I delight in the whole plan.

I'd heard it from Sister Oaks once, but I needed to hear it again. (Experience it here.)

When we came to earth, the plan of salvation or as I prefer to call it, the great plan of happiness was the plan we signed on for. Fortunately for us it is not a partial plan--it is a whole plan, an eternal plan. You signed up for the whole plan!

It is important to remember this 'whole plan' idea so we don't get lost in all the small moments. Earlier today, I was feeling very behind. It seemed to me that everyone around me was/is moving on to all sorts of great, new adventures. Adventures I might be a little jealous of as I currently find myself far removed from their various situations in life. As my day progressed and I spent time at the Children's Center, wrapping my arms around sweet children, ever in need of love and then later with an inspiring client of mine, I felt my heart being softened and my horizon being widened.

"Why should you mourn or think your lot is hard? Tis' not so, all is right."

This is one of my favorite hymns--Come, Come Ye Saints. Whenever I hear it, I think about my Grandma Bandley. You see, I used to play the organ for her. Now I am not an organ player--at all. But when she was in later stages of Alzheimer's Disease, I would stay with her while Grandpa ran errands. I had 2 choices--answer the same questions over and over and over regarding when "Daddy" was going to be home and where he went or play the organ. I did a bit of both, but I began to love plunking out my favorite hymns by ear. Surprisingly one day, as I played Come, Come Ye Saints, Grandma said the words at the end, "All is well. All is well."

She had not spoken my name in 2 years but she remembered the words to a hymn? As I have long considered this--what I claim as--a special tender moment in my life and the value of trials--I continue to recognize that each of our paths to eternity is different but is it SO different from the next? The way we "live the plan" and our individual experiences are different--but the principles, the virtues, the lessons, the faith required, the qualities--essentially they're the same. They make us stretch and grow, they make us uncomfortable sometimes as our situation can seem so far removed from those around us. But never fear--you signed up for the whole plan. Elder Jeffery R. Holland said it best when he said,

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

And so, as another piece of 'my path' worked out today, I became humbled knowing that He sees all the things that I can't see and He knows better than I how it will all play out. Yay for the whole plan!!!