Not Forgotten

A few weeks ago, while we were visiting our families in Utah, we spent an afternoon at Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival. It was a warm, sunny, breezy day. The perfect kind of day for taking a walk through a beautiful garden. If the bright colors and varieties of tulips were impressive, the sheer number was more so.

But out of all the pictures of flowers I took that day, this one is my favorite. Low to the ground and minute in size, these flowers could have been easily overlooked. In fact, I don't think I would have even noticed them except my mother-in-law, who is an avid gardener, pointed them out. No wonder they are called forget-me-nots.

I instantly thought of President Uchtorf's talk at the last General Relief Society meeting. To be honest, I don't think I fully appreciated his metaphor because I didn't have any experience with forget-me-nots. But now that I know for myself how incredibly small, yet beautiful they are, this quote means so much more to me. I hope I can remember the five symbols of this little flower:

"Sisters, there is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower. I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet. Please never forget that you must be patient and compassionate with yourselves, that some sacrifices are better than others, that you need not wait for a golden ticket to be happy. Please never forget that the “why” of the gospel of Jesus Christ will inspire and uplift you. And never forget that your Heavenly Father knows, loves, and cherishes you."  --President Uctdorf


Truly, none of us are forgotten. The Savior himself beautifully expressed these words, which have pierced my soul ever since I became a mother: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. Behold, I have engraven thee on the palms of my hands . . . " (Isaiah 49: 15,16).

Yea, they may forget. But how could I forget? Even if I were in my most thoughtless state and accidentally left home without Isaac (which for the life of me I can't imagine ever doing), my body wouldn't let me go for more than a few hours without pointedly reminding me that I am a nursing mother. And so I feel I could never forget. Yet, the Lord says, "yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee." And why? "Behold, I have engraven thee on the palms of my hand."

Even though my suffering through pregnancy and giving birth was great, it pales in comparison to the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. He suffered so much emotional and physical pain that blood was pressed from his body through his pores. Not only was this pain infinite, but it was individual--meaning he suffered it for each one of us, one at a time. And so even more than a mother who suffers greatly to bring  each one of her children into the world, the Savior suffered the guilt, pains, and weakness and afflictions of each one of us. So, how could he forget you? He couldn't. It's physically impossible for him to.

I know that the Savior lives. He patiently waits for each of us to come to Him so that we can find the peace he already paid for. And what does he ask in return? That we remember Him.