How are you going to live your life?

This past week has been a difficult week personally. I have felt really overwhelmed by the many tasks I have needed to accomplish with home and school. I had my first accounting exam this week (which I didn't do so well on), I have had a book report due, multiple other assignments to accomplish, I homeschool my four boys and have to keep them on task, and try to take care of our home and other responsibilities. To top it all off, two of my sons have been extremely sick for the past week and have needed my constant care.

It's weeks like these, where I wonder if I can handle all of the things I am doing, or is it too much? I hate feeling guilty for not looking after my sick child as much as he would like because I have an assignment due. But the one thing that I have discovered as I am studying, is that the Lord is aware of me as an individual and knows my needs. The things that I have been learning in class, I have found ways to apply in my life. For example, I didn't do so well on my accounting test, I am not good at numbers or accounting. Feeling discouraged because accounting is not one of my talents in life, I heard Clayton M. Christensen say in his video How will you Measure your life?, "God is not an accountant. Neither does he employ accountants." It was a simple thing, but it was something that I needed to hear. I love how he goes on to say, when we have our last interview with God, he isn't going to ask us about our positions, or status, or how much money we have made, but he IS going to ask us about the situations that we were placed in, and if we made a difference in those people's lives for the better. To me, as I liken this to my own life, I don't think God is going to ask me about my grade point average, or whether or not I passed or failed a test at my final interview. Instead, the questions will be, did I do my best in the situation that I was put in? How well did I look after my children that I was blessed to receive in my family? Did I serve God, and the people that I am with to the best of my ability? How did I strengthen those around me? And, Did I make a positive difference in somebody's life today?

Instead of getting caught up in all the chaotic things life has to bring (like this past week brought), I should focus on leading a purpose driven life. What have I have learned through the struggles and trials of the chaos? How can I use these things that I have learned to make a difference in someone else's life. I think sometimes the reasons we have the experiences we do, it is so that we can share the burden, and strengthen others who are going through similar experiences.

I just saw a video today about a remarkable young man who was diagnosed with cancer at age 17. He passed away yesterday. People are not going to remember this young man because he had cancer. They are going to remember him by the way he chose to live his life. 

Here is a quote I found this week that has made all the difference to me:  

We should try to live every day with absolute faith, for we have learned in life that the Lord keeps his promises and watches over those who trust Him. He has been so good to all of us that we should have a strong belief that He must really love us in spite of our faults.
~Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin