspiration.  There are people who desperately need to hear your voice.  If you are kept silent, they continue to search for the things that you have been uniquely prepared to say to them.  You see, they are carrying some of the same heavy things in their bags and they don't know how to use those heavy tools yet.  We are all fully equipped with what is needed to be successful in this life in spite of our struggles and in many cases because of our struggles.  Become one with God and Jesus Christ and pray continually to know how to live your best life.  Then act! Lead your life! Start walking and when you have the strength to run, then run!!  We cannot change the past and we don't need to.  Your sins have been forgiven.  Your mistakes have taught you how not to live.  Your disappointments and failures have taught you that you can get up stronger each time you get knocked down.  Perhaps our hearts or our attitudes need to change.  Maybe our focus or perspective needs some tweaking.  But you have greatness inside of you.  You have a divine heritage, angels who stand ready to bare you up, and a Savior who performed an infinite Atonement that makes you good enough each day.  Trust this, know this, and live your life as if everything in it is just how it was intended to be.