I know The Lord is Merciful

I'm sitting in the exit row of my flight to Houston, on the way to London, my final destination. We haven't taken off yet (it's a very full flight due to some cancellations in Chicago). I just witnessed a VERY awesome thing! The gentleman (white man) in front of me, who is sitting in a MIDDLE seat, was just upgraded to first class. However, the man that was to take his spot was a 6'4" black man. He gave the black guy his spot in first class and kept his center seat in the back. INCREDIBLE! That type of kindness doesn't exist as much as it should. I will make sure I let that guy know that I appreciated his act of kindness and selfless love!

I just got done studying 2 Nephi chapter 6. That's actually pretty bad because I was studying 2 Nephi 5 over a week ago. I need to do much better at my scripture study. I plan to set a goal to do just that this week. It will be a great week for scripture study! During my study of 2 Nephi 6, I was asked in the Seminary Manual to list some of the reasons why I know The Lord is merciful. Jacob was teaching his brethren that if we love The Lord in our thoughts and actions, he will "repay" us with mercy. I know for a fact that is true in my life:

• Family - the only thing that really matters in my life. My sweet wife and wonderful children mean more to me than anything. I'm so glad that I have them for the rest of eternity!
• Friends - The best part of life is associating with people that believe the way I do and with whom I can still have fun, laugh and feel loved and supported
• Home - We have such a great home. I was able to get my dream home before I turned 35 years old. That's pretty incredible - again - very blessed
• Job - I have a dream job for sure - I get to see the world and lead a large team of very talented engineers. It is extremely satisfying. I really love it!
• Temporal blessings - I'm blessed beyond what I dreamed I would achieve in my life.
• The Atonement - this is probably the single most important example of The Lord's mercy. We are all so very weak - we all make so many mistakes and in recent weeks, I've even caught myself wondering how I'm going to make it through this life. I'm so worried that I won't be a good enough Dad for my kids. I'm so worried that I'm not teaching them what they need to know, spritually and temporarily. I'm so worried that I don't express my love, my devotion and my total respect and joy to my incredible wife Amy. She's amazing!! But, when I start to get down on myself, when I do something I shouldn't, I remind myself of the Atonement of Jesus Christ - the path to redemption and exaltation. The ONLY path!! I'm so thankful that I have experienced the true joy that comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I pray often that both of my sisters can continue to feel and take advantage of the blessing that come from the Atonement!
• My Dad & Robin - I'm still trying to come to grips with the turn of events that has happened in my family. Dad & Robin will be married on November 1st - incredibly fast, but also an incredible blessing and love story. I pray they will also find eternal happiness. I pray that my brother and sisters can continue to accept this change of events and know that it is all part of the plan. I'm hoping that it will actually be a catalyst for helping them to help themselves a bit!

So - today is Sunday and I really enjoyed Church. I woke up a little early, enjoyed some "alone" time with Amy, then we got dressed and I made super breakfast for the kids. It is always great to eat breakfast together as a family. I think my kids will ALWAYS remember this family tradition. We will have to "pause" the tradition for a while when we switch to 9am church on 12/7/14.

Jeremy and Kelly Huff both spoke today. They gave great talks, so I'm glad that I went to church. Kelly spoke of obedience and related some pioneer stories to convey the importance and blessings that come from obedience. She taught about Ephraim's rescue. Great talk! Jeremy spoke of the blessings that come through enduring trials. I really like his analogy that children are really just the catalyst that we need to accelerate our understanding of the plan of salvation. Great message!

I could only attend sacrament today and then I headed home to quickly pack and get ready to leave. I did have enough time to do the family finances, which was definitely needed! It feels good to get the bills paid, but WOW - we are spending just WAY too much money. We need to look into this a bit and figure out how to cut back. Amy and I plan to do just that this weekend.

Well - time to take off. I plan to do about 10-15 different journal entries on this trip. I'm WAY behind and I'm going to take advantage of a "Sunday travel day" to catch up and keep the spirit of the Sabbath alive!

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