last night we hosted a dinner for a sweet missionary couple who have been helping with the missionaries and the MTC for the past two years and are ready to go back home to their families.
They are our doctor missionary couple. Dr. Collins and his wife. They both have extensive experience dealing with illnesses and we don't know what we would do without them. They are on call 24/7 taking care of any needs that could arise from 21 missions and the MTC and even members who might need some advice on what to do with situations were you are feeling sick. Wow, I only know that we feel so grateful for their service and people like them are the ones who encourage us and inspire us to be actively involved in a good cause.
The Collins are a blessing for our area and we count our blessings when we get people of their caliber serve with us. After they left, I got a box of pictures to make an album of all the things I am grateful for.
Count your many
blessings
One of my favorite
hymns is Count Your Blessings.
“When up on life’s
billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are
discouraged thinking all is lost,
Count your many
blessings
Name them one by one,
And it will surprise
you what the Lord has done…
This past weekend I
was able to listen to numerous talks that were given by extraordinary men and
women on a myriad of different subjects. One of my favorites was a talk
about taking inventory of the blessings that have come into our lives:
“As I have reviewed
the past 57 years, I have made some discoveries. One is that countless
experiences I have had were not necessarily those one would consider
extraordinary. In fact, at the time they transpired, they often seemed
unremarkable and even ordinary. And yet, in retrospect, they enriched and
blessed lives—not the least of which was my own. I would recommend this same
exercise to you—namely, that you take an inventory of your life and look
specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have
received.” -Thomas S. Monson
What a great
idea! Taking an inventory of the blessings we have received in our life
to date. I got a notebook where I write all the many things I am grateful for. I need to be more consistent so I am going to find a quiet
place to sit and start writing down all of the blessings that I can think of
that have ever come into my life. I am going to write them in a list, in
no particular order, just listing everything that I can think of as it comes to
my mind in this notebook.
I am going to try and start in chronological
order, but if something comes to me out of the blue then I will write it down,
even if it is out of order. My goal is to literally flood the pages with
the lists of blessings I can recall. I want to capture all of them, even
the smallest blessing of finding something I have lost after saying a prayer,
to meeting certain people, to having certain opportunities, to the miracles
that I have had come into my life.
My mind has already begun racing with memories even just in my
planning to write it down this week. It is amazing the things I have
begun to notice were blessings when I first decided to start thinking about it.
Once I finish my list with every memory I can possibly think of, I am going to
keep the notebook by my bed so as new blessings happen in my life I can
remember to add them to my list. I have a feeling that
one day, when my life is over, this notebook will become one of my children and
grandchildren’s most precious possessions. Just think of how meaningful
it would be to you to find a notebook written like this from your own
grandparents or great grandparents. Just think of the impression and influence
it might have on your life.
Even more important, I have a feeling that this inventory book
will become one of my own most valued possessions while I am still
living. I have a feeling that keeping this little book by my bed to look
at on the difficult days that come will help me to keep things in
perspective. It will help to remind me that my life truly is blessed and
that even though things may get difficult, there is still plenty to be grateful
for. And when you finish it, maybe take
some of the most meaningful items from the lists and make little notecards that
you can write one on each card to hang them or tape
them to your mirror at home, or put them somewhere that you when viewed they can
give you a pick me up to help you stay grateful and focused on all of life’s
blessings.
Life truly is a
blessing. I stand in awe at the many blessings I have been given over the
years: my family, my friends, my life lessons…so much to be grateful for and
so many more blessings still to come.
“A
good life is when you smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed
you are for what you have.” -unknown
Smile today,
dream big, laugh a lot, and realize you are so blessed! It is going to be
a great day!
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