The Art of Rebuilding

I've discovered slowly but surely that life is like building up a city.
You start with the basics - things at ground level, small buildings, and so forth. As you progress and get better at constructing buildings, you can go ahead and start building complexes, office buildings, and eventually skyscrapers.

But I've also learned that life does not go as planned. Life at times can be smooth sailing. We may be building large buildings and living the high life...
But only until our life gets leveled by a tornado. Our world gets crushed. The buildings fall down. Everything that we have worked so hard at is now a crumbled mess around our ankles.

I think that Satan likes to tear us down when we are at our best. He doesn't hit little pueblos or tiny ho-dunk towns. No. He goes for cities the size of New York or Bejing. He goes at us when we are at our peak. He tears down our health, our sanity, our education, our finances, our relationships, and our dreams right when they were just taking off.

And in that moment, you have to make a decision. You can either sit down and pout on your pile of pity and pain, or you can stand up, put on your man pants, and rebuild.

Now rebuilding is hard. No one wants to pick up and restart what they just finished. But every time life tears you down, it just so you can build your city better. You cannot build the perfect skyscraper your first try. But you are luckily given many opportunities to reanalyze what you are doing wrong and start over. And that can be painful, but it can also be sweet.

I've seen it in my own life. After an especially difficult trial, I procrastinated and pretended life was all good. I ignored the need to rebuild. And now I have to. Now I have to learn how to rebuild and it takes a lot of faith and it takes a lot of patience, so here are some tips:

1) Build from the bottom up. Don't start off building a skyscraper. Taking it gradually. Build level by level. Expect changes and trials. You may have to start at the very basics again, but it will be worth it.
2) Congratulate yourself after each level. After you build smallest, ho-dunky shack, congratulate yourself. Be grateful for the little things. And then build upon those. You will never experience joy if you keep telling yourself your buildings are gross-looking.
3) Use a blue print. The scriptures, the commandments, and your patriarchal blessings are a few amazing things to guide you as you rebuild. Don't just throw something together. Build your life with purpose.
4) Learn from your past. Don't make the same building mistakes you made before. Learn from your previous mistakes and move on.
5) Get a construction crew. It will take more than one girl (or guy) to rebuild a broken life. Enlist help from your family, your leaders, your friends, your God, and your Savior. They will surely have tips and willing, able hands ready to help.
6) Don't give up. If you begin to feel burned out from all the pressure of rebuilding, reevaluate. Remind yourself why you are doing this. Take it slow. Pray for help. Listen to your spirit and your body and the Holy Ghost. And never, ever stop building. Because you will soon complete that building. And if it gets leveled again, don't be afraid. The fiercer the storm, the stronger the tree, right?  So just hang on.

I know God has great plans for us. And, yes, sometimes those plans include us rebuilding our lives over and over again. But never give up. You are the child of the greatest Creator there is. You are in the hands of the Heavenly Healer and the Almighty Architect. You have potential to become like Him, but it will take time. It will take rebuilding. It will take refining. It will take redemption. But it will be worth it.

Go build.

-Amen,
Julie