I went to LDS.org today to do my scripture study. When I got there, I found this video that peaked my interest:
I think it’s interesting how little I (and probably others in the Church) know about what the will of God is for me.
Sure, I can say the right things.
Sure, some answers are obvious.
But how much do I ask Him in prayer? How much do I really seek correction in my life from Him?
I know that I’ve had a few times specifically where God has “pruned me” and that pruning has caused me to bring forth better fruit than I could have possibly imagined.
Here’s that story:
In 1994, I was 100% focused on playing college baseball. I’d just finished my Sophomore year at Minico High School and things were looking pretty good from my perspective: I’d been invited to travel with the Varsity team a few times and was working hard in the weight room.
That summer consisted of Legion ball and then I went to work on a farm in Hazelton driving truck. I’d been working at this location for about a week or a week and a half, when, one day, I got to the job and wasn’t needed until mid-day. My boss told me to head home and that he’d call me on the walkie-talkie (not even sure there were cell phones back then) when they needed me.
I came home and slept on the couch for a few hours before I was paged at about 11:00 a.m. to come back out to the farm.
I took the normal route to avoid lots of traffic (although in Rupert, Idaho, “traffic” really isn’t a big deal). This route consisted of back roads that went from my house, through Paul, Idaho, and then connected with Highway 25 which led right to the Kasota Road and Hazelton.
There are only a couple things I remember about that day: 1) On my way back to my house, I stopped and said hi to Farah 2) I argued with my mom when the pager went off and I lounged around for a few minutes.
What happened on that drive back to work, though, was something I don’t really remember at all.
Apparently, when I got to the top of a hill near John S. and Joe J.’s house in Paul, I was met head on by a car who had recently dropped off their grandkids at swimming lessons. It was assumed that the driver of the car hadn’t ever really got on the correct side of the road because she’d only gone about 300 feet or so when we collided head on.
I was driving a small Chevy S-10 pickup and she was driving a Lincoln Town Car.
The details of how the accident happened are unclear to me – but the collision was pretty huge and pushed the front of my little truck all the way up to the dashboard.
The rest of the story is all a blur. Apparently Teresa T. was the swimming lessons teacher at the house where the woman had just came from. John S. may have been out mowing his lawn and heard the collision too. I don’t know any of the details from there except that Teresa has since told me that I kept saying that my back really hurt and that there was quite a bit of blood…
The rest of the story
I was rushed to the Rupert Hospital in “Red Flag” condition or something like that.
My dad recounts the phone call he got while working at a Real Estate company in Rupert.
Hi David, this is [nurses name]. We need you to come to the hospital right away – your son’s been in a serious car accident…
Dad: Is he ok?
Nurse: You just need to come to the hospital right away.
My dad told me later that he was sure I was dead. I mean, why wouldn’t the nurse tell him my status.
The whole way over to the hospital he couldn’t help but think about how he would explain this to my mom – after all, it was her birthday and the day after my grandpa (her dad) had been killed in a farming accident 2 years earlier. Dad had even bought Mom a little decorative statue of a mother and her son earlier that day…
When he got to the hospital, however, he could hear me yelling and breathed a sigh of relief. (I’m not sure how my mom was notified – possibly by my dad.)
As the medical staff examined my injuries, they determined that things were too severe and that I’d need to be rushed to Twin Falls in an ambulance.
The only thing I know from here on was that, once I got to Twin Falls, they too realized that my injuries were so severe that I would need help beyond what they could provide. I was then transported in a life-flight helicopter to St. Alfonso’s Hospital in Boise where I underwent emergency surgery for the most dangerous injury – the internal injuries.
Here’s the list of things the doctors found:
- Serious internal injuries to my stomach and small intestines (the most dangerous because of acids)
- Head injuries that they weren’t even able to assess at that time
- A broken cheek bone
- Severe cuts to both eyes (at first they weren’t sure if I’d lose an eye on the right side)
- A pretty big laceration on my right arm
- A broken 4th Lumbar vertebrae and potential paralysis
The first memory I have came at about a week and a half into my hospital stay. I was in the ICU for a few days and later moved to a normal room.
I remember my baseball coach and a few friends coming to visit. I remember lots of cards and get well wishes from family and friends. My cousin Jeremy, who lived in Nampa, came everyday to help out and see how I was doing too.
Not my actual x-ray but the same idea.
By a week and half, most of the major surgeries had been taken care of. I had to get a portion of my small intestines removed due to the high impact of the seat-belt I was wearing (which ultimately saved my life).
I had surgery on my back: they used cadaver vertebrae and clay to reshape my 4th Lumbar vertebrae and then bolted rods to the 3rd and 5th Lumbar to keep things in place (I still have those rods today).
Apparently my spinal cord had been a dime’s width away from being severed completely – it was open, and a few nerves had been cut (I can feel a little weirdness in my right leg which is what I think was affected but this injury).
I do remember having surgery on my cheek bone, which had to be wired together. To me, that was the worst because of the swelling that came after the surgery.
At about 2 weeks in the hospital I started physical therapy. I’d lost about 20 pounds, and, for a kid of my size (135 pre-accident), that was quite a big hit.
They had me lifting weights – 2.5 pound dumbbells were quite a work out for me.
I also started occupational therapy for the head injuries. Apparently they were still unsure of the long-term effects of my head injuries (as my wife is too at times :)). I had short term memory loss and other symptoms that needed to be assessed.
At about 1 month in the hospital, I was released to head home. I took some “hardware” with me, including a removable body cast to support my back. This would be something I could only take off to shower, and I had to sit straight up in a chair and have my dad wash me off. The “body cast” was there for about 6 months.
So that’s my story…
What I learned
- Life is really, really short – we have to make the most of our time here
- Some things (but not many) are far more important than baseball
- I always need to be ready spiritually for whatever curve balls are thrown my way
- I’m grateful I was able to serve a mission for my Church
- Pursuing other talents has ended up being the best experience
- I’m grateful God gives me 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th and unlimited amount of chances to repent and come closer to Him and His Son.
- How appreciative and respectful I always need to be of my parents and family
- And many other things…
Thanks for all the prayers, support, and concern.
I wrote that out last year on the 17th anniversary.
I guess my question now stems from this scripture:
26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a achange of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the bsong of redeeming love, I would ask, ccan ye feel so now?
I’ve experienced a change of heart before.
I’ve felt to sing the song of redeeming love.
However, many times right now I feel resentment, anger, and defensiveness – especially towards my wife.
I feel stressed about work.
I feel stressed about being my best self.
I feel distant from God due to lack of fervent prayer and scripture study.
I simply feel I can be better.
I look forward to the upcoming General Conference of the Church. I’m excited to take notes and pay close attention.
…and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their btrust in the true and cliving God. And behold, they were faithful until the dend; therefore they were saved.
14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye aspiritually been bborn of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty cchange in your hearts?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye ablessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
17 Or do ye aimagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and bsay—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?
What is the way back to God?
This scripture section by King Benjamin states it clearly:
5 For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your anothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—
6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a aknowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the batonement which has been prepared from the cfoundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his dtrust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—
7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the afall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.
8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is anone other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.
9 Believe in aGod; believe that he is, and that he bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10 And again, believe that ye must arepent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in bsincerity of heart that he would cforgive you; and now, if you dbelieve all these things see that ye edo them.
11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have atasted of his love, and have received a bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own cnothingness, and his dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ehumility, fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the alove of God, and always bretain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the cknowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.
13 And ye will not have a amind to injure one another, but to live bpeaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.
14 And ye will not suffer your achildren that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye bsuffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and cquarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the devil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.
15 But ye will ateach them to bwalk in the ways of truth and csoberness; ye will teach them to dlove one another, and to serve one another.
I created this i’m-not-a-designer “infographic” to summarize what needs to be done:
1. Recognize that we are nothing without God’s hand in our lives.
2. Rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ to repent and come unto Him > Trust in Him
3. Be diligent in keeping the commandments of God.
4. Continue in faith and endure to the end.
SALVATION through the Atonement of Jesus Christ!
9 Believe in aGod; believe that he is, and that he bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10 And again, believe that ye must arepent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in bsincerity of heart that he would cforgive you; and now, if you dbelieve all these things see that ye edo them.
I’m grateful for this knowledge.
I’m grateful to have made the time to study this stuff out.
I’m grateful to at least understand what it means when we talk about the “will of God”.
I feel I’ve learned about the will of God through my attendance at the temple, going with a desire to know what His will was for me almost 2 years ago.
I hope that I can do as it says – “…grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created [me], or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.” (Mosiah 4:12)
I’m excited to have a productive day and make things happen.
I know Heavenly Father will bless me and prosper me as I put my trust in Him.
Hasta manana!
Nate
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