Are We There Yet?

This past Sunday in my 9-11 year old girl class in Primary our lesson was on the Isrealites in the wilderness. Moses had just taken them out there, freeing them from a wicked Pharaoh with the promise that they are going to a wonderful paradise that God has created just for them. Unfortunately it was going to be quite the journey, but with a little faith God would help them through it. They were there for 40 years. The people murmured, and some lost faith.

I tried to explain this in terms that my girls could understand.

"Imagine you are on your way to the most magical place on Earth. You are going to Disney World! But you have to drive because airfares are too expensive for you and your whole family. At first you're all pumped up to go, then the hours drag on. You've watched all your DVD's and gotten bored with your DS's. Now your getting cranky and you start to whine, "Are we there yet?". You KNOW you are going to this wonderful place, and yet because you don't have the patience you start to loose faith thinking you are never going to get there."

I thought it was an excellent analogy, but let me explain something that sets up an even more present scenario. Whenever one of my girl's is having a birthday I buy doughnuts. Not just any doughnuts, Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I even ask the girl's in advance what their favorite is so I can bring those in. We had a birthday to celebrate this week and a fresh box of sprinkle doughnuts were on the table. Some of the girls were focused on the lesson, but there were some where the fragrance was just too much too handle.

After my awesome Disney World analogy one girl raised her hand. I called on her thinking she may have some insight to my example.

"When are we going to eat the doughnuts?"

Seriously? This was the perfect example! You know you are going to get doughnuts, they are right there. I bought them, displayed them and promised we would have them and yet the few minutes she had to wait for the lesson to be over was just too much to bare. She started to murmur, she wanted her doughnuts right now.

I compared this to the Isrealites. They know they are going to this wonderful place, but they just have to wait a while. And here my class just has to wait a few minutes before they can partake of the food paradise that I have provided.

I think of how this applies to today. The Lord has promised us blessings untold. All we have to do is stick it out while on this earth and keep the commandments and then...Wa-la! Paradise! But we get so caught up in wanting things NOW, that whole instant gratification thing. And if it takes too long we give up, some going so far to lose all faith that there is a God at all. It really is unfortunate, but we have to stick with it. In the words of Nike, Just Do It! And in the words of Pres. Hinkley, Do It Now!

Have you ever looked back on an opportunity you missed and think, "Why didn't I just do what I needed to do then, and I could be enjoying the benefits now?". I know I have, but how horrible is it going to be when we look back on our lives and think, "Why didn't I just do what I was commanded to do then? It wasn't as hard as I made it out to be, and I could be gaining the blessings from it now.".

Hopefully my girls got that message, and hopefully I'll follow my own advice so I won't be looking back on my life with the regret of frivolous priorities.