Blessings

“God does watch over us and does notice us, 

but it usually through someone else 

that he meets our needs.

~Spencer W. Kimball

Have you ever felt like,

no matter which way you look

there are blessings to be seen and felt

all around you?

And, even more than that,

those blessings are there because of the good people

that grace your life?

I'm feeling that way lately.

Alot.

This December has been nearly "magical" for me--

mainly because of really awesome friends

who've shown me in a zillion different ways

that I matter to them.

That my family is important to them.

We have the most amazing home teacher,

he's also the Stake Patriarch.

And every time he comes into our home

we feel our Savior's love for us.

When he has obliged to give one of us a blessing,

it's like heaven itself is streaming

through his hands

and when he's finished

we are soaking wet with heavenly distillation.

We love him.

Lord knows, we've needed him

and he lets us need him.

Which is awesome.

My menu-sharing sisters are so wonderful--

I can't say enough about how much I appreciate being a part of their group.

There've been days when making dinner was the last thing on my mind

and it's okay because I knew a warm, delicious meal 

would still be served for my family.

I can't believe I've never done this before,

but I plan on doing this until I die.

We all got together last night,

at one gal's home 

with our families

and sat around eating and laughing

and getting to know one another.

We have more in common than being mothers

and it's made my life sweeter.

Since my accident,

I've gotten to know the staff at my chiropractor's office.

Sweet, kind women who are patient with me

when I forget my appointment time

and go the extra mile to make sure 

I don't miss out on my healing altogether.

They call, they write messages,

they smile when I am a few minutes late.

They don't know how much I appreciate their grace,

but I really do.

My one true consistent blessing is my friend, Nan.

She's the kind of friend that I can call for anything,

any time, any where.

I can show up at her house in my pj's,

and do crafts.

I can call her for any reason at all,

and if she can, she'll do whatever I need at that moment.

She saves her old magazines, Deseret News, and Church News

for me.

If I'm late picking up Arianna from school,

Ari knows she can walk to Sister J.'s house and wait.

And Ari knows she will be lovingly welcomed inside by the same sister

she used to sit upon her lap when she was in Nursery 10 years ago.

This past week, Nan and her husband Clay cut a ton of wooden ornaments

for each of my yahoos to sand and paint--

just because.

Dani, Nana, Daisie, Joseph and Ari

all of them--

have gone over and painted ornaments this past week.

My children asked me, just a minute ago,

if we're going back today.

Nan makes sure I keep my hair appointments,

she reminds to do all kinds of things

that I might mention in passing--

she doesn't forget or miss a thing.

She even mails me cards that say funny things like

"Friends are God's way of apologizing for the family we've been sent to."

I love you, Nan.

Thank you for letting me.

My Mr. Wonderful is the best man in the world

for me.

He speaks my "love language" fluently.

We went to his company Christmas party last weekend

and he made sure I had a great time.

Sucha a fun date!

As his team came over and introduced themselves to me,

they were gracious and lovely--

most of them are immigrants from Russia and Laos,

so their english is not very good,

but there was no mistaking their smiles.

I was proud to be at Mr. W's side, you know?

He's a good man.

Christmas is in 5 days.

Five! Can you even believe it?

I hope you can soak in as much joy and wonder

as the desert in a rainstorm

before the season is over.

Me?

I'm heading down to the kitchen, 

crankin' up my new Michael Buble Christmas cd,

 and start making a few dozen batches of cookies

with the yahoos.

This is my kind of Christmas.