I have been reading blogs...(duh) and it has been so cool to read some blogs where they are finding something to be thankful for EVERYDAY or everytime they post. I'm not sure for how long...if it's just for November or just until Thanksgiving or what? But I love it nonetheless...don't you just love words like that...nonetheless...all written together? I do.
Well I'm not one to stick with something, but I can add my two cents and contribute to telling you what I'm thankful for. I pride myself in being a well-rounded person (no pun intended)--I love to laugh, I'm known to cry, and I'm only crazy 3/4 of the time...the other times...
Here is the OTHER times...
I'm thankful for my religion. For the gospel I'm lucky to have in my life...and the thing I am most thankful for about the gospel, I so love...is the hope that comes with it.
I couldn't begin to say in words how I feel, but when I re-read this talk given in the last General Conference we had (Oct. 2008)--well he explains it SO much better!
So as not to massacre what I would like to relay, here is an excerpt from that talk "The Infinite Power of Hope" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency:
The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.”15 So it is with faith, hope, and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings.
The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.
Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear.
And if that isn't cool enough...if that doesn't make you picture exactly what HOPE should be or mean in your life...this should clinch it for you:
Hope is not knowledge,17 but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future.18 It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance.
In the language of the gospel, this hope is sure, unwavering, and active. The prophets of old speak of a “firm hope”19 and a “lively hope.”20 It is a hope glorifying God through good works. With hope comes joy and happiness.21 With hope, we can “have patience, and bear . . . [our] afflictions.”22
HOPE...I am SO thankful for HOPE. With the trials and tribulations that chip at me and mold me into who I am...there is NO WAY the sharp edges and angles could be buffed away by anything other than HOPE. Someday I HOPE to reach the potential of the master piece I can become.
Love,
Shelle
P.S. Get your POST ready for Don't You Hate It When tomorrow...because look what you could WIN for the month of November!
This beautiful Quilt (just started, yet to be completed) that Kritta22 is making ove
r at Protect and Provide ...And a $25.00 gift card from -------------
