Stay on the Path

From Amy:
Today, I would like to share with you a story from Dr. Brandon Nielsen. He is the the developer of Emotional Stress Release (ESR). He practices in Utah.

From Dr. Nielsen:
A few weeks ago, I took my family down to St. George. If you are not familiar with St. George, in southern Utah, it is considered a desert. St. George is very beautiful for a desert because it has majestic red cliff ledges and sage brush, which colors the area with yellows and reds.

My wife had the great idea of taking family pictures while we were there to have a beautiful backdrop of red mountains. We went to a place called pioneer park that had some nice red rocks. As we walked to our picture destination we gave the children one main rule – everyone was to stay on the path. If any of you have been in red rock desert, you will know that the sand is red and very fine, almost like talcum powder, so If you fall down in the red sand it will get your clothes a red pink color. Very Messy! Especially on picture day…

If you are careful and stay on the path, you will just get your feet a little dusty, but off the path you will find foxtale sticker weeds and sage brush. We all stayed on the path going up and made it to our destination.

After we got our family picture done and were finishing up with individual shots of the kids, Calvin, my son, wandered off. I knew he was off the path, because we heard him calling out for help. He was stuck in the sticky brush and was starting to get covered in stickers and weeds. He couldn’t move anymore and the stickers were starting to poke through his pants and socks and he was getting very uncomfortable.

I came to his aid and helped him back on to the path. We had to sit down and take off his shoes and socks and carefully pull every sticker out and get him cleansed from the debris he had collected before he was able to get back on the path.

This experience made me think of our life here and how we are asked to stay the course and if we do, we will prosper. I want to Compare the path to TRUTH.

Truth will always be constant and unchanging. It is no respecter of persons. Take gravity for instance, it is going to be the same no matter what. It doesn’t care if you are old or young, it will treat you the same. Water is always going to freeze at 32 degrees and boil at 212 degrees. There are other laws of thermodynamics and physics and they do not change. Another truth:

God’s laws are Truth

As we explained to the children, Rules are given to keep them safe and staying on the path allows you to travel with a lighter load. It was comparable to what Heavenly Father asks us to do. When we abide by the laws of truth, we are protected. We aren’t going to jump off something high because we know that gravity is going to pull us Down.

Just like in life, the path we are asked to take can sometimes be hard. We aren’t promised that the correct path won’t be hard, only that it will be easier and do able.

The path to our pictures was uphill and difficult. At times I had to carry one of the kids and we still got a little dirty. But after seeing Calvin’s struggle in the brush, I instantly knew that our path wasn’t as hard as it could have been, and we definitely weren’t getting poked by stickers. We had it really good in comparison!

My son went off the path and got in the weeds to the point that he couldn’t move, but in his humility he called out, “Dad help me! I am stuck! I have gone off the path and I need help!”

As he was calling for his Father to help him, I knew exactly how he was feeling from the many times I have called on my Heavenly Father to deliver me and help me break free from the weeds that were binding me.

The cleansing process I had to do with my son is a lot like what our Father in Heaven does with us. After repentance, He gently prepares us to be able to return back to the path.

We all have a homing beacon that helps us know when we are on the right path. Just like my son, when he got off the path, it didn’t feel right. He knew he had made a mistake and couldn’t get back without help, and that is when he called out to me. Stay on the path and if we wander off, humbly cry out for help and return.

Guidelines are set up for our benefit. Use them, love them, trust them.

I trust you enjoyed this.

We’re Here to Help YOU!
Amy Willis, MH