Choosing Hope

I walked into the chapel after the opening song had already started.  The beautiful voices in the choir merged together and rose heavenward.  

"He clothes the lilies of the field,

He feeds the lambs in His fold,

And he will heal those who trust him,

And make their hearts as gold."

My Grandma held tightly to the crook of my left arm as I led her to where our seats were.  When I glanced up at the stage I saw a pair of striking blue eyes looking out from a scarred face.  Stephanie Neilson sat patiently waiting for her turn at the podium.  Next to her her husband held her hand, occasionally they looked into each other's eyes, or shared whispered comments but mostly they were just there- together.  After seeing them together it is hard to imagine them apart.

After a short introduction, Stephanie took her place at the front of the large audience.  She spoke of the terrible airplane accident that left 80% of her body badly burned, she showed pictures of the rubble that was left of the plane after the crash and she spoke of hope.  

"You can choose to live in hope or you can choose to live in despair. 

For me, choosing to live in despair is choosing not to live at all."   

Her voice resonated with the wisdom that comes only through experience. 

Many, many people know who "Nie Nie" is and because of that she seemed larger than life to me.  But as I listened to her I began to see her as an ordinary person who has been confronted with tragedy and is facing it in an extraordinary way.  She has taken the trials that life has dealt her and is sharing her faith and the hope that she has found in Jesus Christ.

"I am just now being able to say that I am grateful for this trial. 

I can see now all of the blessings that we have because of it. 

I used to wish it away, but now, I wouldn't change it." 

She spoke of her trials and the pain that she is required to endure, but in the same breath acknowledged the scars that others carry that are less visible. 

"I hope that we can all say one day,

"I endured that, and I did it with grace." "

  

I left the church and walked into the dark parking lot.  I felt a little different than I had when I walked into the building earlier that evening.  I felt renewed, uplifted and I felt like I could better handle the trials that life has dealt  me.  

Picture from Utah Valley Magazine