Thankful

I am thankful for someone who prayed for me
--for something I really needed.
I am thankful that God heard their prayer
--and answered it.

He did.
And I am thankful.

Humbled

You know how sometimes when we are struggling on our path, God just picks us up and carries us to the next point, even if we don't deserve it?

Today I felt Him do just that.

His hand is guiding my life.

And I see His hand guiding my family.

Today I attended church with my family and watched my dad get called to be a new bishop. I realized how much the Lord blesses my family over and over, helping us grow and be so much more than we are. I realized--the Lord never lets us be who we are, because he knows who we can be.

Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it is a refiner's fire. Sometimes it is a molding process that seems like it will never end. Sometimes we cannot figure out why it has to be as hard as it is.

But then you realize that the Lord is in it all, and with Him you are safe.

When you see that He is the refiner, the sculptor, the creator, the master craftsman of your life...it doesn't matter what you will face, because He will guide you through it.

He will carry you through it.

Following the Light of the Sun

I hiked to the top of Mount Timpanogos with some friends this weekend. We set off at one in the morning and hiked by moonlight until we reached the summit. We waited there until the sun rose up from the distant hills and shone its glowing and constant light.

We look pretty happy for not getting any sleep, don't we?!
While we were waiting, someone asked, "Which is better--a sunset or a sunrise?"

Both are beautiful, but I have decided that for me a sunrise is much more beautiful and promising.

It ends the night as it rises from the darkness.
And no matter how dark the night, the sun shines with its radiant light.

We all have or will have times in our life where we will face nights so dark that it may be difficult to remember that there is light or even that the morning will come.

But just as we cannot doubt the reality that the sun will rise in the morning, we cannot doubt that the sun can light a new day in our lives.

We can believe and know that sunlight will come and chase out the darkness.

And isn't the sun just gorgeous? Its light is so illuminating!

I feel that even though at times I feel surrounded by darkness

a sunrise comes into my life.

In his journey across the ocean, Columbus said, "Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World."

I'm ready to leave that old world.

I'm ready to let God "turn my darkness into light."
(Psalms 18:28, God's Word Translation)

Because he always does.

I'm ready to greet life's sunrises, its new days, its light!

The Rose Garden

There are few places that retain their childhood magic as we get older.

And yet, there are a few that retain their mysteriousness and beauty even as we change.
My grandmother's rose garden is one of those places.

Perhaps it is because it never really changes, it only becomes more beautiful.
Perhaps it is because my grandmother nourishes not just by water and fertilizer, but also by love.
Perhaps it is because when I take a second glance into the garden I can see a little girl walking gently through the sweetheart roses, and I recognize that it is me.

My Grandmother's Roses: