WHO WE ARE AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO FIND OUR WAY?

Greg Olsen painting, Precious in His sight.

Today, in Sacrament Meeting, I was sitting in front of a young family. Their little boy, about age four was making the regular little-boy noises, quietly, not disruptive at all when I heard very clearly, "Help me find the way." This is a line from the song "I Am a Child of God." (Click here to hear this song.)

Years and years ago, when we lived in Modesto, California, Phil worked with a family whose young boy was about the same age as today's little boy. One day his mom was chatting with a gentleman and the man looked down at the young boy, ruffled his hair, and said, "And whose little boy are you?"

"I am a child of God," the boy said.

Today in Relief Society one young mother mentioned that every time she left the house her mother would say, "Remember who you are." The girl, who was a teenager, and had heard this statement thousands of times always said--in her mind--"Yeah, yeah," but she never forgot who she was and she could hear her mother's voice--again in her mind-- "Remember who you are," over and over and over. This young mother is now married and has twin girls and you can bet they hear this statement often.

Let's all remember who we are. No matter how tattered we feel. No matter what level of spirituality we are currently on. No matter if we believe in God or just wish we could believe. It is my sincere testimony that we are all God's children. He wants us to live our lives well so we can return to him.

I am going to give up one bad habit in March so I can become more like the Father that I know I have. It's not going to be easy. I've been struggling with this one thing for years and years--as long as I can remember. It won't keep me out of Heaven but if I can give it up I will feel better about myself. Now I have big things too, things I know I shouldn't do or things I know I should, but I'm going to start with this one small one and then tackle the harder ones next.

And isn't that the bottom line? We all want to feel better about ourselves. We want to know who we are and where we belong. And, along the way, we need help. We need people to help us find the way. We need to remember who we are so we have the conficence to live better so, when our earth life is over, we can return to our Father.