Mustard Seeds and Good News: by Tori Regan

When I first got the email that my turn to blog was coming up, I honestly didn’t want to. I thought to myself, “The only thing I can think of writing about is the coronavirus, and I’m tired of it consuming my life.”

A few days after that thought, a very sad tragedy hit my family….resulting in me feeling even less inclined to write this blog.

I started to look around for inspiration, anything that would make me think of something to write, and ended up looking at my previous blog post. The final sentence I wrote in that blog was “I strive to focus my thinking on how to follow and listen, and remember that He is much better at being in charge than I. “ I laughed at the irony. The virus didn’t even exist at the time I wrote that sentence, and I feel so much more out of control now then I did at that time.

I am sad. My family is very sad. We received heartbreaking news, and we can’t even hug our loved ones or respond in the way we desperately yearn to. I find myself trying to cling to any hope of control, and there is nothing to grab. Our life, our country, our world, is full of millions who are struggling right now, just like me.

One thing that did cheer me up, was watching John Krasinski’s video he made titled “Some Good News.” I loved that a celebrity was using his network and time to reach out to people and ask for them to send him any positive news they had seen or heard.. He made a newscast video reflecting on all that everyone had sent. In the midst of this hard time, people were celebrating healthcare workers, finding joy in “zoom weddings” and cheering on a little girl who finally beat cancer. I teared up as I watched this and thought, “Yes, I need to reflect more on good news.”

Then I thought that maybe I am blessed to have my blog due during holy week, because the ultimate reminder of good news is coming up…Easter Sunday.

Normally Easter Sunday is a great reminder for me of the ultimate gift Jesus gave us. It’s a time for us to rejoice, to fall in love with the gospel all over again, and to be thankful we have a Savior who died for us. Now, living in a world where people are dying everyday, Easter Sunday is my light at the end of the tunnel to cling to, to remember that he has given us good news before, and he will do it again.

I can’t imagine how helpless the apostles felt when they watched Jesus, their dear friend and leader, die on the cross. They must have felt devastated, not knowing where to go from that moment, not knowing how they would ever make it through this.

But Yet…

Jesus came through with his promise that he would save us all.

1 Peter: 6-7 states “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Scotty Smith recently taught our Monday morning class, and he said “faith the size of a mustard seed is sufficient when it’s connected to the right object.” A mustard seed is about 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter, and weighs less than a gram.

Scotty also said, “The more we love Jesus the more we feel. We weep with those who weep, and we rejoice with those who rejoice.”

I’m thankful to have people in my life who during this time, are weeping with me, and who are helping me to rejoice in small moments by putting a smile on my face and making me laugh. I’m grateful that in the moments I’m weeping I can picture how easy it is to hold a mustard seed in my palm and wrap my hand around it, and I’m excited for the day where we can all rejoice together in person again.

But most of all, I’m grateful for a Savior who will take over control when I can’t, and who will ultimately give us good news, like he has again and again.