March is considered a windy month, as it’s Spring in the northern hemisphere. Sometimes the winds are strong, and sometimes they aren’t. Pleasant memories of kite flying with my father and then with my own children still bring joy to my heart but also a lesson learned in life.
With strong winds, kites can fly so high the roll of string will run out quickly. Along with a large roll of string, most importantly kites need a tail. This tail acts as an anchor so the kite can rise straight up in the sky and not fly around in circles.
In life, Christ is that kite’s tail in our life. We build our lives upon his strong foundation of the gospel which anchor’s us in times of trial and tribulation. As we experienced Easter week, I am reminded of how important Christ’s sacrifice was for us.
Just recently I have taken on a new full time job. I work for a plant nursery which employs several hundred people. I took the job because it was close to my home, paid a bit better than most places and I could take on extra hours. It also required physical exercise which would really help to get myself back in shape. (The past ten years I have had desk jobs.)
The drawback was that the other employees did not have as high a standard as I was used to and sometimes treated each other miserably. Some of the managers were very mean to their subordinates which I hated to see and fear was the most popular way to run the company. Most of the people had to keep their job to survive and there were several others who were trying to get their lives back on track after spending time in prison.
This was a great challenge I was not used to as I believe everyone should be given a chance to prove themselves to be good workers. One manager in particular was mean to everyone whether they were a good worker or not. This was her way of keeping everyone in line. She was like a walking time bomb that could go off at any minute for whatever reason she had. Most lived in fear of her and I would not let her get the better of me. I tried to be kind to her regardless.
Most of the jobs in this plant are tagging and transporting potted plants to fill orders which are sent on trucks all over the country. I am a plant tagger which requires two people to a table to count through each rack of plants, tag them and send them off to a staff of “wrappers” who wrap cellophane from large rolls around these 6 foot tall racks to ensure a safe passage of the potted plants to their destination.
I am the only member of my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS Church) at this place and most who work there don’t attend any church at all. Lucky for me the woman who wanted to be my partner at the table where we tagged was a practicing Christian.
She was new to Christianity and was trying very hard to keep herself on the path of righteousness after a life time of drugs, alcohol and profanity. I counted myself blessed when she came to me privately and asked if we could have prayer before we started each day at work. I was delighted and encouraged her to always pray whether with me or by herself.
As I think of this company and how they treat others I am reminded of what President Thomas S. Monson (President of LDS Church) said once in a talk:
“Our task is to become our best selves. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again for no failure ever need be final.” We all make mistakes. We should all be allowed to learn from those mistakes, ask for forgiveness and then be forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We should all have the chance to start over and “be our best selves.”
As Easter is tomorrow, we are reminded what our Savior has done for us. From the new Easter video from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are reminded of who the Savior is and how He can help us.
He was despised and rejected of men
A man of sorrows acquainted with grief
He was wounded for our transgressions
He was bruised for our sins
Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world
And if I let Him
If I love Him
If I follow Him
He can take away my sorrows
My sins and my pains
Forgive my past
As in Adam all die
To read more of Valerie’s articles, click here.
Even so in Christ shall all be made alive
In Jesus Christ, we can find new life
Hallelujah.
Like the kite that needs a tail to be blown in the right direction, or those people lacking kindness in their life or like those who have lived life on the dark side for so long, Jesus Christ is our light and life. If we follow Him, if we truly keep Him in our lives then we can find true happiness and peace.
Valerie Steimle has been writing as a family advocate for over 25 years. As a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she promotes Christian living in her writings and is the mother of nine children and grandmother to twelve. Mrs. Steimle authored six books and is a contributing writer to several online websites. To her, time is the most precious commodity we have and knows we should spend it wisely.
To read more of Valerie's work, visit her at her website, The Blessings of Family Life.
