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I am not alone

I have two beautiful daughters.  They are smart and sweet and a joy to our family.  I don't know what I would do without them.

Recently I took them both in for a physical.  I was aware that they are large for their age and knew that they were "out of shape or husky."  But I found out that one had gained 30 lbs. in the last year.  I was in shock.  How could I have let this happen?

Blood work was requested for both of them.  After many tears and a lot of prayers the blood work was submitted.  Today I received a call that the other daughter has high cholesterol and extremely high triglycerides.  Again, how could I have let this happen?

After the initial shock and the wondering, "what do we do now?" I was given peace from my Father in Heaven.  I was reminded that I have continually tried to help my family be healthy.  That we are human and don't always eat or exercise as much as we should but I have never given up.  I was reminded of a quote I have posted in my kitchen from Elder Ballard:

"God will give you strength beyond your own as you strive daily to fulfill the most sacred mortal responsibility He gives to His children [Parenthood]. Listen to the voice of the Spirit and the counsel of the living prophets. Be of good cheer. God did not place you on earth to fail, and your efforts as parents will not be counted as failure unless you give up." (Italics added)

Now is the time that I need "strength beyond my own."  I am not a failure because I have not given up.

For the last few weeks I have felt a need in our family to change our health habits: eat better and exercise more.  I have been praying to find the right path for our family to take.  As I now face the prospect of doctors and programs to help my daughter I feel that this is an answer to my prayer.  This will force our family to change and will make us accountable to someone so that these changes will become habits.

There are moments in my life when I feel alone.  That because my husband is so busy I have to stand alone to fight for my family.  But I am reminded that I am not a lone.  That because of my husband's sacrifice for the Lord we are discovering problems in our family that need to be fixed so that our future may be easier.  I feel that this discovery now is a blessing, given to us because of our sacrifice.  That if we were not willing to sacrifice our father and our husband this problem would have not been detected and our future would have been hard, but finding this problem now will prevent many problems that would have been in our future.

I am grateful for a loving Father in Heaven.  I know He is real and I know He loves me. 

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