My Red Sea

I am struck by how many times the parting of the Red Sea and the Israelites' subsequent passage to safety and to the promised land is mentioned in the Book of Mormon. It is mentioned in connection to having faith and remembering how if God saved our forefathers, shouldn't we have faith that he can and will do the same for us, too?

Nephi quotes this story to instill courage in his brothers who were afraid to try one more time to get the plates of Brass from Laban. He reminds them, if the Lord can destroy the Egyptians, He can surely destroy Laban. (1 Nephi 4:2-3, paraphrased) Nephi references this story again when his brothers doubt his ability to build a boat to take them to their own promised land. (1 Nephi 17)

The parting of the Red Sea is mentioned several more times in the Book of Mormon where faith is needed and courage must be had by remembering how God has saved his people in the past and will do so again.

At different times in our lives we are standing in front of the Red Sea, waiting for it to part. We know God is capable of providing the miracle we are waiting for, we just don't know the timing of it all. In the case of the Israelites, they could see the Egyptians coming from behind while the Red Sea was in front of them. It looked pretty hopeless.

I have dear friends whose Red Sea is finding their eternal companion. Others would love to welcome children into their home. Others struggle with long term health issues. And the list goes on.

Most of us experience more than one Red Sea in our lives. My husband and I have been waiting a year and a half for our current Red Sea to part. Sometimes it is hard. Sometimes I have to dig deep for courage. Sometimes I have to turn my eyes away from the soldiers coming at me from behind and look toward the Red Sea, knowing that God will part it for me when the timing is right. Sometimes it takes even that extra bit of courage to be genuinely happy for others as you watch them walk through their Red Sea on dry ground while you are still waiting for your own to part.

I haven't been to the Red Sea, but I have experienced an amazing parting of nature on the island of Kauai. There is an outlook up high where weather conditions create a constant thick fog in the valley you are looking at.



If you wait long enough and if you are lucky all of the sudden the clouds part and for a few seconds you see the most beautiful view you have ever seen in your life. I don't think I had ever cried over nature before, but this experience did it to me.



(halfway there with the parting of the fog)

The clouds only part for a few seconds before covering up the magnificent view and you wonder if what you saw was really truly there. Some people that joined us at the lookout lost patience and left before seeing the view. We waited a long time and were blessed to see it part a couple of times.



(the pictures just don't do it justice)

We usually don't understand all the lessons God needs us to learn while we're in the middle of them. Patience is often one of them. Trust is another. The fog is certainly thick. The beautiful view is hidden. We don't know God's timing for our lives or how close the soldiers need to get before He will part our Red Sea and provide our miracle.

But as we think back to the Israelites and "lift up [our] heads, and rejoice, and put [our] trust in God, ..., that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground" (Mosiah 7:19) we can feel the assurance of the Spirit, that our day will come.

And all will be well.

Overboard

A couple of weeks ago during Sacrament Meeting at church, Theo was facing backwards, entertaining all the people behind him with his cute grins and little antics. He tilts his head backwards and gives people a huge grin and it just melts them. Anyway, this Sunday there was no one directly in the row behind us, but he was still facing that direction looking around. He bent his head down to look at the floor and before I knew it, he was going overboard, head first over the pew. It was during the quietest time of the meeting, but you heard an audible gasp coming from the congregation. Luckily mommies have special reflexes and with lightning speed I grabbed him by the seat of his pants, literally, and saved him from impending doom. Theo sat in my lap for a few minutes, completely still and stunned. I was grateful I didn't have a screaming child with a huge bump on his head or worse. I received several comments about my "great catch." Well, one tries to impress, doesn't one.

February, March and April were extremely rough for me, for a whole host of reasons. I was going "overboard" emotionally in a way I haven't in a long, long time. One particularly bad night I sent an email to a few friends, just requesting that they pray for me. I also talked to family. Over the next little while peace was restored to my soul. Circumstances haven't majorly changed, but my friends and family held me tight, by the seat of my pants and kept me safe. Their prayers were an act of service and love and pulled me back to my seat. I'm sharing this because if anyone is struggling and is reading this, please believe in the power of prayer. I do. My problems aren't all solved, but my burdens have been lifted. I truly believe that this is because of the prayers that I have offered and others have offered on my behalf. I am so grateful I have friends and family that I can turn to, who were ready to hold on to me during a rough moment.

We need to have the struggles so we can understand the joy. But sometimes when the struggles get too hard to bear we can call for relief. And if you turn to the Savior and rely on him, relief WILL come.


(Image courtesy of google-I've never put pictures on before that I didn't take myself and just found doing an image search. How do I know which ones are copyrighted? Can someone help me understand?)