Blessed

For those of you who don't know, we are living just up the street from my family here in Washington. This is relevent to my thoughts today, because my brother Mike interviewed me for a paper he is doing for his English 101 class. His big question was, "How do you raise four kids with your husband gone?" Usually, I try not to think, especially about things like that, but the process got me thinking. Actually, a number of things have happened recently that have me moving along this train of thought. In October at General Conference, President Henry B. Erying gave a talk called, "Oh Remember, Remember" http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-775-24,00.html urging us to "find ways to recognize and remember God's kindnesses." (An interesting side note, the scripture the title is based on is actually part of the group that was inspiration for Hyrum's name! I digress.) If you haven't read the talk recently, I would definately recommend it. Anyway, since October I have been recording nightly the ways I have seen the Lord's kindnesses to myself and my family. And, I have noticed a marked difference in my life. I am happier, more positive, more peaceful and more content. And, amazingly, I am actually consistently getting done things I have been trying to be consistent in my whole life - family prayers, home evening and scripture study, personal prayer, journal writing and scripture study, managing the finances and keeping the house clean. All that with a new baby and no husband. Granted, my family down the street is HUGELY helpful in caring for my little ones and providing me with support. I am blessed to have a husband whom I can talk to several times a day and is full of encouragement and good ideas for the problems I am facing. But, I am amazed at these and the other blessings of the Lord in my life. When Mike asked, "How do you do it?" my immediate response was, "The Lord blesses us to be able to do the things he asks of us." It is as simple as that. When we try to do what he has asked, he blesses us with strength beyond our own. There are lots of tricks that help along the way, but it all boils down to the Lord.