I read a great little article recently that has been on my mind ever since. It was written by a lady who was born and raised in Las Vegas. She lived in the desert her whole life. She was born there, married there, raised her family there. She loved the sun and the heat. The coldest place she had ever been was Utah, but then she and her husband were asked to serve a mission for their (and my) church in the Baltic States. Latvia. One of the coldest places in the world.

Of course, it was ironic. And she expected to be miserable in the winter conditions. But she found that when she went to Latvia, the harsh climate didn't bother her. To her, blizzard after blizzard were all part of the experience. And the reason was - she knew it was temporary. Before long, she'd be back in the desert. But the weather was part of the experience. She said she would have been disappointed if she'd gone to Latvia and they'd had a heat wave - she would have missed out on that part of the experience.

And she compared that to our life experiences. Anyone who believes in life after death knows that this life is temporary. We came here to have experiences, and yes, some of them harsh. But we were prepared before we came to have these experiences - and wouldn't we be disappointed to finish this life and not have experienced every part of what we came to experience?

I have friends, and family even, who are going through tough experiences on every end of the spectrum. Addiction, depression, infertility, divorce, death of family members...really challenging things. And I do not wish these trials on anyone, nor do I claim to understand, but we are made to face challenges. That's why we are here. And, though disappointment and overwhelm and sorrow and pain are all part of the experience, the reason we can get through difficult times is because we know each challenge is temporary.

I was getting after myself last week for feeling overwhelmed and stressed out as Mark was nearing the end of a 13 day work stretch. Family drama was brewing, the house was a mess (by my standards), the kids were in rare form, and I needed a break. This article popped into my head, and I began to misuse its message by trying to stop myself from feeling all these emotions that were piling up on me. "Jennifer, it's all part of the experience! Quit being overwhelmed and stressed. Life Happens!" But then I realized that isn't the point of the article after all. The point is, that it is okay to feel however I feel. If I am stressed out, then so be it. If I am overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed. If I am just completely sad, that is okay too. I want to be able to feel however I need to feel, and not feel bad about feeling that way. Because feeling how you feel is also part of the experience. And working through it is the lesson of the experience. And looking back later and seeing that those feelings were only temporary is the reward of the experience.

So I'm grateful for the reminder that this life is a journey. Ups and downs and all that. But it is all for our own good - our learning and growing. And thankfully, it's temporary. So - I will try to embrace the experience - tough or easy, happy or sad. And, more importantly, I want to really enjoy the experience. Because I don't want to miss out on anything that I was sent here to experience.