[This Post in Under Construction. Feel free to read it anyways if you want. I just wanted to post it early so I can have a link for another post. I haven't yet finished my thoughts here though.)
On March 21st 2024 I was dreaming and in my dream I had a thought so profound that it woke me up.
In the week of March 18th-22nd my kids and I started to learn about paleontology. When we think of paleontology we might go straight to thinking about the dinosaurs versus the process of how we got to know about dinosaurs in the first place.
Our gifts from God are very similar. We might be walking along through outside when we suddenly see a glimpse of how God see’s us. It would be too tempting to then rush over to our jackhammer to get the whole gift out of the ground but God steadies our process and tells us when to use the jackhammer.
In the beginning of removing a fossil from the earth a jackhammer may be used to remove major rocks and obstacles away from the fossil but the closer and closer the paleontologist gets the smaller and more creative their tools have to get.
Just when we can really start seeing our gifts from God begin to be uncovered and we’ve gone through all the work to remove large obstacles keeping us from our gift and we’ve used the odd small tools to define our gift he then tells us to put away our jackhammer and to grab some toilet paper. Confused, we might ask him “why toilet paper? That won’t get my gift out of here!” But he insists. It’s at this point we have two options. Leave our gift for someone else to find and use or to trust ing God and grab the toilet paper.
When trying to remove a large fossil from the ground the paleontologists want to preserve as much as they can and protect the fossil until they can bring it back to a lab where they use even more tools to not only remove but then piece together the fossil. In order to do this they cover the fossil (and the remaining dirt and rock) in toilet paper and then plaster. This process is known as jacketing. In order to get both sides of the large rock and fossil they bring in large construction machines that help to carefully lift and flip over the fossil to preserve the other side.
If you’ve chosen to go and get the toilet paper God then will instruct you with now covering your gift that you worked so hard to reveal. He tells you that it needs to be preserved for the right time and tells you that you’ll need more people to help lift, carry, and protect your gift. This is slightly disappointing because you thought you had done all this work and were about to see your complete gift soon. You had worried over breaking it or missing a piece of it and now He was telling you to cover it back up and do it again? Not to mention you had to trust ‘others’ to also handle your gift carefully? Do you continue?
Once the preserved fossil is jacketed the paleontologists then have to figure out how to get the fossil to the lab as most fossils are found where there aren’t any roads. Once they have been able to get the plastered fossil to the lab paleontologists then start by removing the plaster with a saw. Then they need to finish removing the surrounding rock from the fossil by using an air scribe tool and carefully and patiently remove all remaining rock.
Since you’ve seen your gifts potential you might as well see the whole process through even though you still have months ahead to continue to define it and relying on others gifts as well. However, not all do. At anytime in the process many give up on their gifts, handing off the responsibility to someone else. Should you continue you will find that once the rock is all removed you still have your work cut out for you as your gift is in pieces.
Piecing together the fossil is tricky jigsaw puzzle with oftentimes tiny or missing pieces and takes years to put together but despite the long and painstaking process the joy outweighs the pain.
Just like removing a fossil from the ground our gifts have a process to them and each one of those steps matters as you move through them. Each part of uncovering your gift, although challenging, teaches you something new and gets you in close to the smallest of details. It teaches you patience, creativity, hope, reliance, determination, and gratitude. Throughout the entire process God reveals more of his mysteries to you as you work alongside Him and have faith in His process so by the end when others can see your fully complete gift and marvel at it you’ll have pure joy and not because of the outcome, but the journey it took you to get there.
D&C 88:33
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