I am grateful for the talents with which the Lord has blessed me, and which He has helped me to develop.  I am grateful that I can study, and write, and think.  I am grateful to be able to create.  I am grateful to be a father, and a husband, and a disciple.  I am grateful for the peace which I feel, the happiness, and the joy.  I am grateful for a clear conscience, and for the ability to repent.  I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and for personal revelation.  I am grateful to be able to look upon everyone with feelings of love and compassion.  I am grateful for health and for strength and for the ability and the desire to serve.  I am grateful for the opportunities that are given to me to serve my fellow men.  I am grateful to be able to live in this choicest of places in the choicest land in all the earth.  I am grateful for each ancestor who preceded me and who opened the way for me to be in this particular place at this particular time under these particular circumstances.  I realize that I am here to serve them, and to serve my Savior and Redeemer.  I am grateful for my Priesthood, my covenants, and the eternal family which I have because of those covenants.

All of this is because of the Deliverer Who lifted me from darkness, despair, and depression to light and life.

The course of my life, my present circumstances, and the promises that I have for the future are all breath-taking.  I can hardly believe it.  I can't comprehend it.  I don't understand.  Why me?

Why did the King of the universe bother to notice this soiled, sinful, insignificant soul and decide to clean it up?  Why did He give me the opportunity to repent?  Why did He entrust me with the ideal companion and His 10 best friends?  Why on earth is He piling blessing upon blessing upon me in the form of choice in-law children and amazing grandchildren?  What does He have in mind for me?  What are His plans?  What is He setting me up for?  These are questions worth contemplating.

Is it any wonder that I feel excited?  And peaceful?  And grateful?  And amazed?

Let it be known that I love my Savior, my Redeemer, my Deliverer, and my Hope.  It is all because of Him.  This is all because of Him.

22 December 2020