2 Nephi 19

12 ...For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

I marvel at the Lord's love and patience for His children. No matter how hard our hearts become or how many times we hurt Him and turn our backs on Him, He will still reach out to us. There is a qualifier here: His anger is not turned away. So the Lord will be angry with us. He will reprimand us and provide the necessary consequences for our sins. Consequences, especially hard ones, are how we learn and grow from our mistakes. Yet, He will never stop loving us. I love the image that this verse invokes- the Lord with His mighty arm, stretched lovingly and patiently out to His wayward children, to me. There are two very important lessons for me here. First, that I should never give up on myself or get down on myself for how weak I am. No matter how many times I fall, I must continue to get back up and try again to be better the next time. For the Lord will never give up on me. Second, I must follow this same pattern with my own children. No matter how many mistakes they make, I must continue to patiently reach out to them and love them. It is okay for me to be angry with them. It is natural and a normal reaction to poor behavior. However, even in my anger, I must reach out to them. I must not allow my angry feelings over what they have done to influence my actions toward them and how I feel about them. I must show them the same consideration, patience, and love that Heavenly Father extends to me.