Our "Pilgrim's Progress"

I actually don't know why I am posting about this book--it was really hard for me to read and I'm not sure how much I got out of it.  My friend and I decided to read it because the story and lessons were such a big part of the March girls' lives in Little Women and we wanted to see what the big deal was. 

The story is written in two parts.  In the first part we meet Christian and watch him as he makes his journey to the Celestial City.  The second part is the story of his wife, Christiana, and their children making the same journey. 

Along the way they meet people who help them and people who hinder them.  They have many adventures and learn a lot.  I compared their journeys to our lives as we go from birth to death.  Some of us have a plan and some of us are living blindly.  Some of us have a great support system and some of us are struggling along on our own.  Some of us have trials while others appear to be living free of them.  Some of us understand the atonement of our Savior and some of us are still waiting to learn. 

I think there were several reasons that Christian and his wife were successful on their journeys.

1.  They both had a goal of where they wanted to go (the Celestial City).  If we know and understand Christ's plan of salvation then we, too, can know our ending goal.

2.  They both had helpers--Christian first had Evangelist to guide him in the right direction and then other friends/helpers on the way.  Christiana had Christian's success to persuade her to make the journey and she also had many friends and helpers.  I see our helpers as our family, friends, church members, missionaries, mentors, and prophets. 

3.  They both had endurance.  Even though Christian and Christiana struggled and had trials on their journeys, they remembered the joys they experienced and their future goal.  I think that if we focus on the good we will be better able to endure. 

4.  They had an understanding of the Atonement.  When Christian first reaches the cross and tomb, his burden is lifted and he is able to continue more easily on his journey.  If we truly understand and apply the redeeming power of Christ's Atonement, we will also continue more easily on our path.

Even though I couldn't keep the characters straight or remember all the adventures or understand all the analogies, I did understand the joy Christian and Christiana had when they arrived at the Celestial City and I hope that one day I can feel that joy. 

From Bad Comes Good

Have you ever read Heidi by Johanna Spyri?  I just did for the first time and wondered why it has taken me so long.  Actually, I tried reading it aloud to the kids several years ago, but was unsuccessful and was hesitant to pick it up again.  I'm glad that I did.  It was a sweet book.  It reminded me a lot of Pollyanna--innocence and happiness. 

Heidi is a young girl who goes to live with her Grandfather on the Alm in Switzerland after her mother and father die.  She falls in love with the beauty of the mountains, the simple life and the people she befriends.  Sadly, after a short time, her aunt takes her away from the mountains to Frankfurt to be a companion for a crippled girl, Klara.  Heidi tries to make the best of the situation, but is heart broken.     

Heidi lives with this family for a couple of years.  She become friends with Klara, learns how to read and about the power of prayer from Klara's grandmamma, and gains the trust of Klara's father and the doctor.  Even with these good things happening, Heidi is homesick for the Alm.  She begins to loose weight and starts sleepwalking.  Finally the doctor realizes what is happening and encourages the father to send Heidi home. 

Heidi is so excited to return to the mountains.  On her return journey she remembers every detail.  I fear that it won't be as she remembers and she'll be disappointed, but my fear is unfounded, for all is the same. 

Shortly after her return, good things start to happen; all as a result of Heidi's time in Frankfurt.  The people from the local village start to see the Grandfather in a new light due to Heidi's return.  Heidi is able to read to and comfort the grandmother (a neighbor on the Alm).  She is also able to teach Peter the goatherd how to read.  Good things continue to happen.  Heidi's friends from Frankfurt visit and help the grandmother and Peter the goatherd with money and food and a new bed.  The fresh mountain air and goat's milk are a miracle cure for Klara and she regains the ability to walk. Heidi realizes that all these good things are happening becuase of her time in Frankfurt and the people that she knew there. 

How many times to we go through trials (bad things) and recieve blessings (good things) as a result?  It reminds me of the scripture found in Ether 12:27: "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."  Often, but not always, the bad things that happen in our lives are becuase of our weaknesses, but, through faith and humility, they can be turned into blessings.  A weakness of mine is that I like to take the easy way out.  If something is too hard, I won't do it or I'll do it as simply as possible.  Recently I've had to step out of that comfort box and force myself to do hard things.  I have yet to see the full blessings from this, but I'm begining to see small changes in myself and in my family.  It's something I need to say everyday--"I CAN DO HARD THINGS!"

Making Changes

The kids and I just finished reading Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl for our homeschool book club.  It wasn't one of my favorite reads, but we certainly learned a lot about what it was like being stuck in a small apartment with another family for 2 years. 

The story (obviously) is told by Anne in journal format.  It begins with her 13th birthday and ends a little over 2 years later.  For most of  the book, Anne, her family and another family are hiding from the Germans in a small annex above an office building.  Throughout the two years, the reader sees a lot of growth in Anne.  Anne starts out as a vain teenager who is only interested in boys, friends, movie stars, and clothing.  By the end of the book, Anne shares deeper feelings of  love, true friendship and hope. 

In one of Anne's last entries, she writes: "I can't imagine how anyone can say: 'I'm weak', and then remain so.  After all, if you know it, why not fight against it, why not try to train your character?"  I thought this was a great question.  Why do people not want to be better?  Why do they think it is OK to remain the same, to remain stagnant?  Anne goes on to write that most people say that it is easier to remain weak.  She disagrees.  She writes that "what appears easy and attractive will drag [one] down into the depths, depths where there is no comfort to be found, no friends and no beauty, depths from which it is almost impossible to raise oneself." 

This made me think of the changes Jonathan and I and several of our friends have made in how we homeschool.  We looked at what we were doing, realized that it was "weak" and have been doing hard work to make the right changes.  We have been pushing ourselves to get a better education, we have changed the learning environment of our home and how we view our kids' education, and we have constantly been striving to be better people.  Has it been easy?  No!  Has it been worth it?  Definitely!  I've already seen growth and I love it.  Thanks to characters like Anne Frank, Pollyanna, Jo March, Bilbo Baggins, Uncle Tom and many others we have learned good values and positive character traits that we try to implement in our own lives.