Day 237, October 7

For the past two days, members of the Church (and anyone interested enough to tune in) have had the opportunity to listen to the counsel given by President Thomas S. Monson (president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and other leaders.  We were fed spiritually from a buffet of guidance, encouragement, and, sometimes, gentle chastisement.  How fortunate we are to have the words of a living prophet.

Occasionally I hear people say that we are on our own here on earth, that, if there is a God, He no longer talks with us.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We have the words of God, delivered directly to us by President Monson.  We have the Holy Spirit to guide us.  We have our own source of personal revelation through prayer.

How can anyone believe that God no longer communicates with us?  Even to my finite understanding, it is inconceivable. When I think how I feel about my children and grandchildren, I multiply that by a thousand, a million times, and have only an inkling of what the Father feels for His children.  His infinite love is there for all of them, even the rebellious and ungrateful, like myself.

So, for today, I am grateful for a living prophet.

Day 236, October 6

Autumn is upon us.  We feel it in the bite of the early morning air.  We hear it in the crunch of leaves underfoot.  We see it in the changing colors of the leaves.  We smell it in the burning of wood stoves.  We taste it in spicy pumpkin pie.

I love autumn.  Harvest time is close at hand. Though I'm not a farmer, I have always appreciated the idea of harvest and its symbolism.  As I look back over the first nine months of this year, I wonder what I have harvested.  Have I harvested closer relationships with family and friends?  Some.  Have I harvested growing closer to the Savior?  Again, some.  Have I harvested greater understanding of myself?  Once again, some.

Certainly I have not harvested everything I wanted to.  Laziness, selfishness, and a couple of other nasty "nesses" prevented me from harvesting all that I wanted.

(As I re-read the last paragraph, I realized I did harvest things in my laziness and selfishness.  That that harvest was negative does not mean that I didn't reap what I sowed.) 

The law of the harvest is absolute.  There is no getting around it.  Except, and this is one of those great big excepts, except by the Savior's atonement.  Only with His atonement can I fix what is wrong in my life.

So, for today, I am grateful for harvest time.  I am always grateful for the atonement of the Lord.

Day 235, October 5

Last Sunday Larry and I had the privilege of attending our daughter's ward where the Primary children presented the Sacrament Meeting program.  As the children and teachers walked to the front of the chapel, they sang "We'll Bring the World His Truth."  Though I've heard this song many times, my eyes filled with tears as I listened to the sweet voices of these children.

We have been born as Nephi of old,
To goodly parents who love the Lord.
We have been taught, and we understand
That we must do as the Lord commands.

We have been saved for these latter days
To build the kingdom in righteous ways.
We hear the words our prophet declares:
"Let each who's worthy go forth and share."

We know his plan, and we will prepare,
Increase our knowledge through study and prayer.
Daily we'll learn until we are called
To take the gospel to all the world.

Chorus:

We are as the army of Helaman.
We have been taught in our youth.
And we will be the Lord's missionaries
To bring the world his truth.

Simple words, but filled with promise and commitment.  These innocent children, who will in a few years be the leaders of the church, the community, the nation, reminded me that there is hope for our world, despite the evil that encroaches into our lives on a daily basis.

So, for today, I am grateful for "the army of Helaman."

Day 234, October 4

What do I value?  What is my treasure?  Who--or what--has my heart?  In the face of the terrible flooding that our area has faced in recent weeks, where thousands of families lost everything, I've had cause to wonder about what I value and treasure.

If my husband and I had to flee our home, what would I bring with me?  First, I'd put our kitty in her carrier. I'd grab some family pictures and genealogoy and maybe, just maybe, one designer purse.   (At one time I would have grabbed the scriptures, but they are no available on our phones.)

The possessions, comforts, and luxuries which we've collected over a lifetime would be left behind, perhaps to be washed away.  In accepting this, I realize that we spend a great deal of time caring for our possessions.  We vacuum them, dust them, display them.  And I wonder, do I possess them or do they possess me?

This is certainly not an original question.  Many have asked it in the past.  Many of us will continue to ask it, seeking some kind of  justification for why we spend so much time and effort in acquiring the possession which we believe define us.  When I come up with an answer (if I come up with an answer), I'll share it with you.  In the meantime, I'm still pondering.

So, for today, I am grateful for those occasions when I have the prescience to ask "What do I value?"

Day 233, October 3

"You get what you deserve."

How many times have you heard this or some variation of it?  If you're like me, you've heard it more times than you want to count.  On the one hand, it's reassuring. 

If I have lived a charactered, principled, generous life, I will get my just reward.  On the other hand, it's downright terrifying.  What about the times (and there have been many) when I wasn't charactered, principled, or generous?  I'll get my just reward for those actions as well.

So why can't I structure my life--my thoughts, my words, my behavior--in accordance to the reward I say I want to earn?  Maybe I don't really want to earn that reward, that of eternal life with the Father and His Son, after all.  Maybe I am content in my sins.  And here's the horrible realization I had to face:  sometimes I like my sins.  I treausre them.  I wallow in them.

I'm back to the downright terrifying realization that I will, indeed, get my just reward.

So, for today, I am grateful for the opportunity to change.  Now I just have to want to.

Day 232, October 2

The best-educated human being is the one who understands most about the life in which he is placed.--Helen Keller

How many of us understand our place in life?  Not me.  I'm still trying to "get it."  Why am I here?  Why am I the way I am?  What is my purpose?  These questions--and more--swirl through my mind with unrelenting persistence.  Sometimes I think I have a glimmer of an answer, and then whatever understanding I had gained vanishes and I'm back to where I started.

I have a dear friend who has a plaque in her home that reads "Bloom where you're planted."  Simple concept, but hard to implement.  Is blooming just making the best of whatever circumstances you find yourself in?  I don't think so.  Blooming means thriving, not just surviving.  I have done both--thrive and survive.  Let me tell you, thriving is a lot more fun.

So, for today, I am grateful for those who understand most about the life in which they are placed.

Day 231, October 1

Throughout the years, there were men and
women who took their first steps down
roads armed with mothing but their own vision.--Ayn Rand

I love the picture these words create, of courageous individuals forging a path into the unknown.  When I think of people who have done this, I think of Daniel Boone, taking his family to a wilderness,  of Brigham Young leading the Saints to another kind of wilderness.  I  think of those who have taken the first steps toward beating their cancer by undergoing grueling chemotherapy.  I think of my husband and his partner starting a business with nothing but two used computers and a dream.

Each took steps down an unknown road.  Each was armed with a vision.  Each found the courage to continue even when everything seemed against them.

So, for today, I am grateful for the men and women who never gave up.