Count your many blessings....

Like most of you, this week I am counting a lot of my blessings. Not surprisingly, just like one of my favorite hymns suggested, after counting my blessings, I was surprised with what the Lord has blessed me with. Growing up, I thought blessings were pretty simple to comprehend - they were the good things in our life. In my advanced age I have discovered that, while blessings are good things in our life, they sometimes might stem from something bad.

This year a lot of wonderful things happened to our family. At the same time, this year has been one of my most difficult. When compared to real tragedies, our struggles might seem trivial, but let me tell you - they were pretty hard to deal with. However, after every challenge, something better arose. For instance, Alyssa lost my engagement ring. Todd spent his very last dime on that ring ten years ago when he proposed to me. I was sick when I couldn't find it. Luckily, Todd didn't have to spend his last dime when he bought me another set of rings , which are beautiful. The ring thing was the least of our problems though.

The terrible economy directly affected Todd. This summer was hard. We had to endure situations I naively thought we would never have to. Yet still, there still were good times to be had. We protected our children from the situation as best we could. My family was a source of refuge. With their support we survived. We even had a lot of fun. Todd and I became better friends than ever before. When the summer was over, things were looking up for Todd. In fact, we are probably in a better situation than before.

My Mom likes to remind me that we have to take the good with the bad, that without the bad, we will never know the good. As hard as it is to swallow this, it is true. That is hard for me to understand sometimes. I get panicky if things are good because I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. This year has taught me to stop that silly thinking and just enjoy the happy moments when I can. This will always be a struggle for me, but this year has taught me.

I am grateful for this past year and it's lessons. I am also grateful for my wonderful family. When I would get down, I would look at their faces and think, "How can I be sad when I have them in my life"? My wonderful friends are a huge source of gratitude for me. I have been blessed with wise and truly good people for friends, just being in their presence brings me peace. I am grateful for the gospel, it's principles have kept me safe. I am also grateful for the challenges I face, they are shaping me into a better person, whether I like it or not!