My last blog entry was nearly three years ago. (https://norcalhomeslice.blogspot.com/)The COVID-19 pandemic was brewing, appearing in my neck of the woods of NorCal. Fast forward three years, I'm sitting at the same computer, same clink-y keyboard, different home, different state, same me-- hopefully, with a different heart.
Much has happened for all of us in the last 3 years. And for me, events range from the incredibly wonderful to all encompassing anguish. I try to make sense of it all. I can't. So what do I do? Not much. BUT, I can be grateful. You don't have to-- but that is what I do. When life crashes in like a rip current on Monterey Bay, I force myself to find the Lord's hand in my life.
Yesterday, I received an email from my dynamic and tender Natalie who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil. She wrote: "I know God loves me because He gave me the eyes to see His miracles everyday..." Boom. She gets it. Gratitude. Natalie feels God's love because she is grateful. Natalie is in a different land, speaking a new language, engaging in all things unfamiliar. The rip current is licking her ankles. She escapes the danger of self doubt, discouragement and fear by focusing on the good-- the miracles. Gratitude "unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love."
TBH (Sadie's favorite acronym), I've felt that rip current of discouragement and despair hunting me down! But, I'm determined to see what Natalie sees-- miracles. Gratitude has bolstered my ability to stay near the shore of hope and determination. Here are just a few of the miracles in my life:
Access to Education
Art and the Beauty of the Earth
Access to Water
Clever Humans
Those That Have Gone Before
"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." Doctrine & Covenants 78:19
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