I am in love with this video, ever since I watched it, it has become my new dream to one day go to a Coldplay concert.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Couldn't Be More Obvious.
As I go through the week I usually try to make it a concious effort to recognize blessings in my life. But one particular week I was having an unusually rough time and I was struggling to see anything to be thankful for. It was Saturday night, the week was over, and I still hadn't thought of anything. That night I prayed that I would be able to see more clearly the blessings that were in my life. As I thought about it before I went to bed I realized that maybe what I needed to be thankful for were my trials.
"There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless."
--James E. Faust, "The Refiner's Fire," Ensign, May 1979, 53
I went to sleep that night with a changed attitude about the struggles that I had faced that week, I knew that the trials that I had gone through were only there to refine me and make me a better, stronger person. I really had nothing to complain about.
God has a funny way of teaching because the next day in Sacrament I found it odd that all of the talks were on tribulations. Funny huh? Oh just wait, it gets better. So I am sitting there listening to all of these talks about trials and, out of nowhere, my dad lays an old newspaper article on my lap. This is very unusual and my dad has never done this before so naturally I was curious. As my eyes gazed down at the old tattered article I read, "Count Your Blessings Today and be Thankful Year-Round". My mouth literally dropped. I almost began to laugh, the next closest thing would be God coming down himself and talking directly to my face. I almost felt like I could reach up and give him a high-five. Anyways, I began to read...
DEAR READERS: By popular demand, here is my traditional Thanksgiving column:
Today is Thanksgiving Day, so take a few minutes to reflect upon all the things for which you are thankful.
How's your health? Not so good? Well, thank God you've lived this long. A lot of people haven't. You're hurting? Thousands -- maybe millions -- are hurting even more. (Have you ever visited a veterans hospital? Or a rehabilitation clinic for crippled children?)
If you awakened this morning and were able to hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the breakfast table on two good legs, and read the newspaper with two good eyes, praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn't.
How's your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer. No pensions. No welfare. No food stamps. No Social Security. In fact, one-third of the people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight.
Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call someone.
Are you concerned about your country's future? Hooray! Our system has been saved by such concern. Your country may not be a rose garden, but neither is it a patch of weeds.
Freedom rings! Look and listen. You can still worship at the church of your choice, cast a secret ballot, and even criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock on the door at midnight. And if you want to live under a different system, you are free to go. There are no walls or fences -- nothing to keep you here.
As a final thought, I'll repeat my Thanksgiving prayer; perhaps you will want to use it at your table today:
O heavenly Father:
We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for health and remember the sick.
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service
That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may God bless you and yours.
-- LOVE, ABBY
...yeah, lesson learned.
"There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless."
--James E. Faust, "The Refiner's Fire," Ensign, May 1979, 53
I went to sleep that night with a changed attitude about the struggles that I had faced that week, I knew that the trials that I had gone through were only there to refine me and make me a better, stronger person. I really had nothing to complain about.
God has a funny way of teaching because the next day in Sacrament I found it odd that all of the talks were on tribulations. Funny huh? Oh just wait, it gets better. So I am sitting there listening to all of these talks about trials and, out of nowhere, my dad lays an old newspaper article on my lap. This is very unusual and my dad has never done this before so naturally I was curious. As my eyes gazed down at the old tattered article I read, "Count Your Blessings Today and be Thankful Year-Round". My mouth literally dropped. I almost began to laugh, the next closest thing would be God coming down himself and talking directly to my face. I almost felt like I could reach up and give him a high-five. Anyways, I began to read...
DEAR READERS: By popular demand, here is my traditional Thanksgiving column:
Today is Thanksgiving Day, so take a few minutes to reflect upon all the things for which you are thankful.
How's your health? Not so good? Well, thank God you've lived this long. A lot of people haven't. You're hurting? Thousands -- maybe millions -- are hurting even more. (Have you ever visited a veterans hospital? Or a rehabilitation clinic for crippled children?)
If you awakened this morning and were able to hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the breakfast table on two good legs, and read the newspaper with two good eyes, praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn't.
How's your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer. No pensions. No welfare. No food stamps. No Social Security. In fact, one-third of the people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight.
Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call someone.
Are you concerned about your country's future? Hooray! Our system has been saved by such concern. Your country may not be a rose garden, but neither is it a patch of weeds.
Freedom rings! Look and listen. You can still worship at the church of your choice, cast a secret ballot, and even criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock on the door at midnight. And if you want to live under a different system, you are free to go. There are no walls or fences -- nothing to keep you here.
As a final thought, I'll repeat my Thanksgiving prayer; perhaps you will want to use it at your table today:
O heavenly Father:
We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for health and remember the sick.
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service
That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may God bless you and yours.
-- LOVE, ABBY
...yeah, lesson learned.
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