So Much To Be Thankful For

I hope you take the time to listen to the song Thankful by Josh Groban above. I am always thinking of the things I'm thankful for, it helps me appreciate every day living. Really there is so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for:

• Life to live 

• Beauty, it's everywhere, not only to please the eye but to gladden the heart, and it sure does make me happy.

• Creations created for me and all of us to bring us joy

• Joy of Life, happy moments

• Troubles of life, helps me appreciate the joy of life

• For Earth and all it's wonder and the power that presides over it

• For Heavenly Parents who love enough us to send us here to learn, to experience the good and the bad that help us grow and become as They having knowledge, allowing us to use our agency and make mistakes.

•  For providing a way to make right our mistakes

• For Jesus Christ for choosing to be my Savior, atoning and sacrificing so that I could return home. I know that He loves me. He is my perfect example. He is amazing to me.

• For my parents who love me and taught me valuable lessons in life, who never gave up but kept loving me  no matter what.

• For my husband Ron whom I love, works hard to provide, loves my children, plays with, works with and cares for their every day needs and married me in spite of my preexisting circumstances. I have had a fairy tale like life finding my prince charming, not always living happily ever after but continues to keep it real. I'm grateful for covenants that have been made in the temple that can be forever, like anything worth having, it takes lots of work, sacrifice and love. I've learned this from my Savior. I feel I am still getting to know Ron and love so many things about him.

• For all of my 8 beautiful, smart children who are constantly blowing my mind at how awesome and terrible they are, yet I would never exchange them for anything in the world, they are mine to cherish and love. They are my treasure to enjoy, given to me by my Heavenly Father. It is a lot of responsibility but I'm happy I'm not alone. They help share with me the responsibility of taking care of the home whether they want to or not. They are very bright and very different personalities but each is child of God entrusted to me to help them find their way back home and they help me find my way back in the process. It's been tough but also very rewarding in many different ways. Grateful they know me, they cheer me when I'm not feeling well, they inspire me to keep living and trying when I feel like giving up.
• I'm grateful for our home and that it was made for our family in mind. It's perfect to me, not to big, not too small, open and bright. With that being said I would give it to God and turn my back on it and anything else in a heartbeat because I have nothing without Him. All things come from God. And things are not more important than He.

• For hot water to shower (I literally say this everyday) I really am grateful for hot water to shower because not every place in this world gets to have it. 

• For history, it helps me appreciate the blessings of modern conveniences such as wash machines, dryers, indoor plumbing, my beautiful kitchen to work in and have fun. For cars and stores and I could go on forever.

• For the Restored Church, for the Truth, I really love and look forward to every Sunday to go to church. It fills my lamp and  it makes me happier, it changes my mood to a better one when I've a hard day.
• Thankful for having scriptures we can open any day, anytime, without persecution. It makes me happy to feel the words spoken by prophets of old by normal people who too struggled and didn't always make good choices. They are pure inspiration to me, helps me to become better through their experiences. As I read the Book of Mormon, I really feel like I love these people and look forward to meeting them someday. I've read the Book of Mormon enough times that every time I read it's like going for a visit. They have strengthened my testimony in Christ and helped me to become happier in my own personal life. 

• For music; it gladdens the heart, it lifts the spirit, it makes me want to dance and sing like no one is watching. It has played a huge part in building and strengthening my testimony in the Gospel. Listening to people like Jenny Jordan Frogely, Jessie Clark Funk, Hillary Weeks; these ladies have helped me through some really mentally,emotionally hard times.  I love all music and have found joy in each genre, it makes me feel happy, it inspires me.

• For my husbands family, for they are my family. I love each of them as I have always known them and they were my own. They give me the sense of belonging to something important and it makes me happy to be around them. For my new parents, because they are inspiring, they teach me to be organized, they love and appreciate me.

•  For Joseph Smith for being innocent and brave, faithful to the things he saw and heard even though he was greatly persecuted for doing so. For translating the Book of Mormon and many more things for my benefit through inspiration and revelation from God.

• For Adam and Eve for being our first parents, I know that they were wise and brave too. I love them for doing the right things for setting the example for us. Without them and their correct choices we would not  be here. Because of them we can experience joy and pain here on earth. 

• For beautiful smells, sights, sounds, to feel the gentle warm breeze or the rain or snow on my face; to see colors, storms, sunsets, mountains, rainbows, my family;  to feel sweet baby kisses and warm hugs, the embrace of my honey bear and the touch of his hand and to hear I love you from people who love me, music and the Word of God. I'm grateful for all my senses.

• Thankful to be a wife and a mother, it's the best job in the world

• For animals of most kinds, just not mosquitoes or spiders or snakes.

• For time, time to listen, time to spend with my family, time to learn, time to be inspired, time to improve, time to laugh, to cry, to forgive, to repent, to love, to be lazy, to communicate, to create. 
• For the tender mercies of Christ, for blessing me even when I don't sometimes deserve, he helps us, forgives us, he removes the stains. 

I have so much to be thankful for, I could go on, I find it easy to count my many blessings, because I realize where they have come from and why. What are you thankful for?