Stress and the Lord

Yesterday was the first time I had gotten so stressed that I couldn't handle it anymore. Here is the list of things I was dealing with yesterday, and what was on my mind.
- Midterms
- 20 Sketches for my Sketchbook due (Still had to do the day it was due)
- Doctrinal Paper due the next day
- The Other paper due that day
- Texture Project due
- Pictures of time period furniture due (Still had to do the day it was due)

Now...this may not sound like a lot...but when you lose your sketchbook and find out the library is closed during the time you were going to find pictures, things get a little crazy.

I had just turned in my texture project and started on my next one during my first class of the day. I left a little early (because my teacher wasn't in the room to care) and headed home to change out of my professional clothing and to pick up my sketchbook so I could sketch during my other 2 classes so I could just go straight to the library and look up pictures turn in at my 3:15 class. I got home and changed quickly to make it to my next class on time and then started looking for my sketchbook. The problem was...I couldn't find it. It was no where to be found. My room has been messy because I haven't had to do homework in there lately, so my OCD that I have developed since being in college hadn't kicked in. I looked for as long as I could before I had to leave to get to class on time. I couldn't figure out where it could be. I'd looked everywhere I had thought of to no avail.

I got to my BOM class and my friend Richard asked how I was...I almost cracked. Luckily I was too mad at that point to be stressed yet, so I just fumed. BOM finished and I went to my english class. As I was waiting for class to start, I just kept going over and over everything I had to do that day. It wasn't going well in my head. My friend Victoria came up and we were talking and then what cracked me...my visiting teacher. Tracey is amazing. She is one of the most Spiritual people I know here and I love her to death. She was coming out of the classroom Victoria and I go into and as usual stopped to talk to us. She asked Victoria how she was and then looked at me...she could tell it was a bad day. She asked if I was ok and I completely cracked. I started crying in the middle of the Hinkley building. I felt so ridiculous. She tried to calm me down and told me that grades aren't everything...which I know...but I'm also me. I live off getting good grades. Bad grades just aren't acceptable for me. She left for her next class and I was on my own again. I went into english to find a TA there because my teacher was sick...and class was canceled!!! I was so happy.

I went home and cleaned. My room needed it anyways. I finally found my sketchbook. When I had taken it out of my backpack last time and set it on my bed it had somehow fallen down the side of the bed and was leaning against the wall, far enough away so that when I had looked under it earlier in the day, I couldn't see it without my roommates flashlight that I now had. I got work on it and decided that I wouldn't stress about the pictures I had yet to find for my next class.

I got all 20 sketches done and I went to class. I aced my midterm with a 226 out of 230. He only took one point off for not having the pictures that I was supposed to have. Not only that, but he missed it when I had answered it with a 'no' and I had to go up and tell him. I couldn't live with myself if I lied.

I was still in a crap mood when I got home. I was about to start working on my Doctrinal paper that I had to do for the next when I remembered that my friend Travis who is serving a mission in Australia had emailed me and I hadn't read it yet. I went to read it and found that he had included his usual scripture of the week. I then remembered that I forgot to read the scripture of the week from his last email so I went back and read it. The first scripture from the week before was Alma 38:5 which reads

And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your ^atrust in God even so much ye shall be ^bdelivered out of your trials, and your ^ctroubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

When I read that I started crying. It was like he knew what kind of week I was going to be having. I then continued to read the next scripture he sent the day before. Alma 34:41

But that ye have ^apatience, and bear with those ^bafflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

And then I was crying even more...I had definitely needed to read those scriptures at that time. Once I had read those, I was in the best mood ever. My roommate came in and thought something was wrong because I was crying, but it was the complete opposite. I couldn't have been better.

Heavenly Father truly does watch out for us and picks us up when we need it. Even if it's through a missionary on the otherside of the world.