There Is No Such Thing As The End

Yesterday, the church released this video, and I LOVE it! To get ready for Easter, I'm going to try to spend some time every day thinking--as this video suggests--about all the wonderful things I have in my life because of Him.

One of my favorite parts of the video is when it says: "Because of Him, there is no such thing as the end." Just a week ago in General Conference, President Uchtdorf addressed this topic. He said:

"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny."

I testify that because of Jesus Christ, good things will never truly end; or if they do, it is only because something better awaits us. Because of Him, our families can be together forever. Because of Him, our dreams can someday be realized. Because of Him, the future is always brighter than the circumstances we find ourselves in at the moment, no matter how bleak or happy those circumstances are. Why? Because He is waiting there for us--waiting to take us into His arms with forgiveness and tenderness and love. He broke the chains of death and sorrow and despair, and with Him "there is no such things as everlasting endings, only everlasting beginnings."

Earthly Father, Heavenly Father

Today I gained a new appreciation for this video. I got a call around 2:30 from my dad. He wanted to let me know he'd been doing some research about why I hadn't received as big of a tax return as I did last year, discovered that I had filed my taxes wrong, and that I should be receiving more this year than I had filed for. Then, he spent an hour and a half over the phone with me helping me figure out how to fill out forms to request an amendment. This is on top of having already spent an hour and a half two days ago helping me with the original forms. 

Yes--I realize that I'm 22 and should probably be perfectly capable of filing my taxes all by myself, but that's beside the point. The point is that after I hung up with my dad (and let the headache of trying to figure out taxes for an hour and a half subdue) a feeling of immense love and gratitude overcame me as I realized what had just happened:

My dad loves me enough to spend an hour and a half helping me file my original taxes.

My dad loves me enough to spend time trying to figure out why my return for this year was significantly less than last year.

My dad loves me enough to spend another hour and a half over the phone with me, helping me figure out and file the amendment forms. 

I took this all in, then compared it to how different it could have gone:

What if I didn't have a dad to help English-minded me with my taxes? 

What if I didn't have a dad willing to spend time researching why my return this year was less than last year? 

What if I didn't have a dad kind enough to spend time talking me through things over the phone until they were the way they needed to be?

And then, after considering all of this, my next thought was this:

If I have an earthly father who loves me enough to sit down and spend hours helping me figure out my taxes; just think of what that says about my Heavenly Father--a being whom I know loves me infinitely more and does infinitely more for me. 

This video came to mind, and in that moment the love that both my earthly father and my Heavenly Father have for me swelled within my chest and I struggled to keep the tears of gratitude in my eyes from spilling over in the middle of the library. 

I am so grateful for the blessing of having a righteous earthly father who, in so many ways, exemplifies the same love, care, and devotion that my Heavenly Father has for me. I'm also grateful for the knowledge that I have a Heavenly Father; that He loves me dearly; and that He invests time, energy, and care into my life every day so that I may someday return to Him. 

As much as I appreciate the extra money that will be sitting in my bank account in a month, the expressions of love and gratitude I feel in my heart right now are worth more than any amount of money; they are the real tender mercy.