Counting Our Blessings

I love the words of the hymn, "Count Your Blessings".  The lines which state, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done..." ring true in my ears and heart tonight for so many reasons.

The first is that today was the Sabbath for us, and that means going to Church.  I love going to Church, though I haven't always.  Going to Church is a blessing because it helps me keep the right perspective on life. 

The second blessing I am thankful for tonight is the wonderful family I have.  I recall thinking as a selfish, arrogant, and confused teenager that I didn't really want a family.  Instead, I yearned for a huge 4x4 truck.  Over the years since then, my views have changed (see previous paragraph for possible reason why my views have changed), and I wouldn't trade my family for any 4x4 (not even "Bigfoot").   I have a wonderful wife that loves and takes care of me.  I have three intelligent, beautiful, healthy, and mostly obedient daughters.  True, there's a bit of drama in our home, and I joke about living in the shed, but truthfully, I the drama is far less 'negative' than the vast 'positives' that the girls bring to our home and family.  I have a little boy that loves me and likes to be around me.  Hopefully I won't destroy that blessing though stupid father behavior.  I love my little guy tremendously even though he drives me bonkers sometimes.  I have a baby in the making right now, which is a blessing in an of itself.  I know so many couples who aren't able to have children, and then there's us; if I look at Melissa, she gets pregnant.  That is a real blessing.  I'm exited to meet the new little Clark next May.

The third blessing I am thankful for is the Priesthood.  It really is God's power, delegated to man.  I have recently witnessed the power of the Priesthood in blessing family members plagued with sickness, pain, or other troubles.  I have seen the healing blessings realized.  God really does live and He really has given some of His power to man to bless the lives of His children.

The fourth blessing I am thankful for tonight is revelation.  For the past 15 months, I've been working on a competitive contract at work.  It had the promise of $400-500 million over the next five years, with upwards of $1 billion in production over the next 10+ years.  It looked promising.  We believed our company's team was going to be selected as the winning contractor and that the contract would be awarded to us.  However, there was some chance in it.  Several months ago, I had the impression that I needed to have a contingency plan for work. So I talked to some friends, contacts, and started researching potential opportunities.  Then after discussion with Melissa and our children, I took the impression and my alternatives to the Lord in prayer and fasting.  We felt it would be good to move back to Tucson.  This was without knowing whether the promising contract at work would be awarded to my company.  So I pursued a job back in Tucson and thankfully, was offered a great job working with people I know and trust.  I am blessed that people were willing to make efforts on my behalf to get me a job so that my family could be near our extended family again. 
Then tonight, I found out that my company did NOT receive the contract, but that it was awarded to the other company.  Though this is NOT good for the company I work for, I am overwhelmed at how the Lord steered me to pursue a new job before anyone knew for certain that I would even need it.  Had I not heeded that impression to create a contingency plan, I would be full of fear, uncertainty, and who knows, maybe even unemployed with a wife, 4.5 children, and the debts of two homes.  Instead, I have gratitude for a loving Heavenly Father, current and future employment, and yes, still the debt of two homes, though with one for sale and the means to pay off the other one in time.

I have many other blessings, though you will tire quickly from reading about them all and will likely close your web browser, so stop here.  Suffice it to say, I have been blessed.  Only a fool would call it the reward of my hard work, or coincidence.