Happy and Grateful!

Well we have made it home and it is good to be home. As we drove home, I did a ton of reading and personal reflection. I feel that today would be a great day to do my first Gratitude entry. So here we go:

1. I am so thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. My love and desire to want to get to know the gospel and develop a personal relationship with them grows more and more everyday. It feels as though my spirit is hungry and I want to be edified. I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and knows me. He teaches me principles and life lessons in the most intriguing ways. Sometimes I laugh at the ways that I am taught lessons and sometimes I wonder "is there not another way I could have learned that lesson?" It is my greatest desire to get to know the Savior, follow his example, develop his characteristics and love everyone I know. I know that I am far from perfect, but I truly am enjoying this journey along the way. Developing my relationship with my Heavenly Father and the Savior is sacred to me and my testimony grows everyday from it.

2. I am so thankful for my husband, Brian. Wow, I feel so lucky to have such an awesome person at my side through everything. Never in my life have I known a more compassionate, loving, wise person than Brian. He has taught me hard work, patience, how to endure the tough moments and to never give up. I always lean to say that "he completes me" but it seems that doesn't quite describe it. I feel for us, we are the complete package for each other. My weaknesses are his strengths and his weaknesses are my strengths. We are coming up on 9 years now and I really feel like our marriage gets better and better. How lucky I feel to be married to my best friend. It is the little things that he does that I am most grateful for. Our little talks at night when we go to bed, or when he plays games with Shaeler or when he councils with me on our life decisions or my life decisions. I am so thankful also that he is running with me on this spiritual journey. He honors his Priesthood and he is sitting right next to me reading also. I love him so much and I am so blessed to have him in my life.

3. I am thankful for my daughter. Motherhood has been a new road for me. Shaeler brings me the greatest joy and can also bring out my greatest weaknesses. I thank her for that. Never in my life have I felt a love that is unconditional as I have for my daughter. She is now reaching the age where it is like having a little adult in the home. I love our conversations and her little comments she makes about the simple things that I miss and truly make our family happy. She brings laughter and song into our home. Her imagination reminds me of myself at that age. I hope that her creativity and imagination will continue throughout the rest of her life. I love to hear her pray. Listening to her little voice thanking Heavenly Father for all the things that she loves is an overwhelming joy for me. My favorite part is when she ends her prayers as "Amen, Jesus!"

4. I am grateful for books! Oh man, has my collection been growing. I am especially thankful for my gospel books. I have been reading non stop and the enlightenment I have received has been overwhelming to me. I am grateful that those before me have sat down and wrote their knowledge so that I may learn from them. I am grateful for my mother understanding my love for the gospel books and giving me the books that she had. I am thankful for my friends for giving me suggestions on what books to look for. I am very thankful for Sister Longhurst and the guidance and knowledge that she shares with me, teaching me to love the words of the prophets and to love the words of the scriptures.

5. I am thankful for my calling and especially for the women that I have the privilege to serve with. As we work with the youth, I do love those girls, but I am especially thankful for the women that surround me. They teach me things that I could not obtain without them. I feel completely inadequate to be where I am serving right now, but I know that I am surrounded by excellent company that together as a whole, we should get it right. They are teachers to me also. They are dedicated to doing what is right and bring a great spirit to our little organization. They have experiences that I value and learn from. I hope that I can give a little back to them when they have so abundantly given to me.

6. I am thankful for our home and the peace that it brings to me. Coming home today, I was most excited for my bed. I seem to only get a good night sleep within my own sheets. I have a blanket that I slept with since the age of 12 that travels with me when I can, but there is something about my own bed, pillow, blanket and space. I feel at peace in my home and I love the sweet comfort that it brings me. Home is the place that I fit in best and I am very blessed for the home that we are able to live in.