Um, no, Myrnie. Actually, it's not.
I find myself learning this monthly, at least. In this life, I have one person I can change: me.
It's not my job to change my husband. (Really, ladies. We can't.)
It's not my job to make my children's choices for them. (Wait, didn't someone try that one in the scriptures? It didn't end well, did it?)
It's not my job to tell my siblings precisely why their life plan isn't going to pan out. (Ouch. Does anyone else have oldest-child syndrome going on?)
My job is to take care of my responsibilities the best I can. My job is to live my life as well as I possibly can, and know that I'm an example to everyone around me. My job is to love -- to love without reserve, love without expectation, to love as the Savior did.
Christ suffered infinitely in the garden of Gethsemane. He loves infinitely. And you know what? He suffered in the garden, KNOWING that not everyone would accept His sacrifice. Not everyone would accept and apply the atonement in their lives. Can we love our families like that? Can we love and nurture, knowing that those we love are living their own lives, and are in God's hands?
That's why we're here. We have exactly one chance at this life -- let's not waste it!
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Myrnie is Mom to two little girls, wife to her husband, and a lifelong book junkie. She can be found crafting here and being all crunchy here.Photo credits to Pierre Bedat, Flickr Creative Commons
