Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Seriously So BLESSED

Today I was blessed to go with my roommate Kerri and new BFF Raegan to Ashton Idaho to attend my roommate Olivia's fathers funeral. It was a cold day, and an early start, but I'm very grateful that we could go and be there with her, and the rest of her family. The whole service was beautiful, and Olivia did a beautiful job expressing her love and appreciation for her father, and her testimony of the gospel and the opportunity she'll have to be reunited with him on the other side of the veil. With that said, there were a few things I thought about today that I wanted to jot down...

1 - It's amazing how much we can learn about someone by listening to their family talk about their parents. I learned so much about Olivia today just by listening to her tell stories about her father. It's amazing to me how much we are a product of our upbringing, and family experiences.

2 - Olivia's father died in a car accident, which means, they were not expecting him to go. I thought a lot this afternoon about whether or not I'm ready to return home to my Father in Heaven - and how I could prepare myself to be ready to do so. I don't know that you ever feel "ready", but I know that there is much more I could be doing to make sure that the meeting I have with my maker is one where I can report that I was in the process of reaching the potential that I have.

3 - I've been extremely blessed to have wonderful roommates over the past few years. In talking with Reagan and Kerri in the car, I realized that Heavenly Father has always provided me with the roommates I need at the exact times that I have needed them. Olivia has been a huge blessing in my life - it's been wonderful to have someone to talk about school with (since Paige up and got married!) and has been there for me during those times of trial in my life. I have also been blessed to have K-dawg here over the past few months, and am extremely grateful that I have not only 1 but 2 rock solid examples in my home.

4 - I've decided that I need to try harder to take the time to tell those around me how much they mean to me more often.

5 - I need to start keeping a journal... and write in it more than once every 5 years. :)

I'm feeling grateful for the opportunity that I have had to ponder on these things and hope that someday I'll be spoken of in a positive way when I pass on...