reflecting: a bunch of words

Sorry for the silence lately but our internet has been out for almost a week at home. So annoying! I'm using my sister-in-law's computer to post this (so no pictures) but I just wanted to write an update on what's going on in our life lately.

I've been thinking a lot about happiness. Living in Seattle during the winter, and trying to prepare ourselves for seasonal depression before we moved here, we are learning a lot about what really makes us as a family tick. This last year was one of the most difficult and stressful years of my life, and also one of the best. 

As I've reflected on all the hard things that we've been through as a family in the last year (changing jobs, moving to a new state, house hunting, my dad's heart attack, the adjustment of adding a new member to our family), I've realized how each of those things has brought a blessing - this new job provided us a long anticipated dream of moving to Seattle and we've been able to finally set down roots long enough for us to start looking to buy a house (another dream). My dad's heart attack, though not something any of us wanted, brought us closer together as a family and taught me not take my family relationships for granted. And, with all the stress that comes with having a new baby, we got Louisa... who is the icing on the cake that was the year 2014. 

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that the #1 lesson I learned last year was that with the greatest trials, often come the greatest blessings. That probably sounds annoyingly "Pollyanna" to some people, but that girl had it right. And so did Dumbledore when he said, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

I think I've posted this quote before, but it really struck me as truth when I heard it: "Part of our challenge is, I think, that we imagine that God has all of His blessings locked in a huge cloud up in heaven, refusing to give them to us unless we comply with some strict, paternalistic requirements He has set up. But the commandments aren’t like that at all. In reality, Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I am trying harder this year to be consistent in not only recognizing the blessings that God has given me but also getting rid of the things in my life that are "blocking" the blessings from raining down on me. I have such a good life and when I remember that, and concentrate on the important things, the good things in my life seem to multiply. Kind of like the song "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God hath done."