Happy Thanksgiving!

"Thanksgiving day gives each and everyone of us an invitation and a wonderful opportunity to pause and count our many blessings and to give thanks to God and praise Him from whom all blessings flow." ~N. Eldon Tanner

I'm grateful for these people:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I'm so grateful for this man.  I've said it many times & I'll say it again.  He is the most positive example I know.  So patient and forgiving and overlooks my flaws more than I can imagine anyone else doing.  Love him for being the great role model that he is and for his determination and hard work to support our family.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I'm grateful for this incredible smile that makes me feel happy.  What a sweet, special spirit this girl has.  She is a ray of sunshine that Heavenly Father knew I needed in my life.  Oh, how I love her.  I look at this picture and happiness just radiates from her.  Can you feel it?
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This little sweet pea has bloomed into such a sweet, happy girl.  She is always smiling and just look at those big blue eyes!  Big things are in store for her...I can feel it.  I think she has a special purpose and place on this Earth and I can't wait to watch her grow.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"Gratitude is expressed in prayer and thanksgiving; but more so in living lives of honor and integrity, of kindness and compassion, in awareness of others and their needs, and an honest expression of gratitude for all those who bless and affect our lives for good. Thanksgiving is best expressed in thanks"living"—in [living] lives of goodness and obedience and love and service."            ~A. Theodore Tuttle

I have so much to be grateful for this year.  It has been such a difficult year- the most difficult by far since we've been married but it has also been so incredibly rewarding.  My faith and my testimony has increased ten fold.  I KNOW that Heavenly Father has the power to do all things...even what seems "impossible" to us.  My testimony of the Savior and His atonement has been developed and I finally do have a testimony that he did indeed suffer all manner of afflictions in the Garden of Gethsemane in order to carry our burdens and to understand our pain so that he could understand and give mercy and compassion.

At different points in my life I have doubted that He could truly have felt and experienced everything that each one of us endures.  I just know the pain and suffering that I have felt in my thirty years...I can't imagine the magnitude of the pain and anguish that every human who has and ever will live faces.  I prayed not too long ago asking Heavenly Father how this happened and to give me a greater understanding and a testimony of this fundamental event.  I wanted my own testimony about it.  

Recently, I was sitting in the Gospel Doctrine class at church and the lesson was on the atonement.  While the teacher was speaking, I thought to myself, "How?  How could He have possibly felt and experienced all the pains, sicknesses, and afflictions that we all encounter in this journey of life?"

No sooner had I asked myself that question in my mind, did the teacher say, "We don't know how.  We just know that He did.  How it happened isn't important."  (Gee, was that a clear, direct answer from Heavenly Father directly to me?  I would say so!)

And then recently I read this talk:

http://lds.org/new-era/2008/09/five-scriptures-that-will-help-you-get-through-almost-anything?lang=eng&query=five+scriptures

I gained some new knowledge that I didn't fully understand before regarding the atonement.  In the section where they talk about how the atonement is not just for sinners...I didn't fully grasp that clarification before.  I always just thought of the atonement as a huge blessing for when WE made mistakes and needed to repent and be forgiven.  I didn't understand that the atonement is what heals our pain and helps lift our burdens due to other people's actions and the anguish we feel sometimes.

And then this past Sunday morning, I had a voice in my mind speak to me and say this:

You believe that the experience in the Garden of Gethsemane is real and happened, don't you?  And I thought to myself, YES.

You believe that He bled from every pore, don't you?  And I thought to myself, YES.

You know that He loves you, don't you?  And I thought to myself, YES.

Then that is all that matters.

I also know that we are not meant to understand everything in this life and that Heavenly Father will one day reveal all things to us.  (Also discussed in the talk above.)

So...my testimony has been strengthened on so many levels because of different hardships and events that have happened this year.  I feel like I have been refined.  And I am so THANKFUL!

I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful that we are all healthy. I'm grateful for the temple. I'm grateful for the inspired words of our prophet and our church leaders. I'm grateful for prayer, my scriptures, and for the numerous experiences this year where my prayers have been answered in such an awe inspiring way.  Lastly, I'm so incredibly grateful for the gospel, for Jesus Christ, and for the amazing, remarkable atonement that I'm finally starting to understand.

I'm continuously in awe of this person:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

(Man, I love that painting!  I will have to one day own it.)
 
What a remarkable year.  Difficult...but so worth it.
 
"It would be very difficult to be grateful without being good, or to be good without being grateful. As we feel and express our appreciation TO God and FOR God, we tend to become more like him."
~Sterling W. Sill