Gratitude.....

Sometimes in all the chaos of daily life, it's hard to remember to be grateful. Life gets heavy and hard and tiresome and too much- and it is also always beautiful.

Beautiful in a way that friends who haven't seen each other for years can pull together because a classmate has been in an accident. Beautiful that as a mother asks for the community to pray for her child, not a moment can pass before the prayers begin. Beautiful that it in my darkest hours Heavenly Father sent one angel after another to offer comfort, grace, and mercy, understanding and hope. Life is truly beautiful.

This doesn't mean that you or I have a set quota of hardships to be endured. Absolutely not. The harder you fight, the harder life gets.  The more you strive for greatness the further you may find yourself from gratitude, because we need to always remember. Remember that on our best days, someone may be experiencing their worse. Remember that just as angels came for me- I know they will come for you.  Remember to be grateful for the trials and when the joy comes, as it always comes, be quick to be grateful for that as well.  Remember that the very fact your heart beats and you have the opportunity to be someone's angel is reason enough to be grateful.

So I'm off to climb into bed. To lay next to another sweet fella that snores and be grateful for that. The first night I heard his heart beating in the quiet, I wept with gratitude for a sound I thought I would never hear again in my lifetime. Sure it's a different beat but it is in the act of motion- it is life and for that I am grateful.

All my love,

Kami