Beings of Divine Joy

Check out this tree that we encountered on our latest trip to Phipps Conservatory.  Isn't it amazing?  The neat part is that it is a bonsai tree, so it's actually really small, but doesn't it look mighty?  And like it can tell some stories!

The knots and the deep root systems remind me that we all have to go through things to deepen our roots and help us learn our own strength.

I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who allows us to grow through trials.  It cannot be easy to watch your children suffer, but he allows it to help us grow.

Sometimes, I think that I am starting to look like that tree.  It's not a pretty process, but with each moment of challenge and suffering, I know He is helping me to grow.

"As you allow Him to do so, you will discover that your suffering was not in vain. Speaking of many of the Bible’s greatest heroes and their griefs, the Apostle Paul said that “God … provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.”¹⁹ You see, the very nature of God and aim of our earthly existence is happiness,²⁰ but we cannot become perfect beings of divine joy without experiences that test us, sometimes to our very core. Paul says even the Savior Himself was made eternally “perfect [or complete] through sufferings.” - Matthew S. Holland The Exquisite Gift of the Son

Here are some exquisitely beautiful creations that we got to admire on our latest trip to Phipps Conservatory last week. Enjoy!