Ether 12 : 27

I'm not a  "scriptorian" by any means but there are always those scriptures that are quoted quite often so they become very familiar to you. I became even more familiar with one this week.

First, some background. My husband has a mobile welding business. Meaning he is mobile and can go anywhere to do jobs but occasionally the jobs come to our home and are done in our garage. Now his welder has a utility cord so it doesn't go in a regular outlet. He has two options. First option, plug it into his large generator which is VERY loud. Not his favorite but it's convenient. His second option, if you pull our oven out from it's nook and unplug it it has the same outlet he needs for the welder. Much quieter. Not convenient for mom however. This usually means the oven is unplugged for several hours and meals have to change and become usually breakfast on the griddle or sandwiches. Another thing happens when the oven gets moved around. Everything in the drawer UNDERNEATH the oven moves.

I'm probably like most women in the sense that I like similar things to be kept in the same place. I like all my baking pans to be kept together... under the oven. This being said I crammed all of my muffin pans, cake pans, pie pans, and cookie sheets in this drawer. Now, my experience.

Friday morning I got up to make my little boys birthday cake and approximately 36 cupcakes. All the pans for which were in said oven drawer. I got the cake batter ready and the oven preheated and went to open the drawer to get the pans and .............
Nothing. It wouldn't open! Weird... I thought to myself what is going on? So I tried to peak through the 1/2 inch gap to see what was blocking me from my pans and it was ... my pans. My cookie sheets must have moved around during the last welding job and got wedged on the ledge above the drawer.
Let me just share my thoughts at this point.


"UHG! HOW RUDE IS HE!!!! THIS IS SO INCONVENIENT! I CAN'T BELIVE THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! CAN HE NOT JUST USE HIS STUPID GENERATOR HE ALWAYS HAS TO DO THINGS IN A WAY THAT RUINS WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO! HEAVENLY FATHER CAN'T YOU PLEASE HELP ME????!!!"

Now at the end of my little poop fest in my head notice I finally invited someone else into the conversation. Now let me share his reply.

"You need to take a break and go read your scriptures."

Ok, I was really irritated and it took hearing this reply several more times for me to listen. When I finally did I grabbed my scriptures and opened to the last place I had read. I'm rereading the Book of Mormon and have just gotten to the book of Jacob. I went on to read Jacob chapter 3 verse 7 "Behold, their husbands love their wives and their wives love their husbands...." the scripture continues but that first part hit me like a slap in the face. My husband wasn't home, he wasn't doing something to be rude or irritate me on purpose and quite honestly who is to say if him moving the oven really created this situation or if I was the one who caused it. Nevertheless, I was most definitely NOT showing love toward my husband even in my thoughts. Our thoughts are the very root of the things we do.

Now, just to share one of my weaknesses with you, I struggle with my temper, I always have. I have tried to master this part of me. I do make progress but it's always slower than I would like. So here I am having another self awareness moment realizing my anger starts long before I have a blow up. I already start getting angry and creating situations in my head and then yell LATER at the people who I have decided hours before are the cause. AWFUL, I know. But there was a sweetness to this bitter moment.

As I was sitting embarrassed on the couch at what I had done this scripture came to my mind.

Ether 12:27
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble;and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselve before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I truly believe that because I want so desperately to rid myself of the evil that anger is, my Heavenly Father is helping me. He is allowing situations to happen that trigger it in me so that I can be humbled, and taught. But there are things we must do for this all to work. The scriptures have all the answers and guidelines to how we need to be living our lives. Lets break this scripture down.

Come unto me....
I invited Heavenly Father into my conversation in my head by asking for help with my "problem" of not being able to get my pans.

He then show unto me what my real problem was.
He showed unto me the root of my weakness.
He truly humbled me by making me see that I was not only using anger but not loving my husband as well as I should even in thought.

Now I haven't mastered this part of my being yet to have it become a strength but there is definite strength and power in being made aware of what our weakness is so that we can hopefully stop it from having as much control.
I testify that the scriptures are true and that if we, with all our hearts, want to be made better and whole our Heavenly Father will speak to us, in our thoughts, through the scriptures, and He will manifest our weaknesses to us so that we might overcome them through the cleansing and strengthening power of Christ's atonement. I know our Heavenly Father wants to help us, we just have to let Him choose how because He truly knows how we learn the best.