Gratitude

I was thinking before I feel asleep tonight how grateful I am for the things I have, people in my life and for the experiences I have had or yet to have. Here is my list. Maybe you could share your list of things you are grateful for in your comments?

1. The atonement of Christ
2. A wife who works with me
3. In-laws that put up with me (us) on a daily basis
4. How medical science has helped so many people
5. Patience
6. Clean clothes
7. A roof that doesn't leak
8. A car/van that starts in the morning
9. Cell phone technology
10. A daughter that loves me, even if she doesn't agree with what I do
11. The Internet
12. Unemployment/medical Insurance
13. Clean diapers
14. Children who listen, even when they don't want to
15. The gospel in written form
16. Joseph Smith
17. A loving mother and family
18. Alarm clocks
19. Finding humor in my life
20. The democratic process
21. Umbrellas
22. Number 2 pencils
23. Recognizing opportunity when it knocks on our door
24. Promptings
25. The Priesthood

I'm sure I could go on and on. It's a short list and is a start in the right direction

Sunday Morning Memories

While laying in bed this morning, I heard the kids playing out in the living room. They were having a good time playing something. Maddy was out there too in the middle of everything. I could hear the laughter and giggles, the occasional argument and more laughter.

It made me think about the Sunday mornings when I was kid growing up in Southern New Jersey. My brothers and I would build "forts" out of blankets. We would use books or whatever else we could find to hold the blankets up and create a little city within the small house we lived in and had quite the time with it.

By 9am, we needed to clean up and get ready for church. These were the days that all of us would go to church (except Dad). I think my brothers and sister sang in the youth choir and Mom also sang in the choir. As a matter of fact, Mom still sings in the choir, not at the same church, but the church she went to while she was growing up.

I remember climbing in the Ford Galaxie and heading down Kings Highway to the church. There also seemed to be so much activity at the church. I haven't been there in years, but someday I might stop in.







Now I'm wrangling my own kids, getting them to clean up on Sunday morning after a bit of a romp around the house. Our church meeting doesn't start until 1pm. Kind of late in the day, but it seems to work out very nicely. We all go and the kids behave fairly well for kids.

Agency

Since I have a little extra time on my hands, I have been thinking about my life, my choices, and the consequences of those choices. Consequences don't have to be "bad" it's mainly the outcome of a choice that you or someone else has made. One thing interesting, you can chose your choices, but you cannot chose the consequences of those choices.

Some choices I have made in my life have had bad consequences. I had to deal with the issues that follow after the decision has been made and plans put into action. I'm still dealing with a few issues from bad choices. I think we all deal with these types of issues, and as they say, life goes on.

One of the bad choices I'm still paying for is my weight. I still have an sweet eating disorder, or SED. Everyday I work on this issue and it's not easy. Still, I continue on and deal with the consequences of eating too many sweets (high blood sugar and weight gain) and someday, I will conquer it.

Some of the better choices I have made that have very nice consequences, is my wife Julia. Our relationship isn't perfect but we work at the issues and neither one will let the other bury their head in the sand. It's a nice feeling.

Another consequence to a decision would be my youngest daughter, Maddy. She has a few health issues, but I wouldn't give her up for the world. Don't get me wrong, I love all my kids (I include step-children in that statement) and I wouldn't give any of them up either. Some people have asked me that if I could do it over again, would I. For me it was an easy question to answer. Of course, I would do it exactly the same. Why you ask? It all has to do with free agency and the plan that Heavenly Father has for us.

Did I ever think that at 46 years old I would be living with my in-laws and struggling to buy shoes for the kids because they are growing like weeds? Of course not. Would I change any of it? Not at all. Heavenly Father has taught me some very important lessons over the past year or so. How to be humble is one of them. Yes, I still can get prideful. However I see the value in being humble, which I never did before. I'm glad that I see it now. It has made me a better person. Yes, another consequence. The LDS church has also been a huge blessing for me. It was a tough choice to make. What would me friends say? What would be relatives say? As far as I know, I'm the first in my family (on my side) to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All the rest are a mixed bag. Baptist, Catholics, Methodists. I don't think they have made wrong choices for staying in one particular religion nor do I think of that of anyone else. The choice of joining the church just made so much sense to me at the time (and still does) that the decision was easy. Its a choice I was free to make with the gift of free agency.

Why all the talk of agency? Well, it's a gift that Heavenly Father has given to us. You see, Satan didn't want us to have free agency. He wanted us to follow him and be enslaved to him. We wouldn't be able to choose anything. It would all be chosen for us. Even Heavenly Father has let Lucifer have free agency. Think about it. It's interesting to think that God has let the evil one choose, just as he has let us have that free agency.

More interestingly, I find that many people feel they can control others with their actions. This is a trick. If you let someone dictate how you act, you are giving up your free agency. Now, I'm not saying you should go out into the world like a crazy person and run around doing harmful things to others.

You may have a loved one tell you something that is hurtful, maybe they didn't mean it, maybe they did. Its up to you how you want to set up those boundaries and work on the issue. Reacting to it only lets them gain control of your agency, thusly putting you on Satan's corner store for the removal of free agency.

So, next time a situation comes up make sure you think about how you want to address the issue. You will be a better person for it.

I love all my children and grand-daughter. I love their aunts and uncles and cousins. I wouldn't trade them for anything. They have taught me a great deal and I would like to think that they have learned something from me as well. In short, I love my family. We get to take two things to the Celestrial kingdom, what we have learned here on Earth and to be together with our family.