Raquetball and Our Father

Jared and I have a membership to a very large community center/ gym/ family fun center. They have child care where the children can go outside and play, and our girls love it. So recently Jared and I have gotten into raquetball. At first we looked so pathetic. We could barley hit the ball and spent most of our time trying to get the ball. Then we got a little better. We could actually have a game when we could hit the ball consecutively, maybe 3 or 4 times. As we kept getting better, Jared figured out it was harder for me to hit the ball if he bounced it off the side walls. This sent me in several directions as I tried to guess where the ball might bounce to next. As we mutually tested eachother's limits, we got better. Now we can both hit the ball several times no matter what wall it bounces off of. So, last week, we played again. Jared pulled another trick out of the bag. As he served the ball, his muscles, which are very large, put great force behind the ball. I found it almost impossible to hit the ball. As he kept hitting the ball very hard serve after serve, I felt like almost asking him not to. I was unable to hit the balls. It was very hard. Then a thought crossed my mind. We are tested in this life pretty much the same way. We don't get hit with the really hard balls first. We are tempted and tried by little things. As we overcome those we have the opportunity to grow and become better. As we do, trials get a little harder. We become better. If we had "hard ball" trials from the very begining, without our testimony being able to grow, we might give up. Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be better. And who would have thought that this would have come from sweating on a raquetball court.