I Am So Blessed!

While Kimberlee was living at home we would be having a conversation and the words to a song would pop into my head that were related to the topic we were talking about. It would almost always be a country music song. She often made fun of me for comparing my life, or hers, to a country song. Well, guess what....here we go again.

All last summer and fall I could not get a particular song out of my mind. I really felt (and still do) that it applies to me. You may have heard it. It is Martina McBride's "Blessed." These are the words:

I get kissed by the sun each morning,

Put my feet on the hardwood floor.

I get to hear my children laughing

Down the hall through the bedroom door.

Sometimes I sit on my front porch swing,

Just soaking up the day.

I think to myself, I think to myself,

This world is a beautiful place.

(chorus)

I have been blessed.

And I feel like I found my way.

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day.

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve,

To be here with the ones who love me,

To love them so much it hurts.

I have been blessed.

Across the crowded room

I know you know what I'm thinking'

By the way I look at you.

And when we're lying in the quiet

And no words need to be said,

I think to myself, I think to myself,

"This love is a beautiful gift."

(chorus)

When I, when I'm singing my kids to sleep,

When I feel you holding me,

I know.....I am so blessed.

And I feel like I've found my way.

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day.

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve.

To be here with the ones who love me.

To love them so much it hurts.

I have been blessed.

Anyway, the chorus is probably my favorite part because of the words. I do thank my Heavenly Father every day for all He has blessed me with. For a time, last fall, I was having difficulty falling asleep at night. My mind would get racing with all the things I needed to be doing the next day or upcoming week and I could not relax. One night these words came into my mind so I started thinking of all the things I was blessed with. It didn't take long to relax and fall asleep. That became my habit each night.

Today in Relief Society our lesson was on how much we really mattered to our Heavenly Father, and how important each one of us is to Him. The sweet sister giving the lesson commented on how her life had become somewhat stalemate and how she didn't think she really mattered to the Lord. This last year she has had some profound things happen to her that made her realize how important she was to Heavenly Father and how he had been carrying her thru her life. I thought of that and also of how I get trolling along, so super busy and caught up in my every day things that I forget to continually communicate with Heavenly Father each day. After a time things will get so bad (in my mind) that I do not think I can go on another minute or I just don't know how to handle a certain situation at home and I am reminded...I just need to ask for help. He is always there waiting to help me if I will just ask. And help He does!!! Invariably, things will turn around and be better. Or I am just at peace enough that it helps the situation.

I am just truly blessed! My last blog post here was about our busy year last year. What a year it was! But soooo many blessings! It was a year filled with such wonderful and positive things. Even my mother's passing was such a blessing. She is now free of her earthly body and reunited with her eternal companion and many other loved ones. My brothers and sisters and I had the opportunity to work together to help her just before she passed and to also plan her funeral and spend time together. For me, the time was not long enough. I so enjoyed being in Edward & Kathy's home, (the house I grew up in) visiting with them and getting to go see where Tim and Barb live and visit with them. That visit definitely wasn't long enough! I don't get to do the visiting I would like to very much because Jud keeps me quite busy, but this time was great. I hadn't been up to my hometown of Salmon for a number of years, so going up there was so good. I realized I need to take the kids and go more often. Of course, now it is really only Jud at home. KC is here too, but he is hardly home and will be jumping ship soon. Still, I hope we can make more trips up there and maybe even have the older kids and their spouses tag along to come see the beautiful place I grew up and all there is to enjoy up there!

Just so many blessings! I love where we live here in Blackfoot. I remember when John was transferred over here. I cried. I loved living in Magic Valley, in Rupert. I really didn't want to leave there. And to live in BlackfooT?! Who wants to live there??? I mean, really! But, boy was I ever wrong! We were so blessed to move into a fabulous neighborhood and an even better ward. The friends we have made over the years have been so great! I hope I never have to leave here. Many times I have expressed the desire to live farther out in the country and not so close to town, but now I realize how blessed I am to live close to town, mostly because it is close to the hospital when we have needed to be when Jud has his seizures.

I am blessed to have really really good kids! And now I am blessed to have two fine sons-in-law. I am blessed to be able to do foster care for the state of Idaho. Especially to be able to care for these sweet little ones who come into our home. We have a sweet little almost 3-year old in our home right now. I hear about the home he came from, and I think of the homes and situations of all the other little ones we've had in our home, and I think how blessed I am to have grown up in the family I had. No home is ever completely perfect, but my home was close. Sometime I will have to blog about my home life growing up. It was great!

And now, I look back at my writings here and think...Life is just great! I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and am blessed to have the knowledge I have of a loving Heavenly Father who helps me every day in all I do. Isn't it awesome? I also am blessed, because of this membership in this church, to be married to my best friend, not just 'until death do us part,' but for all eternity! So cool!

These are just a tiny portion of some of the blessings in my life. What about you? What are some of your blessings? I think, for this year, we should all concentrate mightily on the positive things in our lives. Even when something bad or tragic happens, let's try to find the blessings from it. I learned from my father how good life can be when you concentrate on the positive. I challenge you to do just that.

As my beautiful missionary daughter says..."Have an action-packed day (week, or year!)!"