Monday, October 21, 2013

I am grateful for the tale of two wolves.

One evening, an elderly
cherokee brave told his
grandson about a battle that
goes on inside people.

        He said "my son, the battle is
between two 'wolves' inside us all.
One is evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance,
self-pity, guilt, resentment,
inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.

   The other is good.
 It is joy, peace love, hope serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence,
empathy, generosity,
truth, compassion and faith."

        The grandson though about
it for a minute and then asked
his grandfather:

"Which wolf wins?..."

   The old cherokee simply replied,
"The one that you feed."

Thursday, October 17, 2013

I am grateful for good laughs.

Oops! Elizabeth Cramer accidentally launched her 6-month-old baby during a photo shoot in California last month


 
I am just grateful that the baby is okay because every time
I look at this photo I bust a gut. 

Family photo goes awry; no babies were harmed

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

2013 has been a hard year

Tonight I was prompted to read through my gratitude blog.  With each entry I felt like my old self was speaking to my current self saying, "You can do this, look how amazing you are, look what you can accomplish, look what you have learned, and look what you have to offer!"   I know the old me isn't gone, she just had a hard year, but I am ready to invite her back.  I like her. 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

I am grateful for a lesson on prayer.

A couple of weeks ago, a woman in our ward explained over the pulpit during fast Sunday that it had been 3 years since she had born her testimony because she had been struggling with an issue. The issue was that the night before her father-in-law was in a fatal ATV accident, she had prayed that everyone would be safe. She said it bothered her that her prayer wasn't aswered. She knows that our prayers are according to God's will, but she questioned why we don't simply pray, "Heavenly Father, I will accept thy will. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Why do we pray for things if it always ends up being according to God's will? She struggled deeply with this question, but it wasn't until her husband recently made a simple analogy that her eyes were opened. Her husband said, "You know how our little nephew is obsessed with his mom's iPad? Well, sometimes our nephew will ask to play with the iPad and his mom will say yes, but other times he will ask and his mom will say no. His mom knows what is best for her son, but her son still needs to ask."

God is our Father. We are His children. He loves us, and He knows what is best for us. Prayer unlocks blessings that wouldn't have been granted without us asking, but sometimes the Lord, with his ultimate wisdom and kindness, says no to our requests.