Turning Coal Into Diamonds

My friend Rhianna invited me to watch her sister-in law's dance company (The Diamond Dance Company) perform at an Enrichment activity on Thursday and I'm so glad she did. We received a program when we got there and on the back it said, “It is meant for us to have trials and sorrows. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, every piece of coal in our lives can be refined into diamonds and place on our heavenly crowns.” The performance was about being a woman and the trials we go through, as well as the blessings and rewards we will receive from those trials. Each of the performers shared a personal experience they have had as a mother/sister/daughter/wife/friend and tied it into a song or dance number. It wasn't our ward or a ward of anyone we knew, so I hope they didn't think I was a crazy person as I sat there crying during the entire performance. Don't get me wrong, I love being a woman - a wife and a mother. But do I doubt my abilities and wonder what in the world I've gotten myself into from time to time? You bet. A couple of weeks ago, I was running late and Lila needed to leave for school in the next few minutes. I fixed Lila a big glass of chocolate milk to drink before we left and ran upstairs with Max to change his diaper since I had heard him fill it from across the room. Lila promptly knocked the entire glass over, spilling it on her and all over the floor. I sat Max in his crib, screaming, while I started mopping up the mess and Lila changed her clothes. Where was Chloe during the fiasco? She was just quietly unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper in the bathroom and started shredding it when the unrolling was done. I went into the pantry on the verge of tears and closed the door behind me. I thought, “I can’t. I can’t do this…” But I did. The chocolate milk was mopped (but still sticky until I scrubbed it 2 days later), the toilet paper was picked up (and thrown away because I was too lazy to try and save it), Max’s diaper was changed (twice) and Lila made it to school (late). It wasn’t done perfectly….but I’m not perfect. And it’s nice to know that I’m not alone. One of my favorite stories from the night was about a woman who got frustrated and ended up kicking the wall and putting a hole in it. Initially she covered it up but when her friend stopped by, she showed her the hole and told her what had happened. Instead of judging her or thinking she was out of her mind, her friend laughed with her. Later in the day, the friend brought a pan of brownies over with a hole carefully cut out of the middle. Talk about turning coal into diamonds! :)