All,
Crystal's recent post reminded me of an email I sent to Colin a few months ago when he was frustrated with the residency matching process. His favored choices had looked promising, but then had fallen through, and he was not sure where he and his little family would be going. Sensing these thoughts may be helpful to all of you, I decided to post them on the blog:
The topic of President Monson's 1st Presidency message in the March Ensign was about compassion, but one of his references gave me some impressions entirely unrelated to that theme. The reason: I had been contemplating your recent concerns about your future, after most of your desired residency options had fallen through.
Recall I emailed you that the Lord is in the details of our lives, that He has a plan for each of us, and that if we are faithful, we can have confidence that He will not forget about us, but will maneuver the events of our lives to accomplish His ultimate will in our behalf. The trick for us is having confidence that his plan for us is what is best for us. Sometimes we may find ourselves in pivotal circumstances that seem contrary to our own pre-established goals, only to find at some point in the future that there were some profound reasons for the difference. Maybe the change in direction led us away from some unforeseen problems. Maybe it was to enhance our own personal or professional satisfaction. Maybe it was for the good of our family and therefore for the good of our own state of happiness. Maybe it was intended to accomplish something for His kingdom, or for mankind. Whatever the case, we need to recognize His hand in our lives and have confidence in his will
President Monson related the story of Joseph (sold into Egypt) (Genesis37-47) as a scriptural example of compassion. But sensing of your concerns and those of all of you kids, and recalling events of my own life, that story meant something entirely different to me. Recall that 17 year old Joseph, son of Jacob (ultimately Israel) was highly favored of his father, a point that peeved his brothers. So they threw him in a pit and contemplated killing him when they saw a chance to make some profit by selling him to some merchants. They spread blood on his coat and told his father he had been killed by a lion. The merchants carried him off to Egypt. Imagine what was going through his mind at that time, how abandoned he must have felt. In Egypt he was sold as a slave into the house of Potiphar where he gained favor because "the Lord was with him", but where later he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and was cast into prison. Again, imagine his torment. Again, things did not seem to be going well for him, certainly not as he had planned. But, the scriptures repeat over and over that "the Lord was with Joseph," and he won favor with the prison guards because "that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper." Because of that, at the age of 30, he ultimately came to the attention of Pharaoh, King of Egypt and was inspired to interpret Pharaoh's dream, foretelling the pending famine in the land. Pharaoh was so impressed with this "man in whom the Spirit of God is," that he put him second in command in his kingdom and made him responsible for storing up food for another 7 years in preparation against the expected dearth. He would then be in charge of fair disribution of the food. Finally, after many years, things were going well for Joseph, but you have to wonder if even at that time, he knew the Lord's intentions for him.
When the dearth did come, it "waxed sore" in all the lands, including Cannan, the home of his father and brothers. A couple of years into the famine, fearing starvation of his family, father Jacob sent his sons to buy food in Egypt where it was rumored there was plenty. Of course, you know the rest of the story. Through a series of exchanges, the brothers were eventually made aware of the identity of their benefactor. What a paradoxical twist, and what an opportunity for Joseph to get even, but by that time, he finally knew the Lords plan for him, and he understood the purpose of the painful twists and turns his life had taken. When he made himself known unto them, the brothers, likely feeling the sorrow of the damned, "could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence." Imagine their horror as their minds raced back 30 years to the time they had sold him into Egypt. But compassion, not vengence was in Joseph's heart, because he finally understood the Lord's intent for the seemingly sporadic and peculiar events of his life. He said to them, "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angy with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life..." "For God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." And then the verses suggest the great joy they all experienced in recognizing the wisdom of God: "And [Joseph] fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him." He then sent them back to bring his father and all their house to live in the land of Goshen to be protected and preserved from the famine. The House of Israel was preserved. Consider the subsequent impact that has had on the world. Of course, it was all part of the Lord's plan, which he works in His own peculiar ways and in His own timeframe. He knows us each personally, and He does the same with our lives. As difficult as it may seem to understand at times, if we are faithful and work hard, He will assure that it all works out for the best.
I Love you all,
Dad
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
_____________________________________________________________
1 comment:
Weird, I know, but I am going to comment on my own post. I was just thinking that, after all the twists and turns they went through to find each other, Leslie and Alex also probably have some testimony of this principle.
Dad
Post a Comment