For Me Alone

I have been feeling a bit down lately as if I don’t measure up to all that I know I should/could be. Being of the LDS faith, I know that I am literally a daughter of God, and yet Satan works hard to convince us all at times that we’re just not “enough”. Not thin enough, not smart enough, not loving enough, not compassionate enough…the list is endless at times.

I went to church this morning with an aching and heavy heart. So much of what I wanted to accomplish this past week has been derailed by a couple of children’s behaviors. At times I wonder if I am strong enough (there’s that enough word again) to do what my Heavenly Father has asked me to do; to raise children who range from gifted and emotionally healthy (the easy ones) to those with some pretty severe special needs.

This Sabbath morning as I awoke, I prayed that I would find the healing that my heart needed. I looked forward to the balm that the sacrament offers each week; to turn to the Lord for healing and for the opportunity to repent and start again. I thank a loving Heavenly Father who in his wisdom offers us that chance to renew our baptismal covenants each week through this ordinance.

After the first speaker who directed his remarks to the Young Men on how to prepare for a mission, I still had a prayer in my heart that something said today would be directed more toward my needs. I bear witness that the Lord hears our pleadings and answers them. The special musical number was titled “For Me Alone” by Sally DeFord and it was sung by a young woman who is a friend of my son’s. She holds a special place in my heart anyway, but the message she sang today was as if it was intended just for me.

The atonement is for all mankind, but as Elder Ballard said, “The irony of the Atonement is that it is infinite and eternal, yet it is applied individually, one person at a time.”

The chorus of the song is what hit me so strongly today, and had I been alone in the congregation I think I would have wept aloud.

If I alone had stumbled, if I alone had strayed,

If I alone had wandered from the straight and narrow way

If I alone bore guilt for which my all could never atone

He would have come for me

For me alone.

What a beautiful message; one that I have always known, but was confirmed in my heart today that if I alone were the one who strayed, Christ would still have gone through with the atonement. It is for all, and yet it is for each of us as individuals. We may feel at times that we don’t measure up, but Christ and his atonement are more than big enough to cover all of our inadequacies.

To hear the song in its entirety, click here for some downloading options.

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