Pop Tarts and Entropy

As my dear friend Stacy knows, S'mores happens to be one of my favorite ice cream flavors.  It's only in stores for a couple months out of the year, unfortunately.  S'mores also happens to be my favorite Pop Tart flavor.  I don't usually eat Pop Tarts, or at least I didn't.  About two weeks ago I bought some because it was late at night and I had the munchies when I was at the store.  They have proven to be a tempting late night snack.  I'm actually quite embarrassed about it because I usually eat really really healthily, especially for being a single college guy.

So Friday was date night.  It was great.  It was Ward Temple Night so I met Merilee there.  I borrowed my brother's epic picnic basket (it truly is epic), and brought stuff for sandwiches that we ate before the session.

I got to the Temple early and called Tim, my close friend that I grew up with.  We caught up a little before we had to hang up.  Tim has been living in Ohio for almost two years.  His mom was like a second mother to me and passed the Thursday before Dad.  I've been worried about him and we haven't kept in touch much since I was at her funeral.  I was very relieved and happy to hear all the good news he had.  He's been facing lots of challenges and it made me so incredibly happy to hear that he was working things out.  I'm so proud of him.  Between Tim's news, a fun date, and being at the Temple, Friday was just a great day.  The Spirit was felt, and I had personal prayers answered.

So at work yesterday, I came up with a new name for my department.  Instead of being called Footwear, it should be renamed Entropy, because I feel like everything is steadily descending into chaos, especially now as we are preparing for inventory.  The book that I'm reading, The Infinite Atonement, by Tad Callister, mentions the law of entropy.  My Chemistry teacher explained it by saying that things in nature will always decay from an organized state into a less organized state.  Callister says that the law "suggests that the universe, left to itself, would constantly move toward a state of disorder."  He uses entropy to highlight the infinite power of the Atonement.  It's God's influence and power that reverse the effects of entropy, or chaos, death, disorder, and destruction that plague mortality.  You can look at it sort of like God being the mechanic that maintains a car that would otherwise eventually breakdown without intervention.

Pondering that lately has shown me that it's completely true.  God is who sustains us amid all the entropy in our lives.  Just as the power of the resurrection restores order to those bodies that have been afflicted by disease or death, God's influence and our Savior's Atonement restore order to our lives.  There are times when it feels like disorder and chaos can rule your life.  Work, school, family, health, faith, friends - all can feel like they are decaying and falling apart.  One of my favorite quotes from Preach My Gospel is in lesson 2 when it says

"As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" (emphasis added)

So life's pretty much looking up.  My friend is facing his challenges and making important decisions.  School really couldn't be going better.  I'm in a relationship that makes me very incredibly happy.  And I feel like God is answering my prayers.  At this moment in time, everything important to me seems to be falling into order, and it's not anything that I'm doing.