Counting My Blessings...

This is why I love Oregon!  We manage to swim through the fall and winter rains, and then comes April!  Rhododendrons are the most beautiful flowers and they are popping out everywhere!  They are Oregon's flowers and we lovingly call them "Rhodies!"  It's like the earth comes to life...a fitting reminder of the Resurrection.  We muddle through the winters of our lives and at the end, we are promised a new day...a new life...and I imagine beautiful flowers everywhere.

For the past few weeks, the topics and lessons chosen for our Church meetings seem to have been directed just at me.  The Atonement has been spoken and taught in so many interesting ways and the message has driven home to my heart with a new understanding and gratitude for the burden our Savior took upon His shoulders for "me!"

This past Sunday, the messages included some very important points about families and the role of Fathers in our lives.  I didn't realize I had so many "Fathers!"  The first Father I knew was my earthly Father, who watched over me, provided for my needs and taught me the survival skills I would need to get through this earthly life.  The second Father I knew, was my Heavenly Father.  Like my earthly Father, I learned that He also watched over me, provided for my needs and I learned from His Holy Scriptures the survival skills that I would need to return to Him and live in His Kingdom one day.

The third Father I learned about was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Father of this earth, because He created it.  Like my own Father and my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ also watches over me and loves me, provides answers to my prayers if I will but ask.  "Seek and ye shall find, Knock and it shall be opened up to you." ()  And His loving words set my feet upon the path "home!"

I learned that our Bishop, the Father of our Ward, is also on his watchtower watching over his flock.  And, likewise, our Prophet as the Father of the Church, sending out his messengers to make sure that his flock is secure.  The very word "Father" has such a deeply profound meaning and because I have been given this food for thought, I find that I am ever more grateful for all of the Fathers in my life.

Like the Calililies that bloom every year faithfully around the Easter Season, (and I apologize for the poor picture, but I promise there are some very pretty ones on the other side of the bush), I am reminded once again of my Savior...the Father of my earthly tabernacle.  In California, when I was a kid, we called these lilies "Easter Lilies" because they bloom at this time of the year,  There are other lilies that do the same thing, but these are the lilies of my childhood.

"Because I have been given much" is a favorite Hymn of mine...every day I give thanks for the bounties that bless my life.  And today I am grateful for the beautiful flowers that grace this amazing Northwest state of Oregon that I live in.  Thanks to my earthly father who taught me to see and appreciate these beauties; thanks to my Heavenly Father for giving me this life and the eyes to behold the beauty all around me; thanks to my Savior for giving me the hope of a new life and for His abundant creations; thanks to all of the Bishops in my life who have guided my steps on paths that lead me in the right direction; and thanks to our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson and all of Prophets of the past, who watches over all of us and sens their messages to us so we can grow.

Oh, what a wonderful world we live in!