Your future is as bright as your faith

My best friend Missy gave me and my mom a vinyl quote to put on the wall by Pres. Monson. "Be of good cheer, do not fear. Your future is as bright as your faith." I have been contemplating this quote a lot lately. Growing up with my mom - fear of the unknown was just a part of our lives. It was like a living breathing thing at our house. My mom was consumed with a myriad of fears that she often transferred to me. Since the day I married Lance I joyfully found that I didn't have to live with the "fear monster" on a daily basis. I still have moments of panic but the peace and calmness that comes from living with someone does who not search for things to worry about was initially almost overwhelming. My mom still knows how to, albeit unconsciously, let the fear monster loose on me but I have had a refuge in my husband. The last few months have been terribly difficult for her and for Charlie and me, not to mention our spouses. My mom has a real fear to contend with now that the cancer is ravaging her body. Rather than that one fear being the focus of her attention though she still nurtures her many useless and often unfounded fears. She holds them tighter than life itself.

When I gave her the vinyl wall quote I tried to talk to her about the meaning behind it but she just changed the subject. I always thought she had a bottomless well of faith, and maybe at some points in her life she did. It is so hard now to see her trying to find the truth and peace behind the word Faith. It is easy to understand intellectually what it means but when you come to a point when you can't find the strength to go on you have to go deeper to find the kernel of tangible faith that exists if we only delve deeper.

Is it possible to go on when everything you have or are seems about to be taken away? I am trying to have faith that it is possible. There are more than a few examples in the scriptures and through out church history showing it is possible to be of good cheer in the blackest of circumstances. But for me the examples that have the most impact are of those souls I know personally who are struggling with mountains of adversity and doing it with a cheerful heart. My hope is to learn from those who are "enduring well" and be of service to those who are not. Therein I hope to find my one ability to endure well with a cheerful and faithful heart.