The load

I have been thinking a lot about how we each carry a load.

Burdens that we carry from choices we've made, the choices of others that affect us, or experiences that come to test and try us.

Often these loads are impossibly heavy, long lasting, and severe.

And many times we must carry our load alone.

I have seen this play out as Jacob has gone through two brain surgeries, radiation treatment, rounds of chemotherapy, and more than a dozen MRI's.

Each of these experiences he has passed through alone and no matter how much I want to, I am not able to bare any of that physical suffering for him.

But in the past many months I have experienced this truth stated so well by Elaine L. Jack, 12th Relief Society general president:

"We cannot always lift the burden of one who is troubled, but we can lift her so she can bear it well."

I have experienced the truth of that statement.

There are countless ways that people have lifted me during the last many months and those lifts have helped me to bear my part of this burden.

I could write for the next several hours about the things people have done to lift me, to lift Jacob, to lift our children, to lift our parents, to lift our siblings. 

Very specific and tailored things that we almost didn't know we needed until they were offered.

But in every instance, the acts, words, expressions, and service have provided a needed lift to help us continue on and put one foot in front of the other.

President Monson stated, "Usually our love will be shown in our day-to-day interactions one with another. All important will be our ability to recognize someone’s need and then to respond."

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given each of us that ability- the ability to recognize someone's need.

And I am grateful that we are each endowed with the agency to respond- to respond to the need of someone around us.

Ultimately, we must yoke with the Savior whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. He is the only one who can truly walk with us and help us carry our individual loads.

But in our daily lives we each have the ability to lift and respond to the needs of the people around us, to lift them so that they can bear their loads well.

That is our opportunity.

And blessing.