Crying

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I deal with a lot of crying in my line of work.  I work with children who have severe mental disabilities.  Their inability to communicate makes for some sad days and some hard lessons for them AND me, too.  It's such a rewarding job, though, and I have learned SO MUCH about the Atonement of our Savior as I've worked with these amazing kids.

So, anyway, back to crying.  We had a day where it seemed like there was non-stop crying going on in our class last week.  It was enough to drive someone mad.  I can't say for 100% certain why this child was crying, but it got me thinking about our Father in Heaven and why/when we cry to Him in prayer.  His responses make so much more sense to me as I've worked with children and been in a "parenting" role.  I'd like to share my thoughts about this with you.  I'll relate situations that have happened in my experience and then a parable of how this relates to our relationship with God as our Father.

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Situation #1: A child falls down, or is pushed down, or comes to harm in a way that is definitely not his fault.  We immediately run to the child to help them and comfort them.  Sometimes the child pushes us away or thinks they don't need us.  We still try to help them.  Sometimes the child rushes into our arms and sobs.  We allow them to calm down and help them up again.

Parable #1: Something happens in our life that  is not our fault and we get hurt--physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  We can either shun God's help and not ask Him for help (He still will try to reach out to us) or we can rush to Him in prayer and receive strength as we feel of His love.  The choice is ours.

Situation #2: A child is doing something that could hurt him unwittingly.  You tell the child to stop--he will get hurt if the behavior continues.  The child stops and we praise him.  OR, the child doesn't stop, gets hurt, and we are less quick to comfort him.

Parable #2  We are doing something that God does not approve of.  He gently chastens us to help us understand that our behavior is not worthy of a child of God.  We stop and repent--He blesses us.  OR, we don't stop and we cut ourselves off from the blessings of the Lord.

Situation #3: A child is doing something that they KNOW is wrong.  They get hurt.  We don't seem to have much sympathy for this child's crying as they knew that what they were doing was wrong.  We do not rush to their aid.  However, because we love them and they are our child, we counsel them about what they did wrong and why it is that they are unhappy.  We encourage them not to do it again.

Parable #3: We are intentionally sinning.  God cannot dwell in unholy places.  He puts warnings in place to help us to change our ways.  He sends guidance from scriptures, living prophets and church leaders.  He lets us feel sorrow in hope that this sorrow will bring us back to Him.

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I guess that I could go on and have a situation/parable about continually doing things that are harmful to us, but I think you get my drift.  So, I hope that you can see a little bit of God in your everyday life!  He is all around us and He loves us.  He is our Father and wants what is best for us.  I've recently started taking a deeper look at my life and am changing things that are not right.  Because I know that we are all human and all have things to change, I encourage you to pray and ask our Father what it is He would have you change.  I promise you'll be much happier if you take His advice!