And It Did

I've been thinking this week that surely of all times, now, during this Christmas season, it would be good to post a new message of Jesus, but I was also trying to figure out some eloquent message to share of Christ and I was struggling with that. Plus, this month has been kind of hard, for a few reasons. However, this morning, things sort of came together in my head, and I found the message I want to share, although it's a little jumbled, so I'm still not sure it will be eloquent. Nevertheless, here is the message of Christ that I want to share this Christmas.

As I said, this month has been kind of hard. As some of you might already know, my sweet Adam and I would very much like to be parents, but we haven't been able to get pregnant. It has been quite a struggle for us, with lots (and lots, and lots) of tears and frustration and sadness and disappointment as month after month after month, we've found that yet again, we weren't able to get pregnant. I was really hoping, even more than I've hoped every month, that this month would be the one. At the same time, the medicine I have to take to try to help us get pregnant has really been messing with my hormones and makes me depressed, and that only got worse when I realized that yet again, there still would be no baby for us, at least not yet.

However, I can confidently say that I have not been left alone in this struggle. There have been several times this month that I have felt and heard the Lord's messages to me, reminding me of scriptures and such to lift me and help me.

Earlier in the month, a five-year-old boy in our ward, Simeon, was assigned to give a talk in Primary. He spoke about the prophecies and signs that would help people to recognize the birth of the Savior of the world. After he told about the prophecies, Simeon also talked about their fulfillment and how they did happen. For example, Simeon spoke of Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy to the Nephites that new star would arise to herald the Savior's birth, and then said in his sweet little voice, "And it did!" That sweet little "And it did" is something that the Lord has been reminding me of this month--that just as Simeon said in his talk, each of the promises regarding Christ's birth truly did happen. Another thought that has popped into my head is a line from the not-often-sung fourth verse of I Am a Child of God: "I am a child of God. His promises are sure." Through these messages, and other that I've received this month as well, I have felt the assurance of the Savior that the promises made to me (which, through Priesthood blessings and such do indeed include children) will all come to pass and there will be a point in my life where I can say regarding parenthood, "And it did!"

While that blessing hasn't yet happened for us, I can look back at my life and see some many areas where I can say "And it did!" The Lord has kept His promises to me, and He has led me and guided me in so many ways to find the opportunities and path that bring happiness into my life. He has been with me, helping me, supporting me, loving me. And this Christmas season, as I reflect on how all of the prophecies of Him and His birth and then His life, atonement, death and resurrection were fulfilled every single whit, I know that in my life I will say "And it did"--because He did. He did every single thing He promised He would do; He didn't forget a single detail. He has overcome the world in all things, and because He did, all of us can rejoice in knowing that we will be able to say "And it did" in our lives.

And so, on this Christmas Eve, as I think of my Savior's birth and His life and atonement and death, I want to say, as did Jon Menzies Macfarlane,
"Lord, with the angels we too would rejoice,
Help us to sing with the heart and voice:
Glory to God, Glory to God,
Glory to God in the highest:
Peace on earth, goodwill to men;
Peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

I know that Christ's birth and the sweet reminders I've had this month are each a "message of mercy from heaven above" (Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains; click here for an audio version). And so I say, glory to God; praise be to Him who has kept every promise, who "shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4). God is merciful and we can have hope that He will keep each promise to us, just as each promise regarding the birth of the Savior was kept.