You ARE Blessed!

Okay today’s entry is not about me. Wait! Don’t click out of it! It’s about us. You and me!

Someone posed a question; “Are you blessed? So blessed?” Now this was in reference to the name of someone elses’ blog. But many people didn’t know that and they took the question literally and answered.

Well, their answers got me thinking.

1) Are we blessed or lucky?
That all depends. If you are gambling and win: that’s lucky. If you are crossing a street and a car almost hits you and you narrowly escape death: you are blessed. Do you see the difference? If you get the last tickets to a concert: that’s lucky. If the grocery clerk charges you the wrong amount and you “save” $5: that’s not lucky. That’s dishonest. But that’s coming from a girl who forges her husbands name…….so we won’t talk about that. But if you are looking for something that you lost and you find it: that’s a blessing.

I think blessings come from God. That’s my definition. And God doesn’t care about you winning at Bingo or the lottery……..even if you say you’ll give all the money to the church or go on a mission. A blessing is a gift from God. Blessings can be deserved; like we are blessed because of obedience or service. When we do what God asks, he is bound to bless us (scripture mastery! D&C 82:10). And then we sometimes receive undeserved blessings. We didn’t really do anything to earn them. The Lord loves us and he gives us blessings to help us, teach us, encourage us, and lift us. Blessings can also be called tender mercies of the Lord (see Elder Oaks Conference Talk).

2) What are some of our blessings?
This is still about us………not just me. I might list something that you don’t think of as a blessing but think hard about how it CAN be a blessing or how it just might BE a blessing in disguise.
In no particular order:
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Atonement
A Modern-day Prophet
The Scriptures
Gifts of the Spirit
Our faith – even if it’s the size of a mustard seed.
Our testimony
Our Family – yeah I know we all have crazy families. They are nuts. But without our parents, we wouldn’t even be here. And they made us what we are (look for the good qualities here, not the psychoses).
Our spouses
Our kids
Our homes – no matter how big or small, it’s a roof over our head.
All material blessings – whether it’s two dresses and one pair of shoes or 20 dresses and 100 pairs of shoes
Our talents – and don’t say you don’t have any!
Our friends
Our education – whatever level you have obtained.
Our jobs
Transportation – even though gas is expensive and it cost me $2700 to register two cars yesterday.
Food – you all know I love food!
Life’s experiences – I’ve had some wonderful experiences and I’ve had some awful experiences but I wouldn’t trade one
Challenges – I know some of you are going to disagree, but just think about it.
Each and every day is a blessing!

I hope you are getting the idea. I am. I could go on and on. Just listen to a small child’s prayer, “Heavenly Father, thank you for all of our blessings. Thank you for the sun, for lady bugs, for our teachers, and for candy.”
Well, this was really for me. It was not intended to be a lecture…..except to myself. It’s easy for me to get caught up in the minutiae of the day and forget my blessings.