Gratitude - Day 6

What seems to us as bitter trials

Are often blessings in disguise.

Oscar Wilde

In my life, I have known many trials.  Sometimes, I agonize over them and wish them gone.  They have seemed too bitter to bear.  Yet, looking back, I can say that there have been so many blessings that have come into my life because I went through those trials.  

A few years ago, I lost my best friend because of a terrible falling out.  I felt betrayed and abandoned.  I wasn't sure that I would ever make another friend.  Honestly, I wasn't sure that I was worth the effort for anyone to befriend me.  You should know, that I don't make friends easily.  It can be very hard for me to reach out to people enough to trust.  

The blessing was in learning to reach out to strangers, I found friends that I never knew were there.  People who would stand by me in my sorrow.  People who would support me in my grief.    Women who cared for me with all my many faults.  In my trial, I found great blessings with what has become some of the best friends I have ever had in my life.  Had I not been in that place, I would have completely missed out on their love and compassion.  

I have found that Heavenly Father never gives us a trial that doesn't have hidden blessings.  I am who I am today because of the trials that I have borne.  Today, I am thankful for my trials.  Each and every one.  No matter how much I cried on the journey, the ending is so much better than I ever imagined.  I am sure that there will be more trials in my life.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep the gratitude in my heart and the understanding of His mercy and His love.  He truly knows what we bear.  He will help us through.  

One of my favorite scriptures says this so much better than I ever could,

“And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.“The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"  Doctrine and Covenants 122: 7-8

May we continue to walk in His ways and trust in His words.  And may we truly see our greatest blessings.