Sarah Clark, dean of the David O. McKay School of Education, delivered the devotional address on Tuesday morning at the Marriott Center. She centered her address on the idea that each person has stories, often ones of failure or hardship, that the Savior wants to help us revisit, understand and rewrite.
“Our Heavenly Father and the Savior, Jesus Christ, know our whole story — not just part, but the before, middle and end,” Clark explained.
She encouraged students to let Christ help write their stories, especially in hard chapters.
Years ago, Sarah entered one of her own hard chapters of wanting a bigger family but experienced challenges with having more children.
“I finally began to feel some peace as I studied again the parable of the talents, where one was given five, another two and yet another, one talent,” Clark recalled. “I committed then and there that I would take the number of children God had given to me and I would make the most of these incredible blessings and talents.”
What once seemed like an alternate life plan became clear as God’s intended path: His Plan A. She was reminded that God writes our stories patiently and purposefully, using experiences to teach us.
“We must remember that God’s imagination and creativity is far beyond our own — so even in those moments when we lose all hope and want to give up — we must continue to demonstrate our faith so that our story becomes one of beauty instead of ashes,” Clark said.
She shared how personal stories, our own and those in scripture, can guide, heal and reveal God's hand in our lives. Clark posed four questions, adapted from the Aims of BYU, to ask when pondering a story in your life:
- What has been intellectually enlarging about this experience?
- What has been spiritually strengthening about this experience?
- What has been character building in this experience?
- And, how can this experience lead me to lifelong learning and service?
Clark concluded with a personal declaration of a lifelong commitment to God: “I’m not going anywhere!”
She encouraged the audience to choose the same path of unwavering loyalty, covenant-keeping and partnership with the Savior in writing a life story that glorifies Him.
