Play Book of Life

December!!  I found myself lost in a whirlwind of questions.  My mind was going about a million miles every which way.  Back up, I will clue you in on some background information...as a missionary I serve my mission for two years.  Well, just so happens my year mark is this month.  So I am at like my midlife crisis in missionary life, just kidding it is not bad at all.  I just find myself doing a lot of self evaluation.

A lot of missionaries at this time do a lot of reflecting both on the pass and the time to come.  Not only the time to come on as a missionary, but also life in general.  Questions like who am I?  What good have I done?  How have I changed?  Who do I want to become?

Life has so many twist and turns, ups and downs, highlights and moments we wish would have never happened, but that is life.  In this storm of questions in my head I found myself slightly nervous for the future.

I am a baby when it comes to that, one of my biggest fears since 6th grade is having to grow up.  For the longest time I thought when you grow up the fun stops, life is just a boring routine you do till you get old and die.  Pretty depressing way to look at it, and boy was I wrong.

As I looked around my desk trying to sort out all of my lingering questions pictures and things stood out to me.  The first thing to stand out to me were two big pictures of Christ.  I know Christ is real and He suffered for me.  I thought, hmmm.....there must be a lot more to life than just a boring routine if He was willing to go through that for me.

Next picture to catch my eye was one of a guy sitting in a chair, with the out stretched hand of Christ before him, and the devil's hand trying to bind and pull him down.  I thought about the times of rebellion and the times of righteousness in my life.  Life is filled with choices and challenges, which can come at us unexpectedly not in just a boring routine fashion.  The picture reminded me that the Savior will always have an out stretched hand through all our walks of life.

Right under the drawing is a list of all my family and close friends birthdays.  The list of names cause me to reflect on all those I love.  Those special individuals that Heavenly Father has blessed me with, to be on my team as I endure the game of life.  I thought about all the things in life that are worth a celebration, birthdays being the celebration of the past year, and year to come.

As I continued to examined my desk, pictures of my new nephew catch my eye.  Having a baby, and being a parent definitely is not just some boring routine.  God gives us new responsibilities and opportunities in each stage of life.  Things to challenge and make us stretch, but yet the reward is great.

As my eyes completed the circle around the mirror on my desk, I took note of all the pictures and such. Ranging from the temple, the prophet, Jesus Christ, my brother's name tag, and the Foot Prints poem.  My desk alone answered my question, life is much more than a boring routine.  But why do each one of these miscellaneous items stand out in my life?

Placed by the bottom of the mirror is a very valuable object to me.  My Scriptures!  Like I said before life can get crazy, and our futures can at times scare us, but God has given us the playbook of life.  The hundreds of years old lessons and events written upon the pages is what makes each of the items surrounding my desk important.  The game of life is still won and played the same as it has been since the beginning of time.

God speaks to us by way of His prophet.  I know in life there is hope, and I have a purpose.  I know that Jesus is the Christ.  I know that my family can be together forever.  I don't know exactly how or where I will end up, but I do know life has a much greater purpose than just a boring routine till we die.  All of these lessons or plays are inside the book. Open it up, and see what your next play will be!