Blessed

I feel like I shouldn't let a Thanksgiving go by without saying what I am grateful for. I am grateful to God for his love, the plan he prepared and that he sent us his son. I am grateful for Jesus and the example and teacher he was. That he was obedient to the Father's plan and that He brought about the redemption of mankind.

I am grateful for good family that know me so well and support me in all my needs. I am grateful for their love and the relationships we have built throughout the years. I am grateful that they long to spend time with me when I am away and we always have a joyful reunion. I am grateful that I get to go and see them again for Christmas.

I am grateful for so many good friends that show their love to me over and over again. I am grateful for their support, that they care how I am doing and what is going on in my life. I am grateful for a wonderful roommate that is always on the go and loves to plan fun activities and drags me along to her fun much of the time.

I am grateful for a great house to live in, that I am close to my work and church. I am grateful for a good ward that I was lucky enough to move into the boundaries of. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it has changed me and made me a better person.

I am grateful for God given good food that nourishes my body and gives me strength and energy. I am grateful for good health and a capable body. I am grateful for my education and how it has allowed me to grow in my career. I am grateful to have found a job that is such a good fit for my skills and abilities and I am grateful that I am slowly starting to understand my job functions better.

I am grateful for good dance music and how it makes me move and dance. I am grateful for my roller-blades and that I have a park nearby with a great path to skate on.

I am grateful for vitamin D and how it improves my mood and helps me sleep deep. I am grateful for the things I have learned about health and how it has helped me better understand what is happening in my own body.

I am grateful that I was able to pick up and move to Hawaii and have fun adventures there and fun trips with good friends. My trip to France was amazing. I am so glad I took that opportunity. I am grateful that I was able to see what it was like to jump out of a plane this last year and despite signing an eight page waiver form, I was able to survive.

I am grateful for the winter holidays and how they give us something to look forward to, a break from work and time with family and friends.

This list probably could be more exhaustive but I am also grateful for a good nights sleep and I need to go get ready for that.

A Law Unto Itself

I was messaging a "friend" from Hawaii. Friend is in quotation marks because we have many differences and there is a huge gap between how we choose to live our lives. He was raised in a very strict and sheltered Christian home. When he got out on his own, he experimented with everything that was previously forbidden.

You can tell that there is a lot about his life that he can't reconcile.  His belief in God with his rebellious life. I have teased him about how he has Mormon envy and he agreed with me. He has at least two other LDS friends that I can tell he respects. I think he has a hard time understanding how a people can live their convictions despite their temptations and be happy about it. He can't seem to understand our dedication or our love for God.

As we were chatting, he went on and on and on about how happy he was in his sinful life (my words not his). I would add little comments about how I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. I wanted the conversation to be over because, he seemed to think that his opinion was the only one that mattered. He was trying to convince me that I would be so happy and free if I just lived like he did. I interjected that I would remember what he said when I was standing before God to be judged of him. I just wanted him to see a different perspective.

How does he seem to be so happy about his life when the thought of it just makes me sick and sorry for him?

I thought about him at Institute class tonight when we were learning about the three degrees of glory and we read Doctrine and Covenants 88:34:35...

And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.

That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still.

There is a lot there to ponder and I am not sure I can unpack it all right now. To me this scripture talks about how as we are governed by law, it sanctifies and perfects us. This with the aid of the atonement we are changed. If we do not allow the law to change us by living it, we will set our will as the law. Our desires rule over us. If we take our own path, we will not be changed or cleansed by following our own desires. We will not progress, grow or learn. Seems like such an awful state of being to me. In the mean time I will just feel sorry for all he doesn't see, when I am sure he feels exactly the same way about me.