Marcie Hoopes “Keep and Preserve for a Wise Purpose - Alma 37:14" How to Pickle, Can, Dry, Freeze and Preserve at Home

 

Stories are important. They shape our perception of right and wrong, help us to navigate our own lives,and foster the cultural landscape we inhabit. As a teacher of literature I spend a lot of time exploring the worlds created via the written word. Here is one of the things I have noticed in my study. Most heroes have problems, and they aren't without faults, but they do have the capacity to change. Instead of thinking about what they might want or need all the time, instead of doing whatever it takes to get what they want or need all the time regardless of the impact it has on others, they are adaptable. Sometimes these heroes get what they want, sometimes they don't, but most often they can adapt their expectations and reshape themselves to take whatever it is they do to get and make themselves better by it. We see this in the scriptures, don't we? A reluctant and tongue-tied Moses doesn't ask to lead a gaggle of hard-headed, uneducated, down-trodden slaves into the wilderness, but he adapts. And not only does he become a mighty leader, but he forges brotherly love and an unbreakable alliance among people who had spent their whole lives doing anything it took just to insure their own survival. Nephi is another example. Nephi didn't expect to be uprooted in his teen-aged years. He left behind what would certainly have been a comfortable existence, for the uncertainty of a life shaped by the hand of God. In my life I can't say I have been called upon to make such dramatic changes, but I think I can say that I try to make the most of whatever it is life deals me. Sometimes I get what I want, but most of the time I don't. When I don't, I try to adjust rather than grumble. I have faith the Lord is giving me the opportunity to be the hero of my own story.