Looking Forward

Here's the latest update from the Peterson re-hab center.

I went to church yesterday! I was a little bit frightened and self-conscious about my first public appearance and about seeing all the people I love for the first time. I confess that my pride was raising a huge fuss about arriving with a cane--even if it was a "sassy" cane. I would have much preferred to be a fly on the wall rather than the center of attention. But what an outpouring of love! So many welcoming arms, hugs, smiles and expressions of love and concern. To me, I imagined it much like our heavenly return might be.

This is the first time (to my knowledge) that other people have fasted on my behalf. I do believe in faith and prayer and although this may sound childish and naive, I really believe I'm stronger today, happier, more at peace, more confident of the future. I'm walking better, I put the laundry in by myself, and I'm actually typing this blog (painstakingly, but nevertheless by myself). Kristin says I should tell you that I even threatened to throw the cane away today.
We are heading out to get a Portillo's hot dog, stopping at the grocery store and then cooking dinner for the missionaries. How normal is that?!

Last night I read Elder Holland's talk Remember Lot's Wife, which was a great reminder not to look back, but to the future. Elder Holland said, "I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from, but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences, but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn, and have brought back with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future."

Never mind what I could do two weeks ago, I'm grateful for what I can do today and look forward to the challenges of the future.