The Ride

The Ride

 BY BECKY WATSON

It had just been one of those days.

It began with a meeting where I was definitely the most clueless one there; everyone was discussing complicated topics and I was struggling to keep up. I felt untalented, incompetent, unvalued. The rest of the day followed suit.

Despite giving my whole-hearted effort, none of the tasks I had set for myself that day were finished. The house seemed even messier than usual. Kids were squabbling all day and two children in particular seemed to have one grand mal tantrum after another. That voice – you know the one – whispered in my mind all day: untalented, incompetent, unvalued. 

The crowning moment was when I left a kid behind. FOR AN HOUR.

*Insert facepalm here* 

After dinner, I felt the urge to just flop on the couch, pop in a digital babysitter, and admit defeat. But something urged me to try to create a good memory for the day. I announced we’d be riding our bikes to the park and that everyone should grab a ball.

Whooping and hollering and general enthusiasm ensued.

As we whizzed down the sidewalk, crisp air filling my lungs and clearing my mind, I immediately felt better. That nagging voice quieted. The moon was our guide, and I could barely make out my children – like so many ducklings in a row – laughing and chatting and thrilling in the different. We arrived at the park pink-cheeked and smiling. My boys headed to the basketball court, making up various challenges and climbing the pavilions and goofing off with our dog. My daughter and I stuck to the playground, swinging on swings and chasing each other around slides and playing the “scaredy game.” (Don’t ask.)

It was an hour of pure bliss.

I felt so beautifully content with the world. It was one of those wonder-moments where my heart felt like it wouldn’t fit in my body.

And then when it was time to go home, my three year old threw a fit she couldn’t ride a skateboard home and screamed at the top of her lungs the whole way home – kicking me in the back from her carrier seat for good measure. I was honestly afraid someone would call CPS on me.

So that’s what I got: one hour. One hour I could poke my head above water and gulp the fresh air. It reminded me of a talk from one of our past prophets, the beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley. He quoted newspaper columnist Jenkin Lloyd Jones as saying:  

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. . . .

Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.[1]

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we do not believe ourselves immune from life’s ups and downs. We struggle with mental and physical health, financial security, natural disasters, marital struggles, wayward children, doubts and fears, conflicting opinions, selfishness, and all the sins on the spectrum, “for there are divers ways and means [to sin], even so many that I cannot number them.” (Mosiah 4:29)  

Being a member does not mean we don’t have trials. It means we have the faith and hope and perspective to endure them with gratitude and joy. Our current prophet, President Russell M. Nelson has assured us “we can feel enduring peace and joy, even during turbulent times.”[2]

 My life is not peaceful; is anyone’s? Yet I can have peace, even with a screaming toddler bruising my back.[3] Our Savior promised us:  “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) I can choose to be grateful for the “beautiful vista” of our hour at the park. I can ask Him to remind me of other wonder-moments of heart-bursting joy. I can ask Him to help me see myself as He sees me – talented, competent, valued. 

He has helped me in my darkest times – times much worse than a mere tantrum. He knows me inside and out, my worst thoughts and actions, and yet He loves me anyway. He loves me enough to send me a tender little prompting to take my kids to the park, knowing I needed to have one happy reflection of the day.

I am grateful He’s my seatmate on this ride.

[1] https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/gordon-b-hinckley/god-shall-give-unto-knowledge-holy-spirit/

[2] https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/11nelson?lang=eng

[3] https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/46cook?lang=eng