September Week 5

Well, first off, this week is to :

See the beauty in those around you - pray to see them as children of God.

I may want to extend this to seeing the beauty in life around me, including people.

But first, the flowers above are forget-me-nots.  Last evening, in the General Relief Society Meeting, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf encouraged women worldwide to forget not to be happy now, and to recognize the blessings in our lives.  Tonight, Alex Boye reminded us that "everything is a blessing."

Everything is a blessing.

I'd just like to post about how blessed Lauren and I have been.  We are reminded in the scriptures, many times, that focus on God and His plan will result in direction and blessings.  

Let me bear my testimony that that is true.

As these weeks have gone, I've been busy, and confused, and stressed, and tired.  Yet consistently, as I have focused on bettering myself, I have been blessed with the strength to continue.  When I was searching for a better perspective, I was able to find a talk in the Ensign that gave me exactly what I needed.  Last week, Lauren and I received the Elder Anderson's counsel as a supplement to our focus.  And this week, we've been blessed with the opportunity to hear both from an Apostle of the Lord and another man who has dedicated his talents to spreading the news of the Gospel, who both spoke on topics that have enabled us to change even more completely.  As a result of my desire to become better, I've not been left alone.  He is providing the means to learn and to grow, and I just need to do the work.

I am grateful for the opportunity to grow, and I am excited to start a new week, and recognize the beauty.  I will strive to forget not that like me, others are children of God.

Everything is a blessing.