Thank Goodness It's Sunday #20

I watched a program on PBS for as a long as I could on human trafficking, more specifically the trafficking of sex slaves. My heart cries at the horror of what these women and children endure. (It's mostly commonly women, but men are not exempt.) When I could watch no more I channel surfed. The first station I hit was on how to make your home more homey with cutesy projects. I thought of articles I read only this week about not enough people caring about being "green." And I almost lost my dinner. Being "green" and other such frivolous concerns distract from what truly matters. I'm sure there are those who are gasping at my description of frivolity, but all I can say is WAKE UP!! Wake up to what truly matters. Honor, courage, strength, endurance, integrity, respect. These are things, as well as other values and principles, I need to make a part of who I am. These are the things that need to be taught and learned. I also remember talks in church about seeing beyond the mark. Too often, the problems that cloud my view truly don't matter, in the eternal scheme of things. That being said, I'm embracing more fully the need and the right to choose, for myself. I make mistakes, a lot of them, but they are my mistakes. I try to learn from them and do better. I know myself well enough to know that if I'm told what to do because someone else thinks I should, I will most likely not do it. On the other hand, if I'm given the opportunity to learn for myself, I do try to do so. God forgive me for when I am ungrateful because I am truly richly blessed. My life is nowhere near perfect, and, in truth, I would not wish it on anyone else, but God knows me and knows what I need. I don't understand His plan for me, not even a little bit, but I will, from this day forward, endeavor to trust more fully in His perfect understanding. Every day, I will strive to be more grateful because God has given me so much. My blessings are as the sands of the sea and the stars in the sky. My hope in the Atonement gives me this gift of change. And I pray God continues to inspire and bless all those people who fight every day to rescue those who are abused, tortured, enslaved by the wicked, both those that sell them and those that buy them. God have mercy on those poor souls robbed of peace, innocence, life.