Before and After

 



This year, one of the adjustments I made to help compensate for some of my physical losses was to hire a service to clean my house every few weeks.  


The owner of the company and her team do a thorough job, emphasizing the details.  As a part of growing her new company, she posts pictures of her work on social media.


Sometimes she posts pictures with captions such as “another immaculate home that is truly beautiful”.


Or “breathtaking design and attention to detail”.


Mine?  


It’s a “before and after”. 😂


I’m not alone, but when I first saw the example of the shower walls before and after the big scrub, I cringed a little.


It hit my pride.  


And I had to remind myself that it’s okay to be a before and after.  It’s literally why I hired her.


I knew I needed help!  Our neighborhood happens to have groundwater with the highest rust content in the region as confirmed by water treatment.  If it’s not scrubbed daily, it turns red. 


It’s the perfect metaphor for the need for daily repentance!!


And guess what? It’s also okay to need help spiritually.  Even if it pricks our pride a bit. 


D&C 50:24 instructs us,

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."


We  grow spiritually over time, and each step brings greater understanding and strength.


We aren’t expected to get it perfectly from the start.  That was never the plan.


Sister Jean B. Bingham (Former General Relief Society President) explained,

"As we learn and grow, we can become more than we were before—better, kinder, stronger, more loving, and more willing to follow God’s plan for us."


We can literally become the before and after that displays the power and wonder of the Savior’s touch, and maximizes our individual divine potential. 


The Savior is the Master of before and afters.


Including mine and yours. 

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