Blessed

I don't usually get too mushy or religious on my blog, but I'm going to take a minute to do just that. The past few weeks/years ??? so much bad stuff has happened to people I care about. I see my friends dealing with hard things and they seem to handle it so well.. they see the big picture, learn, and move on. I see other's stress out, feel guilty, get angry, dwell on it, try to get over it, and not do a great job. The one thing I see differently about these people is that some have the gospel in their lives, while the others don't. Guess who has it and who doesn't?
Having the gospel is the difference between living in darkness and living in light. If you know that there is a bigger purpose to all this crap we deal with, if you know that there is someone who loves you no matter what, and will gladly forgive you your faults, if you know you have people here on earth to help you through your struggles... these things can make such a difference when you are dealing with earthly things.
I can see how smart and cunning Satan is.. things like drugs and pornography are so addictive, yet seem manageable and somewhat harmless at first... He has a way to get you and hook you.
I am SOOO thankful that I know better than to even test the waters of things that could drag me down! I once told someone that having the Word of Wisdom and other 'rules' the church encourages felt like it gave me more freedom. I think it has made my life easier. I don't have to decide at a party with peers if I'm going to drink a beer, I didn't have to think about how far things would go with a boyfriend in the heat of the moment. And I NEVER felt like I missed out on anything! I feel like my life is so blessed. I am truly happy, even with everything going on around me. This month's primary theme is "I am thankful to know that we are all children of God". I am so thankful to know it! I wish everyone I loved would know it, too!