Be Still

Sometimes, I think it is so interesting to read my sisters blog. Well, wait, I am always interested in reading my sisters blog. But sometimes it is more interesting because the things that she says, or the topic that shes writing about, is one that has been heavy on my own heart. Though we dont always see things the same way, we are passionate about similar things. For instance, for February, she blogged about the things she loves. For February, I blogged about why I hated February. Like I said, were passionate about similar things, but we have different takes on them in many cases.

About a week ago, I started writing a post, but the words werent flowing well, so I gave up on it. The next day, I gave you the pleasure of reading about my lip-blowout. I revert to humor when I cant think of something to write about or if the words just arent going well. My sister reverts to the little reminders of Gods blessings in her life when she cant think of anything to write about - though, in most cases, she truly is sharing the joys she gets out of life and the things the Lord has blessed her with.

Well. This wasnt meant to be a comparison of blogs. Im sure if you read my blog, you are well versed with hers. Recently, as in yesterday, she posted giving thanks. Well, the post I was working on a weekish ago, was about that exact topic. She took a bit of a different stance on it, but I was generally typing with the same idea.

Lately, I have been in a grateful mode. I should be way more often than I am. Dont get me wrong, I recognize what I have and how blessed I am. But I am not always as thankful as I should be. Its easy to get wrapped up in whats happening and the problems that surround me. Its easy to forget how much I have to be thankful for.

A few weeks ago, I decided to skip class to go to chapel. I was glad I did. It was Seek Week and the theme was Be Still. Listen to God and recognize His blessings. So we spent several minutes in prayer with our great Creator. I could not bring myself to ask for anything, but to just thank Him for all He has given me. One of the first blessings that came to my mind was my mom. She always does. Unexpectedly, I began to cry. I have such an admiration and understanding and respect for my mother. Often times, I really dont know what I would do without her love and support. I believe God knew exactly what He was doing when He "assigned" me to her. I may be a handful in most stories we have, but there is no other mother who would be a better fit for me. She is exactly what I need. We were perfectly paired.

My heart was so overwhelmed with gratitude. I continued on with the rest of my family. I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I am with my family. The way they love me and offer their protection and constant support and encouragement. I think if youre reading my blog, you know me well enough to know my love and devotion to my family. So I wont go into explicit detail. I couldnt even go nearly as far as I wanted to in my talk with the Lord because our time was up. But since then I have been trying to have a spirit of humility and gratefulness.

Several months ago, I read something. It was a bit of a challenge. "What if tomorrow you woke up and only had the things you thanked God for today?" I want to be someone who never forgets what she has. I want to be someone who never misses the chance to tell someone how much they mean to me. I want to be someone who is constantly praising God for His awesome works. I want to be someone who is expressing only love to those around me.

Realistically, I wont be this person all the time. I can only try to be that person. I will fail. But I want to try. I know at any time, everything Ive come to know and love and become comfortable with, can be taken from me. In this time, I have become so overwhelmed with a grateful spirit, humbled by how much I have been privileged with in life. I will try to stick with that.