As you can see I am developing a pattern here when I post. It takes me awhile to get anything put up here. I guess that is because I just never really know what I want to say. It seems like my thoughts are always so random and misplaced. When I sat to write this post I knew what I wanted to talk about and even now I am not sure how to put it into words. I was just able to read an email that was sent by my cousin who is serving in Iraq. While I have not had to face the same obstacles that he is going through, and we have not stayed in contact as well as I would like to have (This sadly is mainly my fault). I can not help but to feel closer to him after reading that letter than I have in many many years.
I can understand the desire that one has to stand as a “Man of God”. I try to strive and reach for this as much as I possibly can in my life. I know that I can not do this on my own, and it is God that will help to lift me the rest of the way to reach this goal. There are a couple of things that I would like to share with those who are reading this. They come from Jeremy’s letter so I hope that he can forgive me for not getting his permission before hand, but I think that the way that he has worded these comes straight from the lord.
The first thing is understanding what a man is:
“It is really an easy task to be a man. It only requires you to do as you
are asked; to be obedient. I have come to understand that a man is one
who honors his oaths. There is a lot to be said and seen in how much an
oath meant to Nephi and his brethren when Zoram offered them his oath in
the Book of Mormon. These were men; they honored their commitments and
their oaths.”
This could not be stated any better! Another part of his letter that I would like to share.
“I want to give me life over to the Lord, I want to go where he would
have me go and do as he would have me do. I know that this is the only
way to happiness. I now see that this is my purpose and direction. I
think I have wandered my whole life with no real destination. I want to
go home, the home I had before my birth. I want to be able to return
there having found the treasure. This is where happiness can be found,
and to get there I must be a man, not as the world would have me believe
a man is, but as a man of God.”
I read this and could not help but cry. I to would like to turn my life over to the lord to return to him. I know that with his help I will be able to return and stand before my father to feel his eternal love as a true “Man of God”.
Jeremy I hope that you are able to read this post. I hope that you don’t mind that I quoted your email, but there is no way that I would have been better able to say what you have. I pray that God may continue to watch over you and protect you until you return to your family and loved ones here.
