Staying Warm

When I ran track a big thing that our coaches always made us aware of was the importance of staying warm. We were frequently told, "You warm up, and you need to stay warm in order to compete at your best ability and to avoid injury." We made sure put sweats on, do our warm up runs and then keep our sweats on so that we are always warm when the time to race came.
Yet again, we can take this and draw a great parallel to life! We are competing right now, and throughout our life we have "warmed up." We now need to keep our "sweats" on so we can be ready when the race comes. We can do this by going to church and keeping the commandments. If we don't keep these "sweats" on our warm up is good for nothing, and we are just as likely to get "injured" as we were before; such "injuries" may come in the form of sin.
Plain and simple, put your sweats on and don't get injured! Isn't it amazing how many similarities life has to sports?

Bruises and Broken Bones

Broken arm, broken leg, surgery, multiple visits to physical therapy. I have played football my entire life, I have loved every minute of it. However, I did suffer a few injuries which were listed at the beginning. Immediately following those injuries I was in a lot of pain. When people would try to comfort me, I would think "You don't understand how badly my leg hurts right now!" People's words just couldn't give me the comfort I longed for as I sat, totally dependant and basically unable to move for days.
I know I am not the only one to suffer pain from incidents relating to sports or other accidents, nor did I suffer more than others. I wasn't the first and I won't be the last. For all of us that have suffered pain from one thing or another we can find true comfort in the knowledge of our Savior's great atoning sacrifice for us. In the Book of Mormon the prophet Alma prophesied of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind...that he may know how to succor(help) his people according to their infirmities." Jesus Christ suffered EVERYTHING. When we may feel that no one knows how we feel at any given time, we are wrong. Someone does. Jesus Christ does!
From now on, let us all find comfort in the knowledge of our loving Savior. He will give it to us as we seek it! Let us seek his comfort in prayer as we move forward keeping his commandments and enduring in the faith!