How Going Through Trials has Prepared Me to Face New Ones... While Identifying my "Blessing in the Curse"

When I was a Junior in High School my world was turned upside down via my diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. Hidden colonoscopies, frequent visits to the bathroom (more than the hall pass allowed), missed dances, dropping out of cross-country, just to name a few of the missed opportunities.

Life eventually returned to my "new normal" for several years. 

And then I graduated college and got engaged. And got sicker than ever before from another Crohn's flare. Not being able to work (right after graduating college!) and not planning my wedding in the typical way most girls dream about taught me several valuable lessons about "holding on" and "finding joy in the journey". 

This was my own personal battlefield, and right now, the world is in a battlefield. Coronavirus is the ultimate "party pooper". It has cancelled family funerals, my husbands college graduation, my sisters prom, work, and so many other things. Not to mention the many people suffering who are personally affected by the virus. 

Yet we can still choose joy when we identify our "blessing in the curse!"

What is "blessing in the curse", you ask? To me, it means identifying and proclaiming the good that results from an unpleasant situation. 

My "blessing in the curse" while I was sick and planning my wedding includes several. I was able to spend some quality time at home with my family before moving out. I got to know my mother-in-law deeply as we connected as she helped comfort me during this difficult time. I had plenty of "free time" to facetime my fiance during a long distance conversation. My testimony solidified that I KNOW my Savior lives and has atoned for my pains and sicknesses too. I KNOW Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers, every single one of them, even when the answers don't come as expected or hoped. 

I also learned what it is like to sit on the side lines of life. While I was sick and inside for several months, the world went on without me. But it was also there to greet me when I was ready and able to come back in. During these months I had to practice my "patience muscles" which do not come very easily for me. Sometimes answers come ( I did get better, after several months), but they do not come according to our time table. The process of softening our heart can take a long time, and Heavenly Father will not release us from a growing experience until we have reached our "final product" from each experience. 

It is my hope and prayer that whoever reads this will be able to identify their own personal "blessing in the curse" that is resulting from coronavirus and whatever trials you may personally face. I promise you that as you pray to Heavenly Father He will hear you. He will hear you today. Take time to listen, because He is there. I promise you from my own personal experience. 

You can read more about my experience here.