Day 263.

When I
started this blog 335 days ago I didn’t think much of it…

I wanted
to find a new way to count my many blessings…

To remind
myself of all the experiences and things that I’ve been blessed with and that I’ve
learned from.

It’s
been a blast.

But
since the beginning it’s turned into more of a journal.

My good
days…

My bad
days…

My
everything days.

This
past year had been full of learning and growing experiences.

Looking back…

Life is
great.

Life is
fantastic.

Life is
relatively easy.

But life
has moments.

Moments
that make you remember that life can be hard…

Hearing
about a friend of my brothers who is beginning her battle with Lymphoma cancer broke
my heart.

It’s not
that I knew her well or ever even talked to her…

But it’s
the fact that she is facing an unimaginable challenge…

But being
strong about it.

That God
knows her well enough to give her such a challenge…

From
what I have seen and heard…

She’s
fighting.

It’s the
fact that I know that she is struggling…

But she
is also finding the best in life.

Many people
love her.

Many people
are supporting and praying for her.

It took
me back to the days in high school when we all were given the harsh reality
check that life is short.

Life is
a gift.

It was a
shock to us all when someone told us that we were no longer invincible…

It takes
me back to my chat with my [home ward] bishop on Sunday.

Don’t
ask “why me?”

Instead ask
“why not me?”

Things
happen.

Life
happens.

God
knows us and gives us challenges that he knows we can handle.

He gives
us trials that are specific to our needs.

We are
given the trials and tribulations that will ultimately make us the people we
are supposed to be.

And through
Christ and his atonement we can have hope and faith in all things.

Elder
Bernard P. Brockbank gave a talk in the 1972 Ensign about knowing God….

“To know God, you
must walk in the light of life. To know God as a living child of God, we should
know our relationship to him, our divine potential, and we should know that in
knowing God there is great responsibility to respect and love and follow his counsel
and his doctrines and his commandments and to grow as a child to become more
godlike.

We must always keep in mind that God’s greatest gift
is eternal life. Eternal life comes from knowing God and from knowing Jesus
Christ. Jesus said, “If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the
end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all
the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation.”

It’s
been amazing to see how attitude affects everything.

Our thoughts
and our actions.

It make
me grateful for the small things that remind me that everything is going to be
okay.

That
life is supposed to be good.

It’s supposed
to be for laughing.

Win.

Count
your many blessings….

Life is fantastic.