Gratitude

I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for in my life. I have awesome parents whom I admire and adore, I have the greatest brothers and sisters who are my most cherrished friends, I have the greatest and most patient husband on the planet; I am in awe that he loves me every day, I have 3 amazing kids who teach me things about life and myself constantly. I am thankful for the happy times in life; riding space mountain at disney land with my brothers and sisters, sitting in the sun in my backyard, lying with my head on the comfy spot on Eric's shoulder, when all my boys and the dog want to sit with me on the couch, when my mom covers her mouth and giggles, the expression on my dad's face when he looks at my mom, the moments when I get it, listening to inspiration and actually following it. I am also so thankful for the tough times in life; losing loved ones but knowing that they are still with you, watching loved ones hurt and knowing there is nothing you can do for them, watching my mom's condition deteriorate, learning the hard way that everybody is human and makes mistakes, knowing that I don't treat people the way they deserve to be treated; life changing events that make you evaluate everything. It sounds narcissistic but I am most grateful for the hard times, its during these times that I am the very closest to my Heavenly Father and when I am most willing to accept His counsel. During difficult times I depend on his love and comfort and the power of the Atonement. How else can we really understand what our Heavenly Father and our Saviour have done for us if our lives are easy? It takes struggle and angst to learn and grow from terrible situations and after the storm there is always peace, until the next storm comes our way. From every storm I learn and grow and am more capable to deal with the aftermath. I realize there are more wonderful and terrible times ahead and I am ok with that. I will find joy in the wonderful times and learn valuable lessons from the terrible times.