Day 4: Who would you be?

How many of the simple things in life would we miss if they disappeared?

• Do you love the smell of rain?
• Do you like the vibrant color's it leaves behind?
• Do you like the taste and smell of an orange?
• Do like feeling a pine needles even if we think they only come from Christmas trees?
• Do you like being able to hold a book in your hands and turn the pages?
• Do you like to see a small butterfly gracefully slide into and then out of our view?
• Do we like to hear the sound of a little river, or the sound of chirping birds?

             What would you do if you no longer could smell or taste and orange?  How would we know our surroundings now if we couldn't hear any sounds? What memories would you have if you could not feel the needles on a pine tree at Christmas, or the paper cuts from turning pages in a good book? What would you do do if it never rained again, if the colors faded away, if you could never see a butterfly again?

             Our creator knew how everything on this earth would work for us, he planned down to every little pouch of juice in an orange peel for us to enjoy! The calming sounds of an ocean or river are perfect for a stormy day in our lives, and God knew that we would have hard days and need to unwind in constructive ways, and he gave us ears so that we may hear all of the calming sounds around us. We have the sense of touch to help with our lack of other senses, but with out it we may not be able to learn some important lessons in our lives. If we never got a paper cut we wouldn't appreciate all the times our fingers went unscratched by the paper.
          Being able to turn a page a physically hold and read a book to help you know that it is true makes so much of a difference. Even a military commanding officer who had seen battle, but never had any interest in the LDS church recognized that the Book of Mormon is true! he said, "The authors of this book have been in many wars and Joseph Smith could not have written the Book of Mormon, because he had never seen battle. It has to be true because no detail of war is glorified as it is today."
        God has put so much thought into our lives, but do we realize all the simple things we enjoy that are very in depth. How many people sit and think through the water cycle and how it was created when it rains, or how God created light in a way that it can be refracted and reflected to create a rain bow? If the colors in the world faded, and your eye sight was gone, what would you do? 
           One of my dear friends who passed away two years ago, was blind. Devin was a very optimistic boy. One day I asked him what it was like when he felt like he had his eyes open even if he couldn't see. He told me, "I can't see like you, not the same at all. My eyes feel heavy and sad, but I can see still. I can see the vibrant colors on a basketball, just enough to know where it is, and where it is going when I pass it. I wont be able to use my eyes now on this earth but at least I can understand every thing you say, and I will never forget a voice I hear."
        Devin was an inspiration to so many people, and especially me. He had a strong testimony of the gospel, and his comment about never forgetting a voice always makes me wonder  how many other voices does he remember now that he has passed on. He must have never forgotten our God's voice. Even if we can't see, hear, smell, taste, or touch our God, doesn't mean he isn't there, it just means we have We would miss the simple things in life.

"Do you know God paints every color on a butterfly with his finger."
- The Ultimate Gift-