Trust in Heavenly Father, Retold by Nancy Armstrong

God's Embroidery
underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. As from the

She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "Son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee." This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?" He has answered, "I am embroidering your life." I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?" The Father seems to tell me, "'My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

Author Unknown

Indeed our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. We came to earth to receive a body ad to gain experience. We have been given opposition in all things so that we can learn to choose good over evil. At times, our trials and challenges seem to be almost unbearable and our lives can seem to be in a "mess." However hopelessness and despair come from a lack of faith in one's access to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sisters, it is our prayer that you will remember that God loves you and has prepared a way for you to return home to live in His presence through His Only Begotten Son and upon condition of your faith in Him and obedience to His commandments. Once we truly believe that God is over all and is in control, we can feel peace and joy even during times of trial. We need to put our complete faith and trust in our Heavenly Father, recognize that He has orchestrated a plan for us, and that our trials and experiences will be for our good. Heavenly Father says, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not" (D&C 6:36). If your life seems to you to be a "mess", remember, he can embroider a beautiful "flower" with the threads of your experiences if you will trust in Him and allow Him to work miracles in your lives.