Gospel Lessons from A Dog & A USB Stick

I have two stories to share with you. The first one starts of a couple of days ago when I was in the kitchen of my parents' home, fixing a sandwich at the table. Our dog comes in, smelling the turkey slices, and stands there, looking hopefully at me with those brown, doggy eyes, that I will give her a slice of meat. I told her no, finished my sandwich, put the meat away, and went on with my day. As I left the kitchen, I thought to myself, "That's what she gets for trusting in someone imperfect," and gained some insight on the principle of trusting in a perfect Being.

The second story happened today. I was in the kitchen again with the meat. Again, our dog comes in with those ever hopeful eyes. This time I feel like being compassionate and give her a slice, which she happily ate. Afterward, I went upstairs to work on the computer when I realized that I needed my USB stick to get the specific files I needed. As I went to retrieve it, it wasn't there. I begin looking all over, but to no avail. Finally, after about 10 minutes of searching, I decide to go to the Lord in prayer. I've had so many experiences where I've lost something and after frantic searching I would pray and then immediate thereafter find what I was looking for. I was again facing the same situation. I prayed and asked my Father to guide me to the place the USB stick was. When I finished my prayer, the first thougth that came to me was, "Fold your clothes." I had a pile of clean clothes on my bed that needed folding and putting away. Happily, I began folding, thinking the stick must be at the bottom of the pile. However, as I finished folding my clothes, I hadn't found the stick. I thought to myself, "Oh well. It'll be found eventually. The world is not coming to an end. The Lord will bless me," and I went on to do other work that didn't require my stick. Later today, my mom helped me look for and locate my lost USB stick.

I share these two stories with you because when I finished folding my clothes, the experience of earlier this week popped in my mind. A few insights came to me as I thought about earlier this week and today:

1. My dog didn't get what she was hoping for immediately when she wanted it; it came much later. I realized the Lord was doing the same to me. He was reminding me that things don't happen on my time; things happen on His time.
2. I was reminded of the parable the Lord gives in Matthew 18:23-34. It's the one where a servant owes his king ten thousand talents but the king forgives him the debt; then the servant goes out and sends his fellow servant to jail for not paying back only a hundred pence. The reason this whole experience reminded me of this parable was because here I was, refusing to give my dog something she wanted, and then I go to the Lord asking Him to give me something I want. It made me realize that I am sometimes this hypocritical with people. To me, it was a gentle chastising from the Lord.
3. Although my dog hoped an "imperfect" being would give her some meat and didn't get it the first time, she still got it from me eventually. We can still put our hope in other people, though they may not be perfect. We always hope our friends will remain our friends, our family members will still love us, our employer will keep us employeed, etc. I believe it's that "hope for a better world" which motivates us to move forward in our lives.¹

So there are my two stories. What are your thoughts? What other insights can you glean from my stories?


Footnotes:
1. Ether 12:4