Because of My Singleness
Today was ward conference. We just got a new Bishop put in 5 weeks ago, and we were all excited to get to hear what he would teach us today. In his remarks, you could feel his humility and his love for all of us. He spoke of how humbled he was to get to interact with us, such an amazing generation of young single adults, and how he and his wife looked forward to getting to work with this ward. As he was sharing his love of the atonement, and how the view of the atonement had expanded in just the past week, because of his being a Bishop, I had a thought cross my mind. It was this:
"I'm so grateful I'm single so I can be in this ward with this Bishop. I'm so excited for him to be my Bishop."
Umm... what? Where did that come from? Right? Only... not really. See, the thing is, ever since I started keeping a tender mercy journal one year ago (today, actually. One year ago today), my perspective on life has changed drastically. I will not say this last year was an easy year; I will say this last year made me realize what I had to be grateful for at a higher level. All of a sudden, I was grateful for sunshine, for smiles, for cell phones to talk to family, for my bed to sleep in, for a nice note from a friend.... for so many little things that helped me to see people in a different light. I started to really realize how amazing all the people in my life are. I mean, I knew they were amazing before, but this past year I just was able to see them all as tender mercies, and not just as people who put up with me in my life. I mentioned a lot of you in a post last summer, Where Would I Be Without All of You? I have come to realize how blessed I am to get to know so many amazing, wonderful people because I am single. Not that I won't meet amazing, wonderful people when I'm married, but the specific people I meet now are specifically because of my singleness.
Yesterday one of the many tender mercies from my day was that I had been assigned to the second floor post for the last hour of my shift at the temple, and was put in charge of sealing room 13. Room 13 in the Salt Lake temple was the room my best friend, Jess, got sealed to her husband almost two years ago. It made me think of her, and I ended up texting her when I got home, and found out she was in Provo and got to go down and have a mini New Mexico reunion with her and Kandace. It was so great! I adore those girls so much! They have been amazing examples in my life, and are so inspiring, and are people I truly look up to, and am so grateful to be friends with.
I guess, because of this, I was feeling even more love towards everyone at church today, and when my Bishop was speaking and that thought went through my head, I just felt another tender mercy coming, because I am single. Because I am living where I am. Because I remain active in the church. Because I am looking for those tender mercies in my life. Because God loves me.
Because I am open to seeing the blessings God is willing to send, he gives me these tender mercies and allows me to realize how amazing my life is. How truly blessed I have been. How much more blessed I will be. I'm not trying to sound prideful here. I'm trying to show my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessing me beyond comprehension, mostly because of my wonderful friends and family. How grateful I am for the tender mercies you have all turned out to be.
"I'm so grateful I'm single so I can be in this ward with this Bishop. I'm so excited for him to be my Bishop."
Umm... what? Where did that come from? Right? Only... not really. See, the thing is, ever since I started keeping a tender mercy journal one year ago (today, actually. One year ago today), my perspective on life has changed drastically. I will not say this last year was an easy year; I will say this last year made me realize what I had to be grateful for at a higher level. All of a sudden, I was grateful for sunshine, for smiles, for cell phones to talk to family, for my bed to sleep in, for a nice note from a friend.... for so many little things that helped me to see people in a different light. I started to really realize how amazing all the people in my life are. I mean, I knew they were amazing before, but this past year I just was able to see them all as tender mercies, and not just as people who put up with me in my life. I mentioned a lot of you in a post last summer, Where Would I Be Without All of You? I have come to realize how blessed I am to get to know so many amazing, wonderful people because I am single. Not that I won't meet amazing, wonderful people when I'm married, but the specific people I meet now are specifically because of my singleness.
Yesterday one of the many tender mercies from my day was that I had been assigned to the second floor post for the last hour of my shift at the temple, and was put in charge of sealing room 13. Room 13 in the Salt Lake temple was the room my best friend, Jess, got sealed to her husband almost two years ago. It made me think of her, and I ended up texting her when I got home, and found out she was in Provo and got to go down and have a mini New Mexico reunion with her and Kandace. It was so great! I adore those girls so much! They have been amazing examples in my life, and are so inspiring, and are people I truly look up to, and am so grateful to be friends with.
I guess, because of this, I was feeling even more love towards everyone at church today, and when my Bishop was speaking and that thought went through my head, I just felt another tender mercy coming, because I am single. Because I am living where I am. Because I remain active in the church. Because I am looking for those tender mercies in my life. Because God loves me.
Because I am open to seeing the blessings God is willing to send, he gives me these tender mercies and allows me to realize how amazing my life is. How truly blessed I have been. How much more blessed I will be. I'm not trying to sound prideful here. I'm trying to show my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessing me beyond comprehension, mostly because of my wonderful friends and family. How grateful I am for the tender mercies you have all turned out to be.
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