Notice the Miracles

 

I have been the receiver of so many tiny miracles in my life.  Things that have surrounded me that I try and make sure I take the time to notice.  They can be as simple as a sunset, or the nest of a pair of eagles.  They can be kind words and even kinder voices.  They can be the way someone notices something I have done or said.  There are so many miracles in each of our lives.  So many time that Heavenly Father reaches out to remind each one of us that we are loved and wanted and needed, right where we are. 

Occasionally, I forget that.  Occasionally I struggle to remember that I have worth.  Life can be hard.  It can be downright awful sometimes.  I am learning that if we forget to look for the miracles, it is too easy to get swallowed up in the storms. 

I have spent way too much of my life focusing on the rain, instead of the beauty of the rainbows.  Too much time remembering every single negative in life, without acknowledging the many positives.  Too much time focusing on the impossibilities rather than on the miracles that already surround me.

So, remember the miracles.  They are a testament of His love.  They remind us of His caring.  They remind us of who we are, and who we are meant to become. 
They are all around us if we will just take a moment to look and see. 

You are Amazing - He knows

I wanted to do a series of blogs about how amazing you truly are.  It is easy to get lost in the shuffle of comparing ourselves to everyone else.  It is easy for me to feel "not good enough".  The truth is, that we are all good enough, just as we are.  He loves us right here and right now, at what may be our best moment, or our worst.  He loves us no matter what our past has been.  He just loves us and accepts us with all our faults and failings.  Every single one of us has the opportunity to start right now, and change the course of our history.  We can change the ending of our stories.  We can still become exactly who He needs us to be. 
So, each day, I am going to try to introduce a verse of scripture or a quote that reminds you that you are loved, that you are enough, and that you can do this.  We just have to stop looking over the mountain at where we think we should be and study the place in which we find ourselves right now. 

Matthew 14:27
"But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid". 

What a beautiful verse!  Imagine for a moment, what it would be like to have Christ standing next to you and telling you to "be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid". 
I am a worrier by nature.  I worry about everything.  As a matter of fact, I actually made myself sick this week worrying about whether or not things were going to be alright.  When I read this scripture, I honestly felt as though Christ were whispering into my own ear!  He was telling me not to worry, not to be afraid.  He has got this, and me, through everything. 
How easy it can be to look at the scriptures and believe that they were written for others.  To think that they are for another time and place and don't apply to our current busy lives.  To recognize, in someone else's life, the need for the words in scripture. 
How difficult it can be to take the teachings and apply them to the here and now world that we live in.  To realize that He loves us equally as much as He loved them.  To acknowledge that we aren't alone and that our lives matter to Him.  So, today, I would like to remind you that you matter.  Be of Good Cheer.  He knows you.  He knows what you need.  He knows that you are hurting.  He knows your pain.  He knows your trials.  And in a very real way, He knows the blessings that you will be given. 
Today, put your hand in His and be not afraid.