From Desert to Fruit in My Life (2022/11/07)

I'm reading in 1 Nephi 17. 

1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness;...  And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.

2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

3 And thus we see ... if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means ... while we did sojourn in the wilderness.

5 And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish....

6 ...we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.

I have a thought on this expression of the comparison of their experiences. 

The first is the extremity of the difficulty they faced. He says they learned to face it withoug complaint. They were happy and peaceful even while enduring the hardship. 

Essentially, that is saying "it wasn't hard," it was just that amount of work and that kind of work. 

Then they come to the land of Bountiful. Comparitively speaking, life was much easier there. They were really grateful. 

I see my life this way. 

Initially, I complained a lot with the difficulties I faced with Daryl's issues and the decline caused by the MS. But, I sought the Lord. I poured my soul into prayer and supplication for his help. I was given peace from the Lord. I learned patience. I learned a form of compassion that included both him and me. I learned to see my own bad motivations and to clean up my act. That means I repented. I learned to have better respect to his appropriate boundaries, as well as to my own appropriate boundaries. 

I grew a lot. 

The whole process of taking care of him became not hard. It was still a lot of work. But, that work wasn't resented. It wasn't irritating. That work symbolized to me the growth I had made. 

The growth I had made because of that work created in me the ability to do that work from a matter-of-fact position. What originally was a burden was no longer a burden, even though the amount of work increased. 

Then that journey ended and I came to the land of Bountiful by marrying Ken. There are just a few things we have to extend patience to each other on. The rest of it is very easy. I feel I am in a land of "much fruit."