Finding Blessings in Adversity (2/9/2009)

I would first like to thank those of you who sent kind words and prayers. Just so you know, my daughter is doing fine (in fact were it not for the medical tests, there would really have been no way to know that she was ill). We are still working to understand what it will take to work with her diabetes, but for now things are going well.

One of the thoughts that keeps coming to mind for me with this new trial in our lives is that we will not be given anything beyond what we can bear. The scriptures tell us that our temptations will not be more than we can overcome (see 1 Corinthians 10:13, Alma 13:28), and based on my observations of the past few weeks, I believe the same is true of the challenges we face.

Above all, I have been able to see blessings in all of this. This probably sounds strange, as I think all parents would want their children to go through life unscathed, but where this did happen to my daughter, I think that there is good in the way that it happened. We caught it early, so the chance of the diabetes doing further damage to her has been minimized as long as we maintain it. Another blessing is her age. Had this happened to my 15 year old or my 13 year old, I am sure that it would be much more difficult for them to grapple with changing their lives, where my daughter's young age of 4 means that she will not require overcoming years of habits. She is also exceptionally bright and has a personality that will not let her quit, so I think that all of these things work in her favor.

It seems strange in the face of this diagnosis to speak of blessings, but again, knowing that we can overcome any trial with the help of our Father in Heaven has helped me to see that there is still much for which I have to be thankful.