In my church, there’s a doctrine about opposition:
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. (2 Ne 2:11)
It’s easy to find the opposition in motherhood—from my kids (I do have a two year old!), from society, from myself. It’s harder to remember that this opposition is an important part of life. Without opposition, we wouldn’t appreciate to easy times, the good times, the happy times.
I’ve said it before:
In life, there will always be the bitter. Though I don’t dwell on it as much anymore, adjusting to motherhood will probably always be one of those experiences for me whenever I do look back on it. But, like the plum, there is so much more sweet than the bitter in motherhood—and without that bitter skin, I don’t know if I’d ever really come to value the sweet.
What do you think? How has the bitter helped you appreciate the sweet?