Counting My Blessings...

When upon 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.

I am thankful for Doug, for the strength and reason and level-headedness (is that a word?) that he brings to this marriage and to our family. I am grateful for his hard work and dedication, and I'm thankful for the optimism that he continues to have even when things get complicated and stressful. Doug and I may not always see eye to eye, but our differences have been a blessing as they have helped us to forge a stronger relationship. I am thankful for the person Doug is, for the person he has helped me become. Being with him truly is one of my greatest blessings.

I am thankful for two amazing, beautiful, and healthy daughters. I am grateful for their sweet example and for their unconditional forgiveness of me and my faults.  I am thankful for their innocence, for their infectious and unrestrained happiness. It is such a blessing to hear them giggle, to see the individuals they are growing into, to watch as they learn, explore, and try new things. Aiden and Reilly are the sunshine in my life and I cannot explain what a true blessing it is to be their mother.

I am thankful for my parents, Doug's parents, and our families. There is so much support and love and friendship offered by these amazing people, and all these things are a great help and blessing when times get rough. Similarly, I am grateful for friends who love and understand and forgive me despite the fact that I'm terrible at communicating and keeping in touch.

I am thankful for the testimony I have. It may not be the strongest or the most certain, there is still a lot about life and religion and our purpose on earth that I don't understand. That being said, I am grateful for the tools I have to help me learn, to further cultivate my faith, and to strengthen my testimony. I am thankful for a patient and loving Heavenly Father, for the sacrifices made by my Savior Jesus Christ, and for the guidance offered by the Holy Ghost. I am thankful for the blessings of prayer, of temples, and for the eternal blessings offered to our family. I am not perfect; I struggle and fail and make mistakes, but I am grateful for the Atonement and for repentance and for the fact that I can be forgiven.

And lastly, I am thankful for my trials...maybe not during the time I am dealing with them, but I know that trials bring even greater blessings and I am thankful for the things I am able to learn from those trials. I do not know how things will turn out, I do not know why unexpected and hard and bad things happen to good people, but I am thankful for the blessing of knowing that things will eventually work out and that we are never given more than we can handle.