White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia is home to The Greenbrier, a storied resort that began in 1778 as a place of renewal where people came to take the “healing” and pungent waters from the sulphur springs. My grandma was the third generation of her family to grow up less than 30 minutes from The Greenbrier in a home on a hill above the Greenbrier River. They had their own sulphur water, which is an acquired taste, provided first by the spring and then by a well. Charlie, my dad’s cousin, was the fourth generation to own the home and was raised on sulphur water. So, I was surprised to find on my last visit that Charlie, at great expense, had brought a water line from the city main at the bottom of the hill up through the craggy cliffs of limestone to provide culinary water to the home.
As I sat at the kitchen table with the fifth generation of our family to live in the home, I realized he was thinking not of himself but of the future.
In another project, Charlie planted three new peach trees near the house which he nurtured and tended. They grew tall and beautiful but did not yield any fruit. Charlie passed away last year at the age of 80 and the family gathered recently to place a memorial stone and scatter his ashes on the land he loved. To their delight, the peach trees were loaded with delicious fruit. While his years were waning, he was looking forward. Though he would never enjoy their fruit, those trees will continue to be a gift from Charlie to his family for years to come.
No matter where we find ourselves on our journey we can look forward in hope and faith to the “Author and Finisher of our faith,” Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 12:2) Long after our mortality, He will still be working miracles and writing the beautiful ending of our story. If efforts seem unfruitful, the Holy Spirit whispers, “Don’t give up… Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead…Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 1999) He who sees the sparrow fall, knows you, knows your heart, knows the promises He has made and those promises will bless you, your family and generations to come in ways we can not yet forsee.