I am a currant bush.

It always amazes me how God puts people and things in our paths to help us when we absolutely need it the most.

The other day, one of the teachers I work with shared a video before class called "The Will of God". Even though it was a video that I have seen so many times, the message that it shared had never struck me the way that it did in that moment. Even though it was something so small and seemingly insignificant, I honestly believe that it was shared just for me. I am so thankful that she decided to share it that day because it gave me so much comfort and changed the way I have been looking at my life.

I have recently been struggling with things that have affected my life in such a way that in just one day I felt like my entire world got turned upside down. For those of you who know me, you know that I am a planner, a list-maker, and a perfectionist. And life has not been going according to my checklist! I have been shut down, denied, and rejected in every direction that I have tried to go. In every way that I have wanted to go.

Why? Because I am a currant bush. I am not a fruit tree or a shade tree; I am a currant bush.

It is so easy to get carried away with our own selfish desires, no matter how innocent they may be. I had no idea that I was being selfish, but I was going through life according to my own plan and desires rather than according to God's plan for me. I was trying to do things and be things that I am not intended to be right now.

Since these incredibly humbling experiences, I have already seen such amazing blessings come into my life. I have begun to notice my life being "laden with fruit", and I have said countless times to my Father in Heaven, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’ I am so looking forward to life and the new adventures that are coming.

"All of us can meet God’s high expectations, however great or small our capacity and talent may be... Let us pray for His love-inspired correction." -Elder D. Todd Christofferson