“Life is like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for the ride!” -Gordon B. Hinckley

When I think about my life, all of it, from the beginning, I can honestly say that I have learned how to do this. Just knowing that there’s a trick is helpful.

One especially hard time in my life was when my son, Riley, was a newborn and I started to have some health problems. When he was two months old, I had to have gall bladder surgery. I honestly felt so picked on. The surgery which was supposed to take a few hours, ended up being more difficult and took about 5 hours. I had a large incision across my abdomen and tubes coming out. I was in the hospital for a week. I was not supposed to lift anything more than ten pounds for a month or so. Guess how much my little boy weighed? More than ten pounds! One of the tubes hanging out of my body had to stay in for 6 weeks. And once a week I would have to go get an x-ray of my bile duct. They would shoot dye into the tube that was hanging out of my body and then take an x-ray. After the first x-ray, they saw something that looked like a gall stone still inside me. If what they saw was a gall stone, they would have to go in through the hole that the tube was coming out of and get it. I was so not in the mood!!! On the day of the last x-ray, I was just praying and hoping that they would not have to go in and get a gall stone. I was very stressed, too stressed. I went out to get in the car to go to the hospital and I sat on a wasp that stung me on the butt. After I realized what happened, I just laughed!!! I was taking myself way too seriously. I went to the hospital and the spot they thought might be a gall stone was still on the x-ray. Like I said, this meant that after pulling the tube out, they would have to put some type of a scoop in the hole and see if they could get the stone. As they gently pulled the tube out, sitting on the top of the tube was the gall stone. It came out with the tube. I immediately thanked Heavenly Father. It was about a year after the surgery that I really started to feel like myself. I had had a baby and two months later had major surgery. It was a very difficult time for me in my life, but I am grateful for it. I am a more compassionate person, more empathatic and aware of others feelings, what they might be going through at a tough time. I have learned to thank God for the ride, then and always. I have also learned to relax when overwhelmed and discouraged and listen for help in dealing with my trials from Father in Heaven.