Sunday, October 12, 2014

Grateful Day, October 12, 2014

Today, as I've been thinking, I've had a harder time coming up with something specific and immediate to be grateful for.  It's not that I'm not grateful for things in my life (like the gospel, music, my calling to teach, family, a house to live in, good books, my husband!), I have so much to be grateful for!  But usually I have a specific reason to be grateful for specific things: grateful for family since I had seen my grandma, grateful for the promptings of the Spirit since I had some that day, or something like that.

I guess this means I get to be grateful for everything!  Looking at my life, Dan and I have been going through hard times.  Changing jobs, tight budget, health issues, stuff like that.  But how many blessings do we have in our lives?  Sitting down to count, I could write lists for hours and still not cover every way that we are blessed.  The Lord loves us, He wants to bless us and help us through every struggle.  The more I have turned to him, the more I have gained, more spiritual gain than gain as the world would see it.

Major blessings I can list right now:  Dan accidentally paid the mortgage twice in September, so we don't have to pay it this month.  Which means that when I thought we couldn't pay a bill until it was really late, I was able to pay a couple days ago.  We have never lacked food to eat.  We have a home that is ours- I can paint walls and not live in off-white blandness!  I love the green that we painted our front room!

I am so incredibly grateful for having the promptings to try gluten free.  Since I have done that, I haven't had nearly as many migraines, which makes life so much better.  I had one about a week and a half ago that nearly knocked me off my feet for a day.  It's been months since I've had one that severe.  If for nothing else, avoiding gluten to avoid the migraines is so worth it!

So, even though I was having a hard time thinking of something, I've ended up with so much to be grateful for.  I have my trials, but right now with the Lord's help, I can do it.  I have so many blessings that it is silly to dwell on the hardships when there is so much going right.  Life doesn't follow the plan you make. Despite this, I am happy.  If you had asked me at 20 what I thought my life would end up like, I would have never come close to what has happened.  But I have learned so much, and grown so much.  I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven that looks out for me, even when I try to go astray.  I guess that is what everything connects to today- grateful for God and all He has done for me.  I can feel His love as I see how He guided my life to become what I am now. My little thanks can never completely express the depth of my gratitude, but I will continue to try.

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