They say you should write down the little miracles and kindnesses in your life. And when I say they, I mean Elder Eyring, who suggested that when we start to look for all of the ways that God blesses us and acknowledge it in writing, it makes for happier lives. Of course, our family is so richly blessed it's hard to imagine that we could be happier, but a little gratitude never hurt anybody, so I started this blog for us to keep track of God's kindnesses in our family. Some are serious and some are funny, but the idea is that we all contribute and share with each other the ways that we are being blessed.
First of all, the weekend of Conference, I texted Chelsea on Sunday because UofI beat Wisconsin in an upset so I was saying congrats, and she wrote back and said that she could have gone to the game, but she chose conference instead. And I just had this momentary thought about how I knew that every single person in my family was watching all of the sessions of Conference. Isn’t that incredible? When I look around me and see so few people that really get to share in their gospel joy with their entire families, including both of our parents, I just feel so blessed that everyone in our family is active and temple-worthy. What a joy to be there together.
It's also a gift just to get to spend time together with my family on a regular basis. I feel so blessed to be a part of my nephews' lives and my siblings' and their spouses' lives and so grateful to my parents for making that happen as often as possible. We always have fun together and all really appreciate each other and that's a gift.
I am grateful for a job that is fulfilling and challenging, for my new home, my upcoming trip back to Chile, my friends who love me, and the beautiful snow-topped mountains.
I would love to fill this tiny bit of cyberspace with God's kindnesses for our family, including stories and tidbits and pictures and sometimes just lists of things we are grateful for.
So I'll finish this first post with a story of a kindness on me from this past week. I obviously have a lot to be grateful for, and I'm obviously overly emotional about a lot of things (so what if I cried during the Today show this week, or during the occasional commercial). We all know these things about me. And obviously the last few months have been rough for me, feeling a big loss in my life that created some anger followed by sadness. But in the last week, I have felt God's kindness pour over me as I have felt neither sadness nor anger. I have felt excitement and joy and love and that feels amazing. I am so glad to be able to focus my energy on the things that are positive in my life!
