Oh my, it has been a while. Since my last post, yes, I finally got a job!! So now, I'm asking myself the opposite of my last post... when do I get free time?! Haha, it reminds me of the country song singing, "Just as soon as I get what I want, I get Unsatisfied..." -Martina McBride (I think) Really though, the job is great and I'm so glad I have it.
I started thinking lately about this past year, and I really started to notice all the blessings that my husband and I have been blessed with. So below are some of the blessings that I have noticed in my life, that I've been putting mental "ribbons and bows" on as gifts to us this year so far...
During our move here, I wasn't sure if it was the right decision, putting our faith in the Lord we took the step to go. And I have been blessed so much to come to know that this was the right step, and we got here safely without a car breaking down or a trailor hitch breaking off! And the Lord even sent people in our path to feed us dinner and breakfast while in Haines waiting for the fairy to take us to Juneau. We found a place to live with an awesome view, and not only that but it placed us in the awesome ward that we love and that we needed.
Health, the Lord has blessed me with remission from Crohn's attacks all year! I have been steroid free for 7 months now! I can't even tell you in words how EXTREMELY Blessed and Grateful I am for this, last year was such a horrible rough trial with my health, that I've come to really recognize and truly appreciate being healthy and being able to have the energy to go on walks in the evenings with John, to have the energy to come home and cook dinner, to clean, to socialize, to do something more than just crawl into bed and wish the pain would go away... I am so blessed for this, more than you will ever know.
Friends, we have slowly been making friends. One couple in particular took us under their wings when we moved here and extended a hand of friendship when we knew no one. The Lord knew we needed that, and He put people in our paths that we would become friends with, and for that I'm grateful.
The Gospel, our Family ward and our calling. I get to teach four-year-old sunbeams with John. It is the most rewarding calling... EVER! Seriously, I love this calling. I was freaking out at first, and I was going home and taking naps... actually I still nap after church, hehe, there are eight of these little cuties, which makes it trying but rewarding. Nothing is more sweet then having a parent come up to tell us that their kids said something that went right along with what we taught them the week before! They really are listening, and even though the lessons are so simple, they even take me back to the basics of the gospel that I love and am so blessed to have in my life. These little ones keep me on my toes and teach me so much through their little testimonies, and I'm so grateful to teach them too.
I was blessed to get a job. Money was getting really tight, with us moving here and racking up a ton of credit card debt, I was really worried about being able to pay it off without me having a job. Although I had to struggle with this trial for quite a while, I came to understand how important it is to rely on the Lord in everything, and it taught me that, in everything, I must give thanks for the things we do have. We continued with faith, we paid a full tithing and we served in our callings faithfully. After learning that valuable lesson of relying completely on our Heavenly Father and having faith in Him, He blessed us yet again with a good paying job for me. We are now 100% Credit Card Debt Free!! It is the most amazing feeling, and I know it's all because of the Lord blessing us, with the right time and right job for me to be happy.
We have been blessed with an opportunity to buy a house, that not only fits our needs, but also our wants. It's a house with an attached apartment. So when I'm no longer working, we will have the subsidized income from rent, so we can afford to live in a house when I'm being a stay-at-home-mom. We were blessed with John's 401-K from his previous job to help pay for a down payment and any closing fee's we would have to pay... With this, I have realized how blessed we truly are, because not many families that really want and need to be living in a house have this opportunity to have extra money to be able to afford a house. They don't have savings or a 401-K to help them in this, and they are going to have to save for years before they can ever afford the upfront fees associated with buying a house. And although our decisions to do this may be right for us, I've come to realize that they may not be right for other people, and I'm so blessed to recognize that the Lord has His hand in my life, guiding us to what is the right path for us... He truly does watch over us, and when the time is right, there is a way for it to happen.
These are just to name a few of the blessings that I have been noticing. But as I look even closer I have come to notice that in every aspect, even my trials, I have been so blessed. So as this Thanksgiving season approaches, I am ready to give thanks, because I have been so blessed in everything.
