Jacob, Faye, Carter & Ashton Mayberry ~ Texas Canyon ~ 2008

When we were driving recently, I noticed the corner post to two fences that attached to it at ninety-degree angles. Over the years, some of the soil around that concrete base had been washed away, probably by water from heavy rainstorms that had drained right next to the base. The corner post was leaning inward slightly, being pulled by the weight and tension of the two fences.

When I saw that corner post, I then mentally contrasted it with the corner posts that Grandpa Mayberry installed on his farm. One of those posts had a concrete base that was about three feet long by three feet wide by three feet deep. I know that because we had to move it to another location because of fence line changes. That concrete base was massive! We had to move it with a tractor and chains!

Why did Grandpa go to such great lengths to make such a massive concrete base to his corner posts? My guess is that he had either seen or experienced himself a corner post like the one I saw while driving that didn’t hold up to the weight and tension from the fences that attached to it. Grandpa probably said to himself something like, “That will never happen again. It is worth the extra effort now to make a strong foundation for this corner post — so I don’t have to worry about its stability when it is under the weight and tension from the fences attached to it.”

Ashton’s suicide on January 28, 2014 is the biggest “storm” I have ever faced. Thomas S. Monson often quotes the statement, “When the time for decision arrives, the time for preparation is past.” This is what has been helpful for me to withstand this storm:

The Book of Mormon prophet, Helaman, taught his sons, “[…Remember], remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, [and I might add when life shall send forth its mighty winds] yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” (Helaman 5:12)

Christ taught his disciples, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)

Much like Grandpa’s corner posts, when the storms in my life have hit me, I’ve had to reflect on the foundation upon which my life is built. That foundation is my belief and hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, who has taken upon Himself my pains, sins and sorrows. I believe with all my heart that He did that for me because of His love for me. I love Him for that.

My quest is to strengthen my foundation in the “rock” of our Savior and His Atonement. As I do so, I will be like Grandpa’s corner posts. I will be able to withstand the storms, weights and tensions of life — whatever they may be.

Written by Carter

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