GIVE THANKS
"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." - Alma 37:37
Happy Thanksgiving friends! I hope y'all have a great day filled with happiness, love, family/friends, and yummy food! I love, love this time of year. If you're friends with me on Facebook I've told you that about 900 times already. I love being reminded what matters most. This November I've tried to focus on being thankful and what I'm thankful for...
This year... it's the love of God, my eternal family, and my home.
I'll start with the last. We moved into our first home last year! We bought it just before Thanksgiving, moved in, and hosted at our new place with two mis-matched awful couches, but I was just happy to have a home and fill it with family. I've always been a big family lover! Even as a teenager. I especially looked forward to the Hatch family Christmas party every single year. It was my favorite.
It was a miracle we even got our house. Thing after thing happened that I thought would stop us from getting it. Somehow it miraculous worked and we closed! Being self-employed is really fun sometimes :P I was so grateful. I was sick of renting and moving all. the. time. My husband did summer sales so that added to the moves, but I was done! I literally thank God every day for my home. I absolutely love it, it's not my dream home, and there's actually a lot that I want to do or change, but I love so much about it. I love having a home, period. I love the layout. I love having everything on one level and a downstairs for the TV, toy room, guest room, and office. I love the big 2 car garage. I love having a back yard to let my dog out (didn't have that in apartments!) and to let my kids play! I love that the guest room has it's own bathroom. I love the neighborhood and our ward! (In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormon or LDS, a ward is the larger of two types of local congregations, smaller being a branch) One of the best wards I've ever been in or attended. These people are saints. They're kind, loving, service oriented, and make you feel loved. That was a big answer to a prayer. I don't think I ever actually prayed for that but I wanted it. This was going to be our home for a while, I wanted a good ward, and I got one of the best! So thankful for our home!
Lincoln, Thanksgiving 2015, standing by one of the awesome couches ;)
My eternal family began on August 5, 2010 when Addison and I were sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple! (More on that here!) It was one of the best days of my life. I met this boy on my mission. We both served a mission for our church in Birmingham, Alabama. That was one of the best experiences of my life. When I first met him, he said, "If you marry anyone from your mission, your heart was not locked!" (We don't date, watch TV, or a lot of things on the mission, very structured, we teach people about Christ) Ha little did he know!! ;) He came to my Homecoming, we went on a date, and the rest is history... I love, love that we share that time together. We both had incredible experiences, some together. It was 2 years of our lives but there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. But back to our love story... Our first date was March 2nd, he proposed on May 7th, and we were married August 5th. Crazy right?! Yep. But it was right and I'm thankful every single day that Heavenly Father blessed me with Addison. He's so sweet, caring, funny, weird, adores our boys, is the best dad, works so hard for us, loves me so much and tells me all the time, dances with me in the kitchen, sings me love songs, I could go on and on...
And then we had the sweetest little boy Linc who has brought us so much joy and happiness. It's so fun to watch him learn and grow. He's talking so much and LOVES Toy Story right now. And then we had Jacky Dee almost a year ago. He's almost ONE! I can't believe it, but I can. It seems like he's always been here, but he was just a baby. It goes by so fast. I knew there was something special about that boy from day one. He had the sweetest spirit about him. I didn't know what it was, so when everything came about it totally made sense. We are so thankful for this angel baby in our lives. He brings the sweetest spirit into our home and we couldn't be more grateful for him! So thankful for my eternal family!
Last the best... the love of God! Going through this experience with Jacky I've felt and learned more about the love of our Heavenly Father. He loves me, knows me, and totally prepared me for this. He knows and loves you! It's incredible when He teaches you this personally. There has been tender mercy after tender mercy that has proven this to me. I have felt His love and I couldn't be more grateful to Him for always teaching me to rely on Him. So thankful for the love of God!
SO much to be thankful for. I could go on and on... but it's late, babies are sleeping, and I need to go to bed.
What are you thankful for? Grab your journal or blog and write it down! Being thankful can change your life. I know it's changed mine.
Thanks for reading!
#thanksgiving #givethanks #holiday #loveofgod #family #home #begrateful