A good lesson- Last blog today I promise!

Are four blogs in one day too many?

I thought I was done blogging until I checked out my friend Sue's blog just a minute ago. Every Sunday she posts a "Sunday Saying" on her blog and I particularly loved the one from this past Sunday. It says "Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses". Alphonse Karr

This past Sunday in sacrament I was particularly touched by the speakers. The Heslop's are a family that lives across the street from us. They spoke on gratitude. I always enjoy when they speak. They both have a great sense of humor and make the whole audience laugh. After joking about cookies now owed to her thanks to the defeat of Utah over BYU, Sister Heslop shared her experience of when at age 29 just a couple of weeks/months after having their 4th child she had a couple of heart attacks and was in dire need of a heart transplant. She thought her time was up and even told the Lord that she was ready to go. Long story short she received a new heart and is now doing well but it was neat to hear her talk about her gratitude to the Lord for watching over her and also her deep gratitude for her donor and how she looks forward to meeting her someday and thanking her.

Her talk was awesome but what touched me more was when her husband spoke. He too shared his feelings of that time in their lives and mentioned that around the time of his wife's health problems he was on his way home from work one day and whilst stuck in traffic he was listening to a radio program. On the program a lady had called in and was complaining about her husband and the fact that he wasn't the same man she had married some years previous and she was thinking of divorcing him. He had gained weight, often left his towels and socks on the floor and snored at night keeping her awake. As he relayed this story he broke down when he said that shortly after that caller, another woman had called in and said that she had been listening. Her husband of 50 years had just passed away and she told of how she longed to have him home in bed snoring beside her keeping her awake or missed his socks and towels on the floor. He cried as he said that when he heard that program he was facing the reality that he too could lose his wife. He talked about how it had put so many things into perspective for him. It was an awesome reminder to me of how short life really is and how important each day with our loved ones should be. The little things like the socks and the towels on the floor just don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

I have always hated the rain. I still don't love it, but recently read a magazine article in which a lady was interviewed. She said that she loved the rain because she thought of it as washing the earth. When I read that I thought what a great way of looking at it. It is true and I decided at that moment to change my way of thinking and now every time it rains, I try not to think of how it will restrict my day, make my hair frizzy or cause more weeds to grow in my garden, but rather think of it as washing the earth and making things anew. It’s not easy and not in my nature for me to think this way, but I am learning and am trying to train myself to do better and to think more optimistically rather than pessimistically. It is a daily battle =)