My greatest desire

     As a young mother, one of my biggest thrills was a smile on my baby's face, then later laughter and hugs and kisses from my baby. Every sleepless night or battle with a rebellious child or panic at the sight of blood or temperature reading over 103 is easily mitigated by a squeal of delight when you give just the right gift or announce an exciting event to your child. As children get older and bigger, problems get bigger and joy is more fleeting and hard to come by. As I pray for each of my children and their children every day, I find it hard to avoid repetition. It's also difficult to know just what to pray for. With experience and maturity, I have learned that pain, sorrow, frustration, and disappointment are not to be simply prayed (wished) away. They are an unavoidable part of mortal life. You cannot bear a child and not have pain. You cannot watch  a loved pet die and not feel sorrow. You cannot try to pass a test or learn how to play the tuba without frustration. You cannot ask that special someone to prom and not feel disappointment when they turn you down.
     God, with His great wisdom, has declared there must needs be opposition in all things. You cannot comprehend pleasure if you have never known pain. You cannot feel true joy if you don't know the meaning of sorrow. I get it. So what do I wish/pray for my children and grandchildren? There are plenty of songs, poems, and adages that express appropriate things like strength, peace, determination, success, etc. But, it all comes down to CHOICE. The only way someone is going to feel peace is if they seek it. Strength will not come to someone who does not desire it enough to work for it. Determination is certainly an individual choice. Success will be different for different people. So, I have decided that all I can truly hope for, work for, and pray for is to be in the best place I can be by being the best person I can be to be worthy of being with those who are the best they can be because it's what they want. Interesting- that's what God hopes for. His work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He allows each and every one of His offspring the right to choose for themselves who they want to be but His hope is that we will all choose to be the very best we can be so we can manage to exist in peace and harmony and eternal happiness with Him and all who want to be like Him and His Only Begotten Son. It's simple but not easy.