Parable of the Couch


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I shared this story in fast and testimony meeting today, so you guys get the benefits of a second draft, so to speak.

I've had this couch for a while, more of a loveseat, really and over time it has literally fallen apart.  (I wish I had taken a picture of it, so you could see how utterly broken this couch was.)  It looked okay on the outside, comfortable even, and I thought it fit decently with the decor, which is saying something because I have an "inherited dorm furniture" look going.  In fact, it was a pretty nice couch when I bought it.  But, like I said, over time it became pretty awful.  My roommates had been ploppers, another roommate's nephews were rough on it, it had been moved three times.  We had even applied the plywood (well, reinforced cardboard) under the cushions trick. Eventually, I referred to it as my "pajama pants" couch: good enough for me around the house, but I wouldn't expose it to the public.  Because I was familiar with where the frame and supports were broken, I knew how best to avoid getting bitten by the springs.  The frame was so broken, if you sat in it just right (or just wrong), a piece of splintered wood would poke out the back through a hole the size of a tennis ball.

But it looked nice, and everyone who saw it assumed it would be comfortable.  To be honest, it had been a rather nice couch when I got it almost ten years ago.  However, it had become a nuisance, and even unsafe.  I felt an urgency to get it out of my life.  I asked around about how to get rid of a couch I didn't even feel comfortable donating.  "Put it on the curb," was the most popular answer.  Except, I didn't want to do that.  Mainly because I didn't want my landlord to see it and decide it was a misuse of the property.  I'm on his good side, and I would most definitely like to stay there. I eventually had to call in the priesthood.  My branch president and his 15 year old son took it from my living room to their truck and then to the dump for me.  Before they arrived, I took the cushions out to the dumpster and paid them the fees from the dump this morning after church.  When I came back to my living room, I noticed how much more open it was.  I felt like doing a cartwheel, and probably would have even had enough room to do one!  (I'm five foot even, so don't need much room.) I was amazed at the joy that I felt from that couch finally being out of my life!!

So it goes with major sins.  They start off pretty nice, but over time, they become an irritant to our spirits and chip away at the joy.  We come to a point where we recognize we need to do something about it.  The world will have one answer, but the best answer is to call upon the priesthood of God.  A few months ago, I had a lamp I also wanted to get rid of because it had stopped producing light.  I was able to get rid of that myself, but the couch required me to call in the priesthood.  I still had to do some work, in terms of taking out the cushions before and paying the dump fees after, but it was something I could not get rid of on my own.

I encourage you, if you have any unsafe couches in your life, to give your priesthood leader a call and ask him for help to get it out. 

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