Entry 7: Gentle Giant

Aaron has received so many kind, uplifting, and encouraging words from friends and family since he found out. (We should make a book of all the sweet words shared.) I want to share an excerpt on the blog from an email Aaron received and shared with me. As a precursor, Aaron has participated in various martial arts classes over the years, and one of his teachers sent an email out to his class requesting prayers on Aaron's behalf (thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, John).  Aaron received several emails from those in his class, all of which touched and humbled him greatly.   One of those classmates said:

"I remember the first time I went to class and I looked around and all I saw were these huge guys in class, ... and then you walked in and I thought, 'maybe I should take a class with smaller guys.' I was very intimidated at first.  Then I started talking to you and you seemed so cool like a gentle giant.  You have such a great personality and a kind heart."

 

I thought that was so perfect.  Aaron is our gentle giant.  One of my favorite, favorite things about Aaron is how big his heart is.  His stature may be intimidating, but that heart is so soft.  I remember distinctly a time several years ago shortly after Aaron returned home from his mission and not too long before our Grandpa died.  Grandpa was in his 90's and living in an assisted care home. Grandpa needed some help with his feet. His toenails needed some attention. But of course he wouldn't have been able to bend over and take care of them, and plus, they wouldn't be easy to shape up. However, I remember Aaron sweetly taking Grandpa's feet in his hands and gently trimming his toenails with a jovial attitude, making jokes with Grandpa along the way. I was so touched by this seemingly simple scene. What a Christlike thing to do. What an impression that had one me.

I also wanted to share an excerpt from a message a friend of mine wrote to me. My friend's mother recently overcame her battle with cancer. I hope she won't mind that I share this. It brought me a lot of strength and peace, and I wanted to document it here too for Aaron and Beth.

"We know that we will never be given a trial we can't handle. We also know that we must have a trial of our faith to have eternal life. So, the trial has to match the magnitude of the person enduring it --otherwise it wouldn't be a trial. A trivial thing to one person might be a huge trial to another. Make sense? So a huge trial is really just Heavenly Father showing you how confident He is in your ability to overcome said trial... Of course with His help. Never forget His help.  We also know that trials are designed to bring us closer to Him. As you get further into this trial, you will understand the true validity of this doctrine. It is true in ways I couldn't have known before. The same will be true for you too."

We will overcome with Him on our side.