I have a couple of favorite authors. I’ve read all of their books multiple times. Their books bring me great joy, so I love to share them with friends, coworkers, acquaintances, strangers on the street…..I’m joking about the last one but you get my point.

I enjoy reliving these treasured books through my friends, experiencing them again through their eyes. I love witnessing their excitement during high points and their worry and concern during times of distress. I often find myself offering my friends encouragement during some of the lowest points of these books. I assure them that all will be well in the end. I urge them to keep reading, to keep moving forward.

Recently, a good friend of mine was reading one of these books. As I questioned her about her reading, she told me that she had reached a particularly sad section of the book. I encouraged her as I have other friends in the past. I told her that I knew this book well. I know what lies ahead in the next pages and in the next chapters. I assured her that there would be a “happy ending”.

As I reflected on our conversation, I thought how our lives are very much like these cherished books of mine. Like my books, our lives have high points that bring us joy and low points that cause us distress. Sometimes at the lowest points of our lives we doubt the possibility of a happy ending in our future.

We are the authors of our story and the choices we make affect its ending, but we do not know what the next chapters hold for us. Our Heavenly Father loves us and our story. He knows what lies ahead in the next chapters of our lives. He wants us to know that there is a “happy ending” ahead for us. If we will seek for and listen to His guidance and keep moving forward, He will help us to reach it.