Day 183, June 30

Last Sunday in Sacrament Meeting, the Young Women (girls 12 - 18) sang a beautiful song about "guardians of virtue."  The phrase immediately caught my attention.

It reminded me that we are all charged to be guardians of virtue.  Whether we are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, leaders, whatever, we should take this charge seriously. 

Let me tell you about some people who are guardians of virtue.  There are the Primary teachers who have as their stewardship teaching the youngest of God's children.  There are those who serve in the military who protect our country and our freedoms.  There are the volunteers at House of Neighborly Service, Habitat for Humanity, and other organizations who help the less fortunate in our community.  There are the parents who hold Family Home Evening faithfully every Monday evening to help their children understand the Gospel.  There are visiting teachers who care about the sisters given to their charge.

So, for today, I am grateful for guardians of virtue.

Day 182, June 29

The heat makes me cranky.  It turns me into a lazy, self-absorbed slug.  In short, I'm not a nice person when I get hot.  I live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car, and still I complain.

It's not just the heat that makes me complain.  I'm a chronic complainer.  In Book of Mormon terms, I am a "murmurer."   I whine about the heat.  I whine when food prices go up.  I whine about the cost of gas.

Is there anything I don't compalin about?  Well, there is something.  I don't complain about the Father's love.  I've been thinking about that a lot lately.  I marvel at His unfailing love, His unflinching devotion to His children, despite those times when we (I) least deserve it.

So, for today, I am grateful for the Father's love.  (I'm also grateful for air-conditioning!)

Day 181, June 28

I found this quote in a writers' magazine:

"If you know you're a writer, no amount of noise can stop you from hearing stories.  So listen."

The writer in me immediately responded to these words.  More, though, the part of me that is divine responded, and  I edited the words to "If you know you're a child of God, no amount of noise can stop you from hearing Him.  So listen."

Do you think me to be self-aggrandizing when I say "the part of me that is divine?"  I hope not.  For I believe that each of us has a divine nature.  Frequently we (I) suppress that nature, preferring that part that is foolish, selfish, short-sighted.  But when I listen to that divine part, I hear the Father.  He speaks to me in a still, small voice that I cannot deny.

So, for today, I am grateful for when I hear stories ...  and when I hear the Father's voice.

Day 180, June 27

I love finding bargains.  At garage sales.  At thrift shops.  At outlet malls.  Finding a bargain exhilirates me in a way that little else does.

Anticipating a garage sale "hunt" with some friends, I thought about some of my best bargains over the years.  There was the Ethan Allen furnitiure, the five cent mink coat (yes, genuine mink), the prom dress for our daughter. 

But none of those things compare to the bargain of the Atonement.  The Father has offered each of us the ultimate bargain.  Through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, we can return to the Father and live in His presence.  All we have to offer Them is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. 

I struggle to grasp the enormity of it, even while I acknowledge the simplicitiy of the plan.

So, for today, I am grateful for the bargain of the Atonement.

Day 179, June 26

You know how sometimes I find that I'm not finished with a subject.  That of strong, pioneer women is one of those times. 

One stalwart woman, after giving birth to ten children and living a righteous life, died in the influenza epidemic of 1920 in Star Valley, Wyoming.  This woman was only 38, leaving behind eight children, and taking her two sick babies, three and 18 month old baby with her.    Another woman helped settle Bea Lakek Valley and built the community recreation hall AND cleared a road to Bloomington Lake.  (Really?  She cleared a road?)

In talking with some friends about these women, I realized that all women are pioneers in their own way.  Several of my friends were the first in their families to accept the Gospel and be baptized.  They are pioneers.  Another friend was the first in her family to graduate from college.   She is a pioneer.  Yet another friend led a movement in our town to have an objectionable sculpture removed from a public area.  She, too, is a pioneer.

So, for today, I am grateful for pioneer women.

Day 178, June 25

Those who know me well know that I love stories about strong women.  They inspire me, make me want to try to do better in my own little sphere.

One such story is about Elizabeth Gower.

Elizabeth and her husband Daniel Clark joined the Mormon Church, with their family of ten children in England in the 19th century.  They were so bitterly persecuted for joining this "heretic sect" that they decided to emigrate to America.

On the way across the plains in covered wagons, Daniel drank some bad water from a river, contracted cholera, died, and was buried somewhere along the Platte River in Nebraska.  Valiantly, Elizabeth forged on to the Salt Lake valley with her children. There, she faced other hardships,while  trying to eke out a living in what was then a barren desert and raise her children in righteousness.

What courage and strength this faithful woman must have had.  I marvel at her and, at the same time, am humbled by her example.

So, for today, I am grateful for strong women everywhere.

Day 177, June 24

Looking for the good in people shouldn't be hard.  Since we are all the children of the Lord, there should be plenty of good to find.  However, with some people, it seems, at times, hard  to find that good.

When I was having problems finding the good in a particular individual, I realized that maybe the problem was mine, rather than his.  Maybe I should have been thinking of "the beam in my own eye" rather than "the mote in his."

That's not always easy to do.  It's more than difficult to admit my own failings, much easier to see the faults of another.  Another example of my human frailness.

So, for today, I am grateful for those people who always find the good in others.