Blessed

With a new year, I have started reading the Book of Mormon once again.  I know 1 Nephi 1 & 2 are probably some of the most read chapters, but I forget how much I love them.  I love Nephi's many acknowledgements of the Lord's hand in their lives, right from the get go.  He never said that their life was easy and perfect, on the contrary, they had some huge challenges to overcome and learn and grow from.  But looking back, Nephi recognizes they have been "highly favored of the Lord" and the "tender mercies" in his life.  Lehi exclaimed "Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty" after seeing the good, bad and the ugly of what would happen to his people.

As I cleaned up from the holidays and reflected on the past year, that is how I felt too.  We had many ups last year: Micah getting baptized, a trip to Europe, Benjamin's first play,  Jacob's first football season, many baseball and soccer games and finding our new home!!  We had some downs too, especially trying to sell our old and find a new home.  That was a very challenging time for us, especially because we loved our ward and neighbors so much. We relied a lot on the Lord, especially when we were under contract of another home and even under contract on this home and things weren't going quite as smoothly as we had hoped.  It was a very long summer!!  But, looking back, it is very easy to see the Lord's hand in our lives and see those tender mercies along the way.  I felt like it was time, had confirmation on several occasions and I'm grateful for the way things worked out in the end.

So thank you 2014 for teaching us many things and here's to 2015 and the many great things ahead. Happy New Year!!