"Papa, will you carry me?"

When my daughter was very young, about three or four years old, she was told to go directly into the car and wasn't to stop and play in the snow since she was wearing her dress clothes for church. It was her father, David, who told her this. He added the warning that she would ruin her clean dress clothes if she played in the snow. Regina was fond of her dress clothes and she equally loved playing in the snow. When David was ready to leave the house with the baby, he found Regina still at the top the porch steps. When Regina saw her father, she said, "Papa, will you carry me to the car so that I won't play in the snow?"

After the baby was in the car, David carried Regina to the car. Regina reasoned that she would not have the self control to resist playing in the snow, but she desired not to ruin her dress clothes nor be disobedient. Being carried seemed like a reasonable solution.

A dear friend of mine encouraged me to write this story on my blog because after I told this story to her, it helped her be at peace about her own struggles with self control: After a day of fasting, my friend was very hungry and went to bed early so she wouldn't eat causing her to break her promise of an all day fast. She wondered if this was cheating, if she was guilty of being too lenient with herself. The story about Regina asking her Papa to carry her immediately came to mind. Just like our human father will carry us through our times of temptation and lack of self control, so will our Heavenly Father. The answer to my friend's question of whether or not she was cheating to go to bed early is, "no." She kept her fast, was not disobedient, and got extra sleep which she likely needed after a day of fasting. It was a reasonable solution.

"Papa! Please carry me!"

"Carry us, Oh, Lord! We need You!"