He knows us all!

Sometimes it's hard to remember that He is really aware of us. I think we know that He does, but it's a tough thing to always realize=God loves us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And there is purpose in trials. And we have a purpose. God knows it, even if we don't. But we can often lose focus amidst all we have to do and all that goes whirling and twirling about us.

In Exodus 31 the Lord instructs Moses on some individuals' purposes (at least, in part); they are to build a tabernacle and they've been given skills and talents wherewith they could accomplish that. As I was preparing I found a quote that CJ had in that chapter by a former counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. I felt that I should hand this out as a glue-in to my class. I'm glad it was more than a thought, because events would happen that could have prevented me from sharing it. First of all, this is embarrassing, but I gotta be honest, I didn't know who Bishop H. Burke Peterson was. I figured that he could have been in the Presiding Bishopric, but was worried that he was just a bishop from a local fireside. If he was a local bishop, then I probably shouldn't be sharing it as a glue-in. Then, when Thursday came along (just this past Thurs. the 6th) I forgot to bring the quote. Luckily, I have a great wife, so I called her and she read the quote to me and I typed it up to make the handout. I passed it out in 6th period, but changed the order of how I taught things in 7th. So, in 7th, I almost forgot. Near the very end of class, I saw the quotes and asked if I'd handed them out. The class said "no". As I passed this quote out and we read the first couple of lines I felt that this quote was gonna be really important to SOMEONE in here.

"One of the greatest challenges is to overcome the feeling that we are unimportant, that we are not special and unique. Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a significant work to perform?...My dear friends you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you...Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don't make another have to take your place. He or she can't do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here."

Fridays are a special day in class. We have "open sharing". This is when students come up and share spiritual experiences, scriptures and their testimony. One student stood up, the same one who found the murmuring/manna principle about God's love. She said that she was really struggling the last couple of days feeling really unimportant. She said she had felt really depressed and wondered what her purpose was. She said that the Spirit hit her so hard when we read that quote and she reread it that night and did her scripture study. Her testimony reconfirmed to me that God does know us all. He is aware of us. And that He has a great purpose for each of us. She closed her testimony saying, "The Lord walked with me last night."