"My Denmark"

 

A friend told me a story tonight that was told to her a few years ago during a difficult time in her life by her Stake President .... I'm going to try and paraphrase it the best I can . 

 " A woman had always dreamed of going to Paris ... Her whole life was spent planning , saving and researching all the best things about it. Finally she had saved enough to go and booked her flight . The next few weeks were then spent packing and preparing for her big trip. Nothing could go wrong .,. She had thought and planned out everything perfectly . 

When her fight landed and she was making her way through the airport she realized that somehow she wasn't in Paris at all but rather in Denmark . Her heart was broken ... How could this happen !!! This wasn't the Paris trip she had been dreaming of . She tried to find flights to Paris but had no luck ... She was stuck in Denmark . She shed her tears and reluctantly found a room for the week .

The next day as she was walking around town , she started to realize all the beautiful things Denmark had to offer .. The windmills , the tulips , the history all surrounding her ... It was beautiful . It wasn't her Paris ... It wasn't what she had always dreamed and planned for ... But it was now her Denmark .  

She decided to make the most of her situation and learned to love where she was and not dwell on what she missed out on and ended up having a wonderful vacation .

This story was a metaphor for a woman who had longed to be a mother for years and years and once she became pregnant she leaned that her child would be severely handicapped . Being a mother was her Paris ... But being a mother to a special needs child was her Denmark.... Not exactly what she had planned , but beautiful and meant to be . 

 I know so many of us can relate to this story . We all have things that didn't go as planned ... But as we look back at it , aren't we better because of it? 

As hard as it has been to have my marriage end ... I have found "My Denmark " . I'm learning to see the beauty in the trial and see the changes it has provoked in me . My heart has never hurt so much but in ways I have never felt such joy . 

 As parents we watch our children suffer with physical problems , addiction , bullying , mental problems or some even death...While some people have the trial of infertility . We all have struggles .. Just in different ways . 

I hope this story touched you the way it did to me ... Try seeing the beauty in your surroundings even if they aren't ideal . There's always a lesson behind every trial ... Let us all be a little kinder , love a little more and judge a little less . So grateful for my friend for following the prompting  she had to tell me that story .. It will stay with me forever and has opened my eyes to the beauty in front of me ... It may not be Paris ... But I ❤️ my Demark!