Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Right now, at this very moment, I am getting chills from a beautiful rendition of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Have you ever heard the version that's in Reflections of Christ? I think it may be my favorite. The version I'm listening to right now is by two missionaries, one on the piano, and one singing, and they're doing the version from Reflections of Christ! He sings so passionately, it's so beautiful! Now, everything sounds better in a studio, but I think they sound pretty spectacular on this recording, so just imagine what chills they must have been giving everyone live. I can only imagine the spirit that was there!

Since this is my 100th post (finally!) I thought at first that it might be a good idea to do something special... but... I changed my mind. I have so many things on my mind that I would rather just blog what's on my mind. For those of you who don't know, I recently packed up and moved to California, the sweet, sweet land of California! Needless to say, the weather is heavenly, the gas prices and every other prices, not so much. Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad. I love my ward, I love living with my family, I love that there are dances every weekend, I love that it's October and it's still in the 80's, I love that there is always something to do, I love that all the members of the church hang out together, but most of all, I love that I know this is where the Lord wants me to be. That knowledge alone makes living here so exciting. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Faith is a funny thing, isn't it? It requires a lot of action. When I got the answer to move here, I definitely knew the Lord was telling me, and He was telling me to move NOW. Now, usually, when an answer comes that distinctly, and that strongly, there is good reason for it. My sweet, adopted grandma pulled out this talk when I told her that I was moving 8 1/2 hours away. She pointed out that, as Elder Bednar points out, revelation is usually received line upon line, like a light switch dimmer. At first you can see nothing, then the next second, you can start the make out objects, but there are no details, but slowly, as the switch is turned onto its' full power, you can eventually see the whole picture. Occasionally, though, the Lord will give us revelation like turning on a light switch in a pitch black room. Sometimes it has to do with our safety, other times it has to do with someone else's safety, sometimes it means it's just important, and still other times the Lord wants to know that we will do what He commands. Regardless the reason, it's important to follow whatever the Lord tells you to do exactly when He tells you to do it.

And I couldn't be happier that I did. That's not to say that leaving Utah wasn't extremely and painfully hard, because it was. There are so many wonderful people, so many family members, so many people who I feel are as close as family members, that I left. Thankfully, they've been nothing but supportive. I can't honestly say why exactly the Lord wanted me to come here, but that's not really the point. The Lord has an infinitely better plan for me than I could ever make for myself. That much I do know. :)

But life is hard. When is life not hard? If your life isn't hard, you might want to start worrying. My dad gave me some great counsel recently - "Life is only going to get harder."

At the time that was exactly the OPPOSITE of what I wanted to hear, but I'm actually really glad he said it, and it couldn't be truer! Amidst one trial or another, the biggest thing is just wishing it to be over, finding a way to sidestep it, begging for time to fast forward. And then, once that trial is behind me, I realize that it has now become one of the greatest and most defining moments in my life. That's not to say I would ever wish to relive them, nor do I wish them on anyone else, but I definitely would never want to erase them. I'm grateful for every trial Heavenly Father has put in my path. I'm grateful for the woman it's made me today, and I know I would be nothing without Him. There are so many things I could never learn without Him guiding me every step of the way. What would we be without experiencing pain? Without knowing the bitter, how could we ever know the sweet? Without sadness, how could we know joy? So then, how is a trial not an incredible blessing that we should be thanking our Father in Heaven for?

Stephanie Nielson is one inspiring lady. She honestly makes me want to never complain about anything ever again. If you don't know who she is, check out her blog here, read up a bit, watch the videos on the right, and be inspired. It's bound to happen. I am in awe of this woman. An ordinary woman, with an ordinary, and wonderful life that suddenly got flipped upside down when she got in a near fatal plane accident that left 3rd and 4th degree burns on 80% of her body - including her face. It took months in the hospital to heal, and when her youngest child saw her for the first time after she had healed up enough, she turned away, scared. I can't imagine the heartbreak Stephanie must have felt! The thing she first saw that was still her own was her eyes - Heavenly Father had let her keep her eyes. Now THAT is a trial to overcome. But in one of her videos (it's on lds.org entitled My New Life) she says this is her new life, this is who she is now, and she is going to thank the Lord for every second of it, thank Him for sparing her life.

How often do we do that? How often do we thank the Lord, sincerely, for giving us our lives each and every day? Because we honestly owe Him that, and everything else. Our lives belong to Him, and since they do, shouldn't we be putting our entire lives into His capable hands? We're sent here to be like Him, and what better way to be like Him than to let Him show us how?

The gospel is true. The church is true. God is real, He lives, and so does Jesus Christ, who is my brother, He is your brother, and He loves you more than you understand. I love this gospel, I love this life, I'm grateful for every dysfunctional toe, every cold finger, every hair, every pound, every step on the treadmill, every blink, every thought, every movement, every feeling, every bite I can eat, every breath I can take, and not only am I grateful, I'm indebted. Isn't it remarkable that as thick as we are as mortals, God still grants all these wonderful, beautiful blessings to us? We will forever be indebted to Him; we will never be able to repay him.

<3