Sound Advice

Pause to pray, think to thank.
-Draper L.D.S. Temple dedication

Helium Balloons

Coping with loss is something we learn throughout our sojourn here on earth.  The spectrum of things we can potentially lose runs from small to great, insignificant to beloved or sacred.  My neighbor recently lost his father to kidney to disease, another neighbor his job, and my little girl most recently lost her Dora the Explorer mylar balloon. I tied it to her wrist, yet somehow it came undone and fled into the sky.  Her experience of loss at this point in her young life is extremely limited; needless to say however, she was crushed as she watched her precious balloon get smaller and smaller and finally disappear into space. I was crushed watching the scene unfold; knowing that the sadness she felt ran pretty deep in her tender little heart.  I'm so glad that I could empathize with her, I mean who hasn't lost a helium balloon to the sky before? I think empathy and the fact that we could buy another balloon made her feel better about the situation. I got to thinking though about the precious things that can't be replaced. I think President Monson and Elder Holland most adequately shared the Savior's ability to comfort us in those situations in this last weekend's General Conference.  It is in Him that we can rely peace, comfort, and forgiveness seeing as how he rose above all sin and sorrow through His infinite atonement. From losing a dear loved one to a helium balloon and everything in between.