Wolves at the door...

     I really enjoyed the talk by Bruce C. Hafen entitled "Covenant Marriage". It is about the wolves in our lives.  The scriptures tell us to be aware of "wolves in sheep's clothing." This has always reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood, and the wolf who disguised himself as her grandmother and lay in wait for her.

I think we all have something that lurks in wait for us whether it be of our own making or not.

 Elder Hafen talked about the wolf of adversity, the wolf of our own imperfections, or the wolf of excessive individualism.  All of these can be in disguise and we might not recognize them if we are not careful.


As I looked at my Genogram, which is a family tree that highlights relationships between family members, I could see patterns from all three of these wolves.  I would think that the greatest tragedy would be the wolf of our own imperfection, knowing a flaw in our character caused our downfall.  

     
     My family battled alcoholism.  I can see the imperfection that caused individuals to partake of alcohol, not realizing the propensity we have in our family to become addicted to it. It follows a path leaving much hurt along the way.  I am sure that I would have that tendency too, as "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."!  Once again, I feel gratitude for finding the gospel and having it protect me from an outcome in life that might not have been pleasant.  This is where I would have to say I became a transitional character.  By joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I avoided the pattern of alcohol addiction. A transitional character changes the pattern in their family tree.

      For the sake of my children, and myself, I am grateful that the Word of Wisdom has been such a constant in our life.  That is one wolf that I would not have wanted to battle.  My husband and I were Addiction Recovery Missionaries for 2.5 years and it was the best calling in the world. However, the battle in watching people try to overcome addictions was a heartbreaking conflict to watch.  Wonderful, wonderful people with the wolf of addiction on their back! I could relate, in a small way, because of my addiction to chocolate!  We all have our own personal wolves, just to different degrees.