COUNT YOUR MANY ROCKS!!

All right! There are times when I get all caught up in all the things that I am NOT doing. I feel that if only I were more like so and so I would be so much better off. When I get like this I am reminded of an experience I had several years ago.

It was one of those days when nothing seemed to be going right. My house could not be found under the blanket of "stuff" all around. My kids probably were fighting with one another. I was probably wondering how I was ever going to get the 5 years of food storage that I need to substain my family for the next 10 years of famine. I was probably concerned about all the commandments that I was either breaking or not living like I should. I was probably wondering how I was ever going to lose the extra weight that I have accumulated over the years and etc. Anyways, it was one of those days were everything was wrong. There were no bright lights in my eyes that day. As a way to try and cope with this heavy weight of "pressures", I decided that I would go for a walk.

As I walked up the canyon I started to cry. I could not believe that I had allowed my life to get into this kind of shape. How was I ever going to get out of the mess I created. As I walked I remember my mom telling me that when she gets down on herself that she counts her blessings. This thought kind of sent chills down my spin. "How could I could blessing when I didn't have any," I thought to myself. I kept walking.

I found myself sitting at the bank of a dry creek bed. The pressure that was welling up inside my chest was more than I could bear. I decided that I would start counting my blessing to see if this pressure would disappear from my chest. I decided that I would name a blessing for every rock that was in front of me. So I begin..
1. I am alive(I think that is a blessing) 2. I have a husband 3. I have children 4. I have parents 5. I have a roof over my head 6. I have food to eat 7. My husband has a job 8. I don't have any physical handicap's(most of the time) 9. I have the gospel in my life 10. I have a car to drive.

I started to feel a little lighter in my chest. I continued:

20. I have hair 21. I have eyes 22. I have clothes to wear 23. I have a phone 24. I have some talents 25. I have friends 26. I have grass to play on 27. I have been able to travel and see some of the world 28. I have been able to get an education
29. I have the ability to think 30. I can have an opinion.

Man, my pile of rocks in front of me was getting bigger. Not the "pressure" from inside was gone it was replaced with excitement. I continued:

100. I have a red pair of shoes 101. I have a black pair of shoes 102. I have two swimsuits 103. I have a pair of shorts 104. I have blue eye makeup 105. I have mascara 105. I have teeth 106. I have sheets to put on my bed 107. I can choose what cup I want to use 108. I have a phone. 109 I have a cordless phone 110.I am alive!

I stood up to looked at ALL the blessings I had, I was impressed. My pile of blessings was HUGE! The pressure inside my chest had been replaced with a feeling of contentment and hope. I knew that I had been given a lot and I had a lot to be thankful for. As I turned to walk back home, I noticed that the rocks stretched far beyond my pile in both directions. At that moment I realized the Lord was teaching me a tender and precious lesson. His blessing have come from so long ago that I can not even count them. The blessings that he has yet to bless we with are without number. The ones that I can count are only very small in to comparison to what I have already gotten and what he has yet to bless me with. My stubbornness in refusing to acknowledge the blessings that I have the ability to count seems so unjust. Unjust to the Lord to the one who gave me ALL.

As I returned home: my blanket of stuff was not that big of deal. It was all blessings in disguise. My kids fighting was an opportunity for me to teach them how to work our problems. My beginnings of a food storage was a great start and sufficient to substain us if we needed it to. Those commandments that I could do better on, I am learning a lot about why they are important to keep.

It is amazing to me what a change in perspective can bring. To me it has brought happiness and hope.