No more glass!

So, have you ever had a piece of glass embedded in your heel?  I have... for the past month or so.  Big deal?  No, not really.  Annoying? yeah. With a little coaxing from my friend Lauren, I made an appointment with the doctor, and it's out.  So, I'm writing this for a couple of reasons I guess.  I have no posts for May, and I think for me this experience has been a little parable about the atonement.  Let me explain...

Things happen in life.  We make mistakes, or someone does something to us, and it's hard to let go.  We try to deal with it, maybe hope that it will ease itself out over time and we'll be rid of it if we just try to forget about it and move on.  Can you remember how good it feels to keep stepping on it every day, and driving it back in?  In my experienced (and not just with this little nothing piece of glass), I've tried to just move on and not use the Lord to help me heal.  Fact: that doesn't work.  That continues to be a lesson for me.  So, what does using the Lord's help really mean?  For me, it's following his commandments and exercising faith in him unto repentance.  If I've got some sort of unforgiving grudge against someone, I've got to repent, forgive, and let it go.  If I've let Him down and disobeyed his commandments, I need to ask for forgiveness and do all I can to make it right and change.
Though it might seem hard, he promises the priceless gift of peace.  He promises light.  He promises a return to progression, which otherwise is not possible.  The atonement of Jesus Christ truly is a miracle.  It is real. I don't know how to explain it, but I know it's real.  And I am soo grateful.