#19: Gratitude

Heavenly Father has given me so much.  I post a lot about reasons I know why HE loves ME.  But now, I want to focus on reasons I love HIM.

God has given me a lot.  I am grateful for His blessings. 

I decided today is my last day doing "100 Reasons Why God Loves Me."  Because I need to focus on why I love God.  So, today is a farewell to the forever long posts...

I love God because He loves me.  I am His daughter.  He is my sure rock and foundation.  As King Benjamin says, "O,  How you ought to thank your Heavenly King!"

The way we live is a reflection of our gratitude for all that our Heavenly King has given us.  Do we want to make the journey of life without stopping to smell the roses?  I hope not! 

I hope we can follow the advice of President Kennedy and show appreciation to Heavenly Father by living with a grateful heart.

#18: Weather

God loves me.  How do I know that?  Because it's a beautiful day today!

Outside it is 73 degrees!

Today is a wonderful day.  It's a great day to be happy.  A great day to spread the gospel, and a great day to be a missionary!

During a meeting we had today, we sung the hymn, There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today.  I love this hymn...

"There is sunshine in my soul today

More glorious and bright,

Than glows in any earthly sky,

For Jesus is my light!

Oh there's sunshine, blessed sunshine,

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in my soul!"

Is there sunshine in your soul today?

#17: Man's Best Friend

Number 17 on my list of manifestations of God's love is my dog. 

Brooklyn and I on Halloween of 2009

I have the BEST pooch in the world.  When I was young, I was terrified of dogs.  I would hear the jingle of a collar and instantly be petrified.  I didn't know how I was going to get over my fear. 

When I was about seven, my neighbor gave me the idea to GET a dog.  She said it would help me overcome my fear if I had a dog of my own.  GENIUS.  Buy something I was absolutely afraid of??  No way.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have a dog.  Begging and pleading, I tried to convince my mother to get a dog.  She said "maybe someday."  I took that as a "no." 

In the fall of 2004, my mom began to feel prompted that our family needed a dog.  She didn't understand why, but she followed that prompting.  Right before Christmas, our family got a dog.  I named him Brooklyn.  Girly, right?  I know... in my defense, I was only 14!  But it fits him. 

He quickly became my best friend.  In high school, I loved waking up early in the summer and taking him outside on short walks.  In college I loved to come home from school to a quiet house and take a nap on the couch, with him on my lap. 

Since I've been in college, Brooklyn has faced some challenges.  Some of these include depression, anxiety, chasing a porcupine, being sprayed by a skunk (twice), and having a bizarre neck surgery.  You can imagine I was very nervous about leaving him to serve a mission.  But I knew he was in good hands and that Heavenly Father would take care of him.



Brooklyn-age 5



About a month ago, I received an email from my mom.  Brooklyn had diabetes.  I was stressed about it, but too busy to really let it sink in.  Then, last Monday I got another email from my mom.  Brooklyn was incredibly sick.  He's lost a lot of weight and is up frequently during the night.  Though my parents are watching and caring for him closely, it still makes me sad that I am not there to hold and comfort my little dog.  I pray that he will start to feel better.  If you read this-maybe you could pray for my little dog too? 

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father prompted my mom to get me a dog.  She told me once, "I knew that I needed to get you a dog.  Something told me, 'She'll need this'." 

I am grateful to a mother that can follow spiritual promptings. 

#16: Change

Heavenly Father loves me because He brings me change.  He has given me so many opportunities to learn and grow. 

Before my mission, I always saw change as a bad thing.  I hated change!  It was difficult, and often times stressful.  Then I met Ellen.  Ellen joined the church almost a year ago.  One day as my companion and I sat in her living room, she told us about how she had come into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She told us that she had lost her husband years ago.  It had sent her into a depressed state.  She struggled finding happiness in anything, and felt so alone.  Finally, one of her sons called her on the phone and said, "Mom, change is part of life."  Ellen said she didn't realize that she had been given this incredible opportunity to change her life. Though she was facing a difficult trial, she was able to make change a positive experience.  After she told us this story, she closed her eyes, nodded her head and said, "Change is good.  Change is good."

This experience touched me.  It has taught me to embrace the changes that occur in my life.  It has taught me to love the moments along the road to change, and to see change as a positive thing. 

This week I am excited for change.  Transfers occurred today-meaning I received a new companion.  Her name is Sister Ratuvukivuki.  I am excited for change.  It will bring miracles to our area, a new light and energy to the work, and many blessings. 

I love this quote by Elder Oaks.  In my experience, it is true.  Our Heavenly Father blesses us when we embrace change.  Accepting change takes humility and patience.  We must be willing to be obedient to the Father's will.  It is difficult, but I know it is worth it.

#14: Valentine's Day

I hope you are all feeling loved today!

God loves me for many reasons. Today the reason He loves me is because He blessed us with a holiday to celebrate the love we have for each other.

This is a special holiday for me, because my last name is Valentine.

I use to loathe Valentine's Day.  Not because I didn't have a sweet heart or anything.  But I hated because of my name.  My first name is Joy-and my last name is Valentine.  I use to think, "Why?  WHY? Why would my parents torture me with a name like happy?" 

Every year I was teased, "Joy Valentine's Day!  Joy Valentine's Day!"  So not cool...

But over the years, I realized what a blessing it was to have the first and last name that I have.  My name has become a constant reminder to be happy and to love those around me.

Now, I love my name, and try to live up to it.  I take great pride and honor in being a Valentine.  And today is our day!  I hope my family knows that I am thinking of them on this Valentine's Day-especially my Grandpa and Grandma Valentine.  I'm proud to be their granddaughter. 

Switching gears--today I studied about love.  Fitting, isn't it? I found some incredible scriptures about love that I wanted to share with you, my friends-Because I love you!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

#13: Wisdom

God loves me because He blesses me with His wisdom.

Heavenly Father knows I'm not perfectly intelligent, nor am I as dignified as He wants me to be.  But he places people in my life who are much wiser than I am.  They teach me life's greatest lessons!  Some of these great teachers are prophets who have written in the scriptures. 

This particular scripture has taught me a lot the past few days.  I have a bad habit of speaking my mind!

After I read this scripture, I've been a lot more away of the things that come out of my mouth.  As I study what to say before I say it, then my words will be words of wisdom and truth. 

So, that's my thought for the day... I'm letting my heart study out what to say before I speak.

Have a day FULL of wisdom!

#12: Becoming

One of the greatest ways that Heavenly Father shows His love for His children, is he allows them to become something.  He gives them talents, opportunities, abilities, dreams, hopes, and desires.

I was 3 years old when I started playing violin.  Every day I was required to practice.  I didn't always enjoy it.  I knew I wanted to BE a violinist, but I didn't want to do the actual practicing part.  That was just boring! Practicing was a constant battle.  My mom would sit at the piano and help, but I just hated doing it.  One particular day, I put my violin down and refused to practice.  My mother asked me to pick up my violin and practice.  Again I refused. 

Kindly she walked over to my violin on the floor.  Placing it gently in it's case she said, "Well, if you don't want to practice, you don't get to play the violin." 

She took it away. 

She took my violin away from me! 

I thought, How could she do this to me?  She's ruining my life! She put my violin up high where I couldn't reach it.  I began to cry.  I begged and begged her to take it down. In soft tones she taught me the principle of becoming a violinist. Until I was ready to practice, I was not ready to be a violinist.

I agreed to practice.  I would do anything to play the violin!  So she took down my violin, and we resumed practice for the day.  Practicing was still not something I enjoyed, but I did it because I understood this principle.

It's the same with life.  In order to be something, we must learn the principle of becoming something.  We must be willing to put in the effort to practice, work, ask for help, and grow.  When we get frustrated, and feel we should have already accomplished so much, I picture our Heavenly Father teaching us the principle of becoming something. He does not expect me to be perfect.  But He does expect me to become perfect.

I know God loves me because He challenges me to become something great.  He requires me to work.  Though I do not always enjoy my experiences in this mortal life, I am loved because of the opportunity it has given me to be someone.

#11: Technology

I love technology.

It's great! 

(By the way, I hope some of you are singing the song, "I love technology..." from the Napoleon Dynamite Movie.) 

But how much time do we spend on Facebook?  Computer games?  Video games?  Texting?  Do we use our phones as an extension of our arm? 

The prophet Joseph Smith taught, 

"All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not... The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power.”

Each of us have our own physical body.  We have the opportunity to progress, grow, learn, develop, love, laugh, smile, cry.... just throw all your emotions in there somewhere.  I'm grateful for my body and I bet you are too!

But Satan, he has none of those things.  He will never enjoy those blessings.  Because he lacks a body, he would do anything to get us to harm, defile, or disconnect from our body.  He has taken the wonderful gift of technology, and used it to pull us away from the present.  We now live in a cyber world.  If we are not careful with our time in this cyber universe, then we begin to disconnect from our present self.  We forget how to have lasting conversations face to face.  We lose track of time, and become dull to our physical responsibilities. 

In a video conference, Elder Bednar talked about the addictions of technology.  We are so blessed to have technological advances.  But we MUST be wary and careful.  We cannot let ourselves be consumed by them.  In his address, he posed the following questions.  I invite you to read them, think about them, answer them honestly, and re-evaluate the time you spend in front of a screen.

To read more, Click Here

Video-Things As They Really Are

#10: Temples are a Beacon

God loves me because He allows me to worship in His dedicated House.  That house is called a Temple.  It is the holiest place on earth.  Dedicated by sacred Priesthood power, it is a place of learning and spiritual growth.  I love going to the temple.  I am excited to go on March 7th!

God strengthens us as we make sacrifices to attend the temple.

#9: Patchwork of Contrast

Life is like a patchwork quilt. Both are made up of different textures, elements, materials, and imaginations.  Just as each patchwork quilt varies in design, color, and fabric, each life is different in experience, relationships, trial and joy.

Here is what a couple of my friends said about their patchwork lives:

Rian:

 It takes time to finish the patchwork....just because we can see a bunch of holes still, doesn't mean we aren't exactly where we need to be.

Julie:

The challenge is in seeing beauty and growth in all aspects of the patchwork of our lives. It is in living with faith, with a knowledge that we are children of our Heavenly Father, that we can enjoy each patchwork square. With faith in Jesus Christ and the Lord, we have an eternal perspective of this life. We know that our difficulties are often our times of greatest growth and increased faith. Through the companionship of the Holy Ghost, we know that troubled times will pass. We seek after those things that bring beauty, love and joy to our lives.

 

I am grateful that my life is like a patchwork quilt.  Some days are difficult.  Others are filled with beautiful joy.  Some moments weigh my heart down.  At other moments, I am so happy that I can't seem to keep my feet on the ground!

 

One thing is definitely certain-God is in all.  Because God loves me, He has blessed me with unbearable days.  These days seem like ugly patches in the quilt of life, but to me, they make the other patches and other days of my life look that much more beautiful in contrast.