Eye Opening

Today my eyes were opened. I saw the glorious abundance of my life with a clarity that I haven't experienced since I was in South America. I went to a Stake Women's Conference and listened to the most amazing woman speak about her tragic life in Sierra Leone, Africa, and how she survived many of her trials with the help of a hygiene kit she received from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. Her name is Mariama Kallon and her testimony took my breath away. She cried as she recounted her horrific experiences, and beamed as she told us all how she knew that she had been sent to the earth at this time, and in that place so that she could take her message to the world and open people's eyes to their abundance and their abilities to help others.

On my way home from this meeting I stopped to pick up my Co-Op food order, and unloaded onto my table at home. For $37 dollars I had more food than I knew what to do with (2 bags of carrots, 2 heads of lettuce, 1 cauliflower, 2 loaves of bread, 2 bags of rice, ground beef, fajita meat, chicken, pork, 7 bell peppers, 5 avocados, 10 oranges, 11 pears, 10 tomatoes, and 11 apples). I thought of Mariama and the fact that for 7 years in Sierra Leone she didn't even think about how to get food because she never knew if she would be alive for her next meal. I am so amazingly blessed to live in this country where I have easy access to food, shelter and safety for me and my family.

Just yesterday I was writing in my journal and giving myself a pat on the back for being able to maintain a happy, positive attitude in my life despite occasional trial and tribulation. Today I laugh at what seems now a rather pathetic acheivement in the light of the tremendous hope, faith and happiness in one who has truly suffered. I mean really, I am one of the minute few on the earth born into a prosperous family, country, and blessed to have the truth of the gospel at my ready access. I will never starve or go cold without shelter because even if I lack the means, either state or church will readily compensate for my lack. I may have a sick son who suffers many physical ailments, but he will never go without treatment or medical help. It is laughable that I was so proud of myself for my ability to be positive and cheerful in such a life, when I see now that to be anything but happy in my blessed situation is a little absurd. You will have to forgive my rantings and ravings, but this woman has touched my life in such a way that perspective has been fantastically altered, and I hope I will never lose it. I hope to never forget her eyes, and the pain, suffering, hope, and joy that I saw there, and I am so grateful to her for opening my eyes to my blessings and my responsibilities to my fellow man.