Who is your resource?

I remember my Grandma telling me once that she could tell when I wasn't doing well by whether I was journaling/blogging or not.  It's been a few weeks since I've journaled.  I don't know if I'm doing well.  Some days I think I've done pretty darn well.  And others, I feel weak.

I was just watching a video about mouring with those that mourn (using the example of Mosiah 9:18).  The question I got out of it was, do we mourn for those that mourn or do we mourn with those that mourn?  Do we cry in private for those that are hurting or do we physically go where ever they need us to be to help carry that burden?

In John 11:15 it simply states,  "Jesus wept."  In the past, I have read that scripture as a sad moment for Jesus.  He had lost his friend to death.  He witnessed his friend's family mourn and it saddened him.  I thought of this scripture as a way of humanizing the Christ.  He too could feel pain and sorrow.  But as I thought about the questions of how we mourn with others, I thought of this scripture differently.  If you continue to read the scriptures following verse 15, Jesus physically does something about the situation.  As sweet is the thought of Jesus weeping with those that He loved, even sweeter is the thought that He physically did something about it.

We can't raise someone from the dead as Jesus did with Lazarus, but we can physically be a friend to those in need.  And it just might bless you in the end.  A few months ago I met a woman (Rose), who is now my friend, in a finance class.  As a part of the class, we met in her home to discus things that we had been learning and applied in our home.  It didn't happen right away, but by the end of the class I felt a sort of connection with her.  We seemed an unlikely pair.  I am in my 40's with all my children still in the home.  I'm not sure how old she is but she is old enough to be a great grandmother.  She is bold when talking to people and I am not.  She likes to teach (thus us meeting at her house and her being the facilitator) and I would rather be the one learning.  But once the class ended, I knew I needed to keep in contact with her.

If I'm completely honest, I did it out of trying to be more Christlike.  I knew she had lost her husband and lived at home alone and so I thought it was just the right thing to do, to be her friend.  So, on occasion, I show up to her house and we would chat for a few hours.  Then I would go home feeling like I have done some good in the world.

But it wasn't until I went to visit her after my Grandmother's death that I realized just how well Heavenly Father's plan, of mouring with those who mourn, works.  It is 2 fold.  It goes around in a circle of giving and receiving.  Usually when I visit Rose, she cries while she talks of her time spent with her departed husband.  I say things here and there but mainly, I just listen.  And while the last time that I went to visit she still spoke of her husband quite a bit, it started out with experiences she had after her husband died to help comfort me with losing my Grandma.  I will just simply state that it was beautiful and I left her house knowing she had done more good for me than I ever could have given her that day.

One of the things that was brought up in the video that I watched earlier was that of resources.  Who or what are your resources when you are mourning?  Is it an organized place that helps those in need?  Is it a therapist?  Or is it just an everyday friend?  Rose was a resource to me the other day.  My friend, Valerie from high school, has been a resource to me a few times a week since my Grandmother's passing.  She randomly sends me texts to check up on me.  Another high school friend, Brandy, sends me private messages through Facebook and shares her intimate experiences with losing her mother.  My husband is my biggest resource.  Even though he is gone during the week, he not only sends me texts but also Skype's me at night and purposefully asks how dealing with the loss of Grandma is affecting me that day.  He even sent me flowers!

So who is your resource and could you be a resource for someone else?  I will end this with the greatest resource of all.  Our Savior Jesus Christ.

The first Sacrament meeting that I went to after my Grandmother died I had an new type of experience.  In the past, when taking the sacrament, I turn my thoughts to things that I had done wrong during the previous week and focus on repenting.  But this time was a sweet difference.  The sacrament prayer was said and while the bread was being passed out I thought of my Grandma.  Precious tears were shed as I thought of how significant the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ was to me right in that moment.  For once I wasn't thinking of my faults.  I was thinking of how my Grandma's soul was still alive!  And one day she would have her body again all because of Jesus Christ!  He is my Grandma's resource.  He is my resource.  He is mankind's resource!  Oh, how blessed we all are!